Elder Gerrit W. Gong (Apr. 18): "Christ the Lord is Risen Today"

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While I doubt that this talk will be widely chosen as one to be taught because of the length and the general nature of it, I did find a number of quotes in this talk that struck me as being worthy of more thought and attention.  For example, "we belong to each other" (Para. 8) is a point that has much to bear on how we treat each other, how we view those in poverty, and how we think about unity.  For this activity I am choosing one of these quotes to focus on.

The Activity:
  1. Draw a line down the middle of the board and label one side "covenants" and the other side "atonement"
  2. Read paragraph 4:  "Together our covenants . . . preserve, sanctify, redeem."
  3. Point out that in this quote, Elder Gong teaches us that both our covenants and the atonement do eight things:  enable, ennoble, help us let go, help us hold on, sweeten, preserve, sanctify, and redeem.
  4. One at a time, consider how our covenants and the atonement do each of these things.  During this discussion invite class members to share favorite scriptures and quotes as well as experiences they have had, as they feel prompted and comfortable doing so.
  5. After considering how our covenants and the atonement work singly to fulfill each of these eight things, consider how working together our covenants and the atonement magnify each of those things.
Using the Activity:
The idea behind this activity is to simply provide us all with an opportunity to wrestle with the words of this newly called apostle.  I do not mean wrestle in the sense that we are trying to wrench his words or change his words.  Instead, I mean wrestle in the sense of spending a sustained period of time considering his words and how they have been, are and may be evidenced in each of our lives. 

I hope and pray that this activity (and the others on this site) are helpful to you either as written or modified by you to fit your needs.  Please let me know how things go.  Thank you as always and may you be blessed for your time and efforts in teaching the gospel.

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