Elder Massimo De Feo (Apr. 18): "Pure Love: The True Sign of Every True Disciple of Jesus Christ"

In this talk Elder De Feo begins many sentences "True Disciples love to . . ."  These are what I am calling "vision statements" because they tell us an attitude that disciples of Christ have.  Some of these statements are followed closely by a practical tip about how one possessing this characteristic might act.  These practical tips provide both a way to measure our attitudes and a way to model the behavior of someone with the characteristics that we are striving to develop.

The Activity:

1. Prepare several sheets of paper each with one vision statement taken from the talk written across the BOTTOM of the paper (see the explanatory note that precedes this section to know what a vision statement is).
2. Read paragraphs 12-13 ("True Disciples love to . . . of His atonement")
3. Point out that here Elder De Feo gives us a vision of what disciples do and a practical tip for what that might look like in action.
4. Have the class members divide into groups of 3-4.
5. Give each group one of the sheets with the vision statements on it.
6. Groups are to come up with one practical tip on how to put this attitude into practice.  They should write this at the top of the piece of paper.
7. When they have written their hint, the groups should fold over the top of the paper so what they have written cannot be seen.
8. Rotate the sheets of paper and repeat step #5 a few times.  Go until you feel like the activity has run its course.
9. Rotate the paper one last time.
10. This group unfolds the paper and reviews everything on it.  Take a moment for the groups to note and talk about any patterns they see or any tips that stick out to them as being especially powerful.
11. Groups report back to the whole class about what was on the sheet of paper.

Using the Activity:

This activity is good because the focus is on practical ways to behave like disciples of Christ.  Since it does focus on applications of the gospel, however, it will be most powerful after you have spent time discussing and testifying of the doctrines behind these attitudes.  The doctrines will bring in the Spirit and prepare the class members to make changes.  Then, this activity will provide, hopefully, an idea or two that the Spirit will reinforce to their hearts that they can implement.  You may even want to follow this activity up by asking the class members to record one goal of something they will do this week to become a more true disciple.

This is also an activity that makes room for many voices.  There are a variety of reasons that people might not feel comfortable speaking out.  By dividing the class into smaller groups and allowing for writing comments relatively anonymously instead of simply speaking them in front of everyone this activity breaks through some of the impediments to participation.  Also, the Lord wants all of His children to share and participate.  So, anything we can do to facilitate greater participation can make it easier for class members to feel the Spirit.

I hope that this activity idea is useful to you.  Thank you for visiting my blog and God bless you in your efforts to be a Christ-like teacher.