Elder Ronald A. Rasband (Apr. 18): "Behold! A Royal Army"

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With some slight modifications the activity I outlined for Elder Christofferson's talk may be used with this talk and vice versa.  Either activity could be used in a lesson that focused on the two talks together, i.e. a lesson on the reorganization.

The Activity:
  1. Have the quorum presidency outline some of the concerns facing the quorum/unit.  Obviously, these should be broad challenges and not challenges which may single out particular members or families whether they are present or not.
  2. Point out that Elder Rasband lists 6 potential blessings of this adjustment.
  3. Read those blessings, beginning in paragraph 22 ("Under the direction, . .  .") and ending in paragraph 27 (" . . . those in need").
  4. Ask the class members to form small groups.
  5. Have the groups brainstorm ways the listed blessings may specifically help the quorum/unit address the issues outlined at the beginning.
  6. You may also ask the groups (or the whole class before dividing into groups) to identify other blessings that could be additional blessings that come from this reorganization and how those blessings as well might help address the issues mentioned.
  7. After some time, have the groups report back and as a class discuss how these blessings will help your specific unit.  You may include (with the guidance/agreement of your quorum presidency) to have the class set some specific goals in relation to these blessings, issues, and reorganization.
Using the Activity:

This rationale behind this activity is to "liken" the words of this talk to our own units, quorums, and classes.  If the Spirit is present, this type of activity can be a powerful way to motivate class members to apply the words of the prophets and apostles in their lives. 

Also, it is hoped that this activity does more than simply cover the contents of this talk; it is hoped that this activity also begins to build unity in the new quorums by asking the brethren to work together to think about and discuss how to improve the lives of all the members together.  This type of unity can be hard to establish and having a small common purpose can be a good way to facilitate this type of unity. 

Finally, a reminder, for this activity I imagined it as a priesthood lesson-- since it had to do with the organization of the priesthood quorum.  I am not sure how this activity would work if it was used in a Relief Society lesson.  It could turn into a lot of telling other people how to do their business, which does not generally end very well.

In any case, I hope this activity is useful to at least spark some other ideas.  Thank you for visiting my blog and let me know how I can be more helpful or how things went, if you tried one of my activities.

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