Sister Joy D. Jones (Oct. 18): "For Him"

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This is a shorter talk, but it is so powerful.  It is one that I will be sharing with my ward missionaries in our next meeting.  This activity is designed to help class members see the hand of God in their lives.

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has paper and something to write with (you may want a little nicer paper for this activity, but it is certainly not necessary).
  2. With the class, create a list of the blessings of service that Sis. Jones ennumerates.  Do this either through discussion or some other activity.  List these on the board.  They may include but are not limited to the following:
    1. Unchaining the divinity within us (para. 22)
    2. Our actions are blessed (para. 15)
    3. Be a conduit for His love (para. 11)
  3. After you ahve created a full list and discussed it, ask the class members to consider how they have experienced some of these blessing in their own lives.
  4. Now, ask class members to write about one of these experiences.  These writings could take the form of either an entry in their journals or a letter to someone in their lives.
  5. Give class members time to write.
  6. After some time has passed, ask class members to put away their writing.  You probably want to give them some advance warning of this.  Make sure to let them know it is okay to not be finished simply because it is time to move on; they can finish these at home.
  7. Invite a class member or two to bear testimony of some part of Sis. Jones's counsel.  This may or may not include sharing the incident that they were writing about.
Using the Activity:

I know that we don't write much like this in church-- for a variety of reasons.  Still, writing can be a powerful tool for us in our spiritual growth.  Writing forces us to engage with an experience for a longer time than we normally would.  This extended time pondering (that is the scriptural term for staying with an experience for a longer time) opens us up to feel the Spirit in a strong way.  Plus, all people learn and think in different ways.  Some of your class members favor writing to other approaches.  So, this experience will be especially strong for them.  Yes, some other class members will not respond as strongly.  However, even our lessons that focus on discussion or teacher talk (lecture) do not fit everyone and many people find those experiences less than appealing.  So, variety is key.  Activities like this spread over the years can be important for our growth.

Also, I think that this activity is potentially powerful because it helps us to see and recognize God's hand in our lives (D&C 59:21).  I have been struck recently as I have been reading the Book of Mormon by the ways in which multiple prophets in that great book credit the Lord for things that others may have written off to more mundane causes (see for example Alma 56:18-19).  It is such a prevelant occurence in the Book of Mormon that I am led to believe strongly that it is one of the lesson we are to learn in our day from the Book of Mormon.  So, providing our class members with an opportunity to ponder on, recognize, and acknowledge God's hand in their lives is a powerful teaching moment.  

As always, I hope this activity is useful to you as either a catalyst or an activity.  Also, I hope that my rant above did not bore you too much.  :)   God bless you in all that you do.  And thanks for reading my blog.

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