President M. Russell Ballard (Apr. 19): "The True, Pure, and Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ"

This talk feels like a back to the basics talk.  The purpose of the gospel is to bring us peace, joy, and happiness.  The gospel is summed up in the two great commandments.  It is also worth noting that by my very unofficial count the scriptures where Christ identifies the two great commandments were the most cited scriptures of this conference (Luke 10:27; Mat. 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31).  That should probably tell us that those are important for us at this time.

The Activity:

1. Read par. 14-16 "The best ways . . . the elders quorum"
2. Point out that Pres. Ballard connects four of the most recent points of emphasis from the brethren to the two great commandments:
1. Ministering
2. Home-centered, Church-supported gospel learning
3. Sabbath day worship
4. Gathering Israel on both sides of the veil
3. Divide the class into four groups and assign each group one of those four points of emphasis
4. Ask the groups to discuss how their topic connects to the two great commandments.  For example, they may talk about how those points of emphasis are applications of love, how those activities increase love, how our love can make us more effective in each of those areas, etc.  If you have not read these scriptures recently, you may want to do so at this point or ask the groups to read one of them.
5. After a few minutes, ask the groups to design a bumper sticker summing up what they talked about.  Provide the groups with some paper and art supplies (pens and pencils)
6. Then, come back together as a class and have the groups share what they came up with.

Using the Activity:

This activity is fairly straight forward, but you could incorporate some choice in the group work by asking class members to choose what point of emphasis they talk about.  Choice is an effective way to increase engagement and motivation.  Also, by allowing the class members to choose which group they join, they can choose the topic that most pertains to them in some way.  Another way to alter this activity would be to provide a graphic organizer (think, crudely, a worksheet) to help the class members keep track of what they talk about.  This could be something as simple as a sheet of paper with a number of questions on it.  

The value of the bumper sticker is simply to push class members to condense down their thoughts.  The actual content of the bumper sticker or the artwork is unimportant.  It is the act of thinking differently about a topic that is meaningful.

As always, I hope that you find some value in these activities.  Please let me know how it goes.