Elder Ulisses Soares (Apr. '20): "The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon"

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A NOTE:
Maintaining this blog at this time might be one of the most optimistic things I have done in recent memory :), although I am sure we will eventually be meeting together again for church.  I just have no idea when that will be.  Still, I want to continue this blog even in these times as an expression of hope.  In the meantime, I have begun a separate blog that focuses on sharing ideas to explore the messages of general conference in our homes.  That blog can be found here. 

I love the Book of Mormon.  It is at the heart of my testimony of Christ, prophets, and the Restoration.  I feel the Spirit every time I open it and devote my time and attention to it.  So, the idea of the Book of Mormon continuing to come forth in my own life was a principle that stood out to me in conference.  For this activity, I chose to focus on the blessings that we receive from reading/ studying the Book of Mormon.  I did this because I wanted to create an atmosphere in the room where the Spirit could whisper invitations to those of us who need to make the Book of Mormon more central in our lives (and isn't that really all of us). 

The Activity:
  1. Discuss the blessings we can receive from studying the Book of Mormon.
  2. Read par. 18 ("Through these and . . . to the world") and par. 21 ("I bear my  . . . to know His Son, Jesus Christ").
  3. Ask each person to mark the blessings that Elder Soares mentions in these passages.
  4. Ask each person to take a moment and recall moments when they have personally experienced these (or any other) blessings Elder Soares talks about.  
  5. As appropriate, discuss and share these memories and stories.  
Using the Activity:

This activity draws its power from a couple of sources.  First, the physical act of marking important parts of a passage is an important element in increasing our recall of those facts.  In general, when we read our brains are not very good at knowing what is important enough to store away for future use.  So, when we read with a purpose and mark those parts that address our purpose, we are telling our brain to store these nuggets away for us to remember later.  Second, in step 4 we are asking the class members to "remember" (the most important word in the language according to Pres. Kimball) and to "liken" this talk unto ourselves (an instruction given through Nephi).  

As I said earlier, my goal with this activity is to invite the Spirit in so that it will gently nudge our class members into a more serious engagement with the Book of Mormon.  To that end, you may want to end your lesson (or this activity) with an invitation for each class member to write down one small thing they will do to increase their connection with the Book of Mormon.

God bless.  

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