Elder Thierry K. Mutombo (Apr. '21): "Ye Shall Be Free"

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 At the time I re-read this talk, I seemed to be in a series of lessons/discussions/etc. all relating somehow to the gospel principle of light and the light of Christ.  So, this activity comes out of my thinking at that time.

The Activity:

  1. Make sure everyone has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Divide the board into two halves by drawing a vertical line down the middle.  Label one side light and the other side darkness.
  3. Read par. 10 ("This understanding of . . . saw 'great light'") and explain that this paragraph describes the change Elder Mutombo's family experienced when they accepted the gospel.
  4. Now, ask class members to skim the talk and identify other places where Elder Mutombo describes life with or without the light of the gospel.
  5. As class members find an example, ask them to share it.  As they do, write the phrase on the board and discuss it with other members of the class.
  6. After a few minutes, ask the class members to consider what is recorded on the board and anything else they found in the talk that they did not have time to share.  Now, ask them to connect these phrases to moments in their lives when they have had varying degrees of light or darkness in their lives.
  7. Ask them to add more words or phrases to the board that describe their own experience with light and/or darkness to the lists on the board.
  8. Discuss what else was added.

Using the Activity:

Of course, there are a variety of ways to alter this activity to engage in sharing differently, e.g. have class members work in partners, have them highlight the passages of the talk that most speak to them, provide time for silent pondering, etc.  Do what the Spirit directs in that regard.

The spiritual power of this activity comes from two intertwined principles of learning.  First, we should dig deep into the words of our leaders and exam what they say.  Words have power, and we should not be casual in our attention to them.  Second, this activity asks class members to liken the words of this talk to their own lives (see I Ne. 19:23).  Hopefully, by combining these principles in learning, the hearts of the class members will be opened to the Spirit and they will be in a position to hear Him as He speaks to them.  

As always, thank you for visiting my blog.  Please let me know how it is going or if I can do more to help you.

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