Teaching Relief Society & Priesthood

 This is a challenging talk.  It is easy-- albeit deceptive-- to assume a quid pro quo relationship between our obedience and God's blessings.  It is tougher to trust that His timing and His will are best; it is also, however, eternally more rewarding. The Activity: Read par. 13 "Our repentance and . . . Christ, our Redeemer." Discuss the blessings associated with a relationship with our Heavenly Father like the one described by Elder Christofferson. One the board, write this sentence, "In life, we will feel ___________, but in Christ we can feel _____________." Invite the class members to silently consider how they would fill in this sentence and to consider experiences of their own or others that illustrate that sentiment. After a couple of minutes, ask the class members to form into small groups of 3-4 people each and share what they thought of.   Come back together when the discussion begins to wane and share insights as a whole class. Using the Activity: As

 The sentiments in this talk strike close to home for me.  Years ago, we lived in a small rural Missouri town and our branch experienced tremendous growth-- because this is exactly what we did.  We never articulated them exactly this way of course.  I do not believe that our small branch stumbled on something unique or new.  We simply shared the gospel the Christ would-- we loved people, shared the fruits of gospel living, and invited lots of people to do lots of things.  The activity that follows is focused on helping us all see how we can naturally do each of these things. The Activity: Discuss the doctrines and principles found in this talk. Divide the class members into small groups of 3-5 people each. Invite the class members to imagine common situations they might find themselves in and to role play how they might do each of these things (love, share, & invite) in different situations.  Stress that there is no need to do all three in any one situation.  So, for example, it mi

 Over the past decade or so protecting religious freedom has been a repeated message in conference coming from a number of our leaders.  So, it must be important.  Elder Rasband's talk specifically focuses on the positives of religious freedom. The Activity: Divide the class into four groups.  Assign each group one of the four ways Elder Rasband outlines that freedom of religion blesses the world. Par. 22-27 Par. 28-31 Par. 32-38 Par. 39-42 In their groups ask the class members to discuss how a belief in God (as opposed to strictly a belief in our religion) 1)brings about the benefits Elder Rasband talks about and 2)how we can work to bring those blessings to pass. After a few minutes, bring the class back together again and ask each group to briefly report back to the rest of the class what they talked about. As the groups share, discuss common points that are found between the groups discussions. Using the Activity: I designed this activity to very specifically focus on how a bel

 Oftentimes, we consider family history to be the domain of the aged.  In recent years, however, our general church leaders have pushed back back on this-- strongly.  Elder Gong's talk is another example of a talk that challenges the notion that you have to reach some magical number of years before you can do this important work.  The activity below is designed to help us understand how we can all do family history work. The Activity: Make sure that everyone has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically. After discussing the doctrines and principles in this talk, point out that Elder Gong also shares many concrete ways we can take action in family history (beyond the list at the end). Invite class members to take a few moments to look over the talk nd make note of all the possible activities that Elder Gong outlines. After some time, come back together as a class and ask the class members to share what they found.   Write each item on the board as it is shared and

 What a magnificent talk!  For me, this was a highlight of conference.  The focus on generally improving our spirituality was much needed-- for me, at least.  I am teaching this talk next week in Elders' Quorum and the activity I share in here comes straight from my lesson.  That does not necessarily mean it is perfect, but sometimes I feel a need to assure people that I actually teach this way in church.  :)   The Activity: After laying the groundwork of this talk's emphasis on Spiritual Awe vs. Spiritual Apathy, divide the class into three groups. Ask each group to discuss an assigned quote from the following passages: Par. 7 "My beloved brothers . . . neighbor as ourselves." Par. 8 "This type of . . . our true worship." Par. 9 "My dear friends, . . . our own understanding." After reading the passages in their groups have the groups discuss their quote.  Initially, give them a few minutes to address the following questions: According to this pass

 I went into this conference with questions about conversion-- what was the process?  how could I deepen my own conversion?  how can I keep my conversion fresh? Etc.  So, this talk stood out to me for what it said about conversion.  As I thought and prayed about this activity I felt impressed to focus, however, on missionary work, which was also a large portion of Elder Cook's talk. The Activity: Read par. 18 "In the Lord's . . . and His hands." (Optional) Discuss as a class this quote and why sharing the gospel was such a focus of this conference. Divide the class down the middle.  Explain that one half will discuss Elder Cook's counsel on how to share the gospel, while the other half discusses the blessing of sharing the gospel.  There will be time for discussions between the two groups after. Ask the class members in each half of the room to read their assigned quote (found below) and then talk about it-- what does it say?  how have you seen this in your life o

Although this talk was given during the women's session of conference and was structured around the Young Women's theme, this is a talk for every member of the Church.  It is filled with truths for all of us.  One aspect of this talk that really struck me was the care that Elder Renlund took to point out ideas, conditions, and half-truths that can prevent us from feeling/knowing the truths of the gospel.  This activity focuses on some of these warning but not all of them.  It is designed so that it can easily be expanded or altered to focus on other warnings. The Activity: Introduce/discuss the first four truths that Elder Renlund focuses on (found in paragraphs 2-12). Explain that for each of these truths Elder Renlund took time to identify things which may keep us from experiencing these truths. Divide the class into four smaller groups. Give each groups one of the following quotes to read: Par. 2-4 "Sometimes we may . . . among other things." Par. 6-7 "Seeking