Elder Denelson Silva (Oct. '22): "Courage to Proclaim the Truth"

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 It is always great to hear what led someone to the gospel.  So, I loved this talk.  I especially appreciated Elder Silva's frankness that after receiving the Book of Mormon from his friend, he put it on a shelf and forgot about it essentially as well as his acknowledgement that receiving that Book of Mormon was a "connection" between him and the missionaries who visited his house (par. 6).

The Activity:

  1. If possible, ask a ward/branch member who has served as a senior missionary to share a brief testimony of that experience.
  2. Read par. 14 ("For those of . . . to one age-group").
  3. Ask the class members to identify some ways to prepare for a mission that might be decades down the road for some of them.  As class members share, record these answers on the board.
  4. Once a number of answers have been listed on the board, invite the class members to consider the list and identify something that they could implement into their lives to help them prepare for a mission.
  5. Encourage class members to take out their phones (or some note paper) and write down a specific goal for themselves.

Using the Activity:

Of course, this activity idea is focused on adult classes/quorums.  It could be easily changed to a youth class activity by reading an appropriate quote from earlier in the talk.  I will admit that I am a fan of missions for a variety of reasons.  This activity is designed to help people begin to prepare for missionary service in their later years.  

I pray that this activity is useful to you in preparing your lesson.  

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