Pres. Russell M. Ballard (Oct. '22): "Follow Jesus Christ with Footsteps of Faith"

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 What a rich connection we have to Church history through Pres. Ballard.  I love that in every conference he is encouraging us to not forget to tap into our heritage of faith.  As imperfect as it is, there is much of righteousness and wisdom there for us.   

The Activity:

  1. Read par. 6-8 ("This year marks . . . bless your posterity").
  2. Ask class members to name something they have learned from the pioneers.
  3. After some thoughts have been shared, re-read the last sentence in par. 8 ("Their footsteps of . . . bless your posterity").
  4. Ask the class members to consider what they hope the coming generations learn from them.  (Note:  I would avoid the use of posterity here since for some people this might only speak of direct descendants, which they may want to have and cannot or who are currently off the covenant path).  
  5. Invite a few class members to share their thoughts.
  6. Invite all class members to think about how they could better ensure that they are leaving an example of what they want to teach in their lives.  Encourage them to create and follow through on a plan for how they might better do these things.  

Using the Activity

There are a couple of places in this activity that could be tweaked logistically.  You could have the class members, at any point, share with a partner or in small groups. You could even expand the final part of this activity to provide time to actually set a goal or devise a small plan.  In any case, I was particularly taken by the idea of thinking of ourselves as pioneers for those who come after us.  So, I wanted (and felt it appropriate) to focus this activity on that comment.  I have many friends that feel slightly disconnected from the pioneers because they don't have relatives in that stage of Church history.  However, we can all be pioneers in that sense.  

As always, I pray this activity is of use to you.  Please let me know how I can improve my blog.  

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