Pres. M. Russell Ballard (Apr. '23): "Remember What Matters Most"

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This is a talk that instructs but also feels like a testimony throughout.  In terms of transparency, this talk was one of my favorites from this conference. It addresses a variety of topics without focusing exclusively on any one of them.  However, during your prayerful preparation, you may find that you are led to focus on a specific facet of this talk either exclusively or mostly.  This is an activity that does just that-- it focuses on the family relations part of the talk.  It is designed in a way that you could adapt it fairly easily to apply to any of the other areas of the talk.

The Activity:

  1. Read par. 12 "Second, family relationships . . . that matter most"
  2. Invite the class members to consider the following questions in regards to this topic (you may want to encourage them to skim this portion of the talk).
    1. Why is this among the most important things?
    2. What blessings do we get from these relations-- now and in the eternities?
    3. How can we cultivate these relationships?
  3. Allow the class members some time in silence to ponder these questions-- just a couple of minutes.
  4. Invite the class members to share their thoughts with the people around them (small groups of 3-4 max).
  5. Give the groups a few minutes to discuss their thoughts, then call the class back together.
  6. Invite class members to share what was discussed in their groups.

Using the Activity:

The main impetus for this activity and this approach is the importance of pondering on a topic in order to receive revelation (testimony) on it.  Repeatedly, we see in the scriptures that prophets sit with a topic and ponder on it in preparation to receiving revelation on it (for example, Lehi, Helaman, Peter, etc.).  This activity is a way of trying to provide some time for class members to think and talk about one particular doctrine of the gospel for a period of time.  For most of us 10 minutes of focused consideration of a specific topic represents an unusual commitment.  

Another variation of this activity could be to divide the class members into groups where each group focuses on one of the things Pres. Ballard mentions and goes through a similar series of steps to consider it before the groups come back together and talk about what they shared.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope and pray that you find value in this activity (and the others).  God bless.  

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