Sis. Tamara W. Runia (Oct. '23): "Seeing God's Family through the Overview Lens"

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 When preparing the activities for this blog I begin by re-reading each talk and marking those parts that stand out to me as being especially important.  Then, I go back over the talk-- paying the most attention to what I have marked-- and create an activity to help teach the talk.  My problem with Sister Runia's talk is that I underlined large chunks of it (over half of it easily).  This talk is so powerful to me and I think there would be almost no bad way to teach this talk.  What follows is one possiblity.

The Activity:

  1. Make sure every class member has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Read par. 10-13 "I went through . . . a happy thing."
  3. Point out that Sis. Runia says her dad saw her with an eye of faith.  Discuss how this is similar to and different from seeing God's actions with an eye of faith.
  4. After a few moments of discussion, point out that throughout this talk Sis. Runia shares examples of what it looks like to see those we love with an eye of faith.
  5. Ask the class members to take a few minutes and skim through the talk looking for these moments.
  6. Come back together and discuss what they found.
  7. Talk about the difference being seen this way might make to those in our lives.
  8. Invite each class member to set a goal to apply something from this talk-- or something else the Spirit prompted them about.  Then, invite them to set an alarm on their phones that will help them remember what they are going to do.

Using the Activity:

The passage in the activity and the idea of setting a goal to do something akin to what Sister Runia shared struck close to home for me because I have a daughter who is a freshman in college.  While she is not making any serious mistakes, I know she is questioning her testimony and her faith.  So, I found great comfort in this talk and found in it a way to move forward with her.  Perhaps that is what subconsciously pushed me to consider/design this particular activity.

In any case, the activity is helpful because it encourages the class members to apply specific parts of Sister Runia's counsel that is emphasized to them through the scriptures.  Also, by inviting them to set an alarm on their phones it is a way to help them follow through on what they are prompted to do.  

I pray that this activity is useful to you.  God bless.

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