Sister Reyna I. Aburto (Apr. 18): "With One Accord"

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The Activity:
  1. Make sure every class member has access to the talk either digitally or in print form.
  2. Ask class members to look over the talk and mark words/phrases that explain what characteristics individuals need to have in order to be united in the gospel.
  3. Ask class members to form small groups of 3-5.
  4. In these groups discuss what they found for a few moments.  Emphasize that in their discussions they should be looking to identify/uncover the relationship of these characteristics.
  5. After a few minutes of discussion, give each group a paper and something to write with.
  6. Ask the groups to create a visual that depicts that characteristics and their relationship.
  7. Come back together and discuss what each group created.
Using the Activity:

This talk was a beautiful talk, in my opinion, and it left me thinking about what I need to do/say/think differently to be able to be united to a group of believers.  I was impressed by the fact that Sis. Aburto emphasized the need for unity (a valuable message in today's world) while helping us to see that we need to have certain traits to be part of that unity.  That is where this activity came from. 

It should be noted that it does not matter what sort of diagram the groups come up with.  Many times, in a an activity like this, the value comes in the intellectual wrestle that occurs as we try to put what we are thinking and feeling into concrete terms.  So, there is no need to worry about the type of diagram that groups come up with and even sharing a variety of these types of diagrams can be useful in that it allows each person to see how other people see things. 

Also, this activity is nice because many people think in terms of visual relationships and by asking them to participate in an activity such as this, we are allowing them to work how they most easily think and learn.  This, in turn, opens them up more to feel the Spirit and receive inspiration about this and other issues. 

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