Pres. Henry B. Eyring (Oct. 18): "Women and Gospel Teaching in the Home"

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This activity is not the kind I usually share, but it is what I feel inspired to share.  I found this talk to have several powerful quotes.

The Activity:

  1. Prior to the lesson, read and identify some of the quotes concerning nurturing that you feel are most germane to the sisters in your class.  For example, some of the quotes that stood out to me are:
    1. Para. 13, "As daughters of  . . . courage upon them."
    2. Para. 16, "Your practical challenge . . . receiving his guidance."
    3. Para. 19, "So you will . . . in your family."
    4. Para. 26, "From the time . . . never stop loving."
    5. Para. 29, "You will bring . . . with greater faith."
  2. Prayerfully, consider which sisters in your ward could share an experience or provide special insight into each of the passages you have identified.  Be careful to consider ALL sisters-- even those you may not immediately think of.
  3. Call and invite these sisters to take just a moment or two in class to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to the passage you assign them.
  4. During the lesson, ask each sister invited to share at the appropriate time.
Using the Activity:

Like I said, normally I don't share activities that are of the "invite someone else" variety-- not because there is anything wrong with those activities, but simpy because they are done quite often.  Still, they are valuable and as I said earlier, this was the activity that felt most like what I should share.  The value here is at least two-fold.  First, under the influence of the Spirit you may very well choose someone who needs to think about this quote and her life.  Second, I think there is great power in all of us learning from each other.  After all, as gospel smart as the teacher is, the room is collectively smarter in 99% of cases.  Even if there is a time where the teachers is considered to simply be that smart, there are valuable experiences that class members have had that will make an important difference in the lives of others, if they are given the chance to hear those experiences.  

So, another variation of this activity would be to ask each sister you invite to lead a brief 3-5 minute discussion of the quote.  Then, share the quotes with the class at large and ask the class membrers to go to the part of the room assigned to the quote they are most interested in.  In that location, the invited sister will lead a brief discussion on that topic.  You could even rotate once or twice.  This variation allows class members to self-select into the area of discussion where they feel they most need to be-- whether it is what they most need help with, most want to share about, or whatever.  This level of choice is a motivator for class members to engage with the material.  

I hope that this idea is useful to you.  Please let me know how this works.  You are engaged in the best part of the gospel-- teaching.  I pray that you will feel that and have the Spirit poured out powerfully on your efforts.

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