Elder Gerrit W. Gong (Oct. 18): "Our Campfire of Faith"

This activity is a bit different (you will see) and I will talk about why it is a good activity in the second part (as always), but this was not the activity that I felt like I would actually create until I began preparing it.  In the time since, I have come to really like this activity.  Normally, I focus on trying to dig into the doctrine in the talks a bit more or to imagine applying it in class.  The activity here is designed to help the class create something which will help them remember the message of the lesson and be able to apply in their lives moving forward.  It is not an activity that everyone will be comfortable with, but it is a lesson that many people will be more comfortable with than our usual lessons.

The Activity:

1. Prior to the lesson it would be helpful if you created one of thes on your own so you can model it for the class.
2. Make sure everyone has something to write with and something to write on.  You may even want to offer colored paper and markers or colored pens/pencils.
3. Read the definition of the "campfire of faith" in para. 12  "Our campfire of . . . in our life."
4. Discuss what this means and how these three things-- memory, experience, and heritage-- can strengthen our faith.  There are many good points that could be brought up here, but make sure that you spend some time talking about the power of remembering each of these things.
5. Ask the class members to ponder what memories, experiences, and heritage make up their individual campfire of faith.
6. Now, ask class members to take out their papers and to fill them with short phrases or images that depict or remind them of the parts of their campfire of faith.  Explain that the idea is not to write long sentences or stories; rather, the purpose is to create something that can remind them of their campfire of faith with just a glance.  Also, reassure them that this is not an art class; any drawing/diagram/etc is great if it reminds them of what they want it to.
7. Share your sheet as a model and talk about it for a couple of minutes.  Point to some specific things on it that remind you some important elements in your campfire of faith.  Do not feel compelled to overshare sacred things-- always follow the Spirit and if you don't feel impressed to share particularly sacred experience, don't.
8. Give the class members time to work on their sheets-- explain (depending on your plans) that there probably will not be enough time to finish it in class.
9. After some time, ask them to stop what they are doing.
10. Have them share in small groups what they have created so far.
11. Encourage them to go home and finish the sheets.  Encourage them to put these somewhere that they can see them and be reminded of these things on a regular basis.

Using the Activity:

In some ways, this might feel like a weird activity or like we are turning class into arts and crafts.  Well, I suppose in some ways both of those might be true.  :)  Still, I feel that this is an important activity for a few reasons.  First, some people simply process information better and the Spirit speaks to them as they do something creative (for example, read the first part of Elder Gong's talk, the part about creativity).  Second, this is an effective way to have our class members take home something the will stay with them and remind them of our lesson (remember this is a part of the class time-- not the entire thing-- you should still spend time talking about the talk and the doctrine involved).  Oftentimes, we send people home with things to hang on their fridge or to stick into their scriptures to remind them of some important point.  This is the same thing, except that what the class members take home will be individualized.  Finally, by asking the class members to share what they created in small groups, we are making room for our classes to become more united.  As the class members share brief glimpses of their inner lives, those around them can better appreciate their strength and resilience.  This can increase appreciation for one another and love between one another.  

I hope that this activity is helpful to you.  Please let me know how it goes, if you use it.  Or what you would like to see more of/less of in this blog.  Thank you.