President Dallin H. Oaks (Apr. 19): "Where Will This Lead?"

This talk is based on a very practical approach to gospel living and so this activity is geared to highlight the applicability of this talk to our everyday lives.

The Activity:

1. Prior to the lesson, create 7 or 8 situations that require a choice and write them on slips of paper.  For example . . .
1. You are exhausted and get into bed before saying your prayer.  What do you do?
2. You see a friend making poor choices that could endanger her/him and others.  What do you do?
3. You win free tickets to a show that you and your wife have been wanting to see.  Then, you discover that the show is on a Sunday.  There are no changes.  What do you do?
4. Etc.
2. Put the slips of paper in a jar
3. Ask a volunteer to select a paper from the jar and read it aloud.  
4. Discuss the situation, the possible choices, and where each choice will lead.  Be careful of falling into the trap of a slippery slope.  For example, not saying your prayers one night does not condemn you to outer darkness, but it does make it easier to skip another night and it could make you more susceptible to the temptations of the adversary.  
5. Repeat this a couple of times.
6. Reflect with the class on the fact that it is easy to make the right choice sitting here in class, but in a warm bed when you are tired getting out to say your prayers might be a different story.  Discuss how to make better decisions, e.g. count to 10, sing a hymn, etc.
7. (Possibly at the end of the class) Challenge the class members to choose a strategy mentioned and apply it in the upcoming week.

Using the Activity:

As I said in the introduction, this talk felt like it focused more on practical living of the gospel than it did on doctrines of the gospel (although the application is definitely doctrinally based).  And I wanted to reflect that in the activity.  This activity might feel a bit artificial and you could certainly personalize this to your class members in a number of ways.  For example, you could ask them to write down some times they have faced stiffer temptations (although this could get a little personal).  You could have them do something similar in small groups.  In any case, the idea of this activity is to begin with a hypothetical situation that the class members can see as somewhat realistic and that they can then personalize.

While this is not the type of activity that I design often, it is an important activity.  We know that doctrine is what converts and changes behavior and so we don't want this activity to simply be talking about behavior.  It should happen after the doctrine behind this idea has been set forth and the Spirit has been present and has testified to the class members that it is true.  Then, an activity like this-- one in which they are asked to consider practical applications of the gospel-- can be meaningful because it can help members to live more in line with what they know to be true.  

I hope this is helpful.  God bless and please let me know how it goes.