President Henry B. Eyring (Apr. 19): "The Power of Sustaining Faith"

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As someone who makes a living in academia, I appreciate that at the beginning of most, if not all, of Pres. Eyring's talks he gives us his purpose(s).  This talk is no different.  At the end of the first paragraph, he tells that he has two purposes.  First, he wants to express appreciation, specifically from the Lord, for the sustaining faith of the members.  Second, he wants encourage us to sustain more completely our leaders.  This activity will focus on the second purpose.

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has access to a copy of the talk.
  2. On the board draw a line down the middle and on one side write How do we sustain our leaders? On the other side, write What are the blessings of sustaining our leaders?
  3. Then, ask the class members to look over the talk and identify some answers that Pres. Eyring gives to each of those questions.  Do not take answers immediately; instead, give the class a few minutes of silent time to locate some passages that will work.  Encourage class members to mark these passages in their talks.
  4. After a few minutes, ask them to share a bit of what they found with a neighbor.
  5. After a couple of minutes of sharing, come back together as a class.  Ask the class members to share some of the answers to the two questions.
  6. As they give their answers, jot them down under the corresponding question and discuss them for a moment.
Using the Activity:

This activity is a basic think-pair-share activity.  And it is highly effective in sparking discussion among the class members.  Often, people don't share because they don't have something to say right off the bat and the opportunity is past to quickly.  By pausing in step three to allow people to collect their thoughts for a few minutes, you are making it possible for them to have something valuable to say.  Also, when people share with just one other person, they are more likely to talk.  So, you are providing multiple opportunities in this activity for people to exercise their faith, which will open their hearts to the Spirit.  

You could easily convert this to a small group activity or move straight to a whole class discussion depending on your needs.  You might also ask different or additional questions.  I would also suggest that a handout that the class members could fill in would be helpful.  Whenever we write things down (or mark them as in step 3), we make them easier to remember.  

I hope you find this activity helpful.

Comments

  1. CamiAugust 10, 2019 at 5:16 PM

    I appreciate you so much with all your awesome ideas. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tom SmithAugust 13, 2019 at 12:09 AM

    Thank you. I'm glad you like them.

    ReplyDelete

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