Elder Neil L. Anderson (Oct. '19): "Fruit"

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I know they don't assign topics to speakers, but had they asked Elder Anderson directly to simply sum up the messages from this conference, I don't know if he could have done any better.  For me the two overriding themes of conference were to center our lives on Christ and to recognize the tricks Satan uses to deceive us (maybe he could have added a little more about adversity-- maybe).  So, what a wonderful way to end conference.

The Activity:

  1. Give everyone a small slip of paper (an index card or post-it note or something about that size) and something to write with.
  2. Read the quote in par. 11-14 "In our world . . . only through him."
  3. Discuss the quote, focusing on the phrases "We heeded them not" and "Keep your eyes and yoru hearts centered on Him."
  4. Explain that not heeding Satan is rarely accomplished by simply ignoring him; instead, we must do positive things to center ourselves on Christ.  As we do these things, we change ourselves in such a way that we cease to heed Satan.
  5. Ask the class members to consider some things they (can) do to center themselves on Christ.  Have them write one thing on their slip of paper-- only one thing.
  6. Explain that the class members will have a chance to share their thing with others in the room according to the following pattern:
    1. Class members will stand up and find someone from another part of the room.
    2. They will share what they do with their new partner explaining how the activity helps to center them on Christ and/or not heed Satan.  
    3. They will listen as their partner shares what they wrote down.
    4. They will trade slips with their partner.
    5. They will find a new partner and repeat the process sharing the idea that is on their new slip of paper.  They are free to share what they heard previously about the slip of paper, if they wish.
  7. Give the class members enough time to share with a few people (4 or 5, depending on the size of your class).
  8. Come back together and ask class members to share anything they noticed as they shared with their classmates.
Using the Activity:

This activity has a few positive aspects.  It is based on class members predominantly focusing on their successes (what are they doing), which can be motivating.  It is based on getting lots of people talking and if you use the speak to people from other parts of the room rule, this could be a way to encourage unity within the class members.  Also, by hearing others speak a few things could emerge, which are positive-- it could be seen that most items are similar (that we have more in common than we do different); it could be that someone who struggles with some aspect, e.g. scripture reading or temple attendance, could hear repeated testimonies about those specific things; it could be that people learn new ideas about old practices, which could serve to revitalize those things.  Finally, (although this could be changed) movement helps our minds to retain more information.  So, the fact that we ask the class members to move a bit could be a way of helping them to increase attention to the topic-- an important ingredient for revelation.

It should be noted that you could do this activity seated in small groups or just with those around people.  This might be beneficial depending on the size of your room versus the number of people or if you have a number of members with mobility requirements that make this impractical.  This activity could still work well.

I hope that you find this idea useful.  God bless you to teach with power and authority.

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