Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf (Apr. '21): "God is Among Us"

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 One of the most prevalent themes of this April's conference was hope.  Several talks directly addressed the idea of hope and others alluded to it.  I always think it is telling when we see a single gospel topic addressed so heavily (and it seems to happen every conference that several themes emerge across the talks).  Especially given the times we are in, hope seems to be a most appropriate and needed gospel principle for us to focus on.

The Activity:

  1. Draw some simple shapes on the board that look like basic street signs.
  2. Talk about how some people want a sign of God's presence/existence (for example, Korihor in Alma 30).  Usually these people want some great miracle like manna from heaven.  Generally, though, God does not work that way.  Still, there are signs for the faithful, if we have eyes to see.
  3. Read par. 31-32 "His message was . . . is among us!" and explain that the signs you will talk about all point to this one thing-- that God is among us
  4. Read the following passages with the class members:
    • Par. 10:  "It is astonishing . . . joint-heir with Christ."
    • Par. 37:  "And we should . . . servants the prophets."
    • Par. 58:  "My beloved friends . . . parents a reality."
  5. As you read each passage, write the sign in one of the shapes you drew previously on the board.  Discuss how each gift testifies that God is among us.

Using the Activity:

The first note is that the list of passages and gifts I identified in this activity are not necessarily the only ones mentioned by Pres. Uchtdorf-- and they certainly do not represent the full breadth of ways that God's presence among us and His love for us are shown.  So, feel free to use different/additional passages. 

I will  also admit that as I designed this activity I kept thinking back to Pres. Oaks's talk where he tells the story of the woman who asked what Christ had done for her.  It seems to be a common issue for many people that they do not recognize the signs that are there of God's love and watch care.  Instead, we demand that He manifest Himself in the ways we choose.  So, I was hoping that in some way, this activity would help us all to recognize more fully how Father's love is manifest towards us.  

I hope that you find this activity useful and I pray that God will bless you in your efforts to preach his gospel with power and authority.  

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