Elder Taniela B. Wakolo (Apr. '21): "God Loves His Children"

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 This activity is an important activity, but it is very general in that it could easily be applied to basically any lesson on any talk at almost any level of Church.  Still, this activity can be very powerful.  I just did a variation of this activity yesterday while teaching Elders Quorum and it was very powerful.

The Activity:

  1. Give each class member a small piece of paper (index card, post-it note, etc.) and something to write with.
  2. Ask the class members to take a moment and review what has been shared in the meeting with a special focus on the three manifestations of God's love Elder Wakolo talked about.
  3. Now ask the class members to think about which area they should do better in, which one they should share about, and which one they should express more gratitude to Father for.  Ask them to consider specific actions they could take or specific aspects of these manifestations that need more attention in their life.
  4. After a moment of silent consideration, ask the class members to write down one thing they can specifically do this week on the paper.  Then, ask them to store the paper somewhere they will see it during the next week to help them remember.

Using the Activity:

Ultimately, as teachers in the Church, we need to recognize that the only teacher that actually matters in the Holy Ghost, and when He is teaching the instruction will be very individualized.  When we spend all of our class time talking and sharing our own insights, we rob the Spirit of a chance to be heard.  This activity is designed to allow Him opportunity to teach.  Also, by focusing on specific things to change, this activity is helpful in that it has the power to lead the class members very specifically to come closer to Christ by taking Spirit directed actions.  In other words, this activity is designed to be a moment of personal revelation for each member of the class.

When I did this activity yesterday it was a powerful moment.  Almost every person in the class participated.  How will they do this week?  I do not know, but I do know that almost everyone recorded a goal from what I could observe.

One easy change is to ask the class members to record their goals on their phones.  This is what I did in my lesson as I realized that the notecards and pens that I had gathered were conveniently sitting on my dining room table during the lesson.  :)  One advantage of the phone is that class members can even set an alarm to help them remember what they feel like they should do.  When I mentioned this, I noticed at least a couple of the class members accessing their alarms.  

I pray that this idea will be helpful to you in your teaching.  Thank you for visiting my blog and please let me know if I can do anything to improve my work here.

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