Elder Gary E. Stevenson (Oct. '21): "Simply Beautiful-- Beautifully Simple"

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 Elder Stevenson always gives such lovely talks, and this one is no exception.  It is often the case that we want to overcomplicate things.  We want to figure out the "deep doctrine" and the "mysteries" of the kingdom.  Surely, the gospel is worthy of our extended and intense study; however, we must be careful that we do not seek to overcomplicate it in ways that will lead us away from the truths we know.  This is what happened to the Jews prior to the coming of Christ, which led them to reject Him (see Jacob 4:14-15).

The Activity:

  1. Explain that Elder Stevenson shares four stories to inspire and inform us.  
  2. Divide the class into four groups and assign each group one of the four stories (sections) from the talk:
    1. Living the Gospel of Christ
    2. Caring for those in Need
    3. Inviting all to Receive the Gospel
    4. Uniting Families for Eternity
  3. Ask the groups to read the story together and then discuss the following things:
    1. How are the actions taken in the story "simple"?
    2. What are some simple things that we can do to fulfill our responsibilities in this area?
  4. After a few minutes, come back together as a class and ask each group to report what they talked about.  Invite others to add to the lists that they created in response to the second question.

Using the Activity:

The focus of this activity is to simply ask the class members to liken these stories to ourselves (see I Ne. 19:23).  For many of us, it is really helpful to have a model when we consider how we might do something, such as live the gospel.  By seeing and hearing what others are doing, we can recognize the best ways for us to apply these same principles in our own lives.  

Another important aspect of this activity is the very focused nature of the questions asked to the groups.  Instead of simply saying discuss these sections, the questions give a particular focus to the discussions.  The Spirit may lead the discussion to other places, but assuming that the Spirit led us to pose these questions in the first place, it is likely that for most groups these questions will lead to inspiration.  

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Please let me know how it goes.  

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