Bishop Gerald Causse (Oct. '22): "Our Earthly Stewardship"

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 Bishop Causse is one of my favorite speakers (I don't know if it is entirely righteous to have favorite leaders, but I do).  He seems to me to always be so joyful in addition to helping me see things in a new light.  Plus, he is the only General Authority that I know of who can say Antoine de Saint-Exupery correctly 😀.  This talk is no different.  It made me reconsider a lot of things in my life.  

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Tell all of the class members that you are going to pose a question and you would like them to skim over this talk and find answers in the form of direct quotes.  They will have a couple of minutes to find their answers before you ask people to share.
  3. Pose the question:  Why does Heavenly Father ask us to be stewards of the Earth?  Why not owners?  Why not create a world doesn't need stewards?  Or some variation/extension of these questions.  
  4. Allow the class a couple of minutes to consider the question and find some answers.
  5. Bring the class members back together and ask people to share some of the quotes they found.

Using the Activity:

Often in lessons it is easy to focus on the things that we should do from the talk (the application of the talk); however, talking about our behavior will not do much to change our behavior.  Instead, as Pres. Packer taught, it is an understanding and testimony of doctrine that changes our behavior.  This activity is designed to begin thinking about the doctrines and principles of the gospel that underlie the applications of what Bishop Causse teaches us.  Other than that, this is a very direct activity.  

Depending on the size and make-up of your class/quorum, it might be useful to ask the class members to share with a partner before coming back together as a class.  For many people who don't participate in our classes, this is an easy way to foster that participation.  

I pray that you found this activity idea helpful.  Please let me know how I can help more.  

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