Elder Mark D. Eddy (Oct. '22): "The Virtue of the Word"

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 For me, one of the ways that the Spirit speaks to me most directly is through the scriptures.  So, this talk strikes close to my heart.  I have a strong testimony of "the virtue of the Word"-- in both of its meanings that Elder Eddy talks about.  

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Ask the class members to spend a few minutes skimming over the talk to identify what they consider the most important phrase and to mark it.
  3. After a few minutes, divide the class into small groups (about 4 people in each).  For timing purposes, it is best to have equal sized groups as much as possible, but it is not vital.
  4. Ask the small groups to discuss each of the quotes in the following way:
    1. One group member reads her or his quote.
    2. The group quietly thinks about the quote for a moment.
    3. The other group members spend a couple of minutes discussing the quote.
    4. The reader then has one minute to respond to what has been said and/or to explain why they chose that particular passage.
    5. Repeat until everyone has had a chance to share.
  5. Come back together.

Using the Activity:

We have been told that we need to be a Home-centered, Church-supported church.  One way to do this is to center the voices, ideas, experiences, and inspiration of the our class members.  This activity is designed to do this.  Unfortunately, we know that not everyone reads the talk in preparation for the lesson.  So, the time to review the talk-- even if it is not enough time to carefully read and study it-- is a vital part of this activity (and many of them that I have shared on this site).  By allowing the students to refresh their minds of what has been said (or to read it for the very first time), we are helping them to be better positioned to get more out of our lesson.  

As always, thank you for visiting my site.  I sincerely hope that this activity idea was helpful in your efforts to teach with and by the Spirit.

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