Elder Quentin L. Cook (Oct. '22): "Be True to God and HIs Work"

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 Elder Cook's counsel on bridling our passions-- especially our anger and our lust-- feels like extremely timely counsel.  In the Church, we talk a lot about morality but not as much about anger, yet it feels like a large percentage of the signs of the times involve violence, anger, and contention.  So, I appreciated this double focus.

The Activity:

  1. Before class begins, write the following statements on the board:
    1. A testimony is to spiritual survival as ______________ is to ______________.
    2. Repentance is to our testimony as _________________ is to ______________.
    3. Impressions of the Spirit are to angelic visits as _____________ is to _________.
    4. Contention is to a testimony as ____________ is to _____________.
    5. The Savior is to our salvation as ________________ is to _____________.
  2. Invite the class members to silently ponder how they might complete these sentences.
  3. Allow a few minutes of silent reflection.
  4. Come together and share thoughts as a class.

Using the Activity:

This activity used to be fairly common in schools so it might be familiar to some of us.  The idea is for the class members to really consider the relationship between two things by comparing it to the relationship between two other things.  In some senses, this is like a parable in that we are trying to take spiritual concepts and find earthly equivalents (or almost equivalents).  Not everyone's minds think easily in this way.  So, for some class members this might be a more taxing activity.  Still, by asking the class members to consider the possible comparisons we are in reality asking them to think deeply about the initial concept.  Thinking deeply about a spiritual concept (pondering) is a key to receiving revelation as evidenced throughout the scriptures.  

I imagine this activity as taking place at the beginning or end of a class.  It is a nice way to introduce the topics explored by Elder Cook (of course, you can write and add your own sentences to work with).  It can also be a beneficial way to close out a class by asking the class members to consider all that has been talked about during the period.  Also, it's worth noting that this activity does not require anyone to have an in-depth knowledge of Elder Cook's talk to participate.  

I hope that you find this activity useful as you seek the Lord's will for your class/quorum.  May God bless you in your efforts to teach with power and authority.  

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