President Russell M. Nelson (Oct. '23): "Think Celestial!"

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 I know that we only got to hear from President Nelson once during this conference, but it was worth the wait.  After wards, I felt like I knew the issues that were most pressing on President Nelson's mind.  He underscored all of those issues with the admonition to "think celestial."  This seems to me to echo other counsel he has give such as "hear Him" and "start with the end in mind."  I am grateful both for the newness of this counsel and the familiarity of it.  

The Activity:

  1. Make sure that everyone has access to a copy of the talk either digitally or physically.
  2. Divide the board into three sections and label them respectively-- "What?"  "Why?"  and "How?"
  3. Point out that in this talk President Nelson outlines a few answer to each of those questions-- "What is thinking celestial?"  "Why should we think celestial?"  and "How can we think celestial?"
  4. Divide the class into three groups and assign each group one of those questions.
  5. Ask each person in the group to take 3 or 4 minutes to silently review the talk looking for passages where President Nelson provides an answer to their assigned question.
  6. Allow the individuals time to review the talk.
  7. Invite the groups to come together to discuss the various answers that they found and the ideas/ inspiration that those answers spark in them.
  8. Give the groups time to discuss as you listen in for what the Spirit tells you are important insights for the whole class.
  9. After some time, come back together as a class and invite the groups to share what they talked about.  As this sharing is going on invite specific members of the class to share those things that you were struck with during their group time.

About the Activity:

At times it is easy to remember the catchphrase of a talk (Think celestial) but to not necessarily remember what exactly the speaker said about it directly.  While for some talks that is fine, for the words of the prophets, I believe, it is important to remember the promptings we felt and the inspiration we received as we listened and to remember the prophet's exact words/counsel.  This activity is designed to help reinforce President Nelson's exact words along with what we felt as we listened and what we feel during this lesson.  

By providing time to review the talk before discussing, it helps everyone prepare to participate in the discussion.  When we participate, we are exercising our faith (as Elder Bednar has taught on a number of occasions), and when we exercise faith we are preparing ourselves to feel the Spirit's guidance and witness.  Therefore, the time devoted to skimming the talk is vital for this activity, although the silence may be daunting.  

I hope that this activity is useful for you and pray that you are blessed in your efforts to teach with the Spirit.

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