Lesson 1: The Restoration of the Gospel

This lesson focuses on the role Joseph Smith played in the Restoration of the Gospel.  The purpose of this lesson seems to be increasing our testimony of Joseph Smith.  The purpose, then, of this activity is to remind class members of the great blessings that we enjoy as a result of the ministry of Joseph Smith.

Activity:

1. Ask class members to identify doctrines/truths/practices which set our church apart from the rest of the world's religions. 
2. As class members answer the question above, write their answers on the board.  You should fill up one side of the board, but don't make more than one column of answers. 
3. Then, ask the class members to identify how we know and/or have each of the things in our original list. 
4. Write these answers across from the corresponding item.  For example, if someone answers the first question with "The Priesthood."  Then, the answer to the second question is something like "Through Peter, James, and John restoring it,"  This second answer should be written across from the first one.
5. Once you have finished the pairs on the board, point out that each item in the second column can be traced back to Joseph Smith.

Using this activity:

This lesson feels like a great way to start the lesson, but it could be used later in the lesson. It gets people actively engaged in the lesson even if they have not read the lesson (and let's be honest; that's a lot of them).  By getting involved early, class members often feel more comfortable continuing to participate.  It's like pushing a car; once it's moving, things are fairly easy, but getting it started is a chore. 

The other advantage to using this early is that it helps to highlight the immense amount of work Heavenly Father carried out through Joseph Smith and to increase the class member's appreciation and recognition of what Joseph Smith did.  This can increase their attention to the rest of the lesson.  In all of this, remember that class member participation and attention increase their receptivity to the Spirit-- the real teacher of anything worth value.