Lesson 23: The Blessings of the Holy Temple

One of the pioneers said of the trek west that they never could have made it without the blessings of the temple.  I used to reference that quote often, but I didn't understand it-- not really.  Then, a number of years ago, our family was living in northwestern Missouri and one of our children had a serious medical event.  For about six months, my wife and this child lived most of the time in Kansas City first in the hospital and then to be near doctors and therapists for daily treatments, while the rest of the kids and I stayed two hours away in our house.  Prior to this, my wife and I had been making the trek to the Winter Quarters temple once a month.  Obviously, we did not get to the temple during this time, but it was in a very real way that the power we had accumulated, if you will, by monthly temple attendance that saw us through.  I do not know in what condition we would have made it without the temple.  So, I am deeply thankful for the temple and one of my goals is to learn all I can about the temple and its blessings.  So, this lesson is a highlight for me.

Once again, I could not really settle on a single activity for this lesson.  Instead, I am presenting two activities.  Choose the one, if either, fits the needs of your class/quorum best, and use that one.

Activity A:

1. President Hinckley mentions several ways in which the temple blesses us, e.g. "the total fulfillment of the Savior's Atonement" (sect. 2, para. 1); "a school of instruction" (4,5); "a place of personal inspiration and revelation" (4, 6); "a fountain of eternal truth" (4, 7); "a house of covenants" (4, 8); "peace" (4, 9); "the sanctifying influence of the Spirit" (4, 11).  And there are more.
2. Choose those blessings that you feel prompted would be the most significant for your class/quorum.
3. Divide the class into small groups (or even partners) and assign each group one of these blessings mentioned.
4. Ask the groups to read the section from the manual and discuss how they have felt these blessings in their own lives or have heard about them in the lives of others. 
5. After a little time, bring the groups back together and ask the groups to share what they talked about.
6. In this activity please remember (and it may be worth reminding your class/quorum) that it is not always appropriate to talk about our sacred experiences.  It has been my experience that in these cases, testifying of what we have learned, without sharing details of the experience itself, is just as powerful, if not more so.

Activity B:

1. In this section, President Hinckley speaks to members at all different levels of temple involvement.  In each case, he gives counsel and promised blessings.  Roughly there are three groups-- 1) those who are unworthy to go to the temple (Sect. 4, Para. 1-3), 2) those who are worthy but are not attending the temple (4, 2 & 13), and 3) those who are going occasionally but not regularly (4, 9 & 11-12).
2. Write these three levels of involvement on the board and discuss how we are each at different stages (and that stages may shift and change over the course of our lives).  Be careful to not single anyone out or to speak disparagingly of any group on the board.
3. Read and discuss, as a class, the counsel given and blessing enumerated for each group.
4. Challenge each person in the class/quorum to write down a goal for their temple involvement.  You may even want to provide a note card for them to record their goals on.  The Elders Quorum I am part of passes around index card sized pieces of paper with our temple on them and lines to record a goal for each month.  Many of the quorum members find that very helpful.
5. Prior to this lesson: Set and work towards your own goal.  That way you can bear testimony of the blessings you have received as you pursued this goal.

Using these activities:

There are many variations on each of these activities that might work well.  I will mention only one variation for each activity.  For Activity A, you could hang up pieces of paper around the room with the blessings listed on them.  Then, class members could choose which blessings to talk about by going to that poster.  Similarly, you could provide them with markers and allow them to silently walk around the room and write on each poster experiences, ideas, or questions germane to each blessing listed.  The marker idea might be difficult because it might take a while to record an experience.  Activity B could easily be made into a sheet that class members wrote on.  Simply create a table in Word that had a row for each of the levels and a column for the counsel and a column for the blessings associated with each level. 

In both cases, though, these activities are designed to be high-involvement activities.  Also, I think these activities (especially the second one) are valuable because they ask our class members to consider the gospel in ways that they may not often think about it (in a more systematic, structured way).  That is not necessarily a better way of thinking, but my experience tends to suggest that when we think about something in a new way, we come to understand it in new, usually deeper ways.  I think this has more to do with pondering on a topic (which involves thinking about it in numerous ways and from different vantage points) and the blessings that come from pondering.

As always, I hope that these ideas are useful to your efforts. 

Lesson 22: Reaching Out with Love to New Converts and Less-Active Members

Many of us are familiar with the heartache that comes from seeing someone we care about come into the Church and then relatively quickly falling away.  Any time a member drifts away from full activity in the Church, it is the result of a myriad of reasons.  And at times there is a tendency to simply wash our hands of the matter because "they have their free agency."  It is true that every person has their agency and we cannot interfere with that.  however, it is equally true that we, as members of the Church, have the responsibility to reach out to them in love, concern, and friendship, and I believe there is much that we can do better to carry out this ministry in more Christ-like ways.  That is our goal-- to reach out in Christ-like ways.

The Activity:

1. Read the following statement (or do it in your own words):  Imagine that I invite you to join a club that I belong to.  It is the greatest club ever!  Our meetings are fun; we dress in cool clothes; we have great food; everyone there feels good that they are there.  You come with me a time or two and enjoy yourself.  You realize that this really is the world's greatest club and you join.  At first, it is still awesome.  People go out of their way to say hi and talk to you.  It seems like with every meeting you discover something else that you love about the club.  After a little time, you are asked to take care of some small things and you have a good time doing so.  You make a small mistake here or there-- nothing truly important but just out of the norm-- but that's just part of the fun and you continue on.  Once in a while the other club members use some acronym or word that you don't understand, but you fake it.  After all, you've been a member of the club for a little too long to ask those questions without being embarrassed.  My own situation in the club means that I'm not around as much as I used to be.  People don't seem to rush over to say hi and talk.  Yes, many people smile and greet you, but not a lot of people take time to talk a lot.  Then, one day you make a comment in a meeting that is wrong in some way and you can easily tell from the reaction of others-- maybe someone laughs, maybe someone says something snide, or maybe there is just an awkward pause.  In any case, you become self-conscious (maybe no one else even remembers that you said something incorrect, but you certainly do).  Things begin to feel different.  People seem to be avoiding you.  Eventually, the club doesn't seem so great and it's hard to remember what made you think it was so awesome before. At the same time, your friends from outside the club are inviting you to do things that are against what the club stands for.  Some are even criticizing the club.  When you try to find the answers, it's hard and not all of the answers are easy to find or understand.  You try to ask a club member but they simply tell you not to worry about your question-- that it will all work out in the end.  Maybe they even laugh a little that you have such a question.  So, it seems that the best course of action is to simply not talk about your questions because they don't seem to be things that are important to the club members really.  These are all non-issues.  So, maybe the problem is you.  
2. Now, ask the class members how they would feel in this situation? 
3. List what they say on the board.  Some potential answers might include things like:  I would feel alone/lonely; I would be confused; the questions I had would seem to become more important; etc.
4. Read the letter in section 2, paragraphs 3-6 ("My journey into the Church was unique . . .).
5. How is the class list similar to this woman's experience?
6. Discuss ways that class members could prevent/minimize these types of experiences.

Using the Activity:

Obviously, this activity is designed to be used at the beginning of class, but it could be used at some other time during the lesson.  And of course, there is no reason to read the situation in number one just as it is written.  You can obviously paraphrase/add/delete as you feel impressed. 

What I like about this lesson is that it is based on the idea of likening something to ourselves, but it is asking us to liken what it might be from someone else's experience.  This empathy is important in living the gospel and especially in reaching out to others.  As we understand the experiences of others better, we are less likely to dismiss or belittle their feelings.  No one wants to be someplace where their feelings and ideas are discounted.  So, we will never be effective in our efforts to reach out to others without developing this empathy.  This activity, hopefully, will help us to be more Christ-like in our efforts to reach out to others.

Lesson 21: The Latter-Day Miracle of Missionary Work

We have all had lessons on missionary work that only served to make us feel discouraged, embarrassed, and/or ashamed.  Or we have been asked to compile a list of friends (again) that we could share the gospel with.  Those lessons have their place in the Church.  Well, not the first type of lesson; that sort of lesson is never valuable because it doesn't lead to different behavior.  So, the activities I am going to share here are not directly geared towards those types of activities.  However, I believe that each activity here (there are 2) can and will, if done well, lead our class members to renew their conviction to share the gospel and undertake new efforts to do so.

Activity 1:

1. Review what was discussed last week, especially about strengthening our friendships with those around us who are not of our faith.
2. Ask for some class members to share what they have done this past week to implement the ideas from last week.
3. Read the 3rd paragraph in Section 1 ("Let us as Latter-day Saints . . .).
4. Discuss how these sorts of small steps to be better friends will make it easier to fulfill the command to share the gospel.  Be sure here to treat being better friends as exactly what it is-- a way to be a missionary.  So, if someone is being a good/better friend to those around them, they are being a missionary.
5. Discuss again on ways of reaching out in true friendship to those around us who are not of our faith.  Focus on building relationships of trust (to use the old missionary term :)  ). 

Activity 2:

1. Divide the class into two parts.
2. Ask the first group to read Section 3, paragraph 3 ("We ask that parents . . .") and then discuss specific things that they are doing to fulfill the challenge of President Hinckley in this part to prepare their children for future missionary service.
3. Ask the other group to read Section 3, paragraphs 8-9 ("Along with the need . . .") and then discuss specific things they are doing to fulfill the challenge of President Hinckley in this quote to prepare to serve a mission themselves in the future.
4. Come back together and ask each group to share the things that they came up with.
5. List them on the board and look for similarities and differences.
6. Discuss as a class

Activity 3 (You may consider this a cop out, but I believe this would be effective):

1. Identify someone you know that is a convert and would be comfortable sharing their conversion story with others.  This could be a person that is part of the class or not.  You might even use technology to skype in someone that you know from outside the ward/branch you live in.  This could be especially powerful, if it were someone that you met and taught on your own mission.  Preferably, the focus of their story would be how regular members helped them to become interested and learn more about the gospel.
2. As a class, discuss what stood out to each person as they listened to that account. 
3. Invite anyone in the class who feels so moved to share part(s) of their conversion story.

Using These Activities:

Three activities is more than normal, I admit, but I was having trouble focusing on just one.  Of course, there are ways to adapt each of these activities to meet the needs of your class.  Many of them are mentioned in the specific activities themselves.  So, instead of going through those, I want to explain what I think is the important part of each of these.  First, we are more motivated to do things that we feel like we are already doing well at.  Mind you, our perceptions do not need to be accurate; as long as we feel like we are good at something, we are motivated to keep trying.  So, in these activities part of the focus is on helping the class members to feel good about their efforts to do missionary work already.  The most Christ-like people I know have always done this with me.  They encourage me even when I am probably not doing much well and I try even harder afterwards.  So, by focusing on what the class members are doing (Activities 1 and 2) already in missionary work, they will feel more desire to try even harder to do missionary work.  That is what we want.  The last activity is clearly based on the power of testimony and story.  We all get excited when we hear about missionary success stories.  So, by sharing one of those and then inviting others in the class to also share, we are creating a climate into which the Spirit can touch individual's hearts and increase their desire to participate.

I hope that one of these ideas will prove helpful to you.  Please let me know these ideas work.  I am eager to learn of their value.

Lesson 20: Fellowship with Those Who Are Not of Our Faith

I wince whenever I hear about church members who are not friendly with people who are not members or who only want to be friends with non-members as long as they want to learn more.  Ultimately, yes, we want everyone to accept the gospel and find the joy, peace, and happiness that we have.  However, in my experience that comes only after we have become friends-- genuine friends.  For that reason, I think that this is a really important lesson.

The Activity:

1. Make a list of words on the board.  Choose words from pages Section 2 that President Hinckley uses to describe how our relationships with people not of our religion should and should not be.  Some of these words include arrogant, appreciation, respect, acrimony, and neighborliness.
2. Ask the class members to sort the words in this list into two groups.  You could identify what the two groups should be or not.  The words are different enough that most people  would sort them into the appropriate groups without indication, I believe.
3. Explain that what these words are, if you have not already done so.
4. Ask class members to look through the chapter (or just this section) for quotes that include some of these words.
5. Ask them to share any of these quotes that really seem to stand out to them.
6. Discuss the quotes.
7. Fill in a table that looks something like the following (with as many rows as you wish):

Descriptor	Looks Like	Sounds Like	Feels Like	Results in
Respect
Civility

   

    8.  Discuss the entries.

Using the Activity:

There are several changes that could easily be made to this activity while still aiming at the objectives.  First, you can use whatever words you want.  I suggest using Section 2 as the source for these words, but you could easily use words from throughout the chapter.  Also, most parts of this activity could work just as well with smaller groups.  Finally, you could label the columns of the table differently if you so choose. 

The value of this activity is in considering the application of President Hinckley's counsel on this subject.  The idea is to push class members to think a little deeper about their relationships with the neighbors, co-workers, and friends who are not members of the Church.  We want them to consider how each of these words that President Hinckley uses could seem from multiple perspectives and ultimately to identify ways in which we could all treat those around us in more Christ-like ways.  Ultimately, those relationships will open doors to be able to share the gospel, which is the focus of next week's lesson.

I pray that this idea is of use to you and will help you as a teacher to find the inspiration and revelation that you need to do the Lord's work you are called to do. 

Lesson 19-- Priesthood Leadership in the Church of Jesus Christ

As long as I can remember, I have had a testimony of living prophets.  The idea that Father would use other people as conduits of knowledge and revelation appealed to me.  It made sense to me and I have loved the prophet ever since.  In fact, my love for President Hinckley was a major factor in my starting this blog.  I simply love the idea of prophets and want to follow them.  So, I am excited for this lesson.

The Activity:

1. Divide the class into four groups
2. Assign each group one of the following questions:
1. Why does Father choose older men to lead his church, in general?
2. What happens to the Church when the prophet cannot fully function due to the effects of age/illness?
3. How do the Church leaders, i.e. First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, etc. made decisions that impact the work of the Church?
4. What exactly are the Apostles to do?  The Stake Presidency?  The Bishop?
3. While many people can perhaps answer these questions without reference to the text, ask each group to find out exactly what President Hinckley says about each question.  They should find an exact quote and discuss it amongst themselves.
4. Have the groups come back and share the quote they identified and what they talked about in their groups.
5. As a class discuss how knowing the answer to these questions can impact our testimonies.

Using the Activity:

As far as variations on this activity, the most obvious one would be to change the questions.  Those are the most central questions that stood out to me as I read over this lesson.  Under the direction of the Spirit, you may come up with different questions that are more valuable for your class.  Also, you could search for these answers as a whole class instead of in groups.  Whatever best fits your class members' needs is the best course of action. 

From a teaching perspective, on the surface this activity seems a lot like other activities that I have proposed.  I am a big proponent of smaller groups of people talking things through in respectful, Spirit-filled ways.  However, this activity also asks the class members to do something that far too few people in my experience do-- read the actual words of the text.  I will admit that I love to read and that I learn easily from reading.  In fact, I can usually remember quite a bit of what I have read.  So, I know that I am different from most people in this regard.  Nevertheless, there is great power in the actual words of the prophets-- living and dead.  Cognitively (and spiritually, I would argue) there is great value in actually reading and not simply watching a video of something or hearing someone else sum it up, although both of those activities have their place.  The Spirit seems to flow in more completely as we read/hear the actual words of the prophets.  So, in this activity I am trying to push the class members back to the actual text.  The other reason I believe it is important to consult the exact words of the prophets is that often we are guided by tradition rather than actual doctrine.  Yes, there are times when the tradition is in line with the doctrine, but there are also times when the traditions are not in line with doctrine (the traditions do not even necessarily need to be opposite doctrine-- just not in agreement).  When this happens, often obstacles are put in the path of others as they attempt to come unto Christ.  Satan does not need any help putting up obstacles to people; he does a great job by himself.  So, the more we can ground our ideas and practices in exactly what the prophets (from our dispensation and from the scriptures) say, the better off we will be.

I hope that this idea is helpful and that if you use it, your class is full of the Spirit.  Please let me know how it goes as you have time.

Lesson 18: Virtue-- A Cornerstone on Which to Build Our Lives

Given the assault by Satan on the virtue of people the globe over, this seems like an incredibly timely topic.  A couple of years ago I was in a stake priesthood leadership meeting with Elder Ballard.  He spoke about pornography and said quite simply, "There are some in this room who are struggling with this.  If that is you, stop it."  I know many of the men in that room.  They are great men who desire to serve and follow Christ; they are family men who are devoted to their wives and children.  In other words, these are issues that afflict the best of us.  I am presenting two lesson ideas in this post.  The basic lesson activities are fairly similar.  What is most different is the focus of each activity.  The first activity is focused on pornography, while the second activity is focused on virtue more generally (although there is a section on pornography).  In putting forth these activities, I want to add a word of caution.  At times, the ways we speak about sins of any types (except our own), but especially sins of a sexual nature, can hurt those struggling with those issues rather than help them.  As you approach this lesson ask yourself, "is the way I am talking about this likely to invite someone to repent and come unto Christ? or simply to feel trodden upon and more distant from Christ?"  Remember, there is no sin beyond the power of the atonement.

Activity 1:

1. Read paragraph #8 in section 3 ("You live in a world . . .")
2. Point out to the class that in this quote, President Hinckley compares pornography to three things-- a horrible, engulfing tide; poison; and a foul disease).
3. Divide the class into three groups and assign each group one of the comparisons
4. Ask each group to discuss how pornography is like the thing they have been assigned.  Note:  for each item, there are some easily seen connections.  Urge the group members to go beyond the most obvious connections and look for deeper connections.
5. Also, ask each group to think about what their assigned metaphor can teach them about pornography that they can apply in their own lives to help themselves and those around them avoid/escape the trap of pornography.
6. Ask the groups to report back what they discussed to the class.

Activity 2:

1. Begin with the story about the man hiring a stagecoach (I used to think this was famous, but maybe only in my mind.  I'm not sure where I first heard it and I can't easily find it on-line.  If anyone recognizes it and can provide a source,  please do, and I will make the appropriate edit.  Thanks).  Here's the story:  A man wanted to hire a stagecoach driver to drive his coach on a route over a dangerous mountain pass.  There were three candidates.  He asked each of them the same question, "How close can you come to the edge of the cliff without falling over?"  The first applicant looked confident and said, "I can come within one inch of the edge without falling over?"  The second looked even more confident, "I can ride with half the wheel over the edge without falling over?"  The third appeared slightly concerned, "I don't know how close I can get to the edge.  I always stay as far from the edge as I can."  The manager promptly hired the third driver.
2. With that as a backdrop explain that President Hinckley identified three threats to our virtue-- our thoughts, pornography, and immorality.
3. Divide the class into three groups and assign each of them one of the topics.
4. Ask the groups to discuss what they can do to be like the third driver and stay as far from the edge as possible in relation to their assigned topic.
5. Ask the groups to report back what they discussed to the class.

Using the Activity:

As I said earlier, these activities really are the same activity, just with different focuses.  One slight variation you could easily use is that instead of dividing the class yourself into three groups, you could ask the class members to divide themselves by going where they feel most comfortable being.  There are some advantages and disadvantages to this.  Some may feel that to select any particular group (especially in the second activity) could be seen as an admission of guilt.  On the flip side, if someone is struggling with a particular temptation or understanding, allowing them to choose allows them to exercise their faith that participation in a particular group will result in help. 

The reasons that these activities both work well are reasons that we have talked about before in this blog.  First, you are making it easier for class members to speak up and share their ideas and thoughts.  When we speak up, we are exercising faith.  When we exercise faith, we open ourselves up more to the Spirit.  Ultimately, it is the Spirit that is the only real teacher of value. So, increasing participation will increase conversion and testimony.  Secondly, both activities have some element of focus on application.  With a topic such as virtue, where most people want to believe they are immune to temptation (when in reality none of us are), I think it is especially important to directly ask our class members to consider how they can be proactive in avoiding temptation (being like the third applicant for the stagecoach job). 

As always, these ideas are designed to be usable but also to be seeds.  If they have sparked an idea in you, they are successful.  Mostly, I hope they help you to invite the Spirit into your classes.  Please let me know of any feedback you have.

Lesson 17: Continue in the Great Process of Learning

I am, by profession, a professional educator.  So, this topic lies close to my heart.  I believe that continuing education throughout life is important to enriching ourselves and making us more fit for the kingdom.  And by no means do I envision that all learning takes place in the classroom.  We can learn much far from formal teaching environments.  In fact, the majority of us will not do a lot of schooling past our early 20's.  Yet, we can continue picking up new knowledge in a myriad of ways.  For example, my admittedly stunted handyman skills have been significantly increased because of need and a number of knowledgeable men and woman who post videos showing me how to repair my clothes dryer or replace a screen on a window or door.  Such learning keeps us fresh and invigorated, in my experience.  I believe that President Hinckley's own on-going learning was much of the reason for his sharp wit and keen insight.

The Activity:

1.   Discuss some of the quotes from Section 5.  For example, paragraph #3 ("None of us . . .") or #4 ("Keep on growing . . .").
2. Discuss what we are to be learning (you might read the first paragraph of Section 1 as part of this discussion ["You belong to a church . . ."]).
3. On the board, create three columns-- mind, heart, hands-- and tell the class that each of these headings represents a different kind of learning.  The idea of heart comes from Section 4, paragraph 4.
4. Then, for each section discuss the following questions (this could be done in small groups):
1. What does this type of learning entail?
2. Where can you engage in this type of learning?
3. What blessing can come from this type of learning?
4. What experiences have you had with this type of learning?
5. Discuss these questions for each individual heading as well as any connections across the headings.

Using the Activity:

The main idea behind this activity is to broaden our class members' views of what it means to continue in learning while at the same time increasing their motivation and their confidence to try new avenues of learning.  As always we are hoping to invite each class member to open their hearts through engaging in the topic so that the Spirit can whisper messages of individual witness or promptings to individuals.  Because of this, you might also encourage class members to be prepared to write down on a piece of paper or make note on their devices (phones, tablets, etc.) any promptings from the Spirit.  It may seem unlikely to some class members that the Spirit will guide them in learning secular things, but it has happened in my life and it can happen in theirs.

I hope that this activity is fruitful for you and your class members.