Willing, but not able...

This past semester, I added teaching two Institute classes to my schedule. This reduced my time for scripture study (and blogging about it) significantly. It reduced my time for ANYTHING significantly, actually. At the end of the semester, the Institute Director asked me if I was glad it was over. I said, "Experience wise, no. Time wise, yes!"

I had an amazing time! I taught Book of Mormon and The Power of the Word. The Power of the Word is a scripture study class, so, as you can imagine, I loved it! I want to share a lot of what I learned this semester, and this is the perfect place to do it!

I have two more weeks of Seminary left though, so stay tuned!

REMEMBER

This year's course of study in Seminary is the Book of Mormon. I have read the Book of Mormon several times in the past, yet I am learning SO much as I study it again with the intent of teaching it to the youth. 

One of the things that is frequently said about us, as a society and as individuals, is that we are too quick to forget what has happened in the past and we end up repeating past mistakes. As I have been studying the Book of Mormon this year, it has come to my attention how often the word REMEMBER is used. Upwards of 200 times. 

"And now remember..."

"I would that ye should remember..."

"Let us remember..."

"Oh, remember..."

"If ye do not remember..."

"See that ye remember..."

"Do ye not remember..."

Constant reminders of what the Lord has done to bless our lives. The entire Book of Mormon is a record of all the different ways that the Lord has blessed people who have followed His commandments and counsel, and how those who do not are not.  Quite often, counsel to stay faithful to the Lord NOW is proceeded by a remembrance of a way that the Lord blessed the faithful THEN. Over and over they are exhorted to remember the captivity of their fathers and how the Lord brought them out of bondage, both temporal and spiritual.

At the end of the Book of Mormon, Moroni states:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts." (emphasis added)

When we remember the blessings that we have received from the Lord, it puts us in the right frame of mind -- it opens our eyes and our ears and our hearts -- to receive counsel, admonition, answers and guidance from our Father in Heaven. It turns our focus towards the spiritual and away from the "natural man". It reminds us that we are better than our past mistakes and that we are not doomed to repeat them. We gain confidence and faith that if others have succeeded, we can too. 

Most importantly, it helps us to open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to the hope of Jesus Christ. Remembering that, through Him, we can be redeemed from our past mistakes and become clean through His Atonement. Each Sunday we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament in remembrance of all that our Savior has done for us, and we are renewed and strengthened by promising Him that we will do better and try harder and to draw closer to Him. And, as we keep that covenant, hopefully, we can be an example for others to remember.

What a blessing it is to REMEMBER! 


(If you would like a free copy of the Book of Mormon, click HERE)

Doctrinal Mastery

Last year, for Seminary, the Church Educational System replaced the focus of Scripture Mastery to Doctrinal Mastery. I was very excited about this change, as the focus of Scripture Mastery was to memorize the scripture and it's reference. Doctrinal Mastery is about understanding the doctrine of the scripture. I found that when the students were "memorizing" the scriptures, they were only remembering it as long as it took to pass it off, and then they couldn't remember it again after that. I wanted to dig a little deeper, so when we studied Scripture Mastery, once a week I went into more detail with them.

Our study of the scriptures began like this:

... which was fine, because we were looking for the meaning behind the scripture and ways to apply it.

Then Doctrinal Mastery was introduced, and once a week we would study one of the Doctrinal Mastery scriptures in a little more depth than we had before:

... which was also great, because we were digging even more into the doctrine and meaning.

This year, I think we are really getting into the purpose of Doctrinal Mastery study, as we more thoroughly immerse ourselves all week long:

On Mondays:

• we decide which Doctrinal Mastery topic the scripture covers
• find a hymn that relates to the Doctrinal Mastery topic that we will sing for the week
• talk about the context in which the scripture was given/recorded

Tuesdays:

• we go through the scripture and underline the things that stand out to us
• we look in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document for a paragraph or a sentence that supports the scripture
• we define words that perhaps a new member or an investigator of the church might not understand
• we state the scripture in our own words

Wednesdays:

• we decide where this scripture falls in the Plan of Salvation
• we look for cross-references 

Thursdays:

• We look for quotes from the prophet and apostles from the recent General Conference Ensigns
• find an example of this scripture in the stories in the scriptures or from Church history

Fridays:

• we look for object lessons we could use to explain the scripture
• we list ways that we can apply this scripture in our lives
• then the students either write in their journals:
• how they are personally going to apply this scripture
• or their testimony of the scripture and it's doctrine
• or, if they were a missionary at a dinner appointment and it was their turn to share the spiritual message and they were using this scripture, what would they say about it?

I also have them write a quote each morning from all different sources that apply to the scripture we are studying. 

I really feel that this focus on Doctrinal Mastery is going to be a huge blessing in the lives of these youth as they talk to their friends who have questions about their beliefs, give talks in church, head off to college, serve missions, receive callings of their own, and teach their own families. 

General Conference Ensign

This week, for the first time ever, I finished reading all the talks in the General Conference Ensign, BEFORE the next General Conference broadcast! (Minus all of the Priesthood Session talks. I only got two of those read. But, since I am not a member of the Priesthood...)

I also did a LOT of referencing, for both Seminary and Relief Society.


I make tabs for the Relief Society lessons so I can find them very easily.

In my Seminary class we use the General Conference issue to find quotes that go with our Doctrinal Mastery scriptures. As I read through the talks, I make notes and mark things that are important to me. I also write the different Doctrinal Mastery topics that are covered in different parts of the talks.

At the top of the page I put colored Washi tape that matches the colors we use in class for the different Doctrinal Mastery topics:

          Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge = light green
          The Godhead = yellow
          The Plan of Salvation = orange
          The Atonement of Jesus Christ = red
          The Restoration = brown
          Prophets and Revelation = dark blue
          Priesthood and Priesthood Keys = purple
          Ordinances and Covenants = gold
          Marriage and Family = light blue
          Commandments = dark green

That way I can find different topics easily when I am preparing lessons.

I also make tabs for all the different times that the Doctrinal Mastery scriptures are used in the talks. Again, so I can find them easily.

It's made it so much easier for me to be able to find talks and quotes that work with our lessons and Doctrinal Mastery studies. I love it!

5 Ways to Make More Time for Scriptures

I saw a great blog post this morning from Al Fox Carraway (@22AlFox) in which she talks about five ways to make more time for the scriptures. I love how she testifies that it is the fact that you are reading each day that brings added blessings and strength!

To read her entire blog post, click HERE

These are her five ways. (I have highlighted the things that stuck out the most to me.)

1. Read every day. Set a specific time to read that will work for you daily and make it a habit. Lunchtime, kids naptime, before school/work-even if it means setting your alarm a little bit earlier. I prefer to read as soon as I wake up, when the world is quiet but the spirit is not—breakfast for me and breakfast for my soul.

2. Don't limit yourself how much to read. Instead of saying I'll read X amount of versus a day and stop, just read until you can't anymore for whatever reason.

3. It's ok to read more than once a day. What?! I know. And it will be huge contrast in yourself and your life when you do this. And do you know how much you can gain if you watch just one less episode on Netflix? Or how much you can get from a few versus while you’re waiting for your water to boil? Or waiting in the car for your friend/kid to come out.

4. Keep a Book of Mormon everywhere. I know a lot of you are big on the gospel library app, which is great, but I'm talkin' hard copies so you can see it and be reminded of it in times when you wouldn't otherwise. (You can get them for free from the missionaries, or if you live in high populated member areas, D.I. and thrift stores have some awesome, vintage ones from the 70's for a quarter). Keep one in your bathroom, your kitchen counter, bedside, pocket-sized ones are perfect for your car and your purse.

5. Start over. When you finish, celebrate and be excited! Soak it in. Gloat a little even to yourself for accomplishing it. But then turn it right back to page 1 and start from the beginning. A week or a month or the start of next year are not appropriate lengths for parties.

"I seriously rely on it so much every day. I am not me without them. I am short tempered and lost without them. I am weak and hurting without them. Scriptures heal a hurting heart and a wounded soul. I know the power behind them. It’s real."


Isn't that wonderful! I love her testimony and I echo it! I know that the scriptures bring strength to us in ways that we cannot begin to understand, and I am grateful that the scriptures are available to us in so many wonderful ways! Each day that I read them, I know that I have made myself available to the blessings of the Spirit! I love and value and treasure that feeling!!

Ponderizing

I loved the talk given by Devin Durrant, of the Seventy, during October 2015 General Conference. He talked about studying the scriptures by using a combination of pondering and memorizing. That formula is perfectly suited for Scripture Mastery! In my Seminary class we quickly adapted it to our weekly study of each of the Scripture Mastery scriptures.

We focus on different aspects of Scripture Mastery as we go through the days of the week.  On Mondays, we use ideas that help us remember the reference for the scripture.  Tuesday, we work on memorizing the scripture.  Wednesday we study the context and content of the scripture.  This is where the pondering comes in.  (I will provide some examples in a moment.)  Thursday we talk about the application of the scripture.  We discuss different ways to apply the principles to our lives and then we make an individual goal that we are going to focus on for the rest of the week.  Friday we play a challenging game that helps us remember and learn more.

When we go over context and content, I write the scripture on the board and I let the students discuss the things that stand out, words that they need to look up the definitions, what they can add cross-references to, etc..  It is my favorite part of our ponderization process.  Here are several of our studies:

A sticky note from one of my Seminary students

This was one of the sticky notes that one of my students left on the "What stuck with you this week?" board.  This makes my heart happy!!