Instead, I got on my knees and asked my Father in Heaven for comfort and direction and help during my lesson. One of my dear friends sent me this text later that day that puts exactly into words how impactful that prayer was on me.
"... The moment I spoke the words 'Dear Heavenly Father, " peace enveloped me, my pounding heart stilled, my breathing calmed. In that instant, I knew that Father in Heaven loved me. On a lonely planet in a vast galaxy, a tiny, suffering voice was heard and solace was given. "
Anne Roquemore, Ensign, April 2006, 63
I left for church and got there just in time for the sacrament. I decided to just sit on the couch in the foyer and listen since I was going to be leaving early to setup for my lesson. The first sister speaking used to be one of my young women and she gave a beautiful talk on being knit in unity with the scriptures referenced below. How relevant these scriptures were to the class that I would be teaching. We are all striving to be of one heart and one mind in Jesus Christ. I was so grateful for her message.
Mosiah 18:21
And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.
Moses 7:18
And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.
The next sister was a returned missionary who shared an experience of being nervous talking to an investigator (someone who wants to learn about the Church) about the Word of Wisdom. This brother had been prepared for this moment and was willing to give up those substances.
My mind was drawn to my lesson. There is a part where I wanted to discuss the influence of Satan and sin and what makes it so enticing and my follow up question was going to be and "what can we do to make sin not so enticing?" After hearing this returned missionaries story, this came to my mind as an answer to that question. "We all need a Reason". We all need a reason to want to not sin, that is what will motivate us and empower us to choose the Good over the Evil. There are so many reasons, but the best reason is because we can choose to love God and our Savior Jesus Christ, more than ourselves. Yes, this maybe easier said, than done, but not impossible. Because we are told "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me." Philippians 4:13
I wasn't able to listen to the last talk as I wanted to make sure I got the tv setup and my other items in time for class to start. I wheeled the tv down to the room and started setting up. For about 1 minute I couldn't find my phone anywhere! I was like are you kidding!!! I needed it for my entire presentation to work. I was thinking I wonder if Hen could drop it off on the way to work, or do I have enough time to run home? As I frantically searched my three bags, I found it in a pocket I don't remember putting it in. Which isn't surprising since I forget so many things in my life. I was soooo grateful to have found it. I got everything hooked up and waited for the class to start.
At first we only had about 10 individuals but by the end of the class we probably had at least 40 or more. I was surprised that we had so many, with it being a holiday weekend and all. There are many members in this class I didn't know so I tried to meet a few as they came in to sit down.
At first I ended up starting my lesson at 1:05pm, so I thought, wow, I have a lot of a time, almost a full hour. I will be able to get through so much material, because frankly I had way too much material to begin with. My lessons were supposed to cover the Creation and the events of Adam and Eve which is actually a ton to tackle in an hour when you are trying to dig deeper into these subjects and have time for questions and discussion.
I checked the time midway through the lesson and saw that it was 1:30pm. I thought great! I still have half an hour left, and then just like that 20 minutes disappeared, and I hadn't even gotten 2/3's of the way through my material. I had ten minutes left and now my mind panicked as I tried to thumb through the rest of the lesson to find some last ideas that I could speak on. And then just like that I was out of time. I definitely didn't want to go over the time.
After the lesson ended several kind people said nice comments about enjoying the lesson. But this lesson just felt different from other lessons I had taught before. I think I have been used to teaching just women either in young women's or in relief society from the last few years so it was quite a different experience to have men, much more knowledgeable than me in the class on these deeper doctrine subjects. I so appreciated these Brethren sharing their thoughts and insights and those of the sisters. I did definitely walk out pondering on the many things that I want to work on for next time.
The biggest being not trying so hard to cram two weeks of Come Follow Me lessons into 1 hour or less. So next time, like I was told previously, but clearly didn't listen, I need to pick 4-5 themes and Focus/Discuss them.
Other than that, I really don't know what I would do differently. My tech worked, and I got some really nice compliments later in the day and the next day. Initially, I actually thought my lesson hadn't gone so well because it felt almost void of emotion with the exception of a few beautiful comments shared in the class. I think that is what I am not used to. This class today became really more about learning scripture and factual things than about Spiritually emotionally impacting things. I think it was also a combination of the content and the fact that I didn't get to some of the questions that may have elicited more personal experience driven responses. So that is another item I can work on for next time.
I am grateful for this calling and the opportunity I had to study these materials that truly opened my eyes to so much of the meaning derived from these scriptures. I have learned more about the Creation and Adam and Eve preparing for this one lesson, than I have in the last 10 years. It was also a humbling experience for me as I learned of all I can work on to try and do better next time. Rome wasn't built in a day after all.
Here were some of the kind comments some people shared with me after my lesson. I do not share these to brag, remember after all this is a personal journal of sorts. I more or less share them so that I can personally look back and reflect when I need encouragement in the future if I feel like I am falling short.
From three of the Brethren:
"Thank you for such a wonderful Gospel lesson yesterday. Your preparation, personality & testimony were inspiring."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson. Loved the video and your thoughts. You did an incredible job. I look forward to your next one!"
"You were AMAZING - I was sad I had to leave a bit early. Thank you for taking this calling on."
From the Bishop
"I heard you did well in SS today" (Sunday School)
From one of the sweet youthful sisters
"..Your lesson was beautiful yesterday, so thank you for everything you did to prepare."
Other sisters told me that they enjoyed my lesson at the end of class. And it was super fun to also have one of my former sweet young women in the class as well.
I will share the full lesson in another post.
No comments:
Post a Comment