David Journal

Tag: Lesson Preparation

  • Inspired to teach

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    David
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    I am now reading this first general handbook (as I consider Section 20 to be) in a new light as I prepare to teach Gospel Doctrine. I want to more fully understand how we got it and how it fits into the process of restoration.

  • What are you building next? And how?

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    David
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    This is the outline of how I imagine the lesson tomorrow unfolding. Review the 1820-1830 “days never to be forgotten” with the personal “decade never to be forgotten” that Elder Stevenson described. Compare those periods of time and consider how they relate to your current and upcoming years. Talk about the origin story nature of…

  • Origin stories

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    David
    in

    The common element of days never to be forgotten is that they constitute origin stories for people. Traveling through the wilderness was the origin story for the people of Nephi. The waters of Mormon were the origin story for the church led by Alma. The decade of 1820-1830 was the origin story for Joseph Smith…

  • Hearing and heeding

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    David
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    The lesson of the various witnesses of Christ at his birth and in his early years was that they were each prepared to recognize and act on the whisperings of the Spirit. The shepherds got more than a whisper and they acted. Anna and Simeon testified when they saw the holy baby. The wise men…

  • Priestcraft

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    David
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    When we try to assist righteous in order to be popular or to receive personal gain we are guilty of priestcraft even if we don’t think of it in those terms. Alma was very clear about that and about its final consequences in a society.

  • Healing not hiding

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    David
    in

    The church is an automobile repair center, not an automobile showroom. Or goal is to receive the maintenance of repairs that we need, whether that is major body work, replacement of faulty or recalled parts, or a simple oil change. We don’t do ourselves any favors by coming to the service center in need of…

  • Teaching “On Being Genuine”

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    David
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    The question I would like to focus on is: how do we recognize the line where keeping up appearances goes from being useful to being deceitful? Secondarily we might ask, what is it about keeping up appearances that can actually be useful? When does frankness cross over to being thoughtless, faithless, or tactless?

  • Stand as a light

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    David
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    I know what it means to be the light of the world collectively or one of the lights off the world individually but what can we do as parents to ensure that our children know what it means and have the opportunity to consciously choose to embrace that mantle even before they leave our homes?

  • The elderly in the church

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    David
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    I wondered how this lesson would proceed. I didn’t expect to see counsel to plan financially for the future so that our advanced years can be free for us to live fully and serve faithfully without financial worries.

  • Notes on blessings of the temple

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    David
    in

    No member of the Church can be perfected without the ordinances of the temple. We have a mission to assist those who do not have these blessings to receive them. It is not sufficient for a husband and wife to be sealed in the temple to guarantee their exaltation—if they are faithful—they must also be…