Cupcake Wars

This last Sunday it was my turn to teach the "Priesthood Organization" lesson in Gospel Essentials Sunday School class. I was a little apprehensive, because its one of the more difficult lessons for me to teach, as I don't feel I'm an expert on the topic. Also, its a little bit more difficult to keep a lesson like that interesting because it is mostly about which duties which go with which office. I wanted it to be informative and interesting, but I wasn't sure how to do that.

I don't normally like to 'bribe' students with treats, so thats not the norm for me, but I wanted to come up with a way to make the lesson more interesting and educational, and cupcakes were the answer for this particular lesson. I decided to give the lesson as given in the manual, but then divide the class into two groups for a trivia challenge -with mini cupcakes as a 'prize' for the winning team.

I announced this special in-class activity to class members that morning before church with a handout featuring a picture of a cupcake and a short explanation. We had a pretty good turnout....

First off, I always try to put students at ease by telling them that I won't call on them to answer a question unless they raise their hand. That usually brings the stress-level in the room down quite a bit!

I tried to get the teams to name themselves, but nobody on the first team volunteered a name, so I called them, 'Team Super-Righteous'. The second team called themselves 'The prophets'.
I had prepared a list of very simple questions from the lesson - all were questions that anyone in the class could answer, even if it was their first time at church because we had just covered the material (and I also made sure that everyone had a copy of the manual or another printed version of the lesson to refer to, if they wanted). There were even a few questions that simply involved me writing a word on the board and asking them to pronounce it correctly (like, 'Aaronic').

It turned out to be really fun... (Team Super-Righteous won by 2 points, if you're wondering)....and of course, both teams got cupcakes. The best part was that a couple of people who have never EVER answered a question in class before actually answered questions for the game! I was shocked!

Another great thing was a comment that another person (who hasn't been to class in a while) made - 'I'd forgotten how fun that class is!' which told me that the class is worthwhile, even without the occaisional cupcakes!

New Member Progress Tracking

One of the official forms that the Church has to help with tracking new member progress is the "New and Returning Member Progress" form. "The bishop regularly reviews this form in ward council meetings to discuss the progress of each new or returning member. The ward council uses the form to plan specific ways to teach and strengthen new members from the time of their baptism and confirmation until they receive the temple endowment. The ward council also uses portions of this form in planning how to teach and strengthen returning members"
This form is explained further and is available on www.lds.org here

I thought it would be helpful to have something similar for Ward Missionaries to keep track of new convert progress. It has some of the same information as the official form, but I've excluded some of the information that isn't applicable for our purposes. I also added spaces for including additional information (such as what their calling is, which new member discussions have been taught, which additional principles have been explained by Ward Missionaries - family home evening, family prayer, accepting and serving in callings, etc.-, when member has received their Patriarchal blessing, etc.

There is also a place on the form I've made to put a photo of the new member (if appropriate and agreeable to the new member). I thought that this would be helpful because sometimes Ward members or newer full-time missionaries won't recognize the name of a new member being discussed and showing them a photo can help jog their memory. I try to be present at all convert baptisms and take a photo of the new member with the Elders before the service starts. I give the new member and the Elders copies of the photos and then I have one to use for our Ward Missionary records as well.

The form I made is just a word document. I'm still trying to figure out how to attach a word doc to this blog, so in the meantime here is here text:


NAME ____________________________
BAPTISM DATE__________

MEMBER SPOUSE? Y N N/A __________________
CHILDREN: ________________________________________
ADDRESS: ___________________________________
PHONE NUMBER:___________________________

HOME TEACHERS________________________________
VISITING TEACHERS_________________________________
CHURCH CALLING____________________________________

NEW MEMBER DISCUSSIONS 1 2 3 4 5

EXTRA TOPICS COVERED DURING NMD VISITS:
FAMILY/PERSONAL PRAYER_________________
PERSONAL SCRIPTURE STUDY_________________
FAMILY HOME EVENING_________________
HOME TEACHING AND VISITING TEACHING_________________
PRIESTHOOD BLESSINGS_________________
PATRIARCHAL BLESSINGS_________________
ACCEPTING AND SERVING IN CALLINGS_________________
CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS/AUXILLIARIES_________________
PREPARING TO ATTEND THE TEMPLE_________________
OTHER:____________________________________________________

RECIEVED AARONIC PRIESTHOOD______________
RECIEVED MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD______________
PATRIARCHAL BLESSING____________________
PARTICIPATED IN BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD_________________
TEMPLE PREPARATION CLASS____________________
RECIEVED PERSONAL ENDOWMENTS _________________
SEALED TO FAMILY_______________________

This form is meant to make things easier for Ward Missionaries, especially those who are involved in teaching new member discussions. I can see at a glance what topics need to be covered and what the next "step" is for each individual.

Using Preach My Gospel

The September 2010 Ensign magazine has an article called, "Using Preach My Gospel to Teach New Members". Its the story of a particular new member and the couple assigned to teach her the new member lessons and their positive experience in using Preach My Gospel.

If you are involved with teaching the new member discussions/lessons, you've probably noticed that there isn't any specific instruction on how to do them, other than, "After baptism, new members are taught the first four lessons again, as well as “Laws and Ordinances (the 5th discussion/lesson). Ward leaders determine whether ward missionaries or full-time missionaries lead out in ensuring that these lessons are taught and how long full-time missionaries are involved" (Preach My Gospel, page 29)

In the "olden days" before Preach My Gospel (when I was a recent convert and later a full-time missionary), there was a separate set of discussions that further explained programs of the Church like visiting teaching/home teaching, accepting and serving in callings, family home evening, preparing to attend the temple, etc. and other things that new members need to know. Even though these things aren't discussed in as much detail in the regular set of lessons in Preach My Gospel that we use now, they are still important parts of teaching new members about membership in the Church, so we try to make sure that these sorts of things are explained well, either during new member discussions or Sunday School, etc.

Since the new members are at least somewhat familiar with the concepts taught in the first 4 discussions, we don't approach it as if they are hearing them for the first time. I like to use Preach My Gospel lessons as a jumping off point for each of the new member discussions we teach. The depth we go into depends on the situation and the specific new member. You can usually tell how much detail you need to go into by asking questions about the topic, like, "Why do you think baptism is so important?" or "What were your feelings when the Elders taught you about the Word of Wisdom?" Their answers can give you an idea of their level of understanding.

We try to go into more specific detail about how those principles apply to our lives as members of the Church. For example, the 3rd discussion is "The Gospel of Jesus Christ" (which covers faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end), so we normally focus on how members of the Church make and keep covenants (like baptism) and that the Sacrament is very important because it helps us to repent and renew our covenants each week. These are probably things that they still remember from their original discussions, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce these concepts.

Last week we had a brand new member over for her first "new member discussion". We invited her and her children over for Family Home Evening, and also invited the full-time missionaries over (to help with the transition). The first discussion is about the Restoration, so our FHE lesson was about Joseph Smith's First Vision and why it is important to us today. We did the whole thing regular FHE style, with pictures and a song, treats, etc. Afterward, I gave the new member a FHE resource book and explained a little bit about more about the FHE
program (why we do it, different ways it can be done, etc).

I think it was really successful because we incorporated the doctrine, but also had the family in our home and also modeled a FHE for them at the same time. This format may not work for every situation, but we can find ways to make the new member discussions helpful and informative for any new member. Preach My Gospel gives us the freedom to do that!

"I excuse not myself"

Today for Gospel Essentials class I taught a lesson about the Word of Wisdom. We had a handful of new members, a few returning less-active members, a new investigator and her less-active husband (at church for the first time). This was the first time I've had any new investigators in the class since I started teaching, several months ago.

Many of the lessons are pretty innocuous (topics like "honesty", or "prayer" that aren't likely to upset anyone - the sort of thing you might learn about at any Christian church). Then there are the lessons that are about things particular to our church (temples, pre-mortal life, etc) that would be different concepts for investigators, but still nothing to get upset about. And then, there are the touchy subjects: Tithing, Chastity, and the Word of Wisdom.

These are the same topics that can be nerve-racking to bring up to some people when you are a missionary. Knowing that you're about to explain the law of chastity to an unmarried couple that lives together, or the word of wisdom to a heavy smoker, isn't an easy task. You don't know how they're going to take it. This can be even more awkward when a brand new investigator comes to church and is presented with important ideas that you haven't had a chance to teach them about yet.

It also reminded me of the my full-time missionary days, when I'd worry about what investigators would think about the lessons/talks at church (and hope that the members didn't say anything crazy or too "deep"). I try to consider that when I teach a lesson.

To keep myself from worrying and over-analyzing, I remind myself of two things:

#1- The first time I went to church, as an 18 year old, I went to a Young Women's class with my slightly younger member friend (we were the only two in the class that day) and was presented with a lesson on temple marriage. The poor sister teaching must have been mortified (as I'm sure my friend was) to have me there for that particular lesson when I hadn't even had the first missionary discussion. I remember feeling slightly suspicious about the whole concept of the temple, since it seemed to me that it wasn't fair that only certain people could have access to the possibility of eternal marriage (of course, later I learned that everyone will eventually have that option, whether during this life or after). However, I never could deny that it was true, even if I objected to the idea (or I thought I did, anyhow). We can't recognize the truth unless we hear it, so we can't be afraid to say it, even if we are nervous about how someone will react. Could that teacher have guessed that over the next several years I would be baptized, serve a mission, and marry in the temple?

#2- The Lord said, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38). This scripture always reminds me that the Lord is the one who gives us the commandments, not man. He doesn't change his requirements because he's worried about someone getting offended or upset. He tells it like it is, and we have to, also. We can be sensitive to the feelings of others and do our best to present our message in a way that is easy to understand, but we can't water things down to fit the ways of the world. The honest in heart will hear the gospel message and accept it, whether it goes along with their current lifestyle, or not. "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself" is a mantra that I say in my head when I start to get nervous, and that helps me. Its not my gospel, it is Christ's gospel.

Who should you approach FIRST?

Every once in a while, missionary work comes up in a Sacrament meeting talk or a Sunday School lesson. Now if you're like me, the first thing you think is, "Well, I would help, but I can't think of anyone to talk to" Now, for me, that is usually true. We've moved pretty frequently, I don't work outside the home, I have a newborn baby, I homeschool, and I've never had the greatest luck in moving next to amiable neighbors. So, aside from relatives, do I know anyone in the area outside the church? Not really. Its not that I'm trying to be exclusive, its just that I'm kind of a home-body at this stage in my life.

Even if you do work outside the home, or volunteer, its not always appropriate to directly speak to people in those situations about our beliefs. Or maybe you feel uncomfortable doing so. Or maybe you've already tried and didn't receive what you'd consider a warm response! According to the Church Handbook of Instructions, one of the responsibilities of a ward missionary is finding people to teach. Seriously- don't panic! It will be okay - I've got a very, VERY EASY idea for you...

Are a visiting teacher or home teacher? I'm guessing you probably are. (If you aren't, call your RS President or EQ President RIGHT NOW and tell them that you want to be! There are never enough visiting/home teachers to go around and there are so many families that could really use a visit!). If you have a visiting/home teaching route, you're most likely assigned at least one less-active or part-member family. Am I right?

Did you know that the full-time missionaries often contact less-active members and part-member families? These members are some of the best resources for finding people to teach. Why do you suppose that is? These families are almost always a source of new investigators because they usually have non-member family members who are already somewhat familiar with the church and probably know other members. Because of their previous contact with the church, they are much more likely to be receptive to learning more or taking the next step (attending church, baptism, receiving the priesthood, temple ordinances, etc)

This same concept can work in a similar way for ward missionaries. I typically have had 2 or 3 sisters on my visiting teaching route that are less-active. For me, contacting these sisters is less intimidating than approaching a non-member neighbor or co-worker, since I know that they already have a history with the church. Their involvement may range from "hasn't been to church in 40 years because she was offended" to "wants to come to church but needs ride." At least I know (I tell myself as I'm dialing the number of a sister I don't know) they haven't requested that their name be removed from the church records, so thats a "positive"! Don't be scared to contact these less-active sisters / families. Everyone needs a friend in the church and you may be the only one who's ever been willing to reach out and try.

Everyone needs a friend. Being a friend is a really big part of missionary work. When we have something incredible in our lives, we naturally want to share that with others. Christ is the ultimate example of friendship. He is an unconditional friend to us and He invites us to follow Him. Lets follow His example - Contacting your visiting / home teaching families is a great (and easy!) way to start!