{"id":7674,"date":"2015-04-12T10:11:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-12T16:11:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ldswomenofgod.com\/?p=7674"},"modified":"2015-04-09T10:55:43","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T16:55:43","slug":"benson-joseph-smith-an-instrument-in-the-hands-of-the-lord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reliefsocietywomen.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/12\/benson-joseph-smith-an-instrument-in-the-hands-of-the-lord\/","title":{"rendered":"Benson: Joseph Smith, An Instrument in the Hands of the Lord"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"jo<\/a>I find that the Presidents of the Church lessons are difficult to teach. For example, this lesson is on Joseph Smith. We have had many lessons on this wonderful prophet. This lesson simply tells us what Pres. Benson thought and preached of him. I predict teachers will simply go through the motion of reading through the headings and say uninspiring things that we already know.<\/p>\n

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Realizing this is a rather bold, and perhaps unfair, statement; I honestly feel there are too many lessons given that somehow sidestep the heart of a subject. I sat in a lesson, one particular time, where the teacher simply read the lesson to us word for word. She stopped, looked at us, and invited the class to interrupt her if they had a comment, then proceeded to read never looking up again. I actually had a comment near the end of class and she never noticed. I started waving my hand to draw her attention and no one else in the room even noticed. I think they were all asleep. I guess I could have said something, but I didn\u2019t want to interrupt the lulling pacifism she had so carefully cultivated in the classroom.<\/p>\n

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So, bear with me as I \u201cthink outside the box\u201d and offer some ideas that may inspire your sisters to go home and try something new, share with their children, and find newfound joy in the gospel. Whatever you do, DO NOT try more than two of these ideas in one lesson. One thing sisters are very good at doing is having pages and pages of notes to share in 30-35 minutes. Too much information to share is the kiss of death to any lesson.<\/p>\n

*Instead, invite sisters to continue their study at home offering places to find information. A Relief Society presidency also has the power to call together an additional meeting where sisters can continue sharing their thoughts, feelings, and newfound knowledge and testimonies.<\/p>\n

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