This is an escape/breakout room I created for a combined YW/YM activity a year or so ago. I set up six rooms in the building with identical clues so that each group of up to 8 kids could compete against each other and hopefully escape during the time allotted for mutual. The goal was to […]

Ken Alford This information was originally published at http://kenalford.com/semlist/2002/02feb02.htm and sent out as part of Ken Alford’s email list to Seminary teachers. Scripture Mastery Devotional Preparation Activity Day This idea is similar to the idea above, but students are given time to prepare devotionals. If your students are like mine, devotionals are too often done “on […]

Ken Alford This information was originally published at http://kenalford.com/semlist/2002/02feb02.htm and sent out as part of Ken Alford’s email list to Seminary teachers. Scripture Mastery “Be Prepared” Activity Day Allow students to prepare short talk outlines based on various scripture mastery scriptures. Then, whenever they get called upon to give a talk or thought; they’ll have a […]

Ken Alford This information was originally published at http://kenalford.com/semlist/2002/02jan25.htm and sent out as part of Ken Alford’s email list to Seminary teachers. In the next several [Seminary-Notes] messages, we’ll consider some ideas for “non-game” scripture mastery activity days that you might wish to try. The first idea is to hold two “scripture mastery scripture chain” activity […]

Ken Alford This information was originally published at http://kenalford.com/semlist/2002/02jan13.htm and sent out as part of Ken Alford’s email list to Seminary teachers.   It’s helpful for teachers who may be struggling with tardiness in the classroom: Punctuality always seems to be a challenge in the church, but it is especially so when you add teenagers and early […]

I followed up on our challenge to introduce ourselves to new move-ins and seek to welcome them to our ward at the beginning of class.  No stories to share, but I'll follow up again later. Last week we did not get to the gifts of the spirit in D&C 46, and since a student mentioned […]

When I first began teaching, I kept hearing people say that teachers should "teach with the Spirit".  What did that even mean?  It's not like I can control when the Holy Ghost testifies or if another person can hear or listen to him, right?  Does teaching with the spirit mean I should scrap the manual […]

I attended SVU's Education Conference this weekend. What a strange experience that was!  It was part fundraising convention and part spiritual feast.  So bizarre.  At points it actually seemed like we were at a timeshare sales pitch or an Amway convenction.  Other times it was just like BYU's Education Week, and sometimes even better.   I […]

The people at Thessalonica must have been pretty great bunch of folks.  Paul gushes over them, and then their faith is so strong in the second coming that they literally quit their jobs in anticipation of the event they thought would be soon!  These were fun books to cover. 1 Thessalonians 1-5 I spent a […]

This idea came from a Pinterest post by Erin Guinup.  She didn't post a link to a website, but posted a picture of her chalkboard from doing this activity that you can see at right. You can see her pin on my Seminary Pinterest page. Basically, you start with a topic.  Each student is given […]

This great idea comes from Shauna at http://seminaryatsixam.blogspot.com/ As students arrive, each seat has 2-3 post-it notes with a word, number, or punctuation mark. When I tell them to go, they must work as a group to get their words in order to make a scripture mastery scripture. Until they see who has the name […]

Youth devotionals -- they can put the most patient of teachers over the edge.  The forgetting, the faking, the false doctrine, the too-familiar gospel cliches all combine in a slow-moving train wreck that can make opening exercises in your class a miserable experience. Students forget or ignore assignments, and we teachers act like it's okay […]

Students are asked to imagine themselves in a given situation, and are asked questions about the situation. For example Health Studies students being asked to imagine they are a child who has just been admitted to hospital. Students learning mission skills are asked what the investigator would be seeking. (See the document 25 Ways for […]

One person in the group is asked to present on a topic or review material for the group and then lead the discussion for the group. This person should not be the regular group leader. Hints: When assigning a discussion topic to individual members of the group, you may need to be prepared to allow […]

Form two concentric circles. The smaller, interior group discusses a topic, while the larger outside group observes. Good for larger classes. Hint: Describe how this activity presents students with an opportunity to model or observe group processing behaviors. Reverse roles as needed. Rotate perspectives as an observer. This could be useful for teaching missionary techniques […]

Divide students into pairs and have one student tell [or write] a story from memory in as much detail as possible, with the second student adding in as much missing detail as possible. Now, the entire class looks over the story in the scriptures and adds in any additional details. The teacher and students work […]

This is a familiar but underused teaching technique. When you invite students to role play, "The students' job is to shore up their friend, and they almost always bear testimony in the process -- almost without realizing it." (Becoming a Great Gospel Teacher, Eaton and Beecher, p 91) "We've had our students play everything from […]

At what point in the scripture block did the Spirit touch you and whisper to you that something you read was true? Maybe a particular part was something with which you have already had experience. Bear testimony of it during class, and invite students to do the same. Look For: Be aware of your feelings […]

Read the same block with different eyes looking for different things, as if you were wearing a new pair of glasses with different lenses. A parent, a bishop, a missionary, a teenager, someone tired and depressed, someone newly married, someone needing repentance, someone who doesn't get along with their parents, etc. For example, ask the […]

The purpose of this activity is to help students learn that they have the skills and tools to answer other's questions. They also learn they can turn their friends for help with gospel questions. After giving students something to read together, ask every one to write down a question about the passage. Instruct students that […]

Before class, invite a student to prepare a short talk or devotional about a topic or scripture passage. You should give the student clear instructions about what you're looking for in the talk. For example, don't just assign a student to read Moses 7:18 and give a talk on it. Explain to the student that […]

And if it so be that you should … bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy (D&C 18:15). The Apostle Paul was a great missionary. He said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16). Paul traveled to many places to share the gospel. He […]

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom. 1:16). Do you know any missionaries? Have you ever thought you might like to be a missionary? Did you know that you can be a missionary now? The best missionaries […]

President Thomas S. Monson repeats what the Savior said — that in order to find purpose in life, lose yourself in the service of others. “Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish — and in effect […]

Give each student three 3X5 cards. Have them write a question on each card that an investigator might ask. The questions should require the use of a SM to answer. (They can look at the missionary application on the back of their SM cards to help them come up with these questions.) Divide the class […]

Daniel pushed the handcart with all his strength. His arms and legs shook from the effort. He saw sweat run like tears down Jane’s face as his sister pushed beside him, while their parents strained to pull the handcart. He saw his mother’s mouth moving and her eyes shut, and he knew that she was […]

As a prelude to the lesson, I began by calling a student volunteer to the front of the room. As it happened, it turned out to be the tallest student in the class. I asked him to show how high he could reach. He went over to the wall and rested his verrry long arm […]

Eleven-year-old Rebecca stared out the bus window but didn’t really see the houses passing by. The after-school bus commotion raged around her but didn’t interrupt her troubled thoughts. If I don’t get an A on the final history report, I won’t get an A in history. That means no honor roll. It’s not fair. I’ve […]

I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded (1 Ne. 3:7). My name is William Paul McCallister, but everyone calls me Willy. I’m ten years old, and last year my parents decided that our family would go to general conference in Salt Lake City. We live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, so […]

How many of us like being told what to do? Yet every time we listen to the adversary, in essence we're following his commands. ACTIVITY Here the rules to the game "Simon Says/Satan Says" to get started. This is just like the normal "Simon Says" game, with a twist for the second round. 1. Prior […]

My family and I can come to Jesus by doing temple work. Elder David Sorenson taught the following: [T]emples are of great value to us because they help us express our core theology, that of coming to Christ. Temples … remind us and teach us about Christ and His Father. … Christ spent key parts […]

The prophet Alma wanted to share the gospel with everyone. “O, that I were an angel,” Alma said, “and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! Yea, I would declare […]

In the Bible we read of prophets who lived on Earth many years ago. We also read stories about these prophets in the Book of Mormon. Every single one of those prophets testified of Jesus Christ. We have prophets today who teach us about Jesus Christ, too. We may learn of Jesus Christ by following […]

Our stake recently began a new push to get our college-age students attending our singles branch. There are some 500+ single adults in our stake, and about 30 of those attend sacrament meeting in the branch. While some of them do hold callings in home wards, most of them have simply stopped attending church altogether. […]

I happened to stumble on a link to this site:http://backtochurch.com/resources/statistics/ while researching a topic for the girls' camp devotional I helped with this week. What an interesting read! The site, http//BackToChurch.com/ is promoting a Christian "Back to Church" Sunday. It lists a number of extremely interesting statistics from a variety of sources regarding church activity. […]

This weeks’ Primary theme is Jesus went about doing good. Our former prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckely, talked about a missionary who followed Jesus and “went about doing good”: It was said by the Apostle Peter long ago that Jesus went about doing good. As His ambassadors, missionaries in our generation have gone and continue […]

You've been investigating the LDS Church, and you're flying high! The missionaries are awesome -- they've been helping around the house and sharing spiritual thoughts with you a couple of times a week -- and you love and admire them! You've read the Book of Mormon and felt the Spirit witness of the truthfulness of […]

I was asked to speak at a Baptism on the Holy Ghost. The twin girls were 14 and new to the church. I purchased 2 small $1 flashlights and put them in simple gift bags. I spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost and used Scriptures that talked about how finding truth through the […]

This is part of an email I sent out with our ward calendar as a general conference report. I'm copying it here because of the social networking links. I'm going to take a bit of liberty and make a General Conference report here -- not on the talks -- but on how the Church is […]

I was delighted to hear about the changes to the Duty to God program announced at the Priesthood session of General Conference this weekend. Here's the video at Mormon Messages: Materials should be delivered to units worldwide in June, and use should begin immediately. First, learn about a gospel principle, and strive to gain a […]

So today I did some reading of the stories of some former members of the LDS church. I'm always interested to know what drives people from the Church. Many of the things they question or doubt are things that puzzle me, too. It's always a little off-putting. I have served closely with human, imperfect leaders […]

Do you know the name of the person who organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; established a bank, a newspaper, and a printing office; supervised the building of the Church’s first temple; initiated extensive missionary work; made a translation of the Bible; received keys of authority from Moses, Elias, and Elijah; and […]

Abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Rom. 15:13). It had been only a few months since Peter’s father, Dr. Mattias Koteles, a professor at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, had attended an important scientific conference in Austria. On his return, he had told his family an exciting story that had nothing […]

There is a hill in western New York called Cumorah. It may appear to be an ordinary hill, but for hundreds of years an extraordinary treasure lay hidden in it. When this sacred treasure was finally brought forth, it began to change the world. Over eighteen hundred years had gone by since Jesus lived upon […]

It's not about Big Love -- it's about TOUGH LOVE. Hehehehe. http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/popwrap/first_look_tlc_family_armor_PeN5BO... More Mormons on TV! We're just quirky enough to be "reality" TV, but wholesome enough for Prime Time. Honestly, the show sounds boring to me. But so did Dirty Jobs, and that has turned out to be a gem. Mike Rowe is my […]

My family has always been my greatest teacher. I was born in Sevilla, Spain; then my family moved to Paraguay and later to Uruguay. Because we moved around, I often had to say good-bye to my friends. I relied more and more upon my family to be my friends. We learned to enjoy being with […]

Miguel Cortez is filled with love for his family and for everyone he meets. He not only loves people, but he loves the gospel and wants to do what is right. He likes the Book of Mormon story of when Nephi and his family crossed the ocean. Miguel hopes that he will follow and obey […]

Bishop told me in my PPI Sunday that I am about to be released in a couple of weeks. He even asked me for my ideas on who would make a good replacement. Huh? It was kind of weird. I almost wish he hadn't told me, because now I'm having trouble focusing on the calling. […]

Larry A. Hiller, "A Century of Missionary Work," New Era, Jan. 2000, 28 The missionary message has not changed since the time of Joseph Smith. But missionaries and missionary life have changed a lot—especially in this century. Elder Scott DuVall, of Taylorsville, Utah, serves in Hyderabad, India. His maternal grandfather, Joseph Cummings, served in the […]

It's been a day-with-the-church-friends kind of day today. Made phone calls this morning for random RS stuff, then did a little Mafia Wars (I'm almost up to 100 mafia members), went to the ward picnic, delivered treats from the picnic to Bertie (the dying sister), and then went to Emily's to play Catan. We invited […]

You know, I always think about Mary and Martha -- one was the cleaner and the other was the let-it-go kind of personality. I am definitely of the let-it-go persuasion. I think this puts me in the minority of women. The past few weeks have been let-it-go weeks. While I feel like I've accomplished good […]

Stake Conference was today. I am trying to find Christ-like things to say about it, but it's pretty difficult, actually. Two of the talks were very good, 5 were okay, and two were downright bad. I did laugh out loud when the Mission President's wife said she thought the next YW value should be guilt! […]

It's impossible to believe, but the website was up overnight under heavy load. Nearly 5,000 visitors yesterday and over 3,000 so far today -- yay! Jared has been working very hard to fix all the problems we've been riddled with over the past few weeks. He's also moving us to a faster server, but it's […]

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right (Eph. 6:1). When President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) was a young boy, his father was called on a mission. Ezra, the oldest child in his family, had six younger brothers and a sister. He knew that his mother needed his help to make their […]

He that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise (Prov. 12:15). Throughout my life, I have received “golden nuggets” of counsel and inspiration from the people around me. Some of those nuggets came from Primary teachers. I was a rambunctious (lively and somewhat mischievous) child who spent many hours sitting outside the classroom door in the time-out […]

Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7) Many peaceful events that happened before I was twelve years old were influenced by those sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators. When I was about seven years old, I attended stake conference with my family. Afterward, […]

President Thomas S. Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints President Monson was born in 1927 in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a boy, he participated in sports activities. He also decided, without having been asked, to cut the lawn of a widow and leave the yard looking much better. As […]

Let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people (D&C 124:40). Have you ever been excited for a special day? Maybe it was your birthday or a vacation. Seven-year-old Adair was excited for a special day. Her family set a date to go to the temple […]

Source: From a book by Robert Folgrum, as quoted here [link no longer functions] Turn the light off in the room. Have one person hold the flashlight up and shine it down on the mirror. (You'll have to experiment to find the best way to do this.) The person with the mirror's task is to […]

Hung Hseng Chr (pronounced Hung Sheng Chur) sat on the grass by the edge of the river and watched the water lapping on the rocks. The sun felt hot against his skin, and the air was thick and humid. A tear ran down his cheek, and he brushed it quickly away with the back of […]

Father plopped a stack of books on the table and announced, “Tonight for family home evening we are going to write our testimonies in a Book of Mormon. Practice first on a piece of paper. Then, using your best penmanship, write your testimony on the inside cover, and sign your name. We’ll glue one of […]

I had a good topic to blog about..... thought of it while I was cutting the grass earlier, but now I can't remember it. That's what 2.5 hours of riding lawn mower racket will do to your brain, I guess. Conference was good. The weather was so nice today it was a real challenge to […]

What Moves Mormons During Emergencies - SALT LAKE CITY | 11 Aug 2008 | After recent severe storms in Ruidoso, New Mexico, Mormon missionaries joined with local Latter-day Saints to help residents deal with the damage. After a day spent diverting and damming overflowing rivers, volunteers helped victims move out of flooded and damaged homes. […]

I got another one of those weird Christian emails today; you know the ones: "Jesus kills people who mocked him (like John Lennon and Marilyn Monroe)" or "America is God's Special Chosen Country" or "In God We Trust missing from US dollar coin" or "crazy liberals are taking prayer out of schools" or "lunatic goverment […]

Is woman with cloned pups the '77 kidnapper of LDS missionary? - A former beauty queen whose obsession with an LDS Church missionary made international tabloid headlines 30 years ago appears to be the same woman who had her dog cloned in South Korea this week. [Deseret News LDS Feed] The link above has got […]

Once there was a boy named Ammon. He didn’t make good choices and fought against the church with his brothers and his friend, Alma. One day Alma, Ammon, and Ammon’s brothers saw an angel. The angel told them to not fight against the church anymore. The boys were sad. The repented of the bad things […]

Because Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to live with Him, He had His Son Jesus Christ create the earth and establish His church on it. Then Heavenly Father called special men, known as prophets, to teach and guide His people according to His plan. And when people strayed from His counsel […]

Items needed an hourglass or game timer Show the hourglass or timer and discuss how we are all like the individual pieces of sand. We are all together in the top of the hourglass, and we go down the hourglass we may feel like we are being restricted and squeezed. People are telling us what […]

This is part of a lesson that I taught called "Understanding Your Divine Nature". I held up the first pot (plain pot with the beautiful plant inside of it) and then held up the second (much prettier pot) and asked if they could be represented by a flower pot, which pot would you choose to […]

I brought a comforter from home and talked about how the Holy Ghost is the Comforter. Then I held up a small wall hanging I had made using the attic windows quilt block and talked about how each of these 'windows' could represent a different role of the the Holy Ghost (Comforter, companion, etc.) and […]

Items needed a volunteer rope or a necktie Before the lesson begins (on genealogy or temple work or redeeming the dead), pull aside one person and ask them to help you out. So that others who are in class can hear tell them you are going to need to tie them up (do so gently) […]

Items needed a plate of cookies Have someone walk around the room holding a plate of cookies -- but do not offer one to anyone. If someone asks for a cookie they give them just a piece. Liken this to missionary work or our missionary efforts. We have something wonderful in the Church why don't […]

Items needed a small refrigerator, plugged in OR a picture of a refrigerator.  You could even make a little display fridge that opens and closes. Set Up Display your refrigerator with the door closed. What you could say: Please listen with your spiritual ears as I describe some of the characteristics of my refrigerator. Inside […]

Items needed a simple, inexpensive puzzle for every pair of people in the class We bought inexpensive 24 piece puzzles. We had enough for two people per puzzle. Before we started I took out one piece from each puzzle. The kids had to put the puzzle together as a team. None of them could complete […]

Items needed a staircase (maybe the steps onto the stage in your building) Have your class or family stand at the bottom of a staircase and you are at the top. Challenge any one of them to find a way to get to the top of the stairs without touching the stairs or the rails […]

Demonstrate what sustaining a church leader means.I saw a great demonstration done at a Regional Workshop. Sister Myers had a Bishop come up and put his hands out. She had a pile of hymnbooks to represent his responsibilities. Every time she said one of his responsibilities, she put a book in his hands. His arms […]