Had Forgotten The Joy Of Teaching New Converts

[Stone holm]

Recently called to teach Gospel Essentials. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to teach new converts. They have yet to learn all the correlated questions and pat answers. They actually ask interesting questions, and give answers worth pursuing. I have sat through so many Gospel Doctrine classes where the teacher actually tries to follow the manual and the questions and answers are so predictable that you could really substitute both the teacher and the class members with talking computers responding to each other. Pat answer coming in one, two, three...

I remember once riding home from a Church meeting with a new convert and her non member husband and her asking my wife and I don't you think Christ would have to have been married? How rarely such questions fly out of the mouth of long term members, how infrequently do interesting questions like that float through their minds. But take a new convert, and the most amazing things get asked or stated, before they become conditioned not to ask or make such comments.

[Kenngo1969]

Cool!  You can start your own church now ...  Say, the Church of Stone Holm of Latter-day Saints?!

Edited March 19, 2014 by Kenngo1969

[JLHPROF]

I remember once riding home from a Church meeting with a new convert and her non member husband and her asking my wife and I don't you think Christ would have to have been married?

 

It's so silly that just because the scriptures don't specify that Christ was married that we stay away from discussing such things.  Would it really hurt things to stand up and say "of course he was married, we just don't have all the specifics".   We are SO scared to take a public position on things like this.

 

But congrats on the new calling.  I know that your lessons will be FULL of information and that the "pat answer" discussions that drive me so crazy will be replaced by some actual doctrinal study.  Lucky class.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Recently called to teach Gospel Essentials. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to teach new converts. They have yet to learn all the correlated questions and pat answers. They actually ask interesting questions, and give answers worth pursuing. I have sat through so many Gospel Doctrine classes where the teacher actually tries to follow the manual and the questions and answers are so predictable that you could really substitute both the teacher and the class members with talking computers responding to each other. Pat answer coming in one, two, three...

I remember once riding home from a Church meeting with a new convert and her non member husband and her asking my wife and I don't you think Christ would have to have been married? How rarely such questions fly out of the mouth of long term members, how infrequently do interesting questions like that float through their minds. But take a new convert, and the most amazing things get asked or stated, before they become conditioned not to ask or make such comments.

It is fun I went with our missionary to visit newly baptist members. It was a lot of fun. Going out again this week.

[canard78]

Congratulations. I'm branch mission leader and also teach the same lesson.

I like that the intro to Gospel Principles endorses using additional LDS material. My rule is to use at least 30-50% of quotes from the lesson manual and supplement with only material found on LDS.org or things said by GAs in other places (e.g. This Sunday I includes a bit of Pres Uchtdorf's "leaves" history symposium talk).

Here are several of my lesson plans:

http://manyotherhands.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/A%20thoughtful%20gospel%20principles?m=0

This calling has been part of what's helped me stay in the fold. Weekly focus on the 'essentials.'

I also love new member prayers. None of the standard lines from the Mormon "prayer book."

[Stone holm]

Taught it a long time ago when I was a 70. Leading Priesthood quorum discussions is fun as well because for some reason nobody minds if they go off the rails, and our HP Quorum does almost as frequently as our MP lessons did back in Indiana. But we always seem to have someone determined to have Gospel Doctrine class stick to the script out here, so we seem to go through GD teachers like water.

[The Nehor]

I am jealous. That was my favorite calling.

 

Well that and Gospel Doctrine but I made sure my classes weren't boring.

[Garden Girl]

 

I am jealous. That was my favorite calling.

 

Well that and Gospel Doctrine but I made sure my classes weren't boring.

 

I can just imagine...  

[Senator]

   We are SO scared to take a public position on things like this.

 

 

Gee, I wonder why??