Gospel Doctrine - Going Out With A Bang

[cinepro]

A friend of mine teaches Gospel Doctrine in our ward,  but asked me to substitute last Sunday (12/31).  In counsel with the Sunday School President, we decided that since there wasn't any actual lesson in the manual for that week, that I should end our year-long study of "Church History" with a lesson that fills in some of the gaps, focusing on the Gospel Topics Essays. 

At the beginning of the lesson, I explained to the class that I was a substitute, there was no manual so I can't be accused of going "off manual", and I already had a calling in Scouts so I can't be punished. 

And away we went.   I went for a mix of interesting trivia and "meat" from the Gospel Topics Essays.  I used PowerPoint slides to present visual aids.

"Gospel Doctrine - Lesson 47"

1. (Attention-Getter - Madam Pattirini) - Showed the picture and asked if anyone knew who it was.  Lots of raised eyebrows when her real identity was revealed.

2. Gospel Topics Essays overview.

3. First Vision - Different Accounts.  Excerpt from the 1832 account discussed.

4. Book of Mormon - Story of Alvin being "the right one", but dying.  Joseph Smith sr. ad in local paper denying digging up Alvin's body.

5. Book of Mormon scribes.  What happened to the original manuscript?

6. Book of Mormon translation method.  Brought a hat and rock from my front yard as visual aids.

7. "Pop Quiz" - Showed the commonly used picture of Joseph and Oliver "translating."  Class members easily noticed the numerous inaccuracies. 

8. Then showed the picture of President Nelson touring the Harmony recreation of Joseph's cabin, including the hat on the table.

9. Trivia: Code names used in the D&C until 1981.

10. Trivia: Different names of the Church over time.

11. The Story of Vienna Jacques.

12. "The Plat of Zion"

13. Far West Temple Site - Prophecy about Apostles leaving on mission in 1839.

14. "Plural Marriage in the Church" essay.  One older class member talked about how when they were growing up in the Church, "no one knew Joseph Smith practiced polygamy."  One orthodox member offered her opinion that "it just doesn't matter at all to my salvation."  Talked about Hyrum taking section 132 to Emma.  Mentioned Joseph Smith being sealed to women with living LDS husbands (a few eyebrows went up).

15. (Planned to talk about the Council of 50, but ran out of time)

16. Ended with the story of the Steamship Saluda.

17. (Didn't have time to talk about the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham).

 

The power point I used is attached.   I had a lot of very positive feedback after the lesson!  Lots of people saying "wow"; several asked for a copy of my notes so they could read the parts I skipped. 

It was definitely a fun way to end the year.  I'll be the first to admit it would be impossible and inappropriate to teach like that every week, but once every four years sounds about right.

 

Cinepro "Lesson 47" Powerpoint

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2018 by cinepro

[JulieM]

18 minutes ago, cinepro said:

7. "Pop Quiz" - Showed the commonly used picture of Joseph and Oliver "translating."  Class members easily noticed the numerous inaccuracies. 

This is encouraging 

What an awesome lesson, cinepro!  I’d have loved to be there.  I think many members are starved for something different like this lesson.

[blueglass]

Sad to see the reign of the kings end with John Taylor - or did it?  Maybe at any given time the council of fifty is replenished with all those who receive the second anointing?  

 

[ttribe]

[hope_for_things]

1 hour ago, cinepro said:

13. Far West Temple Site - Prophecy about Apostles leaving on mission in 1839.

Great post, that would have been an excellent class.  I don't know how you crammed so many topics into the short time frame, but good on you!  

Can you tell more about this prophecy at Far West, I'm not sure I'm familiar with it.  Thanks

[cinepro]

21 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

Great post, that would have been an excellent class.  I don't know how you crammed so many topics into the short time frame, but good on you!  

Can you tell more about this prophecy at Far West, I'm not sure I'm familiar with it.  Thanks

http://www.moroni10.com/mormon_history/lds-apostles-fufill-prophecy.html

 

Quote

"The Twelve Apostles were called by revelation to go to Far West, Caldwell county, to lay the foundation of the corner stone of the Temple. When that revelation was given this Church was in peace in Missouri. It is the only revelation that has ever been given since the organization of the Church, that I know anything about, that had day and date given with it. The Lord called the Twelve Apostles, while in this state of prosperity, on the 26th day of April, 1838, to go to Far West to lay the corner stone of the Temple; and from there to take their departure to England to preach the Gospel. Previous to the arrival of that period the whole Church was driven out of the State of Missouri, and it was as much as a man's life was worth to be found in the State if it was known that he was a Latter-day Saint; and especially was this the case with the Twelve. When the time came for the corner stone of the Temple to be laid, as directed in the revelation, the Church was in Illinois, having been expelled from Missouri by an edict from the Governor. Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Parley P. Pratt were in chains in Missouri for the testimony of Jesus." - Wilford Woodruff

 

[JarMan]

I've actually been the Gospel Doctrine teacher for almost the last three years. I keep thinking I've gone too far and that they're going to release me. But they haven't. . . yet. This year I tried to cover every single Church Essay. I was successful except for the last two polygamy essays. (I spent a whole class on polygamy in Kirtland and Nauvoo and decided that was enough polygamy talk for the year.) I even pointed out during that lesson (after somebody brought up it was normal for 14 year girls to get married back then) that since puberty occurs in girls about 2 years earlier now then it did 200 years ago, that a 14 year old girl back then would have been equivalent, physically, to a 12 year old girl today.  I spent an entire class period on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. (A visiting high councilman wanted to place the blame on those that killed Elder Pratt but I tried to talk him down from that position.) I went over the first vision accounts in detail and even asked why the 1832 account didn't talk about two personages. I discussed Porter Rockwell's alleged involvement in several murders, including those of the Aiken party from California, since it turns out that two of my direct ancestors (John and Absolom Woolf) allegedly took part in those murders. The last two weeks of the year I ran out of lessons so I devoted one of them to the Book of Abraham and the other to DNA and the Book of Mormon. I went over Facsimile 1 including the missing portions and the translations by current Egyptologists (both Mormon and non-Mormon) and how they related (or didn't relate) to the explanations given. I got positive feedback on the Book of Abraham lesson from a former bishop and from my wife. On the Book of Mormon DNA lesson I got positive feedback from a member of the bishopric but negative feedback from my wife. Apparently she wasn't impressed by my discussion of the Clovis-first model in comparison to the coastal migration model complete with a diagram on the board showing the fluting on Clovis points. I was surprised when I got the most orthodox member of the class to admit there must have been people in America before the Book of Mormon people arrived.

When talking about difficult issues I've typically run the lesson by presenting an apparent "problem" at the beginning and then through discussion I eventually lead them to the "solution" which in many cases is the apologetic defense or the information in the essays. When I've had members of the stake presidency present, I've been careful to explain up front that I was going to present a "problem" eventually leading to a "solution" since they're not accustomed to my classes and I don't want them getting the wrong impression at the beginning of the lesson. I even got positive feedback from a member of the stake presidency after one of those lessons, though now I can't remember which one it was.

The feedback I've gotten has been overwhelmingly positive. I think people have appreciated having these types of honest discussions. (I have to admit, though, that I sometimes enjoy watching people squirm a little bit.)

[hope_for_things]

2 hours ago, cinepro said:

http://www.moroni10.com/mormon_history/lds-apostles-fufill-prophecy.html

 

 

Honestly, this one is pretty new to me.  I don't recall reading about it before, and I'm curious if there are contemporaneous records that could corroborate those later recollections.  Do you know if there is any contemporary evidence to support that Brigham and other apostles would have gone back into Missouri during that time of conflict to dedicate the Far West temple site?  I'm not saying it didn't happen, but this linked website seems to only reference later recollections.  

[Bobbieaware]

4 hours ago, cinepro said:

A friend of mine teaches Gospel Doctrine in our ward,  but asked me to substitute last Sunday (12/31).  In counsel with the Sunday School President, we decided that since there wasn't any actual lesson in the manual for that week, that I should end our year-long study of "Church History" with a lesson that fills in some of the gaps, focusing on the Gospel Topics Essays. 

At the beginning of the lesson, I explained to the class that I was a substitute, there was no manual so I can't be accused of going "off manual", and I already had a calling in Scouts so I can't be punished. 

And away we went.   I went for a mix of interesting trivia and "meat" from the Gospel Topics Essays.  I used PowerPoint slides to present visual aids.

"Gospel Doctrine - Lesson 47"

1. (Attention-Getter - Madam Pattirini) - Showed the picture and asked if anyone knew who it was.  Lots of raised eyebrows when her real identity was revealed.

2. Gospel Topics Essays overview.

3. First Vision - Different Accounts.  Excerpt from the 1832 account discussed.

4. Book of Mormon - Story of Alvin being "the right one", but dying.  Joseph Smith sr. ad in local paper denying digging up Alvin's body.

5. Book of Mormon scribes.  What happened to the original manuscript?

6. Book of Mormon translation method.  Brought a hat and rock from my front yard as visual aids.

7. "Pop Quiz" - Showed the commonly used picture of Joseph and Oliver "translating."  Class members easily noticed the numerous inaccuracies. 

8. Then showed the picture of President Nelson touring the Harmony recreation of Joseph's cabin, including the hat on the table.

9. Trivia: Code names used in the D&C until 1981.

10. Trivia: Different names of the Church over time.

11. The Story of Vienna Jacques.

12. "The Plat of Zion"

13. Far West Temple Site - Prophecy about Apostles leaving on mission in 1839.

14. "Plural Marriage in the Church" essay.  One older class member talked about how when they were growing up in the Church, "no one knew Joseph Smith practiced polygamy."  One orthodox member offered her opinion that "it just doesn't matter at all to my salvation."  Talked about Hyrum taking section 132 to Emma.  Mentioned Joseph Smith being sealed to women with living LDS husbands (a few eyebrows went up).

15. (Planned to talk about the Council of 50, but ran out of time)

16. Ended with the story of the Steamship Saluda.

17. (Didn't have time to talk about the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham).

 

The power point I used is attached.   I had a lot of very positive feedback after the lesson!  Lots of people saying "wow"; several asked for a copy of my notes so they could read the parts I skipped. 

It was definitely a fun way to end the year.  I'll be the first to admit it would be impossible and inappropriate to teach like that every week, but once every four years sounds about right.

 

Cinepro "Lesson 47" Powerpoint

 

 

 

I hope your lesson concluded with you bearing a most genuine, fervent and inspiring testimony of the spiritual witness you have received that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored Church of Christ and the one true and living Church on the face of the earth, that the Doctrine & Covenants is a heaven-inspired volume of modern scripture that you love and strive to obey, and that the Church is led today by true prophets, seers and revelators who act in their sacred callings by virtue of authentic priesthood power and authority they have received from God? I also hope that all throughout your lesson you were inspired by the Spirit to present the information you gathered in a manner deliberately designed to help confirm and build the.class member’s testimonies of the Church. Please tell me that these things are so? But if not, why not?

[Calm]

HFT,

Iirc, it is in Turley's mission journal.  He is one of my greats so it is on my shelf.  If I remember later, I will check...assuming it is where I remember it and someone hasn't borrowed it.

Edited January 2, 2018 by Calm

[hope_for_things]

1 minute ago, Bobbieaware said:

I hope your lesson concluded with you bearing a most genuine, fervent and inspiring testimony of the spiritual witness you have received that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored Church of Christ and the one true and living Church on the face of the earth, that the Doctrine & Covenants is a heaven-inspired volume of modern scripture that you love and strive to obey, and that the Church is led today by true prophets, seers and revelators who act in their sacred callings by virtue of authentic priesthood power and authority they have received from God? I also hope that all throughout your lesson you were inspired by the Spirit to present the information you gathered in a manner deliberately designed to help confirm and build the.class member’s testimonies of the Church. Please tell me that these things are so? But if not, why not?

Naw, I hope he concluded his lesson with a mic drop.  

[hope_for_things]

2 minutes ago, Calm said:

Iirc, it is in Turley's mission journal.  He is one of my greats so it is on my shelf.  If I remember later, I will check...assuming it is where I remember it and someone hasn't borrowed it.

Thanks Calm, sounds interesting, I'll check back in case you post a follow up.  

[Bobbieaware]

1 minute ago, hope_for_things said:

Naw, I hope he concluded his lesson with a mic drop.  

... followed by the dramatic handing in of a resignation?

[pogi]

5 hours ago, cinepro said:

1. (Attention-Getter - Madam Pattirini) - Showed the picture and asked if anyone knew who it was.  Lots of raised eyebrows when her real identity was revealed.

Anyone who includes a picture of Madam Pattirini as part of their Gospel Doctrine lesson gets some serious street cred' in my book! 

Seriously though, the fact that you could give this lesson and receive positive feedback without church discipline shows that we have come a LONG way in the last few years. 

Edited January 2, 2018 by pogi

[MiserereNobis]

12 minutes ago, Bobbieaware said:

I hope your lesson concluded with you bearing a most genuine, fervent and inspiring testimony of the spiritual witness you have received that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored Church of Christ and the one true and living Church on the face of the earth, that the Doctrine & Covenants is a heaven-inspired volume of modern scripture that you love and strive to obey, and that the Church is led today by true prophets, seers and revelators who act in their sacred callings by virtue of authentic priesthood power and authority they have received from God? I also hope that all throughout your lesson you were inspired by the Spirit to present the information you gathered in a manner deliberately designed to help confirm and build the.class member’s testimonies of the Church. Please tell me that these things are so? But if not, why not?

Do all LDS talks, classes, etc, have to end with a testimony? It is a uniquely LDS phenomenon for sure -- constantly saying that you know something is true. While such declarations have their time and place, sometimes it is also ok to let the truth speak for itself, surely.

[hope_for_things]

13 minutes ago, Bobbieaware said:

... followed by the dramatic handing in of a resignation?

Sure, he would resign from his temporary assignment as substitute for a day.  

[hope_for_things]

14 minutes ago, pogi said:

Anyone who includes a picture of Madam Pattirini as part of their Gospel Doctrine lesson gets some serious street cred' in my book! 

Seriously though, the fact that you could give this lesson and receive positive feedback without church discipline shows that we have come a LONG way in the last few years. 

Agreed, it also shows oriented the members had become to worship at the altar of conformance to correlation.  Here's hoping for more uncorrelated and inspired teaching in the future!  

[bluebell]

13 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

Do all LDS talks, classes, etc, have to end with a testimony? It is a uniquely LDS phenomenon for sure -- constantly saying that you know something is true. While such declarations have their time and place, sometimes it is also ok to let the truth speak for itself, surely.

Sometimes i do think that we 'bear our testimonies' too often where lessons are concerned.  I think we should learn to be more in tune with the spirit on when and where to bear them so that they mean more to the listener.  Kids especially just take for granted that every lesson ends that way and i swear that when some of them sense that's what's happening their ears turn off and they go into 'countdown until class is over' mode.

Edited January 2, 2018 by bluebell

[hope_for_things]

9 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

Do all LDS talks, classes, etc, have to end with a testimony? It is a uniquely LDS phenomenon for sure -- constantly saying that you know something is true. While such declarations have their time and place, sometimes it is also ok to let the truth speak for itself, surely.

I'm not even sure early church leaders knew what bearing a testimony was, but over the years this strong cultural tradition has developed with church leaders encouraging and modeling this behavior and church manuals on effective teaching reinforcing the idea.  It's certainly not required by any means, but it is encouraged and it seems to be a tradition of sorts in the current church.  

Edited January 2, 2018 by hope_for_things

[pogi]

20 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

Do all LDS talks, classes, etc, have to end with a testimony? It is a uniquely LDS phenomenon for sure -- constantly saying that you know something is true. While such declarations have their time and place, sometimes it is also ok to let the truth speak for itself, surely.

I agree, "I know" statements are not always necessary and have become so commonplace, and even expected, that they have lost their intended affect. 

The point of testimony is to share how the message resonates or has impacted you personally in your life.  The message becomes more personal and real, when the teacher can share how the principles shared in the lesson have spiritually impacted his/her personal life.  It is a more powerful and resonating way to teach when we get personal.  Unfortunately, "I know" statements often feel impersonal and empty.   It doesn't "feel" like a testimony to me...except when it does!  

Edited January 2, 2018 by pogi

[CA Steve]

29 minutes ago, Bobbieaware said:

I hope your lesson concluded with you bearing a most genuine, fervent and inspiring testimony of the spiritual witness you have received that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the restored Church of Christ and the one true and living Church on the face of the earth, that the Doctrine & Covenants is a heaven-inspired volume of modern scripture that you love and strive to obey, and that the Church is led today by true prophets, seers and revelators who act in their sacred callings by virtue of authentic priesthood power and authority they have received from God? I also hope that all throughout your lesson you were inspired by the Spirit to present the information you gathered in a manner deliberately designed to help confirm and build the.class member’s testimonies of the Church. Please tell me that these things are so? But if not, why not?

This is a great idea. In fact we should automatically question anyone's sincerity who does not present a lesson accompanied by each and everyone of these conditions. No one should be allowed to teach without being able to meet this standard.

[Calm]

23 minutes ago, hope_for_things said:

Thanks Calm, sounds interesting, I'll check back in case you post a follow up.  

I checked the book while passing to the basement.  Unfortunately it is not his journal, but the Turley Family Book...so it has a summary of his journal and quotes where he states he was with the apostles (it is very brief so I can understand why it is not used), but not the journal itself so I can doublecheck on when that part was written.  I have a copy of the Journal I had made 40 years ago (it was in the Special Collections st BYU), but I just got all that put away very unsystematically because I am assuming all my collected genealogy stuff from 25 years or more back (the birth of my daughter derailed all my genealogy efforts and I have never been able to get back into them yet) is or will be online (a family member has a project putting all his papers up, but so far just a placeholder).  I doubt even my obsession for doublechecking will drive me to dig it out.

[MiserereNobis]

6 minutes ago, pogi said:

The point of testimony is to share how the message resonates or has impacted you personally in your life.  The message becomes more personal and real, when the teacher can share how the principles shared in the lesson have spiritually impacted hid/her personal life.  It is a more powerful and resonating way to teach when we get personal.  Unfortunately, "I know" statements often feel impersonal and empty.   It doesn't "feel" like a testimony to me...except when it does!  

Years ago friends took me to a testimony meeting. The "I know" statements were so repetitive. Now, I don't have anything inherently against repeating things (I love the Rosary and novenas and the Stations of the Cross, etc), but something about it seemed a little off. Probably because I'm not LDS. But there was a person or two who did talk about personal spiritual experiences, problems, growth, and insights and I found that much more interesting and edifying and real.

[JarMan]

18 minutes ago, MiserereNobis said:

Do all LDS talks, classes, etc, have to end with a testimony? It is a uniquely LDS phenomenon for sure -- constantly saying that you know something is true. While such declarations have their time and place, sometimes it is also ok to let the truth speak for itself, surely.

I’ve made it a point in my three years of teaching GD to never end my lesson with a “testimony.” I “bear my testimony” the entire time I’m giving the lesson so I don’t really find it necessary. Plus I’m kind of rebellious like that anyway. 

[hope_for_things]

3 minutes ago, Calm said:

I checked the book while passing to the basement.  Unfortunately it is not his journal, but the Turley Family Book...so it has a summary of his journal and quotes where he states he was with the apostles (it is very brief so I can understand why it is not used), but not the journal itself so I can doublecheck on when that part was written.  I have a copy of the Journal I had made 40 years ago (it was in the Special Collections st BYU), but I just got all that put away very unsystematically because I am assuming all my collected genealogy stuff from 25 years or more back (the birth of my daughter derailed all my genealogy efforts and I have never been able to get back into them yet) is or will be online (a family member has a project putting all his papers up, but so far just a placeholder).  I doubt even my obsession for doublechecking will drive me to dig it out.

That's ok, I don't blame you at all, lots of work to find a little quote. 

Do you recall if those journal accounts and quotes were contemporaneous during this time period or later recollections?