Blog Tag: Gospel Principles
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Gospel Principles #38- Eternal Marriage
I am going to start with the note to the teacher, and flip around different parts of the lesson material in hopes of creating an easy-to-follow lesson:
For teachers: All members, whether married or single, need to understand the doctrine of eternal marriage. However, you should be sensitive to the feelings of adults who are not married. As needed, help class members or family members know that all Heavenly Father’s children who are faithful to their covenants in this life will have the opportunity to receive all the blessings of the gospel in the eternities, including the opportunity to have...
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Gospel Principles #37 – Family Responsibilities
Guest Post by ZD Eve
The first thing I would do if I were teaching this lesson would be to take a careful look at my Relief Society’s demographics and adjust accordingly. The lesson manual outlines family responsibilities in a very traditional family situation, in which there are two active, believing parents, and relatively young children living at home. But the majority of my current ward, like the majority of the church, does not live in that situation. Some of us don’t have husbands or children and live far from our families of origin. Some are married without children. Some...
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Gospel Principles #36: Eternal Families
Recently, my family was planning a celebration for my parents' upcoming anniversary. We wanted to make it special for them, and one of my siblings suggested that we have the family sing "Families Can Be Together Forever" at the event. My first reaction was to advise against this. The reason was that this was more than just a family event. Old-time friends, former coworkers, LDS and non-LDS would be attending. I was worried that this particular selection could potentially wound more than it would celebrate. And I wasn't most worried so much about it wounding non-LDS party-goers, as I know many friends not of our faith who believe they...
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Gospel Principles #35: Obedience
Chapter 35: Obedience (please note: This lesson plan was a joint effort and could not have been completed without EmilyCC.)
Spirituality is philosophical; it demands thought. But it is patient and allows us to develop, grow and increase in knowledge at a personal pace. Because of this eternal state of development, it can feel contradictory to teach obedience, because obedience invokes a sense of being very finite. That is to say, we are tempted to discuss obedience in black and white terms wherein we think that an action is either obedient or not obedient. And if the action is disobedient, then...
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Gospel Principles 34: Developing Our Talents
Guest Post by Aimee Hickman
While preparing and teaching this lesson I would suggest doing whatever you can to keep the discussion from revolving around a notion of “talents” befitting a talent show. As a teacher, I would make this explicit at the start of the class, by creating a working definition of the word "talent" which does not necessarily denote a skill (musical, artistic or otherwise) generally thought of as something to entertain others. As this topic has the potential to help us truly “evaluate ourselves to find our strengths and abilities,” as the manual states, keeping the discussion...
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Gospel Principles 33: Missionary Work
I'm always conflicted about a lesson on missionary work. In my life, I've found that when my efforts to talk to someone about the Church are based on guilt rather than the Spirit (note: this usually happens during the week after a Church lesson on missionary work that was full of examples like "your friends will cry to you from spiritual prison, 'Why didn't you share the Gospel with me?'"), my efforts fall flat.
In a lesson like this as the teacher, my primary message to my class would be, "Listen to the Spirit. Don't leave this lesson feeling guilty and try to go preach...
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Gospel Principles #32 – Tithes and Offerings
Guest Post by Oxymormon girl
Author’s Preface
I’ve been a Relief Society teacher on and off for about four years now. Through the years, I’ve found that a good Relief Society lesson generally has an even balance between the doctrine found in the lesson manual, my insights as the teacher, and the sister’s comments. But if I am going to skew the balance in any way, it will be to allow the sister’s more time to comment. I feel that Relief Society lessons are much more powerful when we collectively share the insights we have gained through our study and personal...
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Gospel Principles 31: Honesty
One of the lines in the manual that jumped out at me was this:
Honest people love truth and justice.
I've been in more than one lesson on honesty where hypothetical WWII-Era German families hiding Jewish neighbors in the attic are brought up as thought experiments on what it might mean to always always always be honest. I think that little line lays that thought experiment to waste, more on that in a minute.
The rest of that initial line I quoted goes on to say:
are honest in their words and actions. They do not lie, cheat, or steal.
The manual...
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Gospel Principles 30: Charity
Guest Post by Vada
I actually think this lesson is pretty great as printed in the manual. I’ve added a few thoughts and ideas throughout the lesson, which are in italics. I’ve also added some quotes at the end that you could incorporate as you see fit.
Gospel Principles Chapter 30: Charity
What Is Charity?
* How would you define charity?
Charity is that pure love which our Savior Jesus Christ has. He has commanded us to love one another as He loves us. The scriptures tell us that charity comes from a pure heart (see 1 Timothy 1:5). We have pure love...
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Gospel Principles #29: The Lord’s Law of Health
by Kelly Ann
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; (1 Cor. 12:8)
18And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;
19And shall findwisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
20And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
21And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not...
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Exponent II provides Mormon feminist forums for women and gender minorities across the Mormon spectrum to share their diverse life experiences in an atmosphere of trust and acceptance. Through these exchanges, we strive to create a community to better understand and support each other.
Exponent II was founded in 1974 by a group of Mormon women in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These women were inspired by the original periodical, “The Woman’s Exponent,” to create a forum “posed on the dual platforms of Mormonism and Feminism.”
For 50+ years, Exponent II has shared women’s voices in its quarterly magazine, and members of the community have convened at an annual retreat. Our reach has expanded as technology has advanced: the blog, founded in January 2006, has reached millions. As we look to the future, we are focused on growth and building a more inclusive community.
