my third lesson since being called to teach gospel doctrine, and i knew when i began preparing, that this one was going to be different.
the first two lessons were...okay. though they were taught with the spirit, they were just okay. i struggled with feeling like the flow wasn’t quite on. i didn’t feel like the transitions were natural. i felt like i was getting by. but this lesson was almost a 180. when i started reading the chapters, i knew exactly what i wanted the main principle to be. then i read the lesson plan, and it didn’t exactly jive with where i wanted to go. so i downloaded several talks about various topics covere in the lesson plan--some focusing more on the direction i wanted to head, some more in line with the lesson plan. each morning on my way to and from work i would listen to a different talk. and still it was clear to me.
diverging from the lesson plan meant almost completely writing my own, and when i began, i remembered..this is how i used to do things--when i taught before. and all the sudden everything was flowing. i knew, when i had completed it, that this was the lord’s work, and that as long as i was able to deliver his message without throwing up (just because it was flowing doesn’t mean i wasn’t still ill), that there would be some in attendance who would be powerfully affected.
so, taking my place at the podium today, i knew what i had in front of me was good, and from the get go, everything was ‘on’. it was one of those lessons that, even though i was guiding and directing the lesson, in a very loose sense of those words, in a way, it was also completely out of control. it was one of those lessons when i would be about to read a quote, or cite a scripture, and a class member would raise their hand with a comment regarding the very quote/scripture. it was one of those lessons where the class members might have been reading my lesson plan. it was incredible. some of the responses to questions were so poignant and beautifully stated that it took me off guard.
while several people approached me after class to express their thanks, i was most pleasantly taken off guard when one of the guys in the ward came up to me and while handing me a slip of paper, said ‘here is your quote back.’ i had asked him to read one of the quotes during class, and found it a bit odd that he was returning it to me. i thanked him, but must have looked a tad confused, and as he walked away he mumbled something about a note. when i turned the quote over, i found the following handwritten note:
i just wanted to thank you for your wonderful lesson. it was eloquently delivered and finely crafted. you have been truly blessed with an ability to strengthen the testimony of the saints. --s
in any call to serve, there are sacrifices and rewards. my sacrifice comes from facing my greatest fear, and knowing that that fear will never decrease. but a lesson like today...that is my reward. it is humbling to be the vessel for such important messages, and my testimony cannot help but increase exponentially as a result.
the first two lessons were...okay. though they were taught with the spirit, they were just okay. i struggled with feeling like the flow wasn’t quite on. i didn’t feel like the transitions were natural. i felt like i was getting by. but this lesson was almost a 180. when i started reading the chapters, i knew exactly what i wanted the main principle to be. then i read the lesson plan, and it didn’t exactly jive with where i wanted to go. so i downloaded several talks about various topics covere in the lesson plan--some focusing more on the direction i wanted to head, some more in line with the lesson plan. each morning on my way to and from work i would listen to a different talk. and still it was clear to me.
diverging from the lesson plan meant almost completely writing my own, and when i began, i remembered..this is how i used to do things--when i taught before. and all the sudden everything was flowing. i knew, when i had completed it, that this was the lord’s work, and that as long as i was able to deliver his message without throwing up (just because it was flowing doesn’t mean i wasn’t still ill), that there would be some in attendance who would be powerfully affected.
so, taking my place at the podium today, i knew what i had in front of me was good, and from the get go, everything was ‘on’. it was one of those lessons that, even though i was guiding and directing the lesson, in a very loose sense of those words, in a way, it was also completely out of control. it was one of those lessons when i would be about to read a quote, or cite a scripture, and a class member would raise their hand with a comment regarding the very quote/scripture. it was one of those lessons where the class members might have been reading my lesson plan. it was incredible. some of the responses to questions were so poignant and beautifully stated that it took me off guard.
while several people approached me after class to express their thanks, i was most pleasantly taken off guard when one of the guys in the ward came up to me and while handing me a slip of paper, said ‘here is your quote back.’ i had asked him to read one of the quotes during class, and found it a bit odd that he was returning it to me. i thanked him, but must have looked a tad confused, and as he walked away he mumbled something about a note. when i turned the quote over, i found the following handwritten note:
i just wanted to thank you for your wonderful lesson. it was eloquently delivered and finely crafted. you have been truly blessed with an ability to strengthen the testimony of the saints. --s
in any call to serve, there are sacrifices and rewards. my sacrifice comes from facing my greatest fear, and knowing that that fear will never decrease. but a lesson like today...that is my reward. it is humbling to be the vessel for such important messages, and my testimony cannot help but increase exponentially as a result.
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