Sixteen

The dad of one of our students, Bro. K., substituted in seminary this morning. He is a very spiritually minded, experienced, service-oriented, and knowledgeable person. His son was also in our class last year. When I asked the students to "name someone you admire who is spiritually strong" he said without hesitation, "My dad." Thank you Bro. K.!

The lesson material today is from John 4. While the disciples of Jesus go to get food, Jesus sits by Jacob's well. A woman from Samaria comes to the well. He asks her for a drink. She questions why he would want a drink from her, knowing people from Samaria are looked down on by the Jews. He tells her if she knew who he is than she would have asked him for living water. He tells her that drinking that living water would quench her thirst forever. She questions him and then he shows he knows who she is and tells her who he is. She believes he is the Son of God and paves the way for him to teach people in Samaria.

(This is a picture of the hills in the Judean desert by David Shankbone)

The lesson manual says, "Loving Christ and keeping His commandments is like drinking living water-- it refreshes and sustains us and leads us to eternal life." It also says, "Water is life, especially to people in an arid climate like Palestine's. Without water, plants, animals, and people die. Those who live in sin or who do not have the gospel are like hot, thirsty land without water. They need the living water of the gospel to restore their spiritual life."

Then Jesus performs the second miracle, which is healing a nobleman's son. He said, "Thy son liveth," and the son was healed. I know Jesus Christ can also heal us.

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I am looking forward to teaching seminary again tomorrow. Though it's difficult to get up early, the living water I receive when I teach is worth it.

Fifteen

Today the seminary students were blessed to have Brother D. as a substitute. He is enthusiastic, he tells great stories, and he has a strong testimony. Thank you Brother D.!

The subject matter for today's lesson is found in John 3. Jesus teaches the Pharisee named Nicodemus about being born again and about the Spirit. He says, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." This is one of our scripture mastery scriptures.

I love how Jesus describes the Spirit as being like the wind. It blows, and we can hear it, but we can't always tell where it came from or where it's going. Like the Spirit, the wind can be very powerful or so soft that if we aren't paying attention, we may not know it's there.

The above picture was taken recently by a family member. One person is looking away from the wind. One is looking toward it. Two have their arms outstretched as if they are catching it and enjoying it as it comes. Just like they are responding to the wind, these are some ways we can respond to the Spirit.

(By the way, they are on Ensign Peak overlooking the Salt Lake Valley where Brigham Young and members of the quorum of the Twelve raised an "ensign to the nations." Here is a talk that begins by describing what happened there.)

At the end of John 3, we learn that John the Baptist understood that salvation is only possible through Jesus Christ. He was very humble and acknowledged his role as a forerunner.

We are blessed to know, as it says in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Our Heavenly Father loves us and has provided a way, through His Son, that we may return to live with Him again someday.

Fourteen

A student gave the devotional on faith. She read Enos 1:8 where Enos was told that because of his strong faith he was made whole. She testified that faith can make us whole.

For our lesson, we read some information about John the Beloved and his close relationship with the Savior. We learned that the gospel of John is sometimes called the "gospel of love" because he speaks of God's love so many times in his book. We learned that John was translated and "allowed to remain on the earth as one of the Lord's servants until the time of the Lord's Second coming (see D&C 7)."

In the picture, on the chalkboard, you can barely see a representation of Jesus Christ at the sea with the fisherman-- John being one of them-- and a picture of Peter, James, and John giving the Melchizedek priesthood to Joseph Smith.

We watched a wonderful, tender clip of Elder Haight testifying of what it must have been like for Jesus' disciples to be with Him while He was on the earth.

We filled out this worksheet together.

Then we learned about the first recorded miracle that Jesus performed-- turning water into wine. According to Elder Bruce R. McConkie the wine spoken of "was a drink made from the 'fruit of the vine' (Matt. 26:29), a light, sweet wine (normally unfermented); eaten with bread it was one of the staple foods of the day." Apparently, the "governer" or "ruler" of the feast thought they'd saved the best wine for last because it was so good. Not only had Jesus Christ turned the water into wine; it tasted like the best possible wine. One of the students pointed out that He can also help turn us into the best possible people we can be. Another miracle.

We also talked a little about the cleansing of the temple and how we can treat God's house with more respect. We can also treat our own temples (our bodies) with more respect.

Thirteen

The object lesson of the day: Here are two tangelos.

If you put them in water, they float.

When you peel one, it sinks. What keeps the tangelo with the peel afloat?

Bouyancy. The peel of the tangelo is less dense than the inside. It acts like a little life jacket. Not only that, it keeps the tangelo sweet and fresh.

The peel of the tangelo is like our ability to resist temptation. If we are close to the Spirit and do all those things that help us keep the Spirit with us, we are protected from evil and temptation. The adversary has no power over us if we live righteously (1 Nephi 22:26). Without the protection of the Spirit, it is easy to sink into temptation.

As a class, we listed on the board how Jesus Christ gave the perfect example of resisting temptation. In Matthew 4:1-11 we learn that He was tempted to turn stones to bread, to jump from the pinnacle of the temple, and to worship the devil in exchange for worldly power. To protect Himself from temptation, the Savior fasted, communed with His father, quoted truths from the scriptures, and left the tempter and place of temptation. As D&C 20:22 tells us, He gave no heed to the temptations that were put before Him.

We also face temptations of the appetite; pride and vanity; and riches and power. We can follow the Savior's example and resist those temptations. We can live worthily to have the Spirit with us to keep us afloat.

If we succumb to temptation, we can repent. Mosiah 26:29-32 talks about that reality. The adversary wants us to believe it's too late, that we're not good enough, and that we can't return to our Heavenly Father or feel the Spirit again since we've made a mistake. Verse 30 says, "Yea, and as often as my people repent I will forgive them their trespasses against me." The truth is: we can repent. It's not too late. He loves us even when we make mistakes. He will help us if we turn to Him.

We had some great discussion about our scripture mastery scripture today: Romans 1:16, which talks about not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Most people will respect and look up to us if we live what we believe and are not ashamed of it. As a teenager, it's easy to want to fit in and to not seem different or weird. It's a temptation to feel ashamed. We don't have to listen. We can be confident about who we are and what we believe.

We have a small group: two home study students and only six students who come to class. Three weren't there today. We miss those who aren't with us.

Twelve

Today was all about baptism and John the Baptist. We learned from Luke 3 that John helped prepare the way for Jesus Christ by teaching the people about "fruits" of repentance and by baptizing them. The people wondered what they should do. John told them the fruits he expected: the people to share food and clothing; the Publicans to not exact more than they were due; and the soldiers to not be violent, to not accuse falsely, and to be thankful for their wages. Then we listed good fruits John might tell us to bring forth today such as serving others, not being violent, and being grateful.

We moved out to foyer around the painting representing Jesus Christ being baptized. I gave each student a worksheet with questions about John, about baptism in general, and about the baptism of Jesus Christ. The nature of the Godhead was revealed when Jesus Christ was baptized. We learn in Matthew 3:16-17 that Heavenly Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Ghost descended like a dove. This shows the Godhead is made up of three separate beings.

Because we know the nature of God, we also know we can have a personal relationship with Him. In Alma 34:38 it has a great list of things we can do to develop that relationship: not contend against the Holy Ghost (do things that help us receive it), take upon us the name of Christ (utilize the atonement), humble ourselves, worship God (not only through prayer and scripture reading, but also in other ways like appreciating good music and nature), and giving thanks.

We finished by discussing how our baptisms can matter to us today.

Eleven

Luke 2:40-52 tells about the childhood of Jesus Christ. Within those verses is the story of how Mary and Joseph couldn't find Jesus for three days. One of the students shared what it felt like when she couldn't find a couple of her siblings. It can be scary.

The place where a person can be found reveals something about the type of person they are. In verse 46, with the help of the Joseph Smith Translation, we learn Jesus was found in the temple teaching and answering questions. He amazed those wise men with His knowledge.

Even today, the temple is a good place to find Jesus. We read from the dedicatory prayer of the Palmyra Temple where President Hinckley pled with the Lord that it would be a place He and His Spirit would visit. When we attend the temple, we have the opportunity to be nearer to Him.

Even at the young age of 12, Jesus Christ knew who He was. He knew Heavenly Father is His father and that He was about His father's business. We talked about how we can be about our Father's business and wrote the answers on the board.

Heavenly Father is our Father. I shared an experience with the class. Last night, my daughter's friend came over and heard the first discussion with the missionaries. One of the friend's comments was, "I don't see how we can have a personal relationship with God. As great and powerful as He is, how can He care about us even though we are insignificant and imperfect beings?" The missionaries explained that it's because He is the father of our spirits and He loves us, like parents love all their children-- even if they make mistakes.

I was struck with the reality that not everybody knows that we can have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Earlier, my little daughter shared with us how she skinned her arm and it was hurting. So she prayed and Heavenly Father helped it feel better. One of the elders used that experience as an example of how He cares about even the little things that happen to us. I know He loves us individually and perfectly and that through Jesus Christ we can return to Him.

We watched a short video clip on the computer of President Monson discussing Luke 2:52 which talks about how Jesus Christ increased in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man. The ways Jesus progressed are like how we can progress today. We listed these on the board. Then the students were invited to write in their journals how they can improve in each of these areas in their own lives.

Ten

Today we studied Matthew 2. We are a day behind home study students because of the power outage last Monday. We will catch up later in the week.

Our lesson was about the wise men who followed the star to find the baby Jesus. We used power tool #30 (them, then, there/ me, here, now) to compare how we are also looking for signs that show the coming of the Savior. In Joseph Smith Matthew 1:29-31 we can find where it talks about the signs for the Second Coming.

Then we talked about King Herod's attempt to destroy the work of the Lord. The wise men took another way home rather than tell the king where Jesus was. Joseph and Mary also took Jesus to Egypt. Heavenly Father protected His son. Again, we used power tool #30 and discussed how we can thwart evil designs in our own lives. The power of God cannot be stopped.

The seminary manual suggests an object lesson using sugar and a glass of water. We read D&C 121:33 which talks about how the plans of God cannot be stopped. The water represents the Saints. The sugar represents the blessings of God. Just like pouring sugar into water, He can bless us. The sugar dissolves in the water and becomes part of it. It's not easily separated. Satan does not have power to take God's power and blessings from us unless we let him. If we do all Heavenly Father has asked us to do, we will be blessed and protected. We read 1 Nephi 15:24 which talks about how if we hearken to the word of God and hold fast to it we will be saved from the temptations and "fiery darts of the adversary."

Nine

Today we celebrated Christmas. We had Christmas lights and Christmas cookies. We studied Luke 2:1-20 and watched parts of the highly-recommended movie "Joy to the World" made by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about the birth of Jesus Christ.

We marked John 10:16 for scripture mastery. It went along perfectly with the segment in the movie about Samuel the Lamanite prophesying about the birth of Christ to the people in America.

Then the students wrote about one of the questions I wrote on the board.

Eight

Our lesson today was about Mary and Joseph and their qualities as earthly parents for Jesus. The students came up with some qualities parents should have and I wrote their answers on the board. I talked about my parents and family and the great blessing they are to me.

Then I divided the class and had one group look up the scriptures about Joseph and one look up the scriptures about Mary and write what qualities they possessed. Then the students shared their answers with the class. They also found songs in the Primary Children's Songbook about each person and read the words to the class.

This is a picture of one of the pictures I brought of my parents' family. Yes, not the best focus, but it gives you an idea of my parents, their nine children, a couple of spouses, and the oldest grandbabies.

Tomorrow we learn about the birth of Jesus Christ. I neglected to write down the reading assignment on the chalk board. Hopefully some of the students remembered it or have looked here.

Seven

Today, a student did a good job giving a devotional about obedience. She shared three scriptures with us. Two other students have committed to doing devotionals tomorrow and Friday.

We marked John 3:5 for scripture mastery.

Using three different scripture power tools, we studied Luke 1:5-38 which talks about when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias and to Mary. Through modern day revelation (in the Bible Dictionary), we learn that Gabriel was Noah. We filled out a chart that asks questions about the miraculous births of John and Jesus Christ.

We used power tool #5 and looked for definitions to words such as "barren" and "espoused." We used power tool #1 and looked for a doctrine or principle in Luke 1:13. A student pointed out it says "thy prayer is heard." We underlined that phrase and discussed how and when prayers are answered. Then we shared personal experiences when our prayers have been answered. Some wrote them down in their journals.

We read a story by Bishop H. Burke Peterson about how his wife felt they were going to have another baby, but it didn't happen right away. He says:

"So we prayed and prayed and prayed for one and two and three and four and five and six and seven and eight years! And then one day at the table she said, 'Guess what? We're going to have a baby.' Prayers, you see, are sometimes answered quickly, but other times you pray a long, long time before you get what you want..."

We finished with power tool #15 and tried to visualize what it must have been like for Elizabeth and Mary to have these experiences.

I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.

Day Six

For devotional today, two of our students shared what they learned in the stake priesthood meeting on Sunday. Then we marked Matthew 25:40 and Luke 24:36-39 in our scriptures for scripture mastery.

Our lesson was an introduction to the New Testament (found on page 8 of the Student Study Guide for home study students.) We talked about the word "testament" which means "covenant" and circled the words "new" and "everlasting" in Doctrine and Covenants 22:1 to emphasize the truth that the gospel covenants we have today are new and everlasting. We talked about what happened historically between the Old and New Testaments. We looked at Map 8 in the Bible which shows the Roman Empire.

The books of the New Testament are arranged by type of book rather than in chronological order. "The Gospels" are from Matthew to John. "The Acts of the Apostles" comes next-- that's just the book of Acts. "The Pauline Epistles" are the books of Romans through Hebrews. "The General Epistles" are the books of James through Jude. And last, there is the book of Revelation which is sometimes referred to as "The Apocalypse." I found it interesting to learn that "apocalypse" means "revealed" or "uncovered."

Then we read some quotes that talk about the blessings of truly studying and reading the New Testament. President James E. Faust said, "Let us study, learn, and live the hard doctrines the Savior taught, that our Christlike behavior may move us up to a much higher spiritual attainment." I hope we can follow this counsel in seminary this year.

Power Outage

Our power was out this morning. On the radio, I discovered there were outages all over the area and a high-wind warning travel advisory until 6 am. I wondered if the church's power was out. I decided to cancel seminary.

There was at least one other seminary family without power. And it came back on for both of us at about 5:45 am. I still don't know if the church's power was out. Maybe not. Maybe I shouldn't have cancelled. Hopefully I made the right decision. In situations like these, it's very difficult to know what to do.

As a result of the cancellation, all assignments are pushed back a day.

Losing power reminds me of last fall when Roger and I were in the Palmyra Temple. We were attending a session and there was a wild storm that knocked out the power. For a short moment, the lights in the temple flickered out. Then they came right back on and everything proceeded as normal. We could hear the low hum of a generator. As we left the temple, it was obvious that everywhere else in the community there was no power. There were candles in some windows, but most of the world was dark. It seemed symbolic of the power of the temple. The power was on, bright, beautiful, and continuous inside the temple. Outside, there was no power and little light. Much of the world is very dark. I am thankful we have temples and that we can feel peace and Heavenly Father's power there.

Five

We learned about scripture power tools Friday. I divided the students into pairs. They each received information on two of these tools: Topical Guide and Bible Dictionary references; Helps with Words and Phrases; The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible; Bible Maps and Photographs; Cross References; or Chapter Headings, Section Headings, and Verse Summaries. They read the information I provided and then answered a simple question about their topic. Later, they shared the tool with the class and tested them with the simple questions. Those who actively participated did a really good job sharing what they learned about the tools.

I also passed out a handout with a first page that says, "Scripture Study Tools." Since we didn't have time to read it together in class, I asked the students to read it at home over the weekend as an assignment. If your student has lost their copy, please let me know and I'll try to e-mail it to you.

On a side note: I have put the requirements for earning the Stake President's Award at the very bottom of the blog.

Four

Today, the students explained the Plan of Salvation. They shared what Jesus Christ has to do with each part of the plan as they set up a diagram on a bulletin board.

We also talked about how this mortal life is like a maze. The scriptures, church, prophets, parents, and other leaders can help us gain the perspective we need to know how to walk through the maze and make it back to our Heavenly Father.

Three

For our devotional, we read the first paragraph under “Sacrifice” in the book _True to the Faith_ and talked about the sacrifices in our lives, including coming to seminary. We heard about a boy from a local ward who hopped on his bike and rode all across the city to get to seminary because his ride didn't show up. Now that's sacrifice! We are blessed for participating in the seminary program.

We marked Matthew 6:24 for scripture mastery. If you put your finger in sand, take it out, and try to count the tiny particles of sand on your finger, it would be difficult and would take a while. Moses 7:30 says, “And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy creations.”

God is powerful. Jesus Christ can help us if we come unto Him. This was the focus of our lesson today. We read Matthew 11:28-30 that talks about coming unto Christ and about how we can do that. It’s not just what we do; it’s also how we feel that helps us come unto Him. We watched a video from the New Testament DVD presentations that helped illustrate how we need Him and how He can help us if we let Him.

Day Two

Today was mostly organizational. I passed out a lot of materials. We started putting together our scripture mastery cards. We underlined the first scripture mastery scripture which is Matthew 5:14-16 and read its background information. We ran out of time, so we didn't get to play our get-to-know you game. We'll do that first thing tomorrow.

First Day

I was happy to see seven students at seminary today! We have at least one other who will be doing home study. We have a great group of youth in our ward.

Our lesson today focused on our testimonies of Jesus Christ and how important they are.

We learned about rocks. No matter how big they are, their shape, or their size, they are still rocks. One isn't necessarily better than the others. Likewise, our testimonies are still testimonies. No matter how big your testimony is, it's still a testimony and it matters. I demonstrated that one of the small "rocks" was actually a clump of sand. Sometimes our testimonies aren't very strong. They crumble under pressure.

We read Matthew 16:16-19 which talks about how Peter learned that we should build our testimonies on the firm foundation of a testimony of Jesus Christ. We also read Helaman 5:12 which talks about how we will be able to withstand temptations if our testimonies are built on Jesus Christ. Several of our students wanted to sing "The Wise Man Built His House Upon a Rock" so we did.

Before Friday, I would like the students to find a rock that represents their testimony of Jesus Christ. Hopefully, throughout the school year their testimony will grow and they'll have to replace their rock with a different one.

The next object lesson used three different glasses that represented what happens when people learn about Jesus Christ and their reaction to it. They can be like an aspirin in water and just sit there. This is someone who doesn't do much of anything with what they learn.

Then there's the person who is like an effervescent pain reliever, who really gets excited about the gospel for a while, but mostly fizzles out with maybe just a few bubbles left.

Then there's the person who really reacts to the gospel like baking soda does in vinegar. They get excited about it and overflow with joy and with the desire to share it with others. Which glass are you like?

We finished the class by watching part of the movie "Finding Faith in Christ." The portions we watched talk about how the scriptures testify of Christ and how we can know that He really lives and what He has done for us. He lives and loves us. The entire DVD is wonderful. We will probably watch other portions of it throughout the seminary year.

Calendar

Tomorrow is our first day of seminary. Yay!

If you don't already have one, please make sure you look for a calendar tomorrow. It shows the days we will not be holding seminary throught the school year.

Most of our seminary days correspond to school days. If the students don't have school, we don't have seminary. But since we belong to four different school districts, all with some variation of days off, looking at the schedule is important. Of course I will also remind the students when we won't have class.

We have planned for 155 seminary days. If we don't have to use our five snow days, we will be done with seminary by the end of May. Otherwise the last day of class will be June 5th.

I am looking forward to studying the New Testament!

Welcome!

I've created this blog to help students and parents follow what we are doing in early morning seminary this year.

As you probably already know, the book of scripture we will be studying is the New Testament.

Through the direction of the seminary and institutes coordinator, I learned there are two ways we could do this: We could study from Matthew to Revelations. Or we could study the New Testament as a "harmony." The "harmony" method is when you study the books of the New Testament simultaneously, covering events as they happened from the birth of Christ through the Apostles. I've decided to teach the New Testament as a harmony.

Each student will receive a chart that shows the timeline we will follow. If they miss a day, they can read the scriptures we covered. Once they return, I will give them a written assignment to complete from the student manual. They can turn this in for makeup work.

After the first week of class, I will be giving daily reading assignments. I will post them here.

I am excited to learn more about our Savior's life and teachings with the youth this year!