Lesson 33 Help
by Debi Call


 

I wanted to share what I have in mind to start my lesson with.  It came from Elder Holland's talk "Of Souls, Symbols and Sacraments". I'm going to have several items like a rose, an apple, and some kind of animal and ask the girls if I created these things. They of course will say that Heavenly Father did. I will ask questions like "but I grew it from a seed, doesn't that mean I created it?" to try and throw them off. Then I will probably quote from Elder Holland's talk:

"You and I who can make neither mountain nor moonlight, not one raindrop nor a single rose--yet we have this greater gift (meaning to create human life) in an absolutely unlimited way. And the only control placed on us is self-control."

I hope to get the point across that the power to procreate is a sacred trust and one that they should decide today to never use until the right time.  Also, I recently went to a Time Out conference with Sheri Dew and she told the following story:

"This summer I was invited to speak on the subject of the family to a gathering of United Nations diplomats. I agonized over what to say to such a diverse group. In the end I simply shared my personal experience. I explained that my parents had taught me as a child that personal virtue was essential for a happy marriage and family and that in my youth I had made promises to God that I would live a chaste life.

I then acknowledged that I was about to turn 50 and that, though I had not yet married, I had kept my promise. "It hasn't always been easy to stay morally clean," I admitted, "but it has been far easier than the alternative. I have never spent one second worrying about an unwanted pregnancy or disease. I have never had a moment's anguish because a man used and then discarded me. And when I do marry, I will do so without regret. So you see," I concluded, "I believe a moral life is actually an easier and a happier life."

I worried about how this sophisticated audience would respond to a message about virtue and abstinence, but much to my surprise they leapt to their feet in applause--not because of me but because the Spirit had borne witness of the truth of that message."

I thought this might be a great way to end the lesson.