3 Nephi 17 - Preparation Precedes Power

Today's focus was 3 Nephi 17. The preparation for it was quite simple. I drew this chart on the board as a visual summary of the second question on page 227 in the teacher's manual. I am going to be leaving this visual up for the rest of the week, because the impression seems to be quite strong to address prayer off and on throughout this entire week.

I had also written the series of ideas/situations on the board from p. 226 (dinner, soccer game, math test, etc.) and covered them with strips of construction paper. Once class started, I uncovered them one at a time and asked the question from the manual: What is the single most important way to prepare for this particular event?

Once we got to the Temple Marriage one, I had them open their journals and write the qualities of their future spouse. Of course, this is an imaginary exercise, but a potent one. I suggested that to marry an individual with the refined qualities they were listing, they needed to work towards becoming the same.

Then returning to the question for the activity, I asked the kids about the single most important thing they could do to prepare for temple marriage. They decided that it would be to live a worthy life.

Once we finished with the situations listed in the manual, I had the students individually answer the questions at the top of page 227. Once they were finished, we discussed the pattern of spiritual preparation demonstrated by the Savior's suggestion in 3 Nephi 17:3 (i.e. being away from distractions, ponder, pray, prepare your mind - scripture study is an excellent way to do this).

The students then were to compare this with Joseph Smith's preparation prior to receiving the First Vision. I'm not sure I did this comparison justice and plan to re-address this again tomorrow! I really want the kids to be able to apply this process in their individual lives!

I'm grateful for the series of discussions this week that all seem to be leading the kids to an understanding of increased revelation. What an important activity, given the condition of today's world.