Tabernacle in the Wilderness...November 30, 2007

Today we focused on the tabernacle in the wilderness - using Exodus 25-31 as a guide. We had a tabernacle (tent) already set up in the room when we arrived. We discussed the importance of temples - what we use them for, what we do in them. We also discussed how homes are temples - however we talked about how anyone can walk into your home, whereas there are certain requirements required to enter the Lord's house. Additionally, sometimes there are raised voices etc in homes whereas these things do not happen in the temple - so there definitely are some differences.
Each student picked a partner, and they were assigned to be "Tabernacle square missionaries". Their jobs were to give the group a tour of the outer court, and explain what the altar, and laver were, and what they were used for. Within the tent we found an altar with shewbread and wine, and a menorah with oil candles, and an altar for incense. These items were all located within the "Holy Place". Finally, we crossed into the Holy of Holies where we saw the ark of the covenant (with our student's hand crafted foil cherubims - thanks they were great!) and the mercy seat.
Finally, we discussed how these three places have a distinct symbolism of the plan of salvation and the Celestial, Terrestial, and Telestial glories.

All of the students passed off their scripture mastery today as well - great job!

You are sentenced to be stoned to DEATH!! Nov. 29, 2007

Today we focused on Exodus 21-24 which contains some of the law of Moses. As we started class, we looked at Exodus 23:2 which talks about not following evil. We discussed peer pressure and how one withstands it. We had a class tug of war - one side being the world, the other being not of the world. The world won the tug of war. We then went outside (yes, very cold for those who came in their shorts). A student tied our rope around the tree which was representative of the Savior. We then all tugged and saw that no matter how hard the world pulls, the Savior stands strong, and he will support us.
As we went back into the class, we sat down and a student was volunteered to be our bailiff. She swore everyone in and handed out parts and we had a mock court. The students played the parts of witnesses, attorneys, defendants etc. Cases for picking up sticks - ie working on Sunday and stealing someone's cow were presented and our students deliberated and chose the sentences. Afterwards, we looked up in the scriptures to see what the penalties would be under the law of Moses - which generally involved being stoned to death - starting with the witnesses throwing the first stone.

Tomorrow we will be watching a movie and focusing on the Tabernacle in the wilderness.

What goes on your Sundae? November 28, 2007

Today we started off our discussion as we looked at the newspaper clippings which we collected yesterday and discussed how the articles supported or didn't support the 10 commandments. We talked extensively about the worship of false gods - like money, clothes, fashion, barbies, cars, school, music etc etc. We had a long discussion as well about taking the name of the Lord in vain as well as using other cuss words. I learned that 'snap' is a popular substitute for cuss words - I learn something new every day.
As we talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy, we made a sundae. A student volunteered to let me make her a sundae. We started with mint chocolate chip ice cream. We added chocolate and caramel sauce, and then some nuts and marshmallows and finally some whipping cream. IT LOOKED DELICIOUS. But, I didn't think it was quite finished yet, I'd brought some other things that I thought might also be appropriate on a sundae. Because I really like pickles (not really), we put some relish on it, some mayo, some ketchup, some spinach, and a lot of mustard. After we did this, the student wasn't quite as interested in having her sundae. She did take a bite though - (thanks - it WAS gross). Finally we talked about how some things really do go on sundaes, and some don't, just as some things are appropriate for Sundays, while others aren't. Finally we discussed some things that are and aren't appropriate, and discussed how using the guideline "does this thing/activity bring me closer to the Lord?" can be a great measuring stick to help us decide which things are Sunday appropriate or not.
Thanks to everyone for showing up today!

November 27, 2007

It was nice to get back into the routine of things again and start back up with seminary after taking last week off.
Today in class the students graded themselves for last trimester. We took a verbal 10 question true and false quiz about the 10 commandments and discussed it, and then we distributed the newspapers.
Each student picked a partner, and then the were assigned one of the ten commandments (or two as a group). They then spent time going through our local newspaper looking for examples of people who were or were not keeping their specific commandment.
They then cut them out, pasted them on a sheet, and we will discuss their decisions and some of the implications and the applicability tomorrow.
New reading assignment, scripture mastery and attendance logs were also distributed today. The students will use these as they grade themselves at the end of the term.
Our weekly scripture mastery is Joshua 24:15

November 16, 2007

On the 16th, we worked on our scripture mastery, and I don't remember what all else. We had a fairly low attendance rate for both the 15, and 16th - I was pretty surprised.
Anyways - We did a girls vs. boys scripture chase, and it was neck and neck, even though we only had 2 girls - great job!
Friday night we had a class party....unfortunately, only half of the class ended up coming, but we had a great time. We had pizza, smoking Sprim to drink, and lots of candy and homemade root beer which the students brought. We watched our home movie productions of some of the stories which we've been studying in the Old Testament, and finally watched an Indiana Jones movie...which interestingly followed some of the things we've been studying.
Thanks to all who came!

November 16, 2007

Once again, thanks to all who made the effort to come to class today. We've been having smaller numbers - possibly due to finals??
Today we worked on passing off our scripture mastery of Joshua 1:8. After all of the students passed it off, we had a scripture chase - girls against boys. We only had two girls, but they did a great job in holding their own. It was a very close race - great job!
Next week we will only hold class on Monday. The students have all been assigned one of the ten commandments, and they will each teach a 2-3 minute lesson on their particular commandment.
Class will resume on November 27th in the new trimester.

Due to our low attendance numbers yesterday and today, I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the class party tonight at my house at 6:30pm. We will watch our class videos we've been working on, have pizza etc and play some games - and possibly watch a show. I hope everyone can make it.
Please call for directions if you need them.
Good luck on finals!

November 15, 2007

Today was one of those really weird days.
One student showed up this morning. We chatted for several minutes while we waited for the other students. Finally, two others showed up. We discussed the importance of temple work and what it means to each of us. Finally, we decided to go an get some donuts (we ran into another student in the parking lot on our way out). We got donuts, and finished up class. On Monday the students have each been assigned a specific commandment. Thy are responsible to put together a 3 minute blurb about their assignment.
Thanks to all who participated!

November 14, 2007

Today we reviewed the issues of the Israelites' murmuring - it's not a sin to be thirsty, but it is to murmur against and criticize our leaders. We chronicled the departure from Egypt (the world) through the red sea (baptism) following the cloud and pillar of fire (Holy Ghost), journey through the wilderness (journey through life to God), Mt. Sinai (the temple) and finally to the promised land (eternal life/celestial kingdom).
We looked at Chapter 17 and read the story in Deuteronomy 25 which tells us why the Israelites entered into battle with the Amalakites. One of our students volunteered to be Moses and lifted her arms for us for quite a while - finally we had two other volunteers come up and help hold up their hands. Interestingly, they too got tired of holding up the hands. We discussed holding up and supporting our leaders as they serve. We ended the day in Chapter 18 discussing Jethro and his advice to Moses as he told him that what he was doing was not good - in carrying the whole load by himself. Really - why should he have to hear with and deal with petty complaints like - "his camel licked my dog?" We recognized that the church is set up and has a specific order - a line of direction so that our prophet and our leaders can really lead us instead of worrying about dog licking camels... :)
Tomorrow we will cover chapter 19.
The students have all been assigned an assignment to teach one of the ten commandments. On Monday each will take approx 3-4 minutes to teach us about their assigned commandment. We will not hold class on Tuesday November 20th.

November 13, 2007

Today we discussed the end of Chapter 15, and chapter 16 as we covered the Israelite's journey into the wilderness. We saw that even though it was barely a month since they had left Egypt, they had already forgotten their miraculous deliverance. We had some manna and some worms and discussed how they received their manna each morning and how much each person received. We then read in John 6:35 as Christ proclaims that He is the bread of life, and how the manna which the Israelites received was symbolic of Jesus Christ, and the necessity to have Him in our lives.
The Bishop attended class with us today and as we discussed the murmuring which we saw, he commented on some of the impacts of murmuring, and what he sees and experiences as he deals with members of the church. Thanks to the Bishop for sharing the 'but monkey' with us as well. We read an excellent quote from David O. McKay which classified the members of the church into two categories - the builders or the murmurers. We thought about which we would be classified as and thought about which we would like to be.
Tomorrow we will discuss the battle with the Amalakites and Jethro's advice to Moses as we discuss upholding each other in Chapters 17 - 19.

November 12, 2007

Today we covered chapters 13-15 in Exodus. We discussed the cycle of Faith and Obedience which leads to increased faith as we chronicled the Israelites' departure into the wilderness. We spent time looking at the wavering faith of these people, and then at Moses' response to their concerns as he told them to "Fear not, stand still, watch, and see that the Lord would indeed save them" and then that they crossed through the sea on dry ground. We finished the day discussing some of the merits found in chapter 15, which is a song they sang after crossing the Red Sea. The students found their favorite hymns and shared why they are important to them or special experiences that they've had with a hymn.
Tomorrow we will be covering the second half of chapter 15, and chapters 16-17. We will begin discussing and focus on the murmuring (which actually continues through Numbers). Our scripture mastery for this week is Joshua 1:8 - Meditate.

November 8-9, 2007

Well, my computer was out of commission for a couple of days, so I didn't get a chance to update what we did last week until several days later.
On Thursday November 8, we studied the Passover. We discussed the symbolism which we see in our lives as Christ saves and redeems us just as he did the Israelites. To further emphasize, we discussed the importance of cleaning all of the leaven (sin or corruption) from our houses. We cleaned our classroom, and then we had a 'passover meal'. We used grape juice and bitter herbs and salt water (to symbolize the bitterness of bondage and the salty tears they shed)as well as Matzah, lamb meat, eggs and potatoes. We had our oldest student lead us in the dinner and some of the explanations as our youngest student take the role of the youngest in the family who asks the questions "why?".

On Friday the 9th, we worked on passing off Deuteronomy 7 (good job!) and then we made a movie depicting the plagues of Egypt as a musical. We saw the plague of blood for water, then the locusts (complete with background dancers)and finally, the dead cows and the live Israelite cows - kick line and all!

This next week we will be working on Exodus 14-20 and memorizing Joshua 1:8.

November 7, 2007

Here are the options - Life is a musical, Drama King/Queen, Tell the story with Pickles, Play dough story, Draw the story, or Your choice. Today we studied the 10 plagues which the Egyptians suffered due to Pharaoh's hard heart. The students threw a dice to find out which plague they would report on, and then threw the BIG dice which told them how they would be telling about their plague (as in the above options). We had some WONDERFUL musical vignettes, some great play dough stories - (check out the lice on that one, and headless cows), and even some pickle cows, and buzzing flies etc. It was a pretty fun day - thanks to the students for their willing participation and creativity :)
Tomorrow we will be studying the passover, and on Friday, we have a script and we will do a movie with a script for this section of Moses' life.

November 6, 2007

Today we finished up some of our discussion which we didn't get to yesterday. We covered Exodus 3-7 today. The students identified Moses' concerns with his calling, and then searched for the Lord's responses to his concerns. We discussed callings which we may receive in our lives (or struggles we may have) and how the Lord can make all things happen if we trust in HIM instead of doubting ourselves.
Afterwards, we switched gears and focused on signs, and more importantly emphasized Moses' encounter with Pharaoh and the Magicians. The magicians were able to completely duplicate the signs which the Lord had given to Moses to show unto Pharaoh. We discussed the power which Satan DOES have, and his intent and desire to deceive us. We talked about how it feels to feel the Holy Ghost, and discussed the peace which the Holy Ghost can give us. Although Satan can duplicate most things, he CANNOT duplicate the peace which we receive from the Holy Ghost as he testifies to us regarding the truth.
Tomorrow we will be going over Exodus 7-11 and we will be playing a very interactive game regarding the plagues. Please brush up on these chapters for the optimal advantage!

November 5, 2007

This morning we talked about the students' trip to the temple this weekend. We discussed their feelings while they were in the temple, and we began a spiritual journal. Each of the student has a journal in which they can write each week to write down their spiritual experiences and impressions, or things that are important to them, which strengthen their testimonies. We discussed Moses' trip into the mountain, and discussed the appearance of the Lord to him, and was asked to remove his shoes. We talked about the reverence which we have when we go into these places, and discussed how our homes, and churches can also be temples when they are where we go to receive spiritual instruction.
Each student was asked (and most committed) to read Exodus 3-4 this evening. As they read, the students need to look for specific doubts or questions which Moses had regarding his calling. Then the students are asked to look for the specific answers which the Lord then gave Moses regarding his call in these two chapters.
Tomorrow, we will briefly discuss this and move onto 5-6.

November 2, 2007

On Friday we passed off our scripture mastery and then proceeded to do some chariot races. The students lined up on one side of the gymn, and with one team member sitting on a cardboard box lid, dragged them across the gymn to look up the scripture mastery scripture and return to the other side of the room.
It sounds like there are some plans in motion for moving this outside into the snow with sleds come snow season - or some ducktape adaptations have been mentioned for future use as well!
This next week we will be digging into Exodus...