January 9, 2008

Today we started out class discussing imitations. Students pointed out things that looked good, but they later found out weren't what they thought they were. One of our students volunteered, and did a taste test - she tasted Splenda (no calorie sweetener) and then some sugar. I asked her if she could tell the difference by the taste of the two - she said no- they tasted the same to her. However, they had a slightly different texture which she could distinguish. We discussed how Satan tries so hard to imitate the real things - the most important things, and tries to make the most important things seem insignificant.
We then turned to discussing how students would feel if their boss tried to pay them with monopoly money or their ski pass was fake. Finally, we asked the girls how they would feel about getting a fake ring when their boyfriend proposed. That was a fun reaction. Continuing the discussion, we discussed how the students would feel if their boyfriend/girlfriend proposed to them and asked them to marry outside of the temple.
I gave the students a dice and asked them to throw a 2. 7 students threw the die, and not one of them was able to get it. Similarly, the odds of having a spouse convert to the church is a 1 in 7 odds.
One of the students shared a story about going on a date and finding out that his date was completely not what he had thought.
We read a quote from President Spencer W. Kimball regarding temple marriage as well as some quotes which we have in the classroom, and the students shared their thoughts regarding temple marriage and the importance of it.
As we did this, we studied Deuteronomy 7:3-4 a scripture mastery verse. We were able to discover that one of Heavenly Father's great concerns regarding our marriage is that we not serve false gods - which often happens when we marry outside of the church. Heavenly Father loves ALL of his children - he wants us to be happy, and he wants us to keep the commandments. Idolatry and false gods lead us away from Heavenly Father, and thus eternal exaltation - that is His concern.

Finally, we studied Deuteronomy 10:12-13. These verses tell us what the Lord requires of us. By inserting our name into the scripture instead of the name Israel, this scripture becomes much more personal and meaningful. I challenged the students to determine if they were really doing these three things (or more) as stated in these verses. We discussed examining our lives to see if there are areas for improvement. Additionally, we discussed examining our lives to see if there is anything that would keep us outside of the temple right now. If so - to make the necessary changes so that we can receive the eternal blessings of the temple.

Heavenly Father loves us - his commandments (as stated in these verses) are because He loves us and wants us to be happy.