Starting December 7th, 2010, it’s time to start “Getting the most out of your Life”

This training is like nothing you will find anywhere else. We combine three things that will help you become successful in every part of your life.

• A top business book is suggested for every month. But we know you may not have time to reade! So we take the principles of the book and combine them into a wekkly training that gives you the information you need. Get archived recordings and take these powerful lesson with you anywhere!
• Your life isn’t all business all the time! The principles of business life apply equally as well to your most important organization…your family. These trainings take the lessons of the business world and apply them to family life. Learn how to better “grow the business” of your family and improve interactions with your spouse, siblings, parents, and kids.
• And finally, all lessons are taught by a highly effective and exceiting presenter. jason has a long history of experience both in the business world and in working with parents, teenagers and kids. He combines over 10,000 hours of teaching teenagers with over a decade of assisting people start, grow and maintain businesses. You are sure to love his style and enthusiasm as he teaches on his two great loves: Family and Business.

As can see, these principles are going to help you in your personal life, family life, and your career. So no matter where you need leadership improvement, this will be a highly effective hour for you! Make sure to join us as we explore ways to help make you a complete leader in every aspect of your life.

Bring in any object and put it under a towel. It can be anything you want, if it is an odd shape that is better. It can be a pair of shoes, some clothes, a stereo, just about anything. Start class by asking who would like the gift that you have under the towel. You want to try and get a few people to say they want it. (If you want to, you may talk to a couple of people beforehand and ask them to say that they want the gift.) Once you have a few people that would like your gift you can ask, “Why is it that you want this gift? Do you know what it is? Do you know what it will do for you? Do you know what you have to do to get it?” (You may even want to write these questions on the board.) Then ask, “What are some of the gift offers that you have received either in the mail or on the Internet? What are you going to get and what do you have to do to get it?”

Class Discussion:

Now you are ready to talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and answer the same questions. What is the gift? What can you do with it? What will it do for you? What do you have to do to get it? Focus most of your time on what you have to do to get and keep the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Use the text and the scriptures at the end of the chapter to help guide and answer the questions.

Class Discussion
Go to Ezekiel 18:21-29 and look for the lesson of the object. Why would some people feel the way that they do in verse 29? Be sure to point out that it is not where we are now, but the direction we are headed. Never forget that in life. Get yourself going in the right direction and the Lord will be pleased with you.
Now that we understand the principle: it doesn’t matter what we have done, just the direction that we are going, let’s look at an application. Go to Ezekiel 34:2. Who are the shepherds that we are talking about? (It is the members of the church. They are the people of Israel. It is important to remember in this chapter that we are talking about members of the Church. Not “those” people, it is a warning to “us” people). Use some of the great verses in this chapter to teach that the Lord is not pleased when we do not take care of our people. There are people that need us, and we are not free of sin if we don’t take care of them. Share the two quotes from the manual.
Now we know what we need to do: get going in the right direction. We also know how: by taking care of the lost sheep. Now we just need to learn about our tool to make it happen. Ezekiel 37:15-17. These are the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon. Ask, “How does the Book of Mormon help us get going in the right direction and make sure we are taking care of the lost sheep?” This is a question that you don’t want to rush! Ask the question, and then wait. People will answer if you give them time to think!
Close with your testimony.

Have three words written on the board: vanilla, chocolate, and swirl. Have every person decide which type of ice cream cone they would like. Have them stand up for which ever they choose. Then ask, “Is there one of the choices that you think a prophet would not be pleased with?”

Class Discussion:

Turn to 1 Kings 18:21. Which one of the ice cream choices does Elijah seem to indicate is unacceptable? (Swirl. He asks, “How long halt ye between two opinions?”)  Elijah then performs one of the greatest miracles of the Old Testament. Why would this help the people make their decision? What examples of the Lord’s power do we have today that helps us make our decision to follow God?

Now go back to Chapter 17 and share the stories of Elijah’s past. His experience of God taking care of him has solidified in his life that God was his choice. What experiences in your life have lead you to know that God will lead you and protect you the same way that Elijah knew?

How will we find out what Elijah knows? The answer is in Kings 19:11-12. What do we need to do in our lives as we learn that God speaks in a still small voice?

Bring in a glass and fill it to the brim with water. Pass it around the class and ask the class to pass it without spilling any of the water. After it gets to the last person, talk about how they handled the cup. Why were they so careful with it? What was the consequence if they didn’t hold it carefully? How could your mishandling of it affect others? How is this similar to how people are supposed to “hold” the priesthood?

Class Discussion:

Starting in the first paragraph you can build off of this idea of carefully holding the priesthood. The first paragraph states, “Men young and old are baptized into the Church, and when they are judged worthy they are ordained to the priesthood. They are given the authority to act for the Lord and do His work on the earth.” What do priesthood holders do to prove they are worthy to hold the priesthood and how do they continue to prove that they are worthy of the authority to act for the Lord?

You can then go through the different aspects of the priesthood and talk about how just like with the cup we are careful with it so that we don’t end up spilling all over our neighbor, we have to carefully hold the priesthood in order to benefit those around us. Talk about what each quorum of the Priesthood is expected to do in order to bless the lives of others. What careful preparation and constant faithfulness is needed to faithfully hold and magnify each office in the priesthood?

Start by asking class members to find in their scriptures a place where the Lord tells someone to ask for anything they want. (There are a few cases: Peter, James, and John; the Nephites Apostles; Enos; and Solomon.) Most will come up with the  Nephites and the three Apostles, but probably no one will come up with Solomon. Have them talk about what was desired and what the outcome of their request was. You can even have a discussion about what people in the class would ask for. What if you couldn’t ask for eternal life or to live on the earth until the 2nd Coming like the 3 Nephites? Then what would you ask for?

Class Discussion:

Now go to 1 Kings 3 and read the verses about Solomon asking for wisdom. Why is this such a great request? Is this something that you would ask for? What would be the effect on your life if you prayed for and received this great blessing? Solomon teaches a great lesson. He received great judgment and so he knew what was right, but he did not follow it. Just knowing isn’t enough. Let’s find out some more principles that his life can teach. Spend a few minutes in chapter 10 talking about all the great blessings that the Lord poured out on Solomon. Now go to chapter 11. Despite the fact that his head knew what he should do, his heart was not right in the site of God (verse 4). It is the same with us today. Just because we know what we should do, we have to be able to get that knowledge into our heart. We have all the knowledge we need, we just have to act on it. For the last part of the lesson, I would tie King Solomon’s punishment to a great talk by Elder Holland. Click here to view it. People who are unfaithful don’t always see the punishment themselves, but it is often more pronounced in their children. This was true for Solomon. The curse for his unrighteousness was on his children. How is that still true for us today? How do we avoid it?

Application:

What do we learn that is great from Solomon? What do we need to avoid from his life?

Start the class with the words, “The Priesthood is like…” on the board. Have class members take one minute to come up with the best analogy they can to describe the Priesthood. Have a few share their ideas. Another fun way to do this is to come into class with a few things written on pieces of paper like, ice cream, BYU Football, or hand soap. Assign one word to each person or to groups and have them come up with ideas of how that item is like the Priesthood.

Class Discussion:

I do like the idea from the manual of having the class break up into 5 groups, one for each of the headings. Then have them go over the section and come up with an idea of on object that the Priesthood is like based on their section. Have each class discuss the ideas. (This can be a fun thing to encourage them to then do at home as a Family Home Evening to try and teach the ideas of the Priesthood using household objects.) I would spend most of my time focusing on the last two. How to properly use the Priesthood and the blessings that come from the Priesthood. You could compare the Priesthood to  a car in this manner. Give a car to a 2 year old and it is really useless. Someone has to be able to drive it in order for it to be useful. But, knowledge alone isn’t enough. You have to prove faithful and competent to get to be able to use a car. And, once you can drive a car, now you can bless others in many additional ways. Driving your sister around for example! Have a little fun, but it is a great way to teach these principles in a way that will stick in the heads of the class.

Start class by asking everyone to write down what job they think they would have had if they had lived in Jesus’ time. There are only a few choices and most people couldn’t do what they do during our time. Ask a few people top share what they have selected. Jesus was a carpenter, but when he talked about himself or when others talked about him there was another profession that they often used as a comparison.

Class Discussion:

Have class members go Psalms 23 to see what profession is one of the Types of Christ. Spend a few minutes talking about why being a shepherd is such a great profession to explain Christ. Now you can go through Part 2 and 3 from the lesson manual. The main principle to focus on is Christ takes care of us (just like a Shepherd) and then in Part 3 and 4 the Psalmist describes the obligation that we have to the Lord. Spend the rest of the time discussing the principle of what Christ does for us and what our obligation to the Lord is.

Attention Activity:

Prepare about 7 different pieces of paper with 7 different medical problems on them.  For example, “Needs stitches on finger,” “Has the flu,” “broken arm,” etc.  Then prepare 7 cards with the resolution for those maladies.  So, “Stitches on finger,” “cast on arm,” etc.  Give the 7 sicknesses to 7 people and have them come to the front of the room without showing their card to anyone.  Then have the 7 medical procedures come up and try to give their paper to the right person, without looking at what the sickness is.  Obviously this will not work.  There may be some that get it right just by chance, but the majority will be wrong.  Now ask, “When are some times in our lives that we try to give relief without following the proper pattern?”  (You will have to wait on an answer here, but be patient, someone will answer if you wait for it.)  Then ask, “What is the proper pattern for administering relief to someone either spiritually or temporally?”  This weeks lesson is going to help answer that by looking at the Relief Society.

Class Discussion:

Now you are set up to teach each of the sections in the chapter.  The first is to be organized and follow the Prophet.  (This is the first section)  The next is to use the Spirit and our natural abilities to help others.  This means that everyone can help, just do well what you are good at and the Lord will put you in places where he can use your talents.  (This is the second section).  Then practice and teach the basic doctrines of the Gospel (or holiness).  This does come after trying to help and give comfort to others.  Just like in the attention activity you actually have to know what the other person needs before you can help them.  That is what the second section is about is using our talents to be able to connect with people to try and find out how we can best help them.  And finally, follow the pattern that the Savior set of eliminating strife and treating everyone with respect and kindness.  This is the pattern for offering relief.  There are some great paragraphs in here (for the priesthood there are some great quotes about the sisters making sure that we do our Priesthood duties.  So the discussion can steer toward what we are supposed to be learning from the women.  Have we learned what we are supposed to have learned from the Relief Society?)  There are great statements about what women do well and what the Lord expects of us in giving and helping others.  You can have a great discussion around the ideas of following this pattern in helping others.

Leave a comment if this lesson idea helps at all!  Let me know how your lesson went so I can always tweak and improve my lesson ideas.  Thanks!

Attention Activity:

Write the words, “Mountain” “River” “Desert” and “Meadow” on the board in the 4 corners of the board.  Tell class members that they have 30 seconds to decide which one of the words best describes them and be ready to explain why.  Give them 30 seconds and then ask class members to stand up as you say each of the 4 words.  For example, say “Mountain” and have everyone that selected “Mountain” stand up.  Pick one person and have them share why they selected themselves as a mountain.  Then do the same for the rest of the words.  Then state, “We are now going to compare ourselves, instead of to features of the earth, to the Prophet Joseph Smith. What are some of the similarities between you and Joseph Smith?”  Some will share some similarities and you can write them down.  Then state, “One reality is that Joseph Smith had many experiences that I have never had.  The first vision, translating a record of ancient scripture, founding a Church, building cities, designing and building temples, etc.  But there is one part of Joseph’s life that is similar to nearly everyone’s life because everyone has probably felt the way he did when he wrote Section 121:1.

Class Discussion:

 Have someone from the class read D&C 121:1.  Then talk about how many of us have had that type of experience.  You can even ask people a time when they may have experienced the first 6 verses in their lives.  Then talk about times when you have also experienced an answer like verses 7-8.  Have class members share a time when they have had that type of answer in their lives. 

Next share three great truths that the Lord teaches on how to overcome trials that we face.

1. Verse 8: Sometimes we just have to endure it well
2. Verse 9: Our friends and family can be there to help us out.  (I like to talk about how this promise would have come true.  The only way to make it true is for Joseph’s friends to help out.  This gives us a big responsibility.  What if we were a friend of Joseph, how would we have felt reading this section?  Would the way we acted while he was in jail have influenced how we felt?  What if we had been no help to him?   Who are our friends that may need help?  How do we know?  You can even share one of the dozens of stories of President Monson being lead by the Spirit to help someone.  When we are not experiencing hard times, we need to reach out to those that are.)
3. Section 122:5-7: Talk about all the amazingly difficult things that Joseph had to go through.  How does knowing what other people are going through help us?  How does helping others when we are in trials help us?  One great key then is to find people who are even worse off than we are and help them.  It makes our lives seem better.

Application:

End by reading section 122:8.  Share your testimony that God know what we are going through and will help us through it.