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New Sunday schedule to help build disciples of Jesus Christ Church News Church News · Words of the Living Prophets

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This may be less about me being able to demonstrate my mastery
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of the information. It may be less about me sharing
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contents from my favorite podcasts.
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There's nothing wrong with podcasts.
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Here We are. They have their place.
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But I think this is more a deliberate effort to immediately
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get into what the scriptures or what the conference talks are
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teaching us so that we have the opportunity to discuss our
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experience with those things. This is Mary Richards, reporter
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at The Church News Welcome to The Church News Podcast.
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Today we are taking you on a journey of connection as we
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discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter
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Day Saints. Starting this September, members
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of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will have the
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opportunity to meet every Sunday in all of their classes and
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meetings. So how will this work and how
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will we prepare? Joining me on this episode of
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the Church News Podcast is Elder David P Homer, General Authority
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70 and executive director of the church's Priesthood and Family
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Department. Welcome Elder Homer to the
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Church News Podcast. Thank you, happy to be here.
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Let's talk about the logistics and timing of this change that's
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coming up in September. Why is this happening?
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Well, I think this starts probably maybe the best context
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for that is what President Oak said when he became president of
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the church, when he just simply taught us that Jesus Christ is
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the way. This is part of a long going
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effort on the part of the church to try and help members to
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become more devout and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
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And I think that's the place to start with really everything
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that that's happening. Of course there are other things
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that will happen because of what's going on here.
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You know, one of the other things that I think will be a
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great benefit of this is that this will connect what's
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happening at home with what's happening at church in a, in a
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more direct, in a more direct way.
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And people might wonder, what do you mean?
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What does that look like? Well, adults in the church,
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we're only studying Come Follow me every other week and then
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every other week. They were in priesthood quorums
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and they were in Relief Society. They were talking about general
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conference messages, all wonderful things, but they
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didn't have the same experience that the youth were having or
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that the primary children were having where they had the
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opportunity to be discussing and studying that week's study from
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Come Follow Me every single week.
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And so one of the things that happens with this new schedule
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is that Sunday school meets every week, and we now have an
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opportunity to literally connect what's happening at home with
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what's happening at church for everyone.
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And so this is going to strengthen the home centered and
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church supported changes that were announced a few years ago.
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And there will be other things that will come, but I think
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those are some of the major things that that will be
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beneficial about the change. When people ask why, we can
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point to these reasons in particular.
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Yeah, I mean, I think this is everything in the church right
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now is an effort to try and help people to become converted and
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to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
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We all understand that starts at home and that what happens at
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church can help, but it starts at home and this has a chance
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and the opportunity to strengthen that.
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You know, another benefit I I love that was pointed out
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besides these beautiful focuses was to increase belonging in
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Church community and gathering as well.
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When we are meeting every week with each class, each quorum,
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each each group, there's more belonging that happens too.
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Yeah. I mean, there are a couple of
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other things. One is that when we have the
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opportunity to be together every week, it doesn't feel quite so
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disconnected. The old schedule, which was
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fine, was a bit disconnected because I was only in Relief
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Society or in elders quorum every other week.
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And, and, and now it literally is every week.
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And so we'll see each other in that setting every week.
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The other thing that this does is it it creates a space which
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allows for more, more discovery around some other things.
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And so the schedule will actually allow us to discuss
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more general conference talks because we're doing it every
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week as opposed to every other week.
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The other thing that this does is it gives us an opportunity to
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teach youth and primary children some really important things
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that are income follow me but can use more emphasis.
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Let's go through each of those groups then about what this
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means for Sundays. And maybe we'll start with the
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youth, this idea that they will be together each day.
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And there's a slight change to, we've been talking about the
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youth curriculum and the expansion really of the For the
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Strength of Youth guide, and that is connected to this as
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well the, the 12 chapters now instead of what they had before.
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The For Strength of Youth Guide used to have 5 chapters in it.
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It's now been expanded so that it has 12.
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And the reason for that is, number one, that it gives us a
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chance to study some of these important principles and
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doctrine that maybe we weren't getting with as much frequency
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before. The other thing is that now we
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have 12 chapters. And what happens is those 12
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chapters then anchor the, the, the learning experience in the
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last part of the second hour for young men and young women.
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I would also add that not in September but in January there
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will be a change in instruction for primary children which is
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very similar with lessons that are contained in the Come Follow
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Me materials. But instead of studying those
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once a quarter, they will study those lessons once a month on
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Fast Sunday every. Wonderful, I'm in my word
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primary presidency. I'm really looking forward to
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that and having primary children and youth in my family.
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This is exciting to think about what they will be learning on
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Sundays, but also, like you said, how can I be supporting
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them at home in or come follow me study in these other ways of
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studying. We already have the new for the
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strength of youth guide for my boys.
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These are things also that maybe our listeners should be thinking
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about. This isn't something to leave
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for their teachers to do on Sunday, right?
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We we've got so much of A purpose at home.
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Yeah, I think they're two parts of this.
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One is, I do think it strengthens what happens at
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church. But the purpose of that is to
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try and connect it to what's happening at home so that the
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church supported, part of home centered, church supported is
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more effective. And that's what some of this is
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intended to do, Yeah. Now is Sunday school and Gospel
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Doctrine, for example, and you've told me this and it made
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so much sense. We've in meeting every two
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weeks. We had what, about 50 minutes to
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go through two weeks? Now we have each week to go
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through that one week of material we've been reading at
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home. Yeah.
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And I think initially when the changes were announced, people
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struggled to get their head around, wait a minute, 25
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minutes. How does that work?
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One of the points in that is what you just said, which is
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actually we have the same amount of instruction time, it just
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actually is structured differently.
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And and then what we're learning is that these 25 minute periods
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can be very effective if they're approached in the right way.
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We've learned that in primary we've had our singing time for
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25 minutes and then class time for 25 minutes.
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With that transition our our little children, we get them
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right to their classroom and we're going to start teaching.
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I think there might be some who think, how am I going to get
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down the hall to this classroom in this short amount of time?
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It can be done. It can.
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Think about what our high school students are doing.
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They're moving from one class to another across an entire
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building and they do it in 5 minutes time and they don't seem
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to have a problem with it there. This is different maybe than
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what we've had, but because it's different doesn't mean that it's
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bad. We do have to be deliberate
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about it. Everyone is mindful of the fact
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that we want church to be this warm and welcoming and very
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strong place where people belong.
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But maybe we can do that in moments that are not the
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transition periods, but other times.
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And I think if stake and ward leaders are really deliberate
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about that, they can think about how they can create those
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opportunities for that socialization so we don't lose
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it because nobody wants to lose it.
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But I think we're very capable of making the schedule work.
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Primary children have been doing this for about 7 years and it
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works just fine. One thing a lot of people are
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talking about is getting right into a lesson.
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There can be a lot of things that take our time in the
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beginning of gathering as a group or a class or a quorum,
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and what are some ways that maybe we can be better at
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getting into using the time wisely that we have?
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I think this is such a good question and, and maybe it's one
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of the things that people are wrestling with the the most.
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I think what we know is that we can do it and, and it just is a
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matter of, of, of approaching things a little bit differently.
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We're not going to have time to do highs and lows the way that
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we used to. We're we're not going to have
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time to let everyone in a class talk about what their week was
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like. Those are good things.
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And we can find opportunities and venues to do those things
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when and where we say the themes in the young women's classes or
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in the ironic priesthood quorums, those are just all
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things that leaders are going to have to work their way through.
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But I think what we know is that the greatest impact is going to
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come if we can just very quickly get into the material and the
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discussion that is there. Some of these other practices
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that we've had, which are good practices and are certainly very
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well intended, will probably just have to be accomplished in
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a different way. So we've talked a little bit
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about Sunday school and that it would come follow me.
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We are our teachers can get right into the scriptures and
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let's bring out some principles and let's talk about what you've
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been learning at home. Elders Corps and Relief Society.
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They're talking and going through general conference
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talks. And I think about something
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beautiful that President Camille and Johnson, our Release Society
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general president, talked to the Church News about recently,
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which was this idea of counseling kind of being a
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practice for this. We've been counseling in our
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relief societies for a while. Let's use that concept to then
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talk about principles from these General Conference addresses and
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get right into this doctrine and the and the gospel of Jesus
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Christ. I think President Johnson
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teaches that so well. We're just in the next step of
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this. We don't take time at the
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beginning of the class to do the counseling anymore.
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And we're talking now specifically to Relief Society
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and to elders quorum. We don't take that time at the
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beginning the way we used to, but we use the skills that we
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developed and, and, and then the focus of the discussion becomes
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different. It's not me repeating what the
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General Conference talk said. It's more of a discussion about
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what is that conference talk mean?
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What in that conference talk is important?
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And maybe most importantly, how does that relate to how I live
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my life or how we live our lives or any of the things that we do?
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And so this is really just applying the skills that we've
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already developed. And the nature of the lesson is
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maybe different than some people think about lessons to be.
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Sometimes we perceive ourselves as let me stand up in front of
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the class and let me, you know, impart this important
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information that that we have. And that for sure is part of it.
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But it's really more about helping people to share what
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they're thinking, what they're feeling and what they're
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experiencing. Because when people talk about
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what their experience is with the doctrine, when they talk
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about their experience, trying to apply it, my experience, and
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maybe yours is the same, is that I feel the spirit very strongly
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in those moments because I know what they're talking about is
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real. And so not just in Relief
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Society and elders quorum, but thinking now back to Sunday
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school, this may be less about me being able to demonstrate my
13:35
mastery of the information. It may be less about me sharing
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contents from my favorite podcasts.
13:45
There's nothing wrong with podcasts.
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Here we are. They have their place.
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But I think this is more a deliberate effort to immediately
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get into what the scriptures or what the conference talks are
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teaching us so that we have the opportunity to discuss our
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experience with those things. In talking about Sunday School,
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what can a Sunday School presidency do to help with these
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changes? I think one of the exciting
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things about this is that the new schedule actually allows
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teacher council meetings to be held with more frequency than
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they were before. And so if I teach in Relief
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Society or in one of the priesthood quorums or in young
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women during Sunday school, we can have a teacher council
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meeting. If I teach in Sunday school, we
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can have a teacher council meeting that's held in that last
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period. We're now asking that those
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council meetings be held once a month, and we can do that now
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because the schedule allows for that to happen.
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And so one of the things that Sunday school presidencies can
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do because of the new schedule is that I think they have a
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bigger opportunity to do the teacher council meetings on a
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more regular basis, which will help teachers remember that this
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is not so much about the knowledge that I can impart and
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is more about the experience that we're helping people have
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when they're together. I'm hearing to some thoughts for
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myself on better preparation as a teacher, maybe some inspired
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questions to ask, but also as a participant.
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That home piece of this studying and reading a conference talk
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ahead of time. It's right there in my Gospel
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Library app. It says tells me what we're
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going to be reading this next Sunday.
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Or come follow me, it says right there in my Gospel Library app.
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This is where you are for our reading for this week.
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These are ways that we can be prepared for this in September
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and not be too worried about what it'll look like.
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And of course, if I don't have a chance to prepare and I come, I
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will still benefit. Yes, but.
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If I have had a chance to prepare, even if it's just a
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little bit, the experience will be richer because I will be able
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to understand what other people are talking about and also be
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able to share what my experience has been.
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And as President Oakes and others have taught us, actually,
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when we verbalize the feelings that we have, it helps to build
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our testimonies and it helps to strengthen our conversion.
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Putting it into words, your testimony grows as you speak the
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words out loud. Really it does.
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And I know that's a strange way of thinking.
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And when President Oakes taught about it, he said this is
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different than sometimes we think about it.
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But here's one of the remarkable things that when we talk about
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what our experience is with the principles, with the doctrine,
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with our application of those things, actually strengthens our
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testimony of that. I also love, like you mentioned,
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we'll now have an opportunity to study more of these General
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Conference addresses from our First Presidency members from
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the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. These these messages,
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invitations, promised blessings that can truly enrich and bless
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our lives by studying them more deeply for the following six
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months. It's interesting that if you
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look at the number of opportunities that we'll have to
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study a conference talk, the number of weeks available allows
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us to almost cover every talk given in a general conference.
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That was not the case before. Of course, we always want to
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prioritize what the First Presidency is saying, what
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members of the 12 are saying, what general officers are
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teaching about their organizations and things.
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Those will always be a priority. But this actually gives us the
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opportunity literally to almost go through everything.
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And then at least my experience with that is that when I do
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that, suddenly I find that there are themes in conference that
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actually I missed the first time through.
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And and that helps me to think about, well, what was it that
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God was trying to communicate to the church, to the world, to me.
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And that happens as I get a chance to spend more time with
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more of what happens in conference, because even though
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so many of the talks in conference are not given an
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assigned topic, there's always a divine orchestration that comes
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together. Elder Garrett W Gong, I've heard
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him talk about that, that there's this divine
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orchestration that comes when you kind of look at the messages
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in total. It's like, oh, OK, that's what
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he's trying to help me understand as I'm trying to see
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this. And so this will be a tremendous
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blessing for us to be able to spend more time with more of
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those messages. Maybe people know, maybe they
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don't know, but those who are preparing to speak in conference
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spend a lot of time on their knees and they just labor over
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every single word, trying to get it to the right place and trying
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to have it be the message that they feel that the the Lord
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wants them to deliver. Yes, and we can trust the Lord
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that these messages are for us right now and for the future.
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The these are prophets, seers and revelators, and they're
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they're giving us what we need to hear now and down the road.
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And President Henry BI Ring taught a number of years ago
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that if we bring our problems, if we bring our questions to
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conference and we listen to the messages with an open heart.
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We find that the Lord will answer our questions, that He'll
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calm our fears, that He'll give us the strength and courage that
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we need to go on. It's a wonderful blessing.
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You're making me excited for this change in September and I
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keep thinking, well, why don't we just start that this Sunday?
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Why don't we start right away? But there's some preparation
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that can take place. What are some of the things that
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teachers and leaders and members can look forward to in
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preparation for this coming in September?
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Training things and other resources that are on the way.
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And a fifth Sunday in August too, I believe.
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Yeah. This is exciting and we would
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all love to run and and start as soon as we possibly can.
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This is a worldwide church and we have parts of the world where
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it will be important to take some time to make sure that
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we're prepared and we're ready to do this.
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The the single best resource that that I could just point
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people to wouldbesunday.churchofjesuschrist.org,
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if you search for that, it will take you to a landing page that
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has all kinds of resources on it.
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They're actually 17 different questions on that landing page
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that if I want to know, well, what's the format of this
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meeting? It's on that landing page.
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If I want to understand why did the church make these decisions,
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these these changes, it's on that land heading page.
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So all kinds of different questions are answered there.
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There are links to an implementation guide which you
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have. I printed it out right there.
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Which really what it does is it, it really does two things.
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The first thing that it does is it describes the flow of
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activity, everything from the announcement of the changes that
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are going to happen all the way through September 6th when the
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whole church then begins this new schedule.
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And it details the steps that come in in, in all of that.
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This is available in 24 languages and, and so and
22:10
everything was available on on June 1st.
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So this is something that people should be able to get in their
22:16
languages and be able to do that.
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We felt like that was important so that people would be able to
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spend some time and then with their ward councils, think
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about, OK, how, how are we going to do this?
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What changes are we going to make?
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How can we help to to do all of those things.
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You mentioned the 5th Sunday in August.
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Let me talk about that and let me talk about then the first
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Sunday in September. In the implementation guide,
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what you will see is a description of what's supposed
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to happen on those Sundays, including some discussion
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questions that members can use as they're in in those meetings
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on August 30th, which is the 5th Sunday in August before the
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whole church starts the new schedule.
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So we'll still be in the old schedule, right?
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But youth children who will turn 12 in 2027, their parents and
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their leaders are invited to attend a meeting where there
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will be a video presentation that that describes the new
23:24
youth curriculum and it'll explain the expanded for
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Strength of Youth guide. It will explain it will explain
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that there are supplemental materials available to help with
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the study of that. That will be printed in the
23:39
first strength of Youth magazine and also will be available in
23:43
the Gospel Library. That focus on April or sorry,
23:47
August 30th will will really be about the the what are the
23:51
changes to the schedule for youth?
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How does that period for young women?
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How does that period for ironic priesthood holders?
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How does that work? Of course, if a Bishop decides
24:01
that he'd like the whole ward to see that they could involve the
24:04
whole ward, but it's designed for youth, for Primary children
24:08
that'll be turning 12 in 2027, for their parents and for their
24:12
leaders. The reason that we put it on
24:15
that day was so that when they get to September 6th, they can
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just be right into it. So the first thing is that there
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are some video resources that have been prepared.
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The first part of that is what would be used in that August
24:29
30th time together, as I've described.
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Then on September 6th, when the Church starts the new schedule
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in Sunday School and then in Relief Society and in elders
24:46
quorum, there will be additional video materials available to
24:50
members of the Church that will describe what happens in Sunday
24:56
school. Now, for example, And it
24:59
contains a wonderful example of a Sunday school teacher who
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shows how to get into a lesson in less than two minutes and,
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and shows what it's looks like to have people sharing what
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they're learning and, and, and what it looks like to only
25:19
really talk about the most important things because you'll
25:22
never have a chance to talk about everything.
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And so in Sunday school, adults and youth will have a chance to
25:29
understand how Sunday school works.
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Another part of of what will be included in that Sunday school
25:36
session is a wonderful video by Elder David A Bednar and Elder
25:41
Patrick Kieran, where they talk about Sunday and they talk about
25:47
sacrament meeting. Because in the middle of all of
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this, we don't want to lose the fact that sacrament meeting is
25:59
what is such, so important to what's happening on that day.
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And so there will be a video, some instruction, the
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implementation guide has questions that that members can
26:11
use to talk about, OK, what do we do?
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A sacrament meeting. Another thing that will happen
26:17
in that meeting with elders quorums and with Relief
26:20
societies is there will be a presentation, a video
26:24
presentation by President Camille and Johnson, General
26:29
Relief Society President and Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela, who's
26:34
a member of the presidency of the 70.
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They will talk a little bit about what's supposed to happen
26:41
now in this new format in Relief Society and in elders quorum.
26:47
And all of these videos actually have some very practical just
26:51
advice to be able to do that. These will all be available for
26:55
the church to see in the first week of August.
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So we'll have weeks of time to digest them, plan how to use
27:02
them, and do all of that. And so the implementation guide
27:06
that we've been talking about does those two things.
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It kind of generally talks about, here's the way it works
27:11
from announcement until we start.
27:13
And then it has actually outlines for each one of these
27:16
classes that I've talked about, which include discussion
27:18
questions that help us think about, all right, we're in a new
27:24
situation, and how do we make this everything the Lord intends
27:28
it to be? Let's involve him in this, yes,
27:31
And stay tuned. As they say, these resources are
27:34
coming. These videos are coming and they
27:35
will be, it sounds like, greatly beneficial and helpful to us.
27:39
You mentioned sacrament meeting, and I would love to get your
27:42
thoughts on how we can keep that.
27:44
And I know, like you said, videos are coming and more on
27:46
that, but how can we make sure that this is such a focus of our
27:50
Sabbath worship at church? We're talking about the second
27:52
hour, but Sacrament meeting is also so crucial.
27:55
Yeah. And we don't want the excitement
27:58
or maybe even the apprehensions that people might have about the
28:02
second hour. We, we don't want that to crowd
28:04
out the, the fact that sacrament meeting remains that most
28:09
important moment where we have a chance to make covenants that
28:14
will change who we are as, as people.
28:19
You know, when we think about sacrament meeting, there are
28:23
some basic things that I think we all would understand.
28:28
And, and when you talk about them, they seem obvious, but
28:32
sometimes we may not spend as much time actually just thinking
28:36
about them and what they do. And so I, I think about kind of
28:40
2 dimensions of that. One of them is the preparation
28:44
side of things to, to, to make sure that we're ready to, to, to
28:49
provide that kind of experience for people and, and, and the
28:52
other is focus. And so, you know, what's
28:55
preparation look like? Well, it means that the meeting
28:57
space is clean, that it's orderly, that it's ready to
29:02
receive the Spirit when the right kind of content and
29:05
material is there. It means that we're prepared to
29:09
offer a welcoming environment. Young women welcoming people as
29:15
they come to church with a smile and warmly inviting them to come
29:19
and participate in the meetings. Young men who are participating
29:24
in that ordinance, who understand the sacred
29:28
opportunity that they have to bring those emblems to members
29:34
who are making covenants that will strengthen them in their
29:38
lives. And there are things we can do
29:40
to make sure that those young men understand the ordinance,
29:44
that they understand how to perform the ordinance without
29:47
drawing attention to them. The sacrament is prepared well
29:52
in advance. We're not scrambling at the last
29:54
minute trying to make sure that the preparations are finished.
29:58
And so there are a lot of things that we can do in advance that
30:02
will help to make the environment such that the Spirit
30:06
will feel comfortable there. But of course, that happens most
30:12
often when we're focused on the Savior, We're focused on the
30:19
things that he taught. And so our focus would lead us
30:25
to have talks that are concentrating on on him and his
30:31
teachings. And there would be music that
30:33
would be coordinated with those messages and the tone and the
30:38
feeling would be something that would have been considered ahead
30:42
of time. These are all just practical
30:45
things. But if a ward council can spend
30:50
some time with the Bishop Brick and the Bishop Brick has the
30:55
responsibility for sacrament meeting.
30:57
But if they can spend some time talking about how, how do we
31:02
make changes, or what do we reinforce, what do we keep doing
31:07
that will make sacrament meeting the kind of experience that it
31:10
should be, Then all of these changes come together to achieve
31:16
what they're intended to achieve, which is to help us be
31:20
devout, lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
31:24
And prepare for his second coming, right?
31:26
Yes, the ward council and the stake council, they have some
31:33
some responsibilities here, some privileges, some some ways that
31:36
they can help with as we prepare for September as well.
31:40
They do. I I think this the simplest way
31:44
to think about what stake and ward leaders can do is go to the
31:49
landing page that we talked about.
31:51
Become familiar with every part of that and with every resource
31:56
that is available. Pay particular attention when
32:00
those August 30th materials and the September 6th materials are
32:04
released so that they are familiar with them.
32:07
They can help to make sure that wards and branches know where to
32:11
find them. They can help the leaders in
32:12
wards and branches or the wards and branches can make sure that
32:16
their teachers are familiar with those kinds of things.
32:20
This is just a deliberate consideration of how do we help
32:27
the members in our ward or in our branch to make this change.
32:31
And again, change is not always easy and it's easy to try and
32:36
poke holes in what the changes are.
32:40
But I really believe that when we just embrace them and and we
32:45
just start to go forward with what we have here, I think
32:49
members are going to be genuinely delighted with what
32:52
they find their experience. Is let's trust in the Lord.
32:55
That scripture just popped into my mind from Proverbs.
32:58
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine
33:01
own understanding. He will direct us and and we'll
33:04
be OK. We'll be all right in, in recent
33:07
General Conference training, Elder Dale G Renlund just talked
33:11
about the implementation of this is going to be really important
33:16
for us to realize the blessings that the Lord wants to shower
33:22
upon his people. And that's why we're taking as
33:25
much time as we are to make sure that we're able to, to, to
33:28
facilitate that change. I might add that in addition to
33:34
the resources that I've mentioned, another thing that's
33:37
available in two locations in the Gospel Library.
33:42
One of them is that landing page that we talked about.
33:45
The other is in the handbooks and callings section.
33:49
If you go to the General Conference leadership materials,
33:53
we've actually posted a panel discussion that Elder Remland
33:59
LED with members of general organization presidencies that
34:04
talk about all the insurance and outs and the nuances of these
34:09
changes, so many of the questions that people will have.
34:13
And so when you find those resources, what you'll see is
34:17
you get a chance to hear what Elder Renlund said as we were
34:21
getting ready to begin that panel discussion.
34:24
You'll also have a chance to hear what he said at the very
34:27
end, which includes this comment that I just made about
34:30
implementing. This is an important part of the
34:35
Lord being able to bless His people with the things that He
34:39
wants them to be able to have. I love too that they're modeling
34:42
that discussion and counseling then that maybe would be a good
34:46
thing for me to take to my own ward council and my own.
34:49
That idea of communication and this is wonderful.
34:52
There are resources there and we've talked about those that
34:55
people can look to and look. Forward to and, and we just, we
34:58
want people to know that they're there and we've tried to provide
35:01
some time so that members, leaders, ward councils, state
35:08
councils can actually spend some time with them and talk about
35:13
what the implications are of what they're learning.
35:15
As a mom of some young men, I am really interested in the new
35:18
youth curriculum. Let's talk a little bit more
35:20
about that. Help me through what's changing
35:22
for the youth curriculum? I mentioned this before, but
35:28
this is an opportunity for us to teach young people some really
35:33
important foundational things about the gospel and, and
35:39
importantly about who they are. And so if you look at what the
35:44
new chapters are in the first Strength of Youth guide, they
35:48
cover important topics like God has a plan for me and God wants
35:55
to communicate with me. I can understand what priesthood
35:59
keys are. I I can understand why
36:01
ordinances are important there. There's some really important
36:05
things that we get a chance to talk and, and, and to cover with
36:08
them. But if I can, let me just talk a
36:10
little bit about, first of all, again, the resources that are
36:14
available for this, where you can find them, but also to talk
36:18
about the structure of the lessons for youth.
36:23
And so these resources, what the youth will do is they'll use the
36:29
For Strength of Youth Guide that has been shipped to units all
36:33
over the world. And it should be in people's
36:36
hands already. And if they haven't, they should
36:39
find out why not because these were shipped in the month of
36:42
April. And so everyone should be able
36:44
to have their own copy of the For Strength of Youth Guide.
36:49
That guide, as we talked about, has 12 chapters, and then in the
36:54
FSY magazine, there are additional lesson materials.
36:59
Every month we'll have 8 pages of materials that are intended
37:05
to be used during the lessons and also as ideas for
37:10
activities. When young women and young men
37:12
come together for their activities.
37:15
Every month the magazine will have these 8 pages which are
37:20
intended to help to support their study of the first
37:24
Strength of Youth Guide and apply it in their in their
37:28
lives. Of course, it will be available
37:30
in the Gospel Library in a digital format as as well.
37:33
Let me just talk about how the lessons are supposed to work for
37:37
a minute more because the church's schedule is variable.
37:44
Sometimes we have holidays, sometimes we have state
37:47
conference. If we talk about first Sunday,
37:52
is it the first Sunday after the after the state conference?
37:56
Is it that Sunday? Before we get a little bit
37:58
confused about that, what you're going to see is that the the
38:02
lessons reference Fast Sunday and the last Sunday, and then
38:09
there are lessons that are available to be used in the
38:13
other weeks of the month. The reason that we've done that
38:17
is because the first Sunday lesson, which is where young
38:20
people actually go into the guide.
38:22
They study the eternal truths, they accept invitations, they
38:27
consider the promised blessings on the Fast Sunday that that
38:31
topic is considered. That's kind of the anchor of the
38:36
study for the month. And they start there on the last
38:40
Sunday of the month, which again can be affected by state
38:43
conferences or holidays or whatever.
38:45
On the last Sunday of the month, they are going to study a few
38:51
different things. They're going to study.
38:53
This is really a time for them to consider who am I, who, who
38:58
am I becoming? Who does the Lord want me to be?
39:06
And so in that last Sunday lesson, young women are going to
39:12
study scripture heroes, women from the scriptures that
39:17
demonstrate the principles that they've been studying all month
39:21
long. Young men will have the same
39:23
experience where they study about scripture heroes that are
39:27
men who are in the scriptures that typify what they've been
39:31
studying that month. And so there's the fast Sunday
39:35
lesson, which is the anchor and introduces the topic for the
39:38
month. There's the last Sunday lesson,
39:41
which is intended to be a bit of a summation of what they've been
39:45
learning, but really importantly, allowing them to
39:49
consider who it is that they are and who they're going to become.
39:52
And So what in that lesson, there's actually a statement
39:57
that just talks about who am I becoming?
40:02
And they're going to talk about that as part of that lesson
40:05
because all of this is intended to help young people to better
40:10
understand the truth and then consider what the implications
40:15
are and how to apply it in their lives.
40:17
And so not only are the materials important, not only is
40:21
how we approach it important, but actually the sequence of the
40:28
lesson is important. And if you have to make a trade
40:31
off, don't lose the fast Sunday lesson and don't lose the last
40:37
Sunday lesson. Make it one of those other
40:40
lessons that are intended to support what you started to
40:44
learn in the For Strength of Youth guide.
40:47
This divine identity is so crucial.
40:49
Who they are, why they're here, who they can become.
40:53
And those anchor pieces are what build.
40:56
That they are, and what we know about this generation is they
40:59
are precisely who they were prophesied to be.
41:03
Young people throughout the world are participating in the
41:05
church in higher numbers than ever before.
41:09
This generation is amazing. We can help them consider more
41:16
about who they are intended to become.
41:21
We like to talk about the children.
41:24
Youth program has three pillars to it.
41:26
It has gospel learning. It has service and activities,
41:30
it has personal development and those are great.
41:34
But actually, if you think about it, those actually have intended
41:38
outcomes and and, and so we like to talk about gospel learning so
41:43
that I believe in Jesus Christ service and activities so that I
41:49
belong to Jesus Christ and to his church and personal
41:54
development. So I become who Jesus Christ
41:58
wants me to become. We want young people to believe,
42:05
we want them to feel like they belong, and we want them to know
42:12
who they are and who they are intended to become as this
42:17
generation that has been prophesied will come.
42:22
That is beautiful and this is all inspired.
42:25
All of these things are are coming because we have a prophet
42:28
on the earth today and other leaders who've said let's do
42:31
this, let's move forward. I love that.
42:33
Thank you, elder Homer. I've I've so enjoyed our time
42:36
together today on this episode and all that I've learned and
42:40
I'm I'm looking forward to more. Our last question on the church
42:44
news podcast is always what do you know now?
42:47
And it's an opportunity for our guests to have the last word.
42:50
And so I would love to know what you know now about Home Centered
42:56
Church supported worship to bring us closer to the Savior of
43:00
Jesus Christ and progress along the covenant path.
43:04
Now I know that you asked that question at the end, and so I
43:08
gave that a little bit of thought before we came together,
43:12
and I just found myself thinking about a scripture in the 14th
43:16
chapter of John. This is verse 6.
43:24
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
43:33
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
43:39
I think the thing that I appreciate now more than I've
43:44
ever appreciated before is the fact that this is the true and
43:49
living Church of Jesus Christ, and that he actually leads it
43:56
personally. He inspires people, He inspires
44:01
processes, He inspires considerations and discussions,
44:06
and we've been working on this for a long time.
44:13
He's blessed us with prophets and apostles who have the
44:17
ability to understand what His will is.
44:23
As I've watched this process, as I've been part of these
44:27
discussions, I think the thing that I've come to appreciate
44:30
more than anything is that he is the way he.
44:35
He is the the life and He is the truth.
44:42
And in response to all the commotion and all the chaos and
44:48
all the confusion of the world that we live in, his message is
44:53
so simple. Come, follow me.
45:00
And so he's trying to help us understand.
45:05
Here are some ways that we can take a step closer to him
45:10
because as President Oakes told us, Jesus Christ is the way.
45:18
I know that for myself, and I say that in the name of Jesus
45:22
Christ, Amen.