Teacher Training Day

This is the church building in the small coastal town of Liepaja, Latvia.  Elder & Sister Davis drove here with Noemi & Tatiana to have teacher training for the institute teachers of Latvia.   We had planned a day of classes, workshops and pizza lunch. We were handing out supplies and manuals for the new institute year to the teachers. This is what CES missionaries are supposed to be doing to promote the seminary and institute programs of the church. 

Teachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ have been given a sacred trust.  They have the responsibility to teach gospel  doctrines and principles:  truths that are unchanging.  These truths have the power to change students behavior if they will apply what they are taught.  We know that the prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon said:  "Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness."Alma 41:10

That is an example of a gospel truth.

The truth that is taught in class needs to go from the minds of the students, into the hearts of the students, by the power of the Holy Ghost. That is when they will actually want to live what they have learned.

Now we just have to teach that method to the wonderful institute teachers in Latvia.

After Antti talked to the teachers about the course of study for the new year (the New Testament), Kristina gave a workshop on the use of "spiritual journals". 

 She showed how she teaches a concept and the students write what they learned from it into their personal journals.  That solidifies what they have learned in both their hearts and their minds. It's like taking notes in class but you are allowed to think about the meaning of what was said and not just write what the teacher said. 

"True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior." Elder Boyd. K. Packer

And her fellow institute teachers did just that... they pondered what she had said to them and wrote down their thoughts in their spiritual journals.

The next class was given by Tatiana, the Russian Institute teacher in Riga, and since it was all in Russian, Noemi who was translating for me didn't have a clue what was said and we didn't either.  But we could understand what Tatiana was demonstrating.   Her subject was using visual aids in the classroom and she was demonstrating how to have the students come up to the board and put the pictures of the Savior's life in chronological order.  The Liepaja branch president is helping her with the pictures.

"A study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior."

Her demonstration showed to us the power of visual aids in teaching in a new way. We couldn't understand what was being SAID, but we could learn from her because we SAW what she was teaching.

Noemi taught the next segment on using object lessons in teaching and she had three groups demonstrate an object lesson and then teach the concept behind it.

Then it was Sister Davis's turn. She taught (with the help of a translator) how to find the gospel principles (enduring truths) in the scriptures so the teachers could emphasize the most important part of the lesson.  It is quite a fun game....read a few scriptures and find out what the writer wanted you to learn from them. Sometimes you have to read  a whole chapter to find out and sometimes one scripture will have several gospel principles in it.

And thus we ended a wonderful day of training.  We thought it was a huge success... because it seemed to us that REAL learning was taking place, and most of the teachers were able to attend.
We say goodbye to Liepaja and leave for home.....

The church parking lot in Liepaja has got to be one of the best in the church...it even has a basketball court in the corner.

Institute classes start all over the Baltic the first week of September, and we will be in Riga observing the teaching and learning going on!

Back in Riga, after dropping off Noemi and Tatiana, we saw three missionaries on the street trying to talk to people and getting brushed off by all of them. We felt sorry for these hard working guys who just want to share the message of Jesus Christ with their fellow human beings. 

So we turned down the street, pulled our car over and said (a little loudly) out the window, "Hey, who would have guessed we would see Mormon Missionaries in Riga, Latvia! Can we take your picture?"

The missionaries turned around grinning (they probably all recognized Sister Davis's voice).
And Sister Davis said,  "Can I take your picture?"

Well, some of the people who brushed them off, suddenly became interested in them. They stopped to look and smiled to see "an American" lady taking pictures of the missionaries from a car.

We love our missionaries!  Elders Morgan, Baxter, and Davidson

All are hard working, clean cut, wonderful young men giving up two years of youthful service doing the Lords work....the hard work and discipline they are doing now, will make them remarkable men someday.