Object lessons

One of the things Elder and Sister Davis like to show teachers in the church is how to effectively use object lessons in their classes.  We want the students to have a visual object to help remind them of  gospel principles.  So when we were asked by Sister Bonner and Sister Koiv to come to Estonia and share the things we learned in CES training in Turkey this year, we took objects to show them.

The first objects we brought were two missionaries.  Elder & Sister Ballstaedt had never gone to Estonia before, so we brought them along for the ride.  Missionaries make great object lessons and because they wear name tags with the Church's name under it, they are easily identifiable. 

We had all the Seminary and Institute teachers in attendance.  We first showed a video called "Teaching the Saviors Way".  We then talked about how the Savior taught using questions, loving his pupils, and making them think about what he was saying by using stories to create pictures in their minds.

Then we talked about using simple objects to get their students to think. We held up a white piece of paper with a small black dot in the middle and asked them, "What do you see?".  They all said, they see a black dot.  But we told them, the white paper is so much bigger, why do you notice the black dot and not the paper?  This led to a discussion of why it stands out...and rather then tell them what lesson to use this object with,  we asked them to tell us what lesson they COULD use it in.  The answers were varied and all were right; you could use it for a lesson on repentance, looking for the good in others, gossip and how it mars someones reputation... all those topics and it was just a simple piece of paper with a black dot on it.

We took a ball of yarn and did an activity where the teachers got in a circle and threw the yarn to each other, each holding a part of the yarn before throwing the ball to someone else...it makes a giant spider web if you do it right. And then we had one of the teachers lift up her arm and found it affected everyone else's yarn they were holding. They could feel that someone had made a change....think about what lessons that activity could be used in. See how great object lessons are?  We won't bore you with any more but suffice it to say, we spent an hour teaching how to use object lessons to make their lessons more interesting. 

We said our fond farewells to Sister Koiv...she is really a great person and we hope she continues encouraging the teachers in Estonia.

Now, don't think this trip was all business and no fun....we managed to fit in a little fun.

Elder Davis found a new girlfriend... but she's just another pretty face.

And Sister Davis found a new boyfriend. She wasn't drawn to him for his good looks...no! She likes him because he's smiling and has some really good food on that menu.  She was hoping she could get him to cook for family home evening. By the way, the lunch special that costs 12 Euros  equals $15.72. What a bargain. We told you things are expensive here, didn't we?

 One last picture of all of us in front of Viru Gate. Notice the heavy coats, hats and gloves...still no Spring.

The next Monday we were surprised with another object lesson.  This one was given by Agita (Ag-ee-ta) at Family Home Evening.  Agita is an investigator being taught by the missionaries. She has had a few lessons in our house and speaks fluent English. She asked Romans if she could give a lesson sometime in Family Home Evening and he said, "Of course!" 

We had 22 people show up that night ( 7 investigators) so Agita was a little nervous. 

Jeanette and Sherry (dental students studying in Riga), Sister Kerksiek and Elder Baxte

Agita brings out an empty jar.  Hmmm, this object lesson seems familiar to Sister Davis. Agneta is helping by translating what is being said into English and holding the jar for Agita.   

Agita starts putting some small rocks in the jar and filling it up.  She likened the rocks to important things we do in the church like praying and scripture reading. Then she asked the audience if the jar was full. Some said yes.

She then got a small bag of colored sand and poured it between the rocks. She likened the sand to other things we need to do, like attend church and family home evening. She said no matter how full you think your life is, God makes room for the important things. 

Is the jar full now?  Not quite. She slowly added water.

She said that all the things in the jar are important but without baptism they don't mean you are fully committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.     

Pretty good object lesson, wouldn't you say?