An Activity for LDS Aaronic Priesthood Quorums
Table of Contents
For Instructors............................................................................................................ 3
Concept...................................................................................................................... 3
Goal.............................................................................................................................3
Introduction For Bishops and their Challenge Guides (Quorum Presidents)............. 3
Introduction to the Whole Camp................................................................................ 4
The Upside-Down Determination.............................................................................. 5
True Determination.................................................................................................... 5
The Pondering Quandary........................................................................................... 6
Ponder Scriptures....................................................................................................... 6
The Prayer Predicament..............................................................................................7
Meaningful Prayer.......................................................................................................7
The Faith Catch........................................................................................................... 8
Exercise Faith.............................................................................................................. 8
The Communication Impasse.......................................................................................9
Learn to Listen............................................................................................................. 9
The Human Knot Dilemma......................................................................................... 10
Repeat the Process....................................................................................................... 10
Equipment Requirements............................................................................................. 11
THE TRAIL TO TESTIMONY CHALLENGE – IMPORTANT NOTE
This activity is designed for the use of LDS Wards and Stakes to promote leadership opportunities for Bishops and Aaronic Quorum Presidents in teaching their youth the Lord’s pattern for learning truth. Everyone comes to testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on their own. The objective of this activity is to help each participant understand learn how they can gain a testimony for themselves.
Contents for all lesson material of this program are taken from the book: True To The Faith, A Gospel Reference, Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, 2004. The challenges are readily available group problem-solving exercises openly available on the internet. They have been edited for use for LDS Youth and this particular activity.
The Trail to Testimony Challenge
Concept
Bishops and Quorum Presidents lead their lead their Young men through a series of challenges in order to teach to recognize the pattern of how to receive a testimony and why each step is important. This is done through fun group problem-solving exercises and instruction. The event concludes with a debriefing led by a stake or Ward leader to reinforce key concepts, discuss testimonies, and bare strong testimony to the youth. A takeaway, Your Trail to Testimony Guidebook is provided to each young man, which contains the Key Component Lessons.
Goal
Help the participants leave seeing and understanding the pattern of gaining a testimony so as to be able to use the system on their own throughout their life.
Introduction For Bishops and their Challenge Guides (Quorum Presidents)
This camp challenge will discuss specific steps in the quest to gain a testimony (The Trail to Testimony). As you identify and show this pattern to your group, participants will learn how to use that system on their own and use it to their benefit throughout their lives. Much of the success of this challenge will depend on your preparedness in leading your group through the challenge and instructing them at the end of each section. Being prayerfully prepared to instruct and bear strong testimony will be key.
The Steps in the Testimony Trail are:
· True Determination
· Ponder Scriptures
· Meaningful Prayer
· Exercise Faith
· Learn to Listen
· Repeat the Cycle
This camp Challenge will use group problem-solving exercises to accomplish a number of things. Some are:
1. Provide a team building opportunity
2. Teach participants to work with others to accomplish goals
3. Promote unity among quorums and key holders
4. Promote critical thinking, problem-solving, and strategic reasoning in individuals
5. Most importantly, the activity will greatly provide for a positive experience that will aid individuals in remembering the steps of gaining a testimony.
These problem-solving activities are connected with the concept points of gaining a testimony to provide each group a challenge, which will reinforce the key principals in the Trail in individual’s minds. At the conclusion of each challenge an instructor will reinforce the Key Concept through a short discussion at the end of each exercise.
Each Key Concept Lesson is taken directly from the scriptures and excerpts from the First Presidency’s Gospel Reference Guide, True To The Faith (Published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City, UT, 2004). This is done so that you may feel sure in what you are presenting and can trust the Spirit will bare witness to what you are saying. Each instructor will read or memorize the Key Concept Lesson for each exercise and present it at the conclusion of each activity. Each instructor should practice the lines and know the length of time they need to make the presentation. They need to ensure they stop the activity on time to ensure the lesson is presented and discussion can be had. This presentation should be given by yourself or one of your Quorum Presidents that you assign.
(A Stake Leader makes this opening introduction concluding with instructions as to how the Challenge will operate)
The trail to obtaining a testimony is not linear. It is circular and applies to all aspects of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and all truth. Obtaining knowledge of one truth leads to the pursuit of knowledge of another. The initial process brings us to a testimony of Jesus Christ. Learning and using this pattern throughout our lives brings us an ever-growing, line upon line, precept upon precept, stronger and stronger testimony with deeper understanding of all the Lords ways.
A testimony is a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost. The foundation of a testimony is the knowledge that Heavenly Father lives and loves us, that Jesus Christ lives, that He is the Son of God, and that He carried out the infinite Atonement, that Joseph Smith is the prophet of God who was called to restore the gospel, that we are led by a living prophet today, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Savior’s true Church on the earth. With this foundation, a testimony grows to include all principles of the gospel.
As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you have the sacred opportunity and responsibility to obtain your own testimony. Having obtained a testimony, you have a duty to nurture it throughout your life. Your happiness in this life and throughout eternity depends largely on whether you are “valiant in the testimony of Jesus” (D&C 76:79 see also verses 51, 74, 101).
While the trail you walk to a testimony is done on your own, there is always help available to you when you encounter challenges along the way. Parents, Bishops, friends, and always Heavenly Father, are waiting to help you. This will be particularly important today as you go through the Camp's Trail to Testimony Challenge. Today, no one will be able to resolve the challenges you will face alone. Today, your brethren are your most important assets. You will have to work as a team to get through the roadblocks you will face. We encourage you to approach each challenge systematically. This is how high performing teams solve problems. Their approach looks something like this:
1. Understand the problem so you can describe it thoroughly.
2. Gather all the information you can about it.
3. What factors are contributing to the problem?
4. Visualize what success looks like.
5. Make a plan for that success.
Solving these challenge will not only allow you to proceed down the trail, but each solution will unlock a Key Step in how to gain a testimony. As you learn the key steps in the process of gaining a testimony, do your best to remember them. They will be of great benefit to you as you seek for truth throughout your life and a great source of strength in all you do.
Every group will start today’s challenge at a different part of the Trail. Each will unveil a Key Component. Everyone will complete the entire challenge. Because the process of gaining a testimony is circular, it won't matter where you begin. It only matters that you finish. Best of luck and enjoy The Trail To Testimony Challenge!
Instructions regarding the logistics of what groups go where and how they navigate through the course are given. The set time to begin is communicated along with the system of timing for rotations. (For our Camp Challenge we will use the 20/20/20 system. 20 minutes for each challenge, 20 minutes for the Key Concept Lesson and any discussion, 20 minutes (to the Top of the Hour) to make it to the next station and get ready for the next challenge.
The Challenge!
The Upside-Down Determination
The challenge is to flip over a tarp while the entire group remains standing on it.
Equipment
A durable tarp, retired tent fly, drop cloth, or sheet of plastic approximately 5 by
5 feet in size.
Preparations by the Instructor
Spread the tarp flat on the ground in an area free of obstructions.
The Problem and the Objectives
The entire group stands on the tarp. Without stepping off members must figure out a way to flip over the tarp and spread it out again so that they can stand comfortably on the other side. The group must follow these rules:
a. All members must remain on the tarp for the duration of the challenge.
b. No participant may be lifted above shoulder height.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives. Clarify the rules before the problem solving begins.
b. Monitor the activities of members.
c. After a group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
Safety Precautions
The tarp should be placed on smooth ground in an area free of obstructions.
True Determination
In order to succeed in this challenge, you needed to have a true determination.
Like this challenge, the quest for a testimony begins with a righteous, sincere desire. You need to be determined in your quest to gain a testimony.
Your Heavenly Father will bless you according to the righteous desires of your heart and your efforts to do His will. Speaking to a group of people who did not yet have testimonies of the gospel, Alma taught: “If ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words” (Alma 32:27).
Enos showed his determination to the Lord to receive a testimony by repenting and praying all day (Enos Chapter 1) and the Lord gave Enos a testimony in a dramatic way.
The Father of King Lamoni showed his determination to the Lord to receive a testimony by his willingness to give everything he had to know the Lord. “Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.” (Alma 22:15)
But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest (Alma 22:16).
And the King got down on his knees and prayed: O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God, and if thou art God, wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee…(Alma 22:18)
Both of these men have taught us the importance of determination in gaining a testimony. They were willing to do anything to know God. Notice that both began with their willingness to repent and give themselves to God. When they did that, it happened for them.
Having a sincere determination is the first step in gaining a testimony.
The Pondering Quandary
Equipment
■ Metal ring, approximately 11⁄2 inches in diameter
■ A length of parachute cord or other light line, approximately 10 feet, for each Group member
■ Balls of assorted sizes (golf ball, tennis ball, baseball, softball, soccer ball)
■ Bucket or large tin can
Preparations by the Instructor
Prepare the Ball Conveyor by using bowline knots to tie the ends of the cords to the metal ring (one cord for each member of the Group). Lay the ring in the center of the activity area and arrange all the cords on the ground together in the same direction.
Place one of the balls on top of the Ball Conveyor. (Some experimentation by staff ahead of time should make it clear which size ball will provide Groups with the most appropriate degree of challenge. Larger balls will probably be more difficult to manage than those that are smaller.)
Determine the course over which Groups must carry the ball and set out the bucket or can that will serve as the goal.
The Problem and the Objectives
The task for each Group is to use the Ball Conveyor to move the ball from the starting point to a prescribed destination, then drop the ball into the bucket or can. The following rules must be followed:
a. Each Group member must maintain a grasp on the end of one of the Ball Conveyor cords.
b. Other than their hold on the ends of the cords, Group members can have no other contact with the cords or the ball.
c. Ask them to ponder how to accomplish the task.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives to each Group. Clarify the rules before the Group begins its problem solving.
b. Monitor the activities of Group members.
c. After a Group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
Variations on the Original Problem
Changes in the size of the ball and in the placement of the goal can dramatically alter the difficulty of this problem. Consider having Groups move the ball uphill, between two trees, or to a goal that is placed against a wall.
Ponder Scriptures
When holy men of God write or speak by the power of the Holy Ghost, their words “shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation” (D&C 68:4).
When we prayerfully study the scriptures we receive the same spirit with which they where written. This spirit of revelation can open our minds and hearts allowing us to receive our own personal revelation and have answers to our prayers.
The principal purpose of scriptures is to testify of Christ, helping us come unto Him and receive eternal life (see John 5:39; 20:31; 1 Nephi 6:4; Mosiah 13:33-35)
Daily, meaningful scripture study helps you be receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. It builds your faith, fortifies you against temptation, and helps you draw near to your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. The prophet Alma taught, comparing the word to a seed, that the “desire to believe” can lead you to “give place” for the word (scriptures) to be “planted in your heart.” Then you will feel that the word is good, for it will begin to enlarge your soul and enlighten your understanding. As you continually nurture the word in your heart, “with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.” (See Alma 32:26-43) Studying and pondering the scriptures is a vital part of gaining a testimony.
The Prayer Predicament
Equipment
■ 10 to 12 “message tubes” (Form the tubes by cutting 2-inch diameter PVC tubing into lengths of 18 to 24 inches. Add variety by attaching PVC elbow joints to one or both ends of several of the message tubes.)
■ Golf ball
Preparations by the Instructor
a. Determine the starting point and destination of the message.
b. Pile the message tubes near the starting point.
c. Provide golf balls with message pertinent to the Trail discussion.
The Problem and the Objectives
The Group members must convey a concealed a highly sensitive message inside a golf ball to a certain location. Using the message tubes, the Group members are challenged to form a message machine to convey the message to its destination. The instructor starts the message (the golf ball) on its way by placing it in the end of the message tube held by one of the participants. Group members must then arrange themselves in such a way that they can roll the message from one tube to the next until it arrives at its goal. They do so according to the following rules:
a. Group members cannot touch the ball.
b. A Group member who has the ball inside a message tube cannot move his or her feet until the ball has passed into another message tube.
c. The ball must remain hidden in the message tubes.
d. At no time can the ball touch the ground.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives to each Group. Clarify the rules before the Group begins its problem solving.
b. Monitor the activities of Group members.
c. After a Group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
Variations on the Original Problem
The problem can be made more difficult by placing the destination of the message uphill from its spot of origin. Groups will also find the problem more difficult if they must solve it in silence.
Meaningful Prayer
Make your prayers meaningful. The prophet Mormon warned that if anyone “shall pray and not with real intent of heart … it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such” (Moroni 7:9). To make your prayers meaningful, you must pray with sincerity and “with all the energy of heart” (Moroni 7:48). Be careful to avoid “vain repetitions” when you pray (see Matthew 6:7). Give serious thought to your attitude and to the words you use.
You are a child of God. Your Heavenly Father loves you and knows your needs, and He wants you to communicate with Him through prayer. Pray to Him and no one else. The Lord Jesus Christ commanded, “Ye must always pray unto the Father in my name” (3 Nephi 18:19).
As you make a habit of approaching God in prayer, you will come to know Him and draw ever nearer to Him. Your desires will become more like His. You will be able to secure for yourself and for others blessings that He is ready to give if you will but ask in faith.
Never give in to the idea that you are not worthy to pray. This idea comes from Satan, who wants to convince you that you must not pray (see 2 Nephi 32:8). If you do not feel like praying, pray until you do feel like praying.
The Savior has commanded, “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror yea, that you may conquer Satan…” (D&C 10:5). Although you cannot be continuously on your knees…you can maintain a constant feeling of love for your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. You can silently express gratitude to your Father and ask Him to strengthen you in your responsibilities. In times of temptation or physical danger, you can silently ask for His help (Alma 34:27 see also 3 Nephi 20:1). Open communication with God through meaningful prayer is key to gaining a testimony.
The Faith Catch
Equipment
A grid-shaped web made of parachute cord is stretched between two trees, posts, or other stationary standards. The web can be of any width (10 feet is a good size) and must be no more than 5 feet high. The openings in the grid are of various sizes; each of them must be large enough for a person to pass through.
Preparations by the Instructor
Set up the web. Use all available help to build and test the web.
The Problem and the Objectives
The Group finds its way blocked by a web wall. Group members must put their faith and trust in the group to cooperate in order to get the entire Group to the other side of the web. While doing so, participants must follow these rules:
a. No one can touch the web.
b. Each opening in the web can be used only once for passage. After a participant has gone through an opening, no one else can use the same opening.
c. If any participant is lifted off the ground by other Group members, that participant must be protected from falling.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives to each Group. Clarify the rules before the Group begins its problem solving.
b. Monitor the activities of Group members.
c. After the Group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
d. Act as a spotter to help protect any participant lifted off the ground.
Safety Precautions
Group members must plan their moves through the web so that any participants who are lifted to pass through openings higher on the web can do so safely.
Exercise Faith
Alma stated: “If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21). Faith is a principle of action and power. Whenever you work toward a worthy goal, you exercise faith. You show your hope for something that you cannot yet see.
Faith is a gift from God, but you must nurture your faith to keep it strong. Faith is like the muscles of your arm. If you exercise it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling and leave it there, it becomes weak.
You can nurture the gift of faith by praying to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. You will draw near to the Savior, whose Atonement makes it possible for you to plead for mercy (see Alma 33:11). You will also be receptive to the quiet guidance of the Holy Ghost.
You can strengthen your faith by keeping the commandments. Be Faithful. Many people feel that the commandments are burdensome and that they limit freedom and personal growth. But the Savior taught that true freedom comes only from following Him: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32). God gives commandments for your benefit. They are loving instructions for your happiness and your physical and spiritual well-being.
Like all blessings from God, faith is obtained and increased through individual obedience and righteous action. If you desire to enrich your faith to the highest possible degree, you must keep the covenants you have made.
Alma taught that faith can also be increased through studying the scriptures and prayer (Alma 32:26-43).
Faith to have desire and to be determined, faith to study and ponder the scriptures, faith to pray meaningfully, and faith that your answers will come, are all required and an essential step in the trail to testimony.
The Communication Impasse
The Communication Impasse presents the group with a problem that requires strategic thinking and cooperation.
Equipment
Nine squares, approximately 3 by 3 feet. These may be made of cardboard, plywood, old tarps, or other durable material. There must be one more square than there are participants solving the problem.
Preparations by the Instructor
Arrange the squares in a straight line on the ground, spaced an easy step from one another. Include one more square than the total number of participants (i.e., a group of eight members will need nine squares.)
The Problem and the Objectives
The group divides into two groups of equal numbers (Groups with an odd number of members can include the instructor as a participant). One half takes up positions on the squares to the left of the center square while the other half stands on the squares to the right of the center square, one person to a square.
Using only legal moves, the two halves of the Group must exchange places on the line of squares. All members starting to the left of center are to end up on the right, and all members starting to the right of center are to end up on the left. The following rules determine how movement can occur.
a. Only one person at a time may move.
b. An individual may move to an empty space in front of him or her.
c. Individuals may not move backward.
d. An individual may move to an empty space behind a person who is facing him or her.
e. Any move around someone facing the same direction as the mover is illegal.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives to each Group. Clarify the rules before the Group begins its problem solving.
b. Monitor the activities of Group members.
c. After a Group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
Safety Precautions
The squares should be placed on smooth ground in an area free of obstructions.
Learn to Listen
When you make a request through prayer, do all you can to assist in its being granted. Most importantly, learn to listen to the spirit. Remember that prayer is two-way communication. As you close your prayers, take time to pause and listen with your heart, mind and ears. At times, Heavenly Father will counsel, guide, or comfort you while you are on your knees, but you must be prepared to hear His answers. Listen.
When you have an important decision to make, He often will require that you “study it out in your mind” before He will give you an answer (see D&C 9:7-8). Your prayers for guidance will be only as effective as your efforts to be receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost.
Heavenly Father hears your prayers. He may not always answer as you expect, but He does answer--in His own time and according to His will. He knows what is best for you.
Answers to prayer come in many ways. They often come through the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost (see “Revelation,” True to the Faith, pages 140-44). They may come in the circumstances of your life or through the kind acts of those around you. As you continue to draw near to your Heavenly Father through prayer, you will recognize more readily His merciful and wise answers to your pleadings. You will find that He is your “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
He “witnesses of the Father and the Son” (2 Nephi 31:18) and reveals and teaches “the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5). You can receive a sure testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ only by the power of the Holy Ghost. His communication to your spirit carries far more certainty than any communication you can receive through your natural senses.
Learning to listen is a key step in gaining a testimony.
The Human Knot Dilemma
Equipment
None
Preparations by the Instructor
Select a flat area free of obstructions.
The Problem and the Objectives
Group members stand in a tight circle. They reach into the center of the circle with both hands and, with each hand, grasp the hand of another Group member, thus forming a human knot. Maintaining their grasps, participants untie the knot by moving over, under, and around one another. The utmost of cooperation will be required for participants to visualize the moves that must occur and then to carry them out.
Tasks of the Instructor
a. Explain the problem and objectives to each Group. Clarify the rules before the Group begins its problem solving.
b. Monitor the activities of Group members.
c. A team sometimes forms a knot that cannot be fully untied or reaches a point where it is physically impossible to continue a particular solution. In either case, the instructor may change the grasp of one or several participants, or may restart the challenge by having the Group form a new human knot.
d. After the Group completes this task, encourage the members to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their problem-solving methods and to consider other ways they might have achieved their goal.
Safety Precautions
Participants must move deliberately to minimize the possibility of injury.
Repeat the Process
Don’t get tied up in a knot while you are waiting for an answer to your prayer. Be patient and repeat the steps in the trail to testimony.
Testimony comes through the quiet influence of the Holy Ghost.
The results of a testimony can be miraculous and life changing, but the gift of testimony usually comes as a quiet assurance, without spectacular displays of God’s power. Even Alma, who had been visited by an angel and had seen God sitting on His throne, needed to fast and pray so he could receive a testimony through the power of the Holy Ghost (see Alma 5:45-46 36:8, 22).
Your testimony will grow gradually through your experiences.
No one receives a complete testimony all at once. Your testimony will grow stronger through your experiences. It will expand as you show your willingness to serve in the Church, wherever you are called. It will increase as you make decisions to keep the commandments. As you lift and strengthen others, you will see that your testimony continues to develop. As you pray and fast, study the scriptures, attend Church meetings, and hear others share their testimonies, you will be blessed with moments of inspiration that will bolster your testimony. Such moments will come throughout your life as you strive to live the gospel.
Your testimony will increase as you share it.
Do not wait for your testimony to be fully developed before you share it. Part of a testimony’s development comes when it is shared. In fact, you will find that when you give what you have of your testimony, it will be returned to you--with increase.
Patiently continuing to repeat the steps in the Trail to Testimony is vital to gaining a testimony.
Communication Impasse Equipment
Nine squares, approximately 3 by 3 feet. These may be made of cardboard, plywood, old tarps, or other durable material. There must be one more square than there are participants solving the problem.
Flip Over Equipment
A durable tarp, retired tent fly, drop cloth, or sheet of plastic approximately 5 by 5 feet in size.
The Human Knot Delimma – No equipment required
The Faith Catch Equipment
A grid-shaped web made of parachute cord is stretched between two trees, posts, or other stationary standards. The web can be of any width (10 feet is a good size) and must be no more than 5 feet high. The openings in the grid are of various sizes; each of them must be large enough for a person to pass through.
The Prayer Predicament Equipment
■ 10 to 12 “message tubes” (Form the tubes by cutting 2-inch diameter PVC tubing into lengths of 18 to 24 inches. Add variety by attaching PVC elbow joints to one or both ends of several of the message tubes.)
■ Golf ball
The Pondering Quandary Equipment
■ Metal ring, approximately 11⁄2 inches in diameter
■ A length of parachute cord or other light line, approximately 10 feet, for each Group member
■ Balls of assorted sizes (golf ball, tennis ball, baseball, softball, soccer ball)
■ Bucket or large tin can
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