talks and lessons

I have to give a talk on Sunday. It's on Elder Ballard's conference address, "I will remember your sins no more". It's been quite a while since I have given a talk in church, and in a way I'm excited, but I'm also pretty nervous.

Giving a talk requires a different kind of preparation than teaching a lesson, which I have done quite often. I like teaching lessons because all you have to do is prepare well, construct a loose sort of outline and direct everyones' comments to certain questions/facets of the discussion. The more participation you can invoke, the better an experience it is for everybody. Therefore, a good lesson is defined as a lesson in which the teacher talks the least, in a way.

With a talk, you are speaking the entire time. For twelve minutes. All by yourself. You can't easily gauge the audience's reaction to what you are teaching (whether they agree, dissagree, etc) and so you have to rely entirely on the Spirit to direct your own comments. It's easy to have a spiritual experience when everyone in the room is listening to the Spirit and commenting with their own experiences and viewpoints... when you're the only one up there, and nobody expects to have to participate, quite often people fall asleep.

I hope nobody falls asleep this Sunday. We'll see.

I wanted to share a scripture that I am using in my talk, that I love:

Isaiah Chapter 57, verses 17-19:

“For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts to him and his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips: peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him.”

What a powerful message to those who are repenting, or maybe who are afraid that they are not redeemable through the atonement.

Wish me luck (or really, I guess, pray for me) on Sunday.