[Teachldsseminary] do we rush right past?

[Marji]

from our CES supervisor in the inbox today....

Forwarded post follows.
Marji
================

Wow there is a lot of material left to cover this year in seminary.
There is no way to cover it all thoroughly.  I encourage you to follow
Elder Holland's Counsel he gave at our last World Wide Training
Session:

"You can see from these materials spread out on this table that I am
trying to prepare a lesson. Does it look familiar? It's today's
lesson—a lesson for all of you. Preparing for any class is hard work,
and it takes time. In that regard, may I encourage you to start
thinking about and planning early for any lesson that you are to give.

For example, if I were going to teach a class on Sunday, I would read
through and begin praying about that lesson the Sunday before. That
gives me a full week to pray, to seek inspiration, to think, to read
and watch for real-life applications that will give vitality to my
message. You won't finalize the lesson that early, but you will be
surprised to find how many things come to you during the week, how
much God gives you—things that you will feel to use when you do
finalize your preparation.

In discussing preparation, may I also encourage you to avoid a
temptation that faces almost every teacher in the Church; at least it
has certainly been my experience. That is the temptation to cover too
much material, the temptation to stuff more into the hour—or more into
the students—than they can possibly hold! Remember two things in this
regard: first of all, we are teaching people, not subject matter per
se; and second, every lesson outline that I have ever seen will
inevitably have more in it than we can possibly cover in the allotted
time.

So stop worrying about that. It's better to take just a few good ideas
and get good discussion—and good learning—than to be frenzied, trying
to teach every word in the manual. In these materials lying before me,
I already have three or four times the content that I can possibly say
or share with you today in the allotted time period of a classroom
hour. So, like you, I have had to choose and select; I'm holding some
material over for another day.

An unrushed atmosphere is absolutely essential if you are to have the
Spirit of the Lord present in your class. Please don't ever forget
that. Too many of us rush. We rush right past the Spirit of the Lord
trying to beat the clock in some absolutely unnecessary footrace."