Just A Few Thoughts on Giving A Talk

Just a few thoughts on giving a talk. 

1. Love the topic you choose. Let the members feel that you love with all your heart what you talk about. This can come through personal stories and testimonies

3. Simplicity. Be careful not to complicate your words, and don't feel like you need to put flowers on everything. You never know who is in the congregation for the first time, who is visiting, etc. There is beauty in simplicity. Both in words, and in testimony. I have learned this a lot here on my mission. Its hard for me still but it will help you.

2. Teach Doctrine. Based on the topic you or they choose, teach doctrinal principles that can bless the lives of those who listen. Teach new things, don't just share what everyone else shares. Find personal meanings of the doctrine and share how you apply it. Here's and example. Im still not very good at it but maybe this can help with this principle of ''teaching new things''. 

This is something I wrote to my President last week:  ''I learn a lot which is good but I sometimes feel like there are just too many things I need to do better and I lose sight of just fixing one thing at a time. I read a talk by Elder Christofferson about repentance this week and I realized the importance of repentance for our eternal progression. Baptism is not a step after repentance. It IS repentance. It is the last step. It doesn't cleanse us either. It is the promise of our personal repentance that we will be more obedient than before. It simply qualifies us for the reception of the Holy Ghost. Then the Holy Ghost purifies us, and gives us the spiritual confirmation that God remembers our sins no more. Even after being baptized, repentance is not complete until we take the sacrament, promise again that we will be more obedient than before, and qualify ourselves to receive the Holy Ghost again. The miracle is that God promises to heal us, cleanse us, and even forget our sins if we truly repent. I sometimes don't repent well enough I think. Maybe there will be tears, heartache, sadness, pain, but as Elder Christofferson promised: ''Any pain entailed in repentance will always be far less than the suffering required to satisfy justice for unresolved transgression.'' The Holy Ghost will purify us and replace all pain with a feeling of love and comfort. I hope to do this more this week.'' 

You can take any topic and really study it and find the new things there. You and the rest of the congregation will learn more if you dig deeper into the personal purposes of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ.

3. Living prophets are more important to us than dead prophets. President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet. . . . “. . . God’s revelations to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the Ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore, the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore, the most important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet . . . contained each month in our Church magazines. Our marching orders for each six months are found in the general conference addresses, which are printed in the Ensign magazine''

 I would encourage to always always quote teachings of some modern day prophet. Maybe look for the most recent teaching and stories by the prophets. But the scriptures are always a help. I like to use them more for doctrinal digging (point number 2) but you're the best mom, you know how to do it better than I. 

4. Trust in the Spirit. The Spirit is a powerful gift God has promised us that are baptized. Use his guidance as you choose the things you will say. Pray for help, revelation, and comfort. 

5. Christ is the center. Jesus Christ should always be the center of our thoughts and words. Teach about Him, share your testimony of Him, and discover the relation He has with the topic you teach. Luckily your topic will most likely be CHRISTmas related so putting Christ in the middle shouldn't be too hard. He is our Savior and Because of Him we are here. Make your testimony of Him the foundation, light, and life of your talk.  

I hope this helps. Im not great at giving talks either but I thought these might be a few helpful points. I love you lots. Let me know how the prep goes.

Your son,

Elder Gehring

 

Here are some wonderful Bolivian Children. 

 

Also, I think when you Chelsea have your first kid, you should keep him in a wheelbarrow like this.