Seminary is in session! Below is the quote that met my students on the first day of class. As they arrive each day, they open their journals and copy down the quote and questions I have posted on the easel. Usually the quote is something from our lesson that day, but I thought that this was a great thought as we start the early morning Seminary routine. Each day, I feel like I am getting a better sense as to how to incorporate classroom journals more effectively. They are taking notes during class discussions and many are taking their journal and note taking very seriously. I expect that several students will fill more than one journal during the year. This is how my students were greeted on the first day. S.T.O.M.P. (Scriptorians Trying Out Moroni's Promise) Above the drinking water fountain On the way to a fabulous year!!!!

Seminary Advice – Aug 2008 (These thoughts are solely my opinions and might even need correction!) Always start on time. If you keep starting later and later – then the students will le…

Mormon teens all over the world attend religious instruction each day called LDS Seminary. Some of these teens attend this class in the early morning before their school starts.

Mormon teens all over the world attend religious instruction each day called LDS Seminary. Some of these teens attend this class in the early morning before their school starts.

While researching Skyped seminary, I found this old post on Early Morning Seminary at Segullah. I got really tickled. It's always a pleasure to hear other

This page is where I will share some of my Doctrinal Mastery ideas that I have done with my students. Doctrinal Mastery Classroom Sign and Journal Printout Every year I start the year by explaining what the Doctrinal Mastery is because I usually have Freshman. I print out the sign below an put it up on the board so that I can refer to it often. I like to refer to it when I am teaching so that they are familiar with it. I also print out a smaller version in color so that they can color code their scriptures. I don't require them to use this color code. It is just a suggestion that I got off the the Seminary Teachers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Facebook Page. Here is their explanation of the colors that they chose: Here's a black and white version: Doctrinal Mastery Posters I make a single page printout of each Doctrinal Mastery subject. Then I assign a couple of students to each subject. They are to use their journals to make a sign about their subject. I give them about 10 minutes. When they are done I have them teach their Doctrinal Mastery subject to the class. This way the class has an overview of each subject. Here is an example from a couple of years ago of what my class did. I have changed my colors since then. If you would like a printout to use with your class just right click on the picture and save it into your pictures or copy and paste it into your printing program. Here are the printouts: Here's a finished example of what my class did: Play ZAP with Doctrinal Mastery Questions I have the students use their journals for the answers. I divide the class into teams. Each team needs to follow along in their Doctrinal Mastery portion of their journals. They only have 3 minutes to answer the question, so they have to pay attention. Here is the link to the game. Here is a link to the questions: Doctrinal Mastery Zap Questions If that link doesn't work for you here is another copy of the questions: Here is another set of questions. Just click on the link Zap Doctrinal Mastery Questions - The Atonement of Jesus Christ If that doesn't work you can print this out: Here's the sign to go with the game: Doctrinal Mastery Missionary Lesson I divided the students up by passing out a slip of paper with their assigned Doctrinal Mastery topic. I have 6 tables and each table was assigned a different topic. Each table completed the sheet below. After about 7 minutes I had each group come up and teach their lesson. I had the class act like nonmembers and ask them questions about their lesson. Doctrinal Mastery Bingo Board Have the students fill in all the spots with the Doctrinal Mastery References. Read off the scripture and have them mark it on their BINGO board. I have them use cereal to mark their boards so that we can play several games. If your students are having trouble they can use their Doctrinal Mastery Cards or you can assign each student a Doctrinal Mastery scripture to be in charge of. If you are looking for a BINGO board for each holiday click here. Doctrinal Mastery BINGO Board to use with General Conference Mission Call Doctrinal Mastery Last year while we were studying the Book of Mormon I called my students on a mission. I printed out name tags and gave them a mission call and a Missionary handbook. They used their Doctrinal Mastery section of their journals to prepare a lesson to teach as a missionary. You could do this easily for any year of seminary.

Students hate Seminary for many of the same reasons they hate school. I know I hated school, and there were times I didn't like Seminary, either. Below

I teach early morning Seminary and this year I am teaching the Book of Mormon. Sometimes I like to blog about the things that I have done. I do this so that I can have a place to store a lot of my ideas for future reference. I also like to share my ideas with others so that they can use them if they would like. The purpose of this page is to provide a link to the post that will give you a more in depth explanation of the lesson. Just click on the picture and it will take you to the post. I like to do journal sized quotes from the lesson that I hand out to the students about once a week. Here is a link to these lesson handouts. Here's a reading chart that I gave to the students at the beginning of the year: Here is an easy and cheap birthday gift Here is a link for incentives for students to come on time Here is a liahona activity with a gift idea. Here is another idea for a liahona: https://hollyshome-hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2019/01/gods-army-armor-of-god-minute-to-win-it.html Having the Students Teach Mosiah 28 through Alma 2 (Lesson 68 & 69) Call your students on a mission for a study of the Doctrinal Mastery Have the students teach Alma 17, The Story of Ammon and King Lamoni's Sheep Have the students teach Alma 34 & 35 Have the students teach Helaman 4 & 5 Samuel the Lamanite Activity

So, I should start this post with an apology. I noticed that it has been over a year since I last posted on this blog. Opps! As you can imagine this past year has been crazy busy. Here are a few highlights in a nut shell: Chris graduated from law school. Chris went through the temple for the first time at the LDS Temple in Oakland California. Christ took the CA State Bar exam...AND PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!! We got sealed for time and all eternity in the LDS Temple in Mesa Arizona. We had 2 wedding receptions, one in Mesa, AZ and one in Carmel Valley, CA (both were beautiful). I quit my job and moved to Monterey. We got our first apartment in Monterey, five blocks from Cannery Row. We started attending a new ward (as a newly married couple). I got 2 new jobs. And last but definitely not least...we were called to be the early morning seminary teachers! We are really hoping that 2013 is less "exciting". Through it all we have been extremely blessed! The reason I have revisited our crazy blog is that I needed to 1) do a better job with family/personal record keeping and a blog is a great way to do that, while allowing my family to keep tabs on us as we are all on our own out here in CA, and 2) with our calling as seminary teachers we have come up with a bunch of cool things for teaching seminary and are anxious to share them. We have found that the world of early morning seminary is small and we have garnered so much help from others in navigating our way through this new experience that we want to give back, if we can. Or better yet, pay it forward. Therefore, for our first seminary offering: Scripture Master Battleship Battle Stations: Check out the "Wall of Privacy" running down the center of the battlefield. We are constantly scouring the internet for Scripture Mastery Games. Every Friday we have Scripture Mastery Games and the students seem to really enjoy them. I found mention of the game Battleship for Scripture Mastery, but was unable to find a game board anywhere. Several sites walk through the game (with some variations), but NO ONE seemed to have a game board we could use. Then it dawned on me...I am a graphic design artist, I can make my own! Thus, the Scripture Mastery Battleship Game Board was born. I am including a picture of it for your reference. I would love to share the Scripture Mastery Battleship game board with you so feel free to download a pdf of the the file by clicking here. The seminary students LOVED it! In short, here's how it worked. Students each picked an opponent. I encouraged them to select someone who new the Scripture Mastery scriptures about as well as they did. Each team of two sat across from each other and ensured that their "wall of privacy" was structurally sound. Each person was given a Battleship game board with two "game board" components (see .pdf). In the top game board component they were to place their ships. The legend on the game board explains how to do this. The game board component on the bottom was where they were to record their "hits" and "misses" as they attempted to attack their opponent. Once they were all set up, the game began!! Bro. Marohn is declaring a winner between combatants. I, or Bro. Marohn, would call out a scripture reference. (i.e. - "No man can serve two masters..."). The team would scripture chase to find the scripture reference in their scriptures. Once they had it they would hold up their hand. The first partner to correctly find the scripture reference earned the right to "fire" upon their opponent. That winner would call out their guess, in the traditional Battleship lingo..."B5!" The receipient of the firing would then identify if it was a hit or a miss. The person firing was responsible for updating the appropriate game board. We continued playing for the whole period and when we stopped the students added up their points and decided who won. Here I am calling out more SM. NOTE: Different from the traditional game of Battleship, points have been allotted for sinking specific ship types, and for each hit/miss. This allows us to stop the game at any point and tally up the points to identify a winner. One of the reasons that I think this game was so successful was that it allowed students to satisfy their competitive nature, but doing so against someone who is similarly prepared in scripture mastery. Lest you think all we do is play games, we've had some great lessons too. I'll try to post information on them at another time. Hope you give Scripture Mastery Battleship a try!

Mormon teens all over the world attend religious instruction each day called LDS Seminary. Some of these teens attend this class in the early morning before their school starts.

The Message: Begin Again I don’t think that our Prophet, President Monson, had the opportunity to go on a full time mission when he was young. He did experience the profound calling as a Mission President in Ontario, Canada. This great little memory of his demonstrates to me the creative side of missionary work…a perfect example of the value and the blessing of taking what is not working for us and “Beginning again.” CHURCH HISTORY GEMS - 22 SEPTEMBER 2010 Kingston, Canada "No one baptized in Kingston. Just ask any missionary who labored there. Time in Kingston was marked on the calendar like days in prison. A missionary transfer to another place—any place—would be uppermost in thoughts, even in dreams. "While I was praying about and pondering this sad dilemma, for my responsibility then as a mission president required that I pray and ponder about such things, my wife called to my attention an excerpt from the book A Child's Story of the Prophet Brigham Young. She read aloud that Brigham Young entered Kingston, Ontario, on a cold and snow-filled day. He labored there about 30 days and baptized 45 souls. Here was the answer. If the missionary Brigham Young could accomplish this harvest, so could the missionaries of today. "Without providing an explanation, I withdrew the missionaries from Kingston, that the cycle of defeat might be broken. Then the carefully circulated word: 'Soon a new city will be opened for missionary work, even the city where Brigham Young proselyted and baptized 45 persons in 30 days.' The missionaries speculated as to the location. Their weekly letters pleaded for the assignment to this Shangri-la. More time passed. Then four carefully selected missionaries—two of them new, two of them experienced—were chosen for this high adventure. The members of the small branch pledged their support. The missionaries pledged their lives. The Lord honored both. "In the space of three months, Kingston became the most productive city of the Canadian Mission. The grey limestone buildings still stood; the city had not altered its appearance; the population remained constant. The change was one of attitude. The label of doubt yielded to the label of faith." Thomas S. Monson, "Labels," Ensign, Sept. 2000, - ------------ My Comment on President Monson’s Mission story -- There is always a time when all else fails, or we go back to old habits, that, like the Bishop turns to a young Priest who has made a mistake in a Sacrament Prayer- He says, "Begin again"... sometimes that is all it takes. If he makes another mistake in the Sacrament, the Bishop gently responds- “Begin again.” Our good friend and now missionary Elder JJ Simonsen' often helped me fix my computer with one word- “Reboot” or in other words, “Begin again.” That is what the Lord wants us all to be able to do. That is the whole message of repentance...of the atonement. We have The opportunity to close down what we have been doing, and start fresh. From a person who makes many mistakes during the day, and often loses everything from keys to important calendared events- I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this principle- this promise that we can begin again. D and C 18: 13 Great is the joy in the soul that repenteth. - Lessons Learning… January 30, 2011 We have been teaching the Adult Seminary class in our stake now since we returned from our mission. It has been about five months- a very fine experience. When we were traveling home from Denmark, we stopped to visit the homes of some of our ancestors in Moss, Norway and Preston, England. One of my great grandmothers met the missionaries over 100 years ago in the town square of Preston, England. When she heard their inspired message she went home to tell her sons and asked them to see if they would check to see if they thought the missionaries were telling the truth. They all joined the church, but their father- who was a caretaker and grave digger for the local church- was fired because he had become a “Crazy Mormon.” - Every weekday morning we gather with between 20 to 30 “crazy Mormons” at 6:30 in the morning to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are studying the Doctrine and Covenants- a collection of revelations given mostly to Joseph Smith and other prophets during the past 100 years. What a fun pursuit this is? We are driven. We love to learn, and teach each other. I have read the D&C many times but this time I have discovered lots of new things. It is a great way to begin the day…with a bunch of "crazy Mormons" who love to learn and study as much as I do. I have promised to put some of our little thoughts online to remember the lessons that we are learning. Here are a few of our own Wilberg “Mormon Ads.” (to make 8 by 10 copies of these pictures- click to enlarge and then copy and paste into word or adobe photo shop or other photo files). - Soon I will add some of the stories and ideas that I used as I taught these lessons from the amazing sections in the Doctrine and Covenants as well as the great stories from the history of the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days. It has been such a privilege to teach all of you who fill our classroom every day with such enthusiasm for learning. Love your strong spirit. It is my favorite part of the day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -

Last year, I was released from my calling as an early-morning seminary teacher in Caldwell, Idaho. I taught for four years and so I know…

The Message: Begin Again I don’t think that our Prophet, President Monson, had the opportunity to go on a full time mission when he was young. He did experience the profound calling as a Mission President in Ontario, Canada. This great little memory of his demonstrates to me the creative side of missionary work…a perfect example of the value and the blessing of taking what is not working for us and “Beginning again.” CHURCH HISTORY GEMS - 22 SEPTEMBER 2010 Kingston, Canada "No one baptized in Kingston. Just ask any missionary who labored there. Time in Kingston was marked on the calendar like days in prison. A missionary transfer to another place—any place—would be uppermost in thoughts, even in dreams. "While I was praying about and pondering this sad dilemma, for my responsibility then as a mission president required that I pray and ponder about such things, my wife called to my attention an excerpt from the book A Child's Story of the Prophet Brigham Young. She read aloud that Brigham Young entered Kingston, Ontario, on a cold and snow-filled day. He labored there about 30 days and baptized 45 souls. Here was the answer. If the missionary Brigham Young could accomplish this harvest, so could the missionaries of today. "Without providing an explanation, I withdrew the missionaries from Kingston, that the cycle of defeat might be broken. Then the carefully circulated word: 'Soon a new city will be opened for missionary work, even the city where Brigham Young proselyted and baptized 45 persons in 30 days.' The missionaries speculated as to the location. Their weekly letters pleaded for the assignment to this Shangri-la. More time passed. Then four carefully selected missionaries—two of them new, two of them experienced—were chosen for this high adventure. The members of the small branch pledged their support. The missionaries pledged their lives. The Lord honored both. "In the space of three months, Kingston became the most productive city of the Canadian Mission. The grey limestone buildings still stood; the city had not altered its appearance; the population remained constant. The change was one of attitude. The label of doubt yielded to the label of faith." Thomas S. Monson, "Labels," Ensign, Sept. 2000, - ------------ My Comment on President Monson’s Mission story -- There is always a time when all else fails, or we go back to old habits, that, like the Bishop turns to a young Priest who has made a mistake in a Sacrament Prayer- He says, "Begin again"... sometimes that is all it takes. If he makes another mistake in the Sacrament, the Bishop gently responds- “Begin again.” Our good friend and now missionary Elder JJ Simonsen' often helped me fix my computer with one word- “Reboot” or in other words, “Begin again.” That is what the Lord wants us all to be able to do. That is the whole message of repentance...of the atonement. We have The opportunity to close down what we have been doing, and start fresh. From a person who makes many mistakes during the day, and often loses everything from keys to important calendared events- I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this principle- this promise that we can begin again. D and C 18: 13 Great is the joy in the soul that repenteth. - Lessons Learning… January 30, 2011 We have been teaching the Adult Seminary class in our stake now since we returned from our mission. It has been about five months- a very fine experience. When we were traveling home from Denmark, we stopped to visit the homes of some of our ancestors in Moss, Norway and Preston, England. One of my great grandmothers met the missionaries over 100 years ago in the town square of Preston, England. When she heard their inspired message she went home to tell her sons and asked them to see if they would check to see if they thought the missionaries were telling the truth. They all joined the church, but their father- who was a caretaker and grave digger for the local church- was fired because he had become a “Crazy Mormon.” - Every weekday morning we gather with between 20 to 30 “crazy Mormons” at 6:30 in the morning to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are studying the Doctrine and Covenants- a collection of revelations given mostly to Joseph Smith and other prophets during the past 100 years. What a fun pursuit this is? We are driven. We love to learn, and teach each other. I have read the D&C many times but this time I have discovered lots of new things. It is a great way to begin the day…with a bunch of "crazy Mormons" who love to learn and study as much as I do. I have promised to put some of our little thoughts online to remember the lessons that we are learning. Here are a few of our own Wilberg “Mormon Ads.” (to make 8 by 10 copies of these pictures- click to enlarge and then copy and paste into word or adobe photo shop or other photo files). - Soon I will add some of the stories and ideas that I used as I taught these lessons from the amazing sections in the Doctrine and Covenants as well as the great stories from the history of the Church of Jesus Christ in the last days. It has been such a privilege to teach all of you who fill our classroom every day with such enthusiasm for learning. Love your strong spirit. It is my favorite part of the day. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -

Elvis didn't relish his title of King. As he said, “there is only one King, and that is Jesus Christ."

As we enter Holy Week, I hosted a Passover Seder for my LDS Seminary Students. The 45 minutes in the morning goes quickly but I managed t...

Cover image: Into the Wilderness, by Eva Koleva Timothy. More than 40 years ago, I sat in an early morning seminary class in Seattle, Washington, where we learned about the book of Matthew in the New Testament. It was an exciting time, because it was the first year the subject was being taught from a

LDS Early Morning Seminary Survivor shirts are a fun and motivational way to celebrate the dedication and accomplishment of completing early morning seminary classes. These shirts can make great gifts for seminary graduates, serving as a reminder of their commitment and perseverance. They can also be used to encourage current students to keep attending and to promote the seminary program by showcasing the community and spirit of those involved. With a catchy design and slogan, these shirts capture the unique experience of early morning seminary and foster a sense of pride and unity among students. Additional discounts available for bulk purchases. 😊

Mormon teens all over the world attend religious instruction each day called LDS Seminary. Some of these teens attend this class in the early morning before their school starts.

Did you know I teach seminary? It is a scripture study program for high school aged youth in our church. In most areas these youth attend seminary every day, usually early morning before school sta…

Even those who would study at home, can't you see the benefit that comes from having gospel discussions with others and sharing insights?

This image was found elsewhere on the web. Click here to go to that site.

I was not going to blog about my seminary class, but after searching for ideas from other blogs I have decided to share my ideas. T...

This week we started Mosiah 7. King Benjamin, the great orator, has passed his crown onto his son King Mosiah I. It is in the next several chapters that we read of a variety of travels and encounters with new groups of people, new cities, and new conflicts. In an effort to keep them all straight, I put together a map. The Mosiah Map illustrates, in very general terms, the location of the Land of First Inheritance, the Land of Nephi, Zarahemla, and The Land of Desolation. The map also includes several of the people we read about in Mosiah -- Mosiah, Zeniff, Ammon, Noah, Limhi. The geographical locations are an absolute approximation! However, I have worked to include scripture references that document all of the people, locations, and activities on the map. You are welcome to use it. The map below includes all of the scripture references already written into the map. If you would like a copy of the Mosiah Map WITHOUT the scripture references written in, you will need to click here -- Map WITHOUT scripture references. The references are on a separate sheet, click here to download it. I provided my seminary students with a copy of the map WITHOUT the scripture reference, and then copied the scripture references on the back. During the class period, as we read through Mosiah 7 & 8 we filled in the scripture references. Students also had a fun time coloring in their maps and personalizing them. Here's what we did on our whiteboard for the lesson.

Wow. This morning was the most profound seminary lesson of the year for me. We had a silent walk to Liberty Jail. The whole day ...

We invited our incoming Freshmen to seminary this week. This gives them a way to acclimatize to the culture of early morning scripture s...

I placed post it notes on the wall of the cultural hall containing one word or punctuation mark from 1 Corinthians 10:13. The class was divided in to teams so I did the same for both teams but on opposite sides of the cultural hall. When I said go, they had to race all the words down to the other end of the cultural hall and place them in order. It was a very effective way to review the scripture. My only advice is to make smaller teams. I have 24 students so I should have made 4 teams rather than 2. When this was complete, there was another relay where the team had to put the books of the New Testament in order (see next post) Again, very effective, but smaller teams are recommended.

Today in seminary I gave each table of students a large sheet of packing paper with a scripture block written on it. They had to "dig" into the scripture to see what it said. Then every student in the group had to add something to their paper about the scripture block. I explained to them that when you put your foot on a shovel, it helps you to dig better. I told them that every student who participated got a Fruit by the Foot candy. I also explained that the harder you work the more fruit you get. I have done this several ways. I have found that when they work as groups, some groups do great, but some kids just do what they want. Groups of two: I assign the students a scripture block. I also put a couple of questions on the board that they are to look for or notice. I often just put "Look for something that you find interesting. One student reads two scriptures while the other draws or doodles. Then they switch. To get them started I said that everyone on the right reads the scriptures, and then the person on the left draws what they hear. When they were done the person on the left reads the scriptures and the person on the right draws. Doing this eliminated a lot of wasted time in decision making on the students parts. I have to say that this way worked really well. Every single student was reading and working (even the ones that don't usually participate). I am definitely doing this again! This time I gave the students each a Dig N' Dips for participating. I know I don't need to, but I like to! Here's and example of D&C 137 Large group: I give a large sheet of paper (packing paper) to each table. Then I have them take turns reading and drawing. They all share what they have learned. After the students finished their pictures I had each group come up and explain what they learned and share a scripture. As usual, some groups get into it more than other groups. What I always find fascinating is that sometimes students who normally will not participate will participate better with an activity like this. Today I had a girl who normally will not participate. She took charge of her group and did most of the work, along with the presentation. I was thrilled! Here are some of the examples of our project: Today was a fun day! I loved watching some of the groups really get into it. I had one group (of good kids) who did not seem to want to do it. I had to coax them along. Now it's on to tomorrow's lesson! To see some of my other seminary ideas just click here .

Today I'm excited to introduce you to our new Block of the Month Quilt pattern, the Just for Fun Quilt! A few years ago I hosted a block of the month program. I’ve had a

I recently began rereading the Old Testament. I've only ever read through the whole Old Testament once, when I was in 10th grade I believe, when I was in early morning LDS Seminary. So, it

The more I read the Book of Mormon, the more I recognize how the Lord requires the inhabitants of this highly coveted Promised Land to be worthy of it's possession. This free land has been preserved for a righteous people for a specific purpose. The work of the gathering of Israel was meant to originate from this land in the latter-days, and the freedom of this land must be protected. The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ occurred on this land. Records of the early inhabitants of this land were buried in this soil. The Lord requires us to serve Him while on this soil, or be swept off of it. The Book of Mormon contains a record of two groups of people who were swept from this land because of their refusal to worship God. Today we discussed the sad scene at the end of the book of Ether of a king named Coriantumr. He has been educated on the "arts of war and all the cunning of the world" (Ether 13:16). He refuses to repent of his worldly ways, and so do his people. Secret combinations are prevalent everywhere, war is continual, and many lives have been lost. The prophet Ether has been sent to Coriantumr and warns him that: "if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people— Otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr." As recorded in Omni 1:21, Coriantumr did, in fact, live to see another people (Nephites & Lamanites) receive this Promised Land as their inheritance. The priviledge was taken from the Jaredites. Coriantumr's pride to be the most powerful, worldly king overshadowed his judgment to honor the land and the God who blessed him with it. The Book of Mormon has made me more aware of the land I live on. The Lord gave the Children of Israel the land of Canaan as their inheritance if they would worship Him. They were scattered from it because of their wickedness. There are priviledges associated with honoring God on the land He's given us. The land doesn't come free of obligation. He needs us to serve Him and build the kingdom of God on the earth. Our blessings come through the land. Our prosperity is revealed through prospering with the growth of families and relationships on the land. As the righteous gather, they are required to build temples, make covenants, and receive instruction on how to rise above worldliness and become more like Him, with the promise of exaltation to follow. Something I learned, and something to ponder.

This is a fun way to help students learn the Doctrines associated with each Doctrinal Mastery Scripture. It is not my original idea. This idea is from fellow teacher, Sharon Haynie, who uses marshmallow shooters for her Turkey shoot. Click HERE for directions she shared on how to make Marshmallow shooters. I use Nerf guns because that is what I have. You could also use rubber band shooters. Set Up: Turkeys on paper plates stapled to upside down large plastic beverage cups. (see photos below) Inside each cup is written a point amount ( 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50) (I recycled my cups and plates from last year-they come apart easily and store in a small space-I don't like to do double work so anything I can use from year to year is a win!) Divide students into teams ( I had 4 teams of 3 each-one team had 4 members) Each team sat together on the perimeter of the "Turkey Coop" (see photos below for set up ideas) For each round: Students sit as teams in the chairs set up around the perimeter. Each team has a Nerf gun Call out the key words or phrases from a Doctrinal Mastery scripture Teams work together to locate the scripture ( all team members must turn to the scripture), then a runner comes to me and shows me the scripture and states the Doctrine associated with that Scripture. When I confirm it is correct, I say, GO! The Team takes their Nerf gun and starts shooting the paper plate turkeys (each round a new team member takes their turn with the Nerf gun-some of them rotated during the same round so they all got more "shooting time") Each team does the same to find the scripture and show it to me When the last team comes to me with the correct scripture and doctrine, I call out "30 seconds left" and set my timer. When I say stop, the teams would bring their turkeys to me and call out the points earned. Points are posted on the chalkboard and added up at the end. After each round, the turkeys are put back on the tables so we would have enough for each round. I would go scramble them sometimes as I could tell the students were catching on to some of the higher point turkeys. As much fun as this is, the most important point is that the students had to dig into their scriptures match them to the doctrines associated with them. This was very effective.

Today in seminary I gave each table of students a large sheet of packing paper with a scripture block written on it. They had to "d...