June 2010 Newsletter

Presidency Message:

Dear Young Men Leaders,
I want to first say how much we appreciate your assistance; especially for Stake Fun Day. It seems a lot of assignments and information requests have been requested of you. Thank you for your help.
I have been pondering a thought lately that I’d like to share. We play a vital role in the lives of young men as their teachers and trainers. These are incredible young men with a heavy priesthood load awaiting them in the near future. We have a great opportunity to help their parents prepare them. May I offer a few suggestions/reminders?
• Prayerfully prepare for quorum instruction.
• Teach not just lecture.
• Assess understanding.
• Encourage effective participation.
Prayerfully Prepare. This generation of future leaders deserves more than a night-before prepared lesson. Carefully consider each young man and how he best learns and what he needs to understand. The lesson manual is not the teacher. “The manual says…” is not effective. The boys don’t need to know what the manual says; they need to know how you feel and what you know about the subject. It is your testimony not the manual’s (I hope this makes sense). We suggest you find ways to integrate Preach My Gospel into your lessons.

Teach, Not Lecture. Lecturing is one directional – dump the info on them. Effective teaching involves multiple methods to ensure principals are understood. The use of questions can be very effective but also a turn-off depending on how presented. For example, asking yes/no questions generally is not as effective as questions that require a longer answer or are open-ended. Asking follow-up questions also helps. For example, if you were to ask how you increase your spirituality, a young man might say, “by reading my scriptures.” Just ending there, misses an opportunity. Better to follow up with, “why or how does reading your scriptures accomplish this?” I realize that is a very simple example but I think you get the idea. The more we can drill down and give the young men an opportunity to think, the more impactful the lesson will be. Pausing while waiting for an answer is just fine – sometimes they just need a little time to think.

Assess Understanding. How do you know if they’ve understood what you were teaching them? A few concluding questions might help. Ask some of the young men to summarize key points of the lesson. Or ask them what they will do as a result of the lesson. There are several ways to see what they’ve gleaned – we just need to leave ourselves time at the end to make sure they’ve got it. Remember we are teaching, not just giving talks.

Encourage Participation. I already discussed the use of questions. You may also want to share lesson time with a member of the quorum. Give him 10 minutes or maybe even 5 minutes to help teach. Make clear expectations and provide coaching so that you can maximize the learning experience. This is especially important for the priests as they will soon be teaching investigators. Adult leaders not giving the lesson should be careful not to participate too much. Let the young men answer the questions.

And finally, make sure you take time to train your leaders. Make sure quorum presidents allow you time in presidency meetings for leadership training. Teach them leadership principles and demonstrate how to apply them.

I’m convinced that as we commit ourselves to being effective teachers the Lord will show us the way and we’ll experience great joy. Thank you for your contributions and sacrifices in behalf of these great young men!
--Matthew Clarke

Question: For quorum presidency meetings, who attends, who presides, who conducts and who does the agenda?


Congratulations to:
Bogan Henderson, Eastdell, earned his Duty to God award.

Please send us info on your young men (and leaders) so that we can congratulate them. Also, notify us of Duty to God awards for Deacon, Teacher, Priest and final. We have something to give them from the stake.

Upcoming Calendar:
6/12/10 Sat. 9-1 PM Family Fun Day at East building
9/17-18/10 Fri.-Sat. Jamborall for all scouts, varsity and venture groups.

Reminder: Summer activities must be approved by your Bishop and the Stake Presidency. Your activity is in jeopardy if you have not approved it with the Stake Presidency.

Missionary Preparation ideas
Wards might consider purchasing Preach My Gospel and the set of four missionary books (Jesus the Christ, Our Search for Happiness, Our Heritage, True to the Faith) for young men turning 16 so that they have three years to read them before their missions.

Scout Training status (% complete):
Ward Fast Start This is Scout Youth Prot. Basic Outdoor Skills
Ashley Park 31% 31% 23% 31%
Aspen Hills 90% 90% 90% 25%
Eastdell 60% 60% 20% 50%
Falcon Hills 100% 100% 100% 90% 100%
Highland 60% 60% 60% 13%
Karalee 36% 45% 36% 45%
Park View 90% 100% 90% 70%
Sego Lily 78% 89% 44% 89%
Stake 100% 100% 60% 100%
This report should include: Bishops, their two counselors, all young men advisors/leaders, and assistants. We are not including scout committee members or 11 year old scout leaders. The Stake YM will provide a barbecue dinner at Ken Gunderson’s home for the ward or wards which have the highest overall percentage by 7/1/10. All the ward YM leaders, Bishoprics, and their spouses, will be invited to the barbecue. Our goal is 100%. Ward YM secretaries should gather the completion information and email it to robhaertel@gmail.com on the 4th Sunday of each month. Please include all young men advisors and Bishoprics.

ANSWER: (page 184 Church Handbook of Instructions)
Each quorum presidency holds regular quorum presidency meetings. The quorum president (including the Bishop for priests) preside over the quorum presidency meeting. Presidency members, corresponding bishopric counselors and advisers attend it. The quorum presidency take turns conducting. The presidency seeks guidance from the bishopric member and adviser in preparing the agenda.

Supplements to Aaronic Priesthood Manual 2:
Looking for recent talks by General Authorities and other material that correlates with your priesthood manual lessons? This Resource manual is a great help. Go to: http://www.lds.org/languages/youthmaterials/pdf/AP_2010_ResourceGuide_08302_000.pdf

Important websites:
Duty to God resources: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4688-1,00.html
Church Aaronic Priesthood: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,4645-1,00.html
AP Instructional Resources: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,7588-1,00.html
Quorum Presidency training: http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,7966-1,00.html
BSA Training: www.myscouting.com and http://www.ldsbsa.org/resources.html
Stake YM information: http://GraniteSouthStakeYoungMen.blogspot.com/
Teaching Manual Resource: http://www.lds.org/languages/youthmaterials.pdf/AP_2010_ResourceGuide_08302_000.pdf

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT WORK YOU ARE DOING!!!!!