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Let's get started today on teaching help for the lesson “How Can Young Women and Young Men Work Together to Build the Kingdom of God?” (March 26). We're going to do this one quickly today because it's right before General Conference and I am busy printing and shipping out all kinds of fun things for you guys.

If you need something to help you or your family focus and engage with General Conference, come check out my Notebooks, Coloring Books, Activity Books, and even a 6-foot-long coloring page featuring the modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ. It’s awesome. You can choose to print these at home or you can let me worry about running out of ink and I'll print and ship them to you instead.

Save it for later, pin it now!

Listen or Watch Instead

Not much of a reader? Listen to my podcast, Chatting with Camille, or watch the video.

It Takes Two to Tango

Let's start with an object lesson- they're always super fun, get people's attention quickly, and can make a great point. I found this idea on Pinterest. Watch the video a few times and pay attention to the seams of the paper. I drew a little steeple and door on the triangle piece to transform it into a chapel to represent the Kingdom of God. On one of the “legs”, put a happy face with a tie. On the other side, put a happy face with a bow to quickly symbolize men and women.

If you move only one side, such as the man’s side, the triangle goes nowhere. Same thing with only the woman’s side. But if you do both at the same time, the triangle goes quickly all the way to the top building up the kingdom of God. You can invite everyone to build one as it’s a pretty quick craft. Be sure you practice before you do it live though. I had to do it twice before I folded it correctly.

Next, discuss why the Lord want us to work together. Why is that important? Why are we built into these families, built into these wards, built into these callings where we do work together? What is the point of all that? Obviously, we don't know everything that the Lord is thinking, but we can think of some great reasons. Some responses could include:

It creates unity.
We can encourage each other.
We have different strengths and talents.
We have a greater impact when we work together.
We grow when we work together
It's following Christ's example. That's what he did. That's what we should be doing.

With our object lesson, you don't get very far if you're doing things on your own. It really is beneficial when we work together.

Let’s turn to Doctrine & Covenants 84:109-110 which states, “Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; and let not the head say unto the feet it hath no need of the feet; for without the feet how shall the body be able to stand?

Also the body hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect.”

No matter how small or big our efforts may be, all the parts are needed.

Differences ComplEment and Strengthen

Focus on the differences. Grab the Family Proclamation, and read through it. Pick out some of the differences between men and women and how they might complement each other instead of tear each other apart. I know the natural man wants to tear us apart, but they actually work really well together and there's a reason why there are both men and women.

Another visual you can bring is a packet of seeds or a plant. Ask your class what is needed for these seeds to grow. Do they need water? Yes. Do they need sun? Yes. You have to have both. Do they do different things? Absolutely. But you need both in order to really make those seeds and that plant flourish.

There are also two articles that are mentioned in the manual. The manual suggests that the Young Women read one and the Young Men read another. They can kind of see, okay, this is what they bring to the table, how can I support them in that? How can they support me because of that? How does this show we can work well together?

Our goal is to obviously build up and not tear down. This is a great opportunity to remind people that even insults in a joking way are still insults- even if they say they didn't mean it. It really still kind of hurts and takes its toll, especially when repeated so often. Sometimes we don’t even realize how much it affects our identities and perceptions. We need to not do that, especially in the Church. We really need to stop tearing down and use comments that uplift.

From Mustard Seed to Giant Tree

Continue with the idea of how we could support one another. What are some things that we're already doing to work together to build up the kingdom of God?

I have been having so much fun with Chat AI lately. If you don't know what that is, it’s artificial intelligence. You can type in a question and I'll give you an answer. Sometimes they're right, sometimes they're crazy, but it's been really kind of fun. I put in “What are 10 ways that men and women can work together to build up the kingdom of God?” and it gave a great list of things that we are already doing!

Have weekly activities together- a combined activity. Oh wait, we're already doing that!
Work together in your callings. Presidents of each class go to a Ward Youth Council with Young Men and Young Women. They talk with the Bishopric about how to best fill needs. It’s a great time to talk together and to work together on how to best reach those that we want to encourage back to church as well as a time to divide up responsibilities.
Go on temple trips together. How much fun is that when we do youth temple trips?
When we share the gospel with our friends, we can do it together.
Study the scriptures together. We're doing that with seminary and Sunday School.
Pray together. We pray together all the time. Whenever we meet together, we pray together.
Personal development- we're working on our goals. We can work together to help each other reach our goals. That's part of the point of all our activities.
Go to church together. One of the things I love to see is when we get to church, the Young Women and the Young Men in our ward instantly congregate together and check on each other. They make sure everybody is doing well, have someone to sit with, they take care of each other. They love to be together and it's a beautiful thing.

These are small, simple things that we're already doing. What else can you add to the list? How else can we work together to build up the kingdom of God?

This is a great time to bring in those chapters that this lesson focuses on (Matthew 13; Luke 8; 13) with the parable of the mustard seed and the leaven, etc. That tiny mustard seed grows into that big, giant tree. How do our small and simple acts, all these things that we're already doing, plus whatever else you brainstormed building something greater?

You can also talk about more scriptural examples or examples in your ward about men and women working together and how it works for the greater good. For example, Joseph and Emma. Emma was a scribe for Joseph often. When the patriarch is called, his wife is also called to support him. She helps him prepare, greet people, edit. She plays an important part. They're both needed in that calling.

What are some other examples that you can think of? Sister Jean B. Bingham stated,

“The most effective way to fulfill our divine potential is to work together blessed by the power and authority of the priesthood.”

How can we complement not tear down? How can we lift where we stand and build up the kingdom of God even more?

Remember to come and order your General Conference Notebooks, whether you want to print them at home or have me ship them to you. General Conference is April 1st!

Chat with you next time.

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