I don’t teach Relief Society but if I did and I happened to be leading a discussion of a combination of these two talks I suppose I would start with an object lesson of sorts. First, I would call someone by name to come to the front of the room to help me. I would then ask her to follow a set of directions as I give them – one direction at a time. After she reached the end, I would ask her if it would have been easier to know the destination beforehand so that she would know the outcome of all the smaller actions.
The point of the activity would hopefully be further explained in the two talks. First of all, by calling my unsuspecting volunteer by name she would recognize who I was talking to and would probably get her attention. Similar to Sister Harkness’ talk about the importance of us taking the Lord’s name on us when we are baptized.
Then we could discuss how knowing the end of the activity could have helped the volunteer with each step much like us knowing the Plan of Salvation can help us as we face day to day choices, temptations, and trials. As Elder Alvarado discusses in his talk keeping the big picture in our sights can help us stay committed to our goal.
Both talks focus on our covenant path and identity and how both can help us every day. Remembering who we are and where we are going will help us succeed.
