Teaching about talents

Today my Institute class was about developing talents. I started asking the  students if they could think of people who are talented. I was reading about a famous Dominican fashion designer who had just passed away. Oscar de la Renta and  how he became an icon of fashion. I also told them about Sammy Sosa and Juan Luis Guerra. All those famous people had their humble start somewhere. I explained to them that we come with unique talents from the pre-existence and that is up to us to discover what they are.
Speaking to these young men and women is my favorite thing to do because I love their energy and excitement for life and their passion. I love that they are full of hopes and dreams for the future. I love their light and the enthusiasm for finding out better ways of doing things their thirst for knowledge and growth. They are so much fun to spend time with.


We went over different quotes by the leaders and read two scriptures accounts.
We went over what to do to discover what our talents are and how to develop and make good use of them. We saw the Mormon message by Elder Holland "Better things to come" and discussed in depth to never give up. President Heber Grant is a good example of that playing baseball and developing excellent writing skills.


We went over the fact that God knows best our mission in life and how we need to pray to know what he wants from us. What are those talents we need to develop and he will show us the way. We need to pray about it, and read our patriarchal blessing to get that guidance we need. There is a quote I saw on a blog by C. S. Lewis that come to mind when I think of this theme.
 

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.”

I love this analogy since I am into homes lately and my wish someday is to live in a beautiful home like if it were my own temple. A home where I can honestly say, this is the best I can offer my children and grandchildren when they visit. It is not about pride but about having something worth having and I think that after the temple, the next beautiful thing should be our own home and is the same with our own lives. So often in life we have a picture in our head of what we think is our mission and what we are capable of doing, or who we think we are capable of becoming but the true reality is that what God knows we are capable of and what He knows we can become is so much bigger and better than anything we could ever imagine and that is why we have to trust Him. Unlike us, He doesn't make any mistakes. So let Him build you into that grand palace he knows you are meant to be.

I love the fact that the students all participated and shared so many ideas with one another. I just love the students!