wiifm

We have the BEST Gospel Doctrine teacher in our ward.   We actually have two of them, but one of them is fairly new and I haven't had the chance to go to any of his lessons yet.  I'm sure there will be future posts about his awesomeness, but for now, I'm just writing about Sister Bailey.  I totally look forward to the weeks when she teaches.  And even when I walk into that room feeling less than overwhelmed by the Spirit, somehow she manages to help me find It.  

Every week that she teaches she writes this on the board:

wiifm

It stands for what's in it for me?  Every week, she asks us to use the little excerpts we discuss in class to launch us into our own personal study of the rest of the scripture, and to figure out what part of it is relevant to our lives at that moment.  Because that always changes, you know?  Every time we read the scriptures, no matter how many times we may have read them previously, they say something different.  Depending on the circumstances, or my mood, or my calling at the time that I read, I can find something that I didn't find before.  The scriptures are amazing that way.  For me, that makes them more real and personal. 
 
Today Sister Bailey's lesson was on Mosiah Ch. 1, 2, 3 (King Benjamin's speech)  There is so much meaty stuff crammed into those three chapters that I would have had to have been comatose to not feel some kind of inspiration, but once again she managed to help me think of something NEW!  I LOVE that.  I have read this part of the Book of Mormon A LOT!  We studied it last year in Institute.  I have heavily marked my scriptures with little notes everywhere regarding various insights that I've received or been taught.  I LOVE King Benjamin.  And I know him pretty well.  But today, I heard things in a different way than before.  What was "in it for me today" was different than I expected and different than it was the last time I read it.  And I loved that.  


There are some teachers who just make you see things more clearly, and for me at this time, that's Sister Bailey.  I love the way she thinks.  And I love how she makes me want to dig deeper for more insight.  I'm so grateful for Gospel Doctrine, for people who enlighten my mind, and for the scriptures that are so readily accessible to inspire and uplift us.