Seminary Passover Seder

As we enter Holy Week, I hosted a Passover Seder for my LDS Seminary Students.

The 45 minutes in the morning goes quickly but I managed to pack a lot in.

Note a place was set for Elijah and we left the door closest to him open in hopes he would join us for dinner.

This post is filled with a lot of photos. Click on any of them to enlarge.

 Living in South Florida, Passover food items and information are easy to find. I am blessed to have dear Jewish friends whom I have spent Passover Seder with and they loaned me their Seder Plate and set of Haggadah books. Note at each place setting, there is a Haggadah for each student. These were available complimentary from our local grocery store, Publix. It was fun for the students to look through their own Haggadah and see that it read backward to them. I asked them to find page 1, then 2, and so on.

 I had all the traditional foods on the Seder Plate and as I explained the symbolism of each, I passed a dish around with that item. I asked them to at least try each item. Most of them were good sports.

 We learned about cleansing your home and getting rid of all the chemetz before Passover. We learned what is and is not acceptable food and why.

 Not all Kosher foods are acceptable for Passover. The packaged Kosher food items must say "Kosher For Passover" on the label.

 I read a few sections of the Haggadah and had them follow along.

 Here is the Seder Plate my friends loaned to me.

 Here is a close up of the Seder Plate. I placed each of the food items in the appropriate place and the 3 Matzo Crackers in the 3 slots below. Some families place the 3 Matzo Crackers in the fold of a napkin.

 Here are a few Haggadah books from my friends. I showed the students that they each had food stains on them as they have been used at several meals.

 Make sure you use Grape JUICE, not Grape WINE. We used the Grape juice on the right.

 They were the most hesitant to try the Horseradish.

 Here is a new Haggadah set that my friends use. Each family member has a personal one and there are plenty for guests. We enjoyed using these as we were guests at their Passover Seder. It was a very spiritual experience for us to share the Passover Seder in our Jewish friends' home. We feel honored to share this high and holy holiday with them.

 Charoset. This was their favorite.
Apples, Nuts, Honey, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon, and Grape Juice (not wine as the traditional recipe calls for)

 Fresh Parsley. I had cups of Salt Water for them to dip the Parsley and Celery, not once, but twice.

 Coconut Macaroons. Kosher for Passover, purchased at Costco. My Macaroon recipe would not be acceptable even if I baked it in a cleansed home and kitchen because it has sweetened condensed milk in it.

 Oops..rotate photo...or tilt your head. This is Kosher for Passover Salt, not just Kosher Salt. I used this to make the salt water for dipping the parsley and celery.

 Matzo Crackers.

 Lamb Bone. Easy to find this time of year. Our butcher has small Lamb shanks out and packaged specifically for Passover.

 Celery.

 The complimentary Haggadah available from Publix Supermarket here in South Florida.

 Roasted Lamb (cut off the Lamb shank) This was the second most hesitated item to eat. Most of the students had never eaten Lamb.

 Another complimentary Haggadah available at Publix Supermarket and provided by Maxwell House. I like the illustrations in this one but did not use it.

Even if you do not have a Jewish friend to borrow Passover Items from or have never attended a Passover Seder, you can find oodles of information with a google search. Some of the words I used in searches were: Passover Food, Passover Seder, Passover Meal, Passover Recipes, How to host a Passover Seder, etc. You will find more information that you can possibly use.
I have a great love for my Jewish brothers and sisters. This strengthened my love for them and for my students as I prepared this special feast for them.
The next time I do this, I will have yarmulkes for the boys to wear. That would have been a fun added touch.

Happy Holy Week, Happy Passover, and Happy Easter to all.

We are on Spring Break until after Easter. 

Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns...It's More Than A Song...

As we enter Holy Week, I served Hot Cross Buns last Wednesday.

I explained that these are served in many Christian homes on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, 

or anytime during Holy Week.

They are not generally available at bakeries year round so this was a treat.

There are many recipes out there for you to make your own. If you prefer, the best I found were at Panera Bread. These were from my local bakery and not the greatest introduction to Hot Cross Buns.

We are now on Spring Break so I had to get all the Easter and General Conference Preparation in last week. We return to class before General Conference but the girls need to prepare for the Young Women General Broadcast before we return to class.

Apostles Line-Up

As my students arrived this morning, photos of 

The First Presidency and Quorum of The Twelve Apostles 

were placed randomly at their desks.

I challenged them to put them in order of:

The First Presidency

The Apostles by seniority.

It was not as easy as they thought it would be.

I'm A Mormon

Would you wear this to school?
Would you wear it all around town?
Would you "wear your religion on your shirt?"
Romans 1:16 helps answer these questions.

These kids would and are wearing this shirt today.
My Seminary students were challenged to wear this shirt today (some have school uniforms, so they were challenged to wear it before/after school or at a sports practice, etc.) Tomorrow we will discuss the reactions and conversations they had as a result of "wearing their religion on their shirts".

 Class Picture Day!

 These amazing youth proudly wear this shirt. 

They are examples of light and truth.

This is a group of youth who understand and live Romans 1:16

And I know you are asking how you can get a shirt like this.   Send me an email by May 1 for price and details if you would like to order one.

shaunahh at gmail dot com.

Lift Others To Higher Ground

Acts 3 (Adapt for the 2013 Theme-Stand In Holy Places)
My friend, Pam, at Seminary Moments gave me this fabulous idea. It was based on the paper plate activity I used at the beginning of the year. She adapted it in a completely new way. We discussed James and John healing the lame man and "lifting him to higher ground", literally and figuratively. The students had to follow a path and to get to higher ground (the stage) one rule was that they could not get to the higher ground (stage) on their own, they could not do it alone, they needed help.
It was interesting to see them work together and naturally reach out their hands to lift each other.
We talked about how to lift others and that we will all need to be lifted by others at some point in our lives.
With this activity the students had to move along the path (the black line) and stay on a plate (their burden) as they walked the path, they would meet someone who could lift them to higher ground (the stage) where they could be relieved of their burdens.
We returned to the classroom and discussed how those doing the lifting had to be strong, etc. I used the Bible video that Pam used and this quote by President Harold B Lee from April 1973 General Conference:

"You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul."

Seminary In My Pocket- Rivet

As we are studying the teachings of the Apostles of Jesus Christ, I presented each student with a "rivet" to remind them of this quote by Elder M Russell Ballard with the counsel to "Keep your eyes riveted" on the 12 Apostles.
We looked at several pairs of jeans and the rivets on their pockets that reinforce and make that area stronger. We discussed the purpose of a rivet in clothing.
I actually gave them the top part of a metal snap  that looks like a rivet as rivets are a little expensive to just buy and use only one piece that may or may not be saved in their "Seminary In My Pocket" pouches.

Delegation Object Lesson

In Acts, the principle of delegation is taught as the Church is growing. Peter and the Apostles called 7 men to assist in administering the temporal needs of the Church (one of them was Stephen).
I compared this pattern of delegation to the Church today where Bishops have counselors, Quorum and Auxilliary Presidents, Teachers, Home Teachers, Visiting Teachers, etc.
This is what I used for the object lesson (wish I would remember to snap a photo during class-but it doesn't feel right to stop what I am doing. Perhaps I need to assign this to one of my students)

• 2 plastic pails (large enough that they will get heavy when filled with water)
• 2-3 Pitchers of water (optional-label them "needs of a Ward')
• Call a student up front and designate or label them "Bishop"
• Have him/her stand with arms stretched out straight to each side.
• Place an empty bucket on each hand
• Instruct student that no matter what, his arms must stay straight as he is leading the Ward.
• Have class start naming all the different needs in a ward and who the leaders and teachers are who help with each need. 
• With each need, pour a small amount of water in each bucket. 
• Continue naming needs such as teaching Primary, giving blessings, administering the sacrament, helping a family who needs food, teaching the youth, youth activities, scout leaders, camp fundraisers, etc. 
• The buckets will get very heavy and the "Bishop" tries to hold his arms straight and lead the ward alone.
• Call up 2 "counselors" to help support the buckets
• Discuss how much easier it is with help
• Continue to fill the buckets
• As they get heavier, call up a "Primary President", "Scout Leader", "Seminary Teacher", etc. to demonstrate that the more people who support, the easier the load is to carry.
• You can place labels on the "Bishop" and "Counselors', etc. but not necessary to be effective.

This was an effective way to open the discussion regarding delegation, supporting our leaders, every calling is important, all of us doing our part, etc.

This can be adapted for families when teaching the principle of working together and all members of the family doing their part.

Scripture Mastery Battleship

And yet another fabulous idea for review and reinforcing Scripture Mastery. 

Click HERE for details and a download of the Battleship card.

Thank you for sharing!

Latter day Apostles Music and Song

Here is a great song to help learn and remember the names of the apostles in order. 

Click HERE for the link.

Scripture Mastery Cards

I love interacting with other Seminary Teachers. This morning I attended our monthly Inservice Training and I always leave with new energy and so many great ideas from other teachers. Sometimes I grumble about giving up a Saturday morning for this meeting, but I quickly repent when I attend and feel the spirit as we are instructed  in this most important work of teaching the gospel to the youth.
Another way I enjoy interacting with other teachers is right here on the internet. I am a big fan of my friend, Pam and her blog Seminary Moments.
Today she shared a simple, yet fabulous idea for scripture mastery. I love it because it makes use of the information on the back of the Scripture Mastery cards that we easily over look as we are pushing to memorize the scriptures. Click HERE to read about her great idea and so many others. She inspires me to be a more effective teacher.

I wish teachers from all over the world could meet together once per year and share share share.

The Twelve Apostles Then and Now.

The Twelve Apostles

Then and Now

We compared how Christ's church looks now compared to how it looked when it 

was established with the original 12 apostles. 

We reviewed how a new apostle was chosen when there was an opening after Judas left.

We learned how apostles and prophets are called today.

First the chairs were labelled with the original apostles and we added Matthias 

Then the chairs were labelled with who the First Presidency and Apostles where at the time of President Hinkley's death. 

We walked through how a new prophet and apostles are chosen. 

We continued to go through the death of Elder Wirthlin until we came to the current First Presidency and Quorum of 12 Apostles.

We moved the names from chair to chair to show how they are seated by seniority not age and that any of the apostles may be called in to the First Presidency, it does not depend on seniority 

(Example: President Uchtdorf was #11 when he was called in to the First Presidency)

It was a great visual for learning and my students were very involved and attentive to this process as names were moved from chair to chair. 

The timing of this lesson is interesting as the Pope of The Catholic Church left yesterday and the Cardinals are preparing to meet and appoint a new Pope. Lots of comparisons to make. 

 Next, we will match the photos with each name

I used this quote from Elder Ballard:

“You keep your eyes riveted on the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We will not lead you astray. We cannot. Let me tell you why. Every week that I am in town, I attend a meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve on the fourth floor of the Salt Lake Temple. If you could see the process by which decision and direction comes from that meeting, you would have a deep sense of confidence and comfort that the will of the Lord is being taught by the leaders of the Church. So keep your eyes riveted on the leadership of the Church. While individuals may falter, the body of general Church leadership will remain steadfast and true. If someone tells you that they have received revelation that the First Presidency and the Twelve have not received, run away from them.” 

-Elder M. Russell Ballard-

Here is the entire  TALK  from Elder Ballard. Excellent message. Long, yet worth printing out and studying.
I got the idea for the chairs from HERE. Another GREAT blog to subscribe to.