Duce's Wild: My first Sunday with the new 'Come, Follow Me' curriculum

• Facebook assignment ­— The next companionship performed an enthusiastic fist pump when they realized they had the “day off” with no class assignment, but still accepted the challenge to post something to our Facebook group about the Godhead before next Sunday. It was only a few hours after church that one girl shared the insightful words to a Primary song on the topic.

• "Preach My Gospel" — For the whole month of January, one companionship per week will take turns teaching a simple paragraph from page 31 of “Preach My Gospel” and then each will share their testimony on God being our loving Heavenly Father. The two girls who taught together are not the same age and barely know each other but came together in unison to bring the Spirit pouring into our classroom. One shared the spiritual strength she gained while going through horrific complications of wisdom teeth extraction last summer and receiving many priesthood blessings. The other shared how her family stayed unified through sweet spiritual experiences while being separated in three places during the long process of a move across the state. Both had tears come to their eyes, as did mine, and I had to shout out, “Now this is what it’s all about” after recognizing the Spirit that illuminated our classroom.

• Conference talk — We wrapped up the lesson with another companionship sharing ideas I highlighted in advance from another Elder Bednar conference address.

• Class goals — We then prayed together with the companion to the boy who gave the opening prayer offering sweet words about our joint goal for the week. The kids turned in their Sunday School journals to be guarded by me until next week, and I tried to offer as many compliments as I could as they left.

While the time went quickly, it also seemed just right. The pace was engaging. The participation was wonderful. And no one seemed too embarrassed or hesitant to share.

I look forward to the evolution of our structured time together — for Sundays when they come prepared with their own materials and for suggestions from them and inspiration from above.

It’s going to be a great year!

Stacie Lloyd Duce is a columnist and magazine editor featured regularly in several Montana and Utah publications. Her columns appear Thursdays on desnews.com. Email: duceswild7@gmail.com