Teaching the “Throwaway Kids”
By C.S. Bezas

Editor’s Note: Last week C.S. Bezas discussed when games are appropriate in the seminary classroom, what kind of games work best for spiritual environments, and how best to avoid conflict while playing games with seminary students. This week she explores how to approach kids that might challenge even the best of seminary teachers.

Most observers on the outside probably would have considered me a “throwaway kid” — a teen who had failed in the spiritual matters of life. But not Brother Mask, my seminary teacher at the time.

Brother Mask taught with fervor, treating all kids equally — even me. My parents had left the Church and I had stopped attending most church meetings — other than release-time seminary. He didn’t seem to mind that I didn’t dress right, nor that I didn’t always know the proper answers to his questions. All students mattered to him. And the day he passed out 3x5 index cards with his personal address on them, meant more to me than he could have known.

The assignment was to mail him that card the day we either began serving a mission or the day we went through the temple to get married. Unfortunately, I had no belief that I could achieve either. I struggled with low self-worth and had always figured those two goals were too high for me. To be honest, I thought I was expendable in the Lord’s eyes. But that day, as he handed me my card, I realized I might be wrong. If my seminary teacher actually thought I was important enough to strive for these things, maybe, just maybe I could. I am here to report his faith in me eventually bore fruit. Not only did I go on to serve a mission, I married in the temple.

My seminary teacher’s early example of faith in me made an indelible mark on my heart. I now want to do the same. I choose to hold out hope and belief for every student who walks through the doorway of my classroom — regardless of how they respond to me or to the students around them. I will do all in my power to pray for all students and to shower love upon them as we work together throughout the year.

I might never know which moment matters most to my students during our seminary year, but I know the Lord needs me to approach every day as a “3x5-index-card day” and to approach every student as worthy of receiving one.

The Battle Is Real.

You and I both know it: the battle fought in heaven continues here. It is raging, it is real. Satan is seeking, ever seeking to destroy the Lord’s most valiant. These valiant ones are present amongst us. Do we really know who stands before us in these 14- to 18-year-old bodies? Thus, is any student really too far out for us to reach or so difficult that we must actually give up?             Disregarding the hair, disregarding the clothing, disregarding the attitude, deep, deep down lives a child of God who just may be the next Saul-turned-Paul for the Lord. We can read about Saul (in Acts 8:3; 9:1-6, 13, and 15) and his intense desire to destroy:

As seminary teachers, we are mentoring chosen vessels from a chosen generation. How many of them might be modern-day Sauls, needing that “light from heaven” to bring them round to their true purpose? We must teach with all the light and love we can muster; we must extend that light and love even to the kids some church members might privately consider as “throwaways.”

And if we falter in the process? If our love or light runs out, we have an ample supply to turn to — found within the veritable storehouse of the Lord’s own heart. When our supply runs low, we can petition for compassion, for faith, for love. For it is essential we teach as the sons of Mosiah did — reaching, ever reaching outward to all.

The sons of Mosiah themselves originally had been radical youth, even dangerous youth. Yet they morphed into missionaries who:

The Powerhouse Seminary Teacher.

Perhaps it is easy for some to judge a teen, simply because the child dresses “lost” or acts as if he or she couldn’t care less about spiritual matters. But the powerhouse seminary teacher wages an integral battle for the souls of these youth, gently nourishing all within their reach with the living waters of the gospel, overlooking none.

Others indeed may cast aside a “throwaway teen,” yet the powerhouse seminary teacher will not. Others at church may smile in a forced manner as the teen walks by, but the powerhouse seminary teacher will not. He reach out to these youth, taking their hands in gentle fellowship — even when class is done.

We as seminary teachers can bring a powerful uplift of hope into the lives of our youth — all of our youth — and we do it, not just in the classroom, but within the hallways of our students’ hearts. This indeed is the goal of a powerhouse seminary teacher: not one youth left behind, at least not while on our watch.

The ability to do this, in my mind, means we have entered into a partnership with the Lord himself as we care for, not “throwaway kids,” but for every potential “Paul.” Of all the things I saw and heard Brother Mask mentor and do during my years as one of his seminary kids, the following powerhouse elements had the greatest impact on my life:

1.    He Put Christ First.  If there was one thing I knew about my seminary teacher, it was that Christ mattered to him. I knew this from the way he spoke about Him to the stories he told of personal sacrifice to follow Him. More importantly, this gentle seminary teacher walked into the room and you knew he loved the Savior by how he treated you.

Arriving at this depth of spirit can be a challenge; we are human after all. Yet we can read about the clear path the sons of Mosiah carved out in Alma 17:2:

Not only was Brother Mask strongly “waxed” in the knowledge of the truth, he was a man “of sound understanding.” He knew how to reach us — even me — with those gospel truths he taught and the personal experiences he shared. And I will be forever grateful. This indeed was a man who put Christ first, especially in his gospel study, which leads me to the next point.

2    He Searched the Scriptures Diligently.  I knew Christ came first in my seminary teacher’s life, because my teacher put in personal time with his scriptures. I knew he did this, because as he shared pertinent stories of his experiences, those experiences came from his private study. And as he shared these spiritual experiences, the spirit soared in our classroom, testifying not only of the truths this gentle man shared, but the spirit testified of this man’s love for his scriptures and their great worth.

A love such as this comes from sustained daily scripture study. How hollow our testimonies ring if not substantiated with actual time spent within the pages of our own standard works. By setting aside personal time each day with private scholarship, we truly demonstrate to the Savior himself that, indeed, we put Him first in our lives. Our students will feel this and rely upon this. It cannot be counterfeited. And by so doing, we will receive great inspiration for even the most challenging of students. Those promptings may come in surprising ways, yet the outcome will be glorious.

Again, some might have considered me a throwaway youth, but all it took was effort from my seminary teacher to bring me round. We can do the same for the youth in our class, bringing about what Elder Spencer J. Condie referred to, when he said, “I pray that you wonderful young [people] will not only be worthy to receive ministering angels, but that you…will become a ministering angel in the lives of others.” Now that is “3x5 card” of hope and inspiration worth handing out!

3.    He Prayed Consistently.  We read in Alma 17:3 of the sons of Mosiah: 

How much do we look forward to supping with the Lord in prayer? Is prayer an assignment or actually a time of refreshment? And if it’s not something we give much of ourselves to, how on earth can we share a truthful testimony as to its power?

I remember my seminary teacher sharing how he and his wife had just lost a pregnancy. He had tears in his eyes as he told us of the pain. And yet, I knew he was sincere when he bore testimony as to the power of prayer and its impact in his family’s life that week — somehow they had been comforted during this trial, simply because they had turned it over to the Lord through the process of prayer.

How powerful that was for me as a young kid to hear — that trials really can be assuaged simply by praying full-heartedly to our Maker. Who knows better how to help us than Him? I’m not sure if any other person in my life at that time could have gotten this message through to me as well as my seminary teacher did. And he did, because he lived the message.

If we do look forward to our private time with the Lord in prayer, how much time do we give pondering about our students and discussing them individually with the Master Teacher himself? People will pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars to attend conferences and seminars to increase their power to communicate and to teach. Yet the Master Teacher allows us to approach Him for “free.”  Have you ever thought that perhaps we are missing out on one of the most powerful seminars available — morning, mid-day, and night for the rest of our earthly lives! Yes, to become a powerhouse seminary teacher, we must pray.

Summary.

Our students need powerful mentors that love the Lord and truly put Him first. They need a powerhouse seminary teacher who will extend “3x5 cards” of inspiration to even the most unlikely of kids. And they need us to do this consistently, all through the year. But how do we balance all we must do, how do we fit it all in?

Imagine a teacher dumping a bunch of rocks out on a table in front of a class. Next to the rocks, he pours out pebbles. Then next to the pebbles, he stacks a container of sand. And then finally, he brings out a large mason jar.

Slowly he pours the sand into the glass jar, seeming to fill it mostly to the top. He asks a student to come put the rest of the rocks and pebbles in the jar. The kid tries, but they just won’t fit. The professor then promises the student that if he listens, he will be able to fit all of it in.

Step by step the student carefully follows the instruction. To begin, he removes all the sand. He then places the largest items, the rocks, inside the jar. He shakes the jar to nestle the rocks lower. He scoops up the pebbles and drops them in the jar, shaking the jar so the pebbles “snug” themselves within the nooks and crannies of the rocks. He finally, as the last step, pours the sand into the jar. The student has listened well. Tapping the jar on the tabletop, quickly the sand sinks into every available crevice, allowing the student to top off the jar with the entire amount of remaining sand.

The analogy is clear. When we place first in our lives the most important part (the Rock, Christ himself), we then are better able to manage the other pieces of our lives.  Anything left over is simply debris. One would think a seminary teacher would have this down pat; yet we are human after all.

When we put Christ first in our personal lives, through diligent discipleship, scripture study and prayer, our students will see the clarity within our own lives and many will desire that for themselves. Additionally (and perhaps more importantly), we’ll see the “Saul”s for who they really are — potential “Paul”s in the making.

No seminary kid, regardless of appearance or action, is a “throwaway kid” — not in the least. And through inspiration, we will know when to bring forth those symbolic (and very important) “3x5 cards” for each and every student in our class.