[Part 8 in a series about improving gospel teaching. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7]

Some concluding thoughts, including a few things that need to happen to improve gospel teaching in the Church:

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This was, perhaps, the most positive conversation I’ve ever overheard while a graduate student. Otherwise, it’s a tame example of what I have to deal with multiple times a day, nearly every day.

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According to Wikipedia, Kaizen is a Japanese word that means “change for the better” or “improvement”. The English translation of the word is “continuous improvement.”

Last week I participated in what is termed as a “Kaizen Event” or, more appropriately, a “continuous improvement event” where my team and I looked at a business process to identify and eliminate waste.

We utilized several six sigma tools (e.g.- activity of the operator, activity of the process, process map, etc.) in order to identify the waste and how best to eliminate that waste.

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[Part 7 in a series about improving gospel teaching. Previous entries in the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6]

One Sunday last year, I attended a lesson on the book of Jeremiah. The teacher introduced Jeremiah the person and then produced this poser: “So, what kind of prophet was Jeremiah?”

Silence. No one answered. As usually happens, the teacher waited for a little while, then gave up and went on to the rest of the lesson. Perhaps disheartened, she asked a total of one (1) other question the remainder of the lesson.

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When I attend the temple with my wife, I always look forward to an outpouring of the Spirit as I am instructed during the presentation of the endowment.

Friday night my wife and I enjoyed a special experience as we watched two hearing-impaired patrons view the endowment presented through American Sign Language and closed captioning.

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Despite the fact that he spells his first name wrong, Kieth Merrill has to be one of my heroes. In a recent Deseret News article he said the following:

“We must embrace the virtues and values (of the LDS Church) as LDS filmmakers,” he said. “We can’t walk with one foot in both worlds. I have tried to walk that fine line as an LDS filmmaker.”

Kieth has started a project discussed here and here called Audience Alliance Motion Picture Studios to promote good movies that support traditional values.

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