August 18, 2026
I was asked to teach Seminary in the middle of July.
Stressed. Overwhelmed. Intimidated. Drinking from a firehose. Those are probably the best words to describe the last month.
I have spent the past month training, pondering, preparing, ignoring it for a little while, stressing some more, and then preparing again.
There have been MANY hours of online and in-person training. I have also spent a lot of time working with my team teacher. We will be teaching Monday through Thursday from 6:30–7:30 a.m. and alternating weeks. Thank goodness for a team teacher!
There was also a lot to do just to get ready for the year. We cleaned out the Seminary bags and closet up at the church and made new bags for each student with scriptures, pens, red pencils, whiteboards, and other supplies.
One of my favorite parts of preparing was getting to know the students before we ever met for class. We made home visits and met individually with all of the new students and their parents to explain Seminary and personally invite them. We also met with many of the returning students and parents, made treat bags for them, and held a Back-to-Seminary pool party.
All of that helped. The more I got to know the students, the less stressed I started to feel. I also knew my family and some friends were praying for me, which meant a lot.
We have about 20 students, and they seem GREAT. I am really excited to get to know them better.
Of course, getting ready to actually teach them was a whole different story.
I am glad I have Britney and my dad to rely on. They are both seminary teaching pros. I ask them random questions every day. I have also used ChatGPT more times than I can count this past month. 😂 I have asked for help with object lessons, class expectations and classroom control, icebreakers, Doctrinal Mastery games, student questionnaires, inexpensive birthday treats, Google Slides, presenter notes, and probably 100 other things I have already forgotten.
I spent over an HOUR preparing a TEN-MINUTE devotional for our first day on Monday. Thankfully, my team teacher taught the actual lesson that morning. Bless her.
On the first day of seminary, I woke up to this sweet message from Aubrey...it made my day. Tanner also called that evening to see how things went.
Then it was my turn to prepare Tuesday's lesson. I don't even know how many hours that took-probably over five.
I literally wore my mouthpiece while preparing because apparently I have been clenching my teeth without even realizing it. I think that gives a pretty accurate picture of my stress level.
The format of Seminary is different from anything I have taught in so long, and right now it is hard to know where to start, what to include, what to leave out, and how to fit it all together. (Mostly, I am trying to remember how to engage youth and incorporate the digital world more.)
Meanwhile, my house has looked like Seminary exploded inside it. Student supplies, questionnaires, scriptures, lesson materials, papers, and teaching prep have taken over my kitchen counters and tables.
Last night I decided I needed to get out of the house and clear my head. It was a blazing 97 degrees at 7:00 p.m., so I went to the mall to walk. I somehow ended up stopping for a chair massage.
SO WORTH IT.
I keep reminding myself that this will come line upon line. I will eventually figure out what works and get into a flow. And most importantly, with God all things are possible.
Then came my first day actually teaching.
I was pretty proud of myself when I got up at 5:15 and was out the door by 5:35. That might be a personal record.
I got to the church extra early because I wanted to try out my slideshow.
It was working...except my presenter notes were showing on the big TV for the entire class to see.
Not ideal.
I messed with it for a while until I managed to make it even worse, and then it wouldn't display on the big screen AT ALL.
Ugh.
So I left that mess for a minute, went into the Relief Society room to set up our Doctrinal Mastery game, and then spotted Bishop Bird walking into the building. I flagged him down and asked for help. He got the slideshow working well enough, and at that point there was nothing left to do but—
GO FOR IT.
And you know what? It went well.
Our opening song wouldn't play correctly from my phone, so one of the students sat down at the piano and played it for us with absolutely no preparation. Many of the students had also come prepared to share their favorite hymns about Jesus Christ, and it was beautiful listening to the songs they had chosen and why they loved them.
We got into the scriptures. We talked about how to find Psalms and other books of scripture and how to use footnotes and cross-references. These are little things, but I loved seeing them actually opening their scriptures and learning how to use them.
And I was glad we played our Doctrinal Mastery game—"Bloody Knuckles." We divided into teams, asked questions, and had them race to the middle to grab dry-erase markers worth different points. A little friendly competition at 6:30 in the morning never hurts.
One day down. Whew!
I know it is going to get easier with time. Right now, Seminary feels pretty all-consuming. There is so much to learn, so much to prepare, and so much I want to do well.
But a month ago, I mostly felt intimidated and overwhelmed. Today, after actually standing in front of those students and teaching them, I feel a little different.
I don't have to know exactly how to do all of this yet, but hopefully, somewhere along the way, I'll stop needing the mouthpiece.
