One of my students was assigned to speak in sacrament meeting. The topic was: “How the Scriptures Bless My Life.” She gave a wonderful talk and gave much of the credit for her love of the scriptures to her attendance in seminary (which definitely earned her some bonus points with her teacher).
Then, she shared a Church magazine article that reported on seminary experiences of students from Austria (where I served my full-time mission — double bonus points).
I was so inspired by her talk that, in the meetinghouse after our meetings were over, I shared with her that my very first baptism as a full-time missionary was a girl of seminary age. So, of course, that led me to dig through my old mission pictures to find a photo of that young woman and we talked about her during seminary class. She had more than 40 of her friends present when she was baptized.
My seminary class enjoyed my wonderful trip down Memory Lane as we talked about many of my missionary experiences.
Another time, a young woman in my class, a foreign exchange student, asked if she could offer the opening prayer in seminary. Of course, the class president granted her request. Then, before I could even begin to start the lesson, she interrupted and asked to speak. She bore her testimony of how much she has changed her attitude toward seminary.
She said she had decided, upon leaving her native country, that she would never attend seminary in the U.S. because her mom had taught her for five years already in early morning seminary and she felt that she had had enough.
Her attendance early in the school year reflected her resolve; she didn’t attend very often. It was also very difficult for her to follow along when she did attend due to language difficulties.
In her testimony, she said that she now joyfully looks forward to attending our classes and, even though she struggles to keep up with all of the conversations and discussions, she is learning more each week.
She also shared this with her mother, who was so proud that her daughter was finally gaining a testimony of her own.
I think that her turnaround is most assuredly the result of the positive influence of her outstanding seminary classmates and their acceptance of her. — Alan Leonhardt, home study seminary teacher, Winona Branch, Rochester Minnesota Stake
Permission given to publish by Alan Leonhardt. Originally published by Deseret News in 2010.