Weekly Update

Dear Students and Parents,

It was another great week in Seminary. Class has now grown to 34, so we are piled in like sardines. The room was set with small tables so it really felt crowded. Next week we'll have big tables so that everyone can be comfortable -- but not so comfy as to sleep.

This week was the 6:25 start time and it seemed to go well. I do miss that extra 5 minutes on my snooze alarm, though. Getting out at 7:15 is nice and I don't have to be at work until 8. So what do I do with my time? A little retail therapy... I'm the only one at WalMart that time of day!

We're two weeks into the Seminary year and we still haven't met Nephi who was born of goodly parents. But we have learned all about the Plan of Salvation, how the Book of Mormon was organized, and introduced all of the master scriptures. This year, the students all helped choose new key words for the scripture masteries so those are personal and more meaningful. Oh, we also had Birthday Brownies for our September "babies."

So thank you for another wonderful week of early-morning fun!

Love,
Sister Mann

Something New for a New Seminary Year

Dear Seminary students and parents,

Welcome to the St. Helens Seminary blog -- an electronic replacement to the less-than-successful old-fashioned newsletter. I hope you'll enjoy following our class as we begin our journey through the Book of Mormon.

Before I go any further, please be assured this blog won't contain any personal information about any student. No names and no photos. As much as I would love to show off the class, it's just not a safe thing to do out in web-land. Too many creepy Gadianton robbers lurking in cyberspace. So what will be included? Weekly summaries, master scriptures, policies, announcements -- the usual newsletter stuff without the paper.

This is a great class! Great big, too -- there are 31 registered students with at least 3 more potential students. This is the largest early morning seminary program in the region. In my opinion, it's also the best. So far everyone is getting along just fine.

Beginning on Monday, as a test, start time will be moved back 5 minutes to 6:25am. I know, I know...5 minutes can make all the difference. Believe me. Nearly 1/3 of the students have to leave at 7:15 and those last 5 minutes are, well, you know... In order to make the best and most out of our time together, we need to spend all our time together. So next week class will run from 6:25 to 7:15.

Since this was the first week of class, we spent a lot of time getting settled and establishing our Seminary foundation. We talked about journeys (both physical and spiritual), the power of youth, favorite BoM stories, scripture study helps, and how we can gain more sure testimonies of the gospel and of Christ. In my relatively humble opinion, it was a good week. Next week we will focus on the Plan of Salvation, BoM overview, and scripture mastery.

Thank you for all you do in support of our Seminary program -- I couldn't do it without you!

Love,

Sister Mann