Seminary in Maine gives students good start on the day
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FARMINGDALE, MAINE
The streets are deserted. It's cold. It's dark out, and you're in a hurry.
Is this the start of a scary story? No. It's just a winter morning in Maine, and you're on your way to seminary.
"On days when the roads are slippery, it can take about 20 minutes to get here [to the Church building]," 16-year-old Jose "Lupe" Leon said. "Usually someone goes off the road once a year. We car pool. A man helped us one time and wanted to know why teenagers were up so early."
Seminary begins at 6:15 a.m. Monday through Friday for Lupe and seven other classmates. The commute, they all say, is the worst part of going to seminary. "Will [the teacher] is young and energetic. The way he teaches keeps everyone awake," Lupe said.
Will Guerrette III, 25, of West Gardiner, has taught the seminary since September 2009. He sees his age as an asset. "I'm close to their [the students'] age and can relate to their level. I feel like I was in their shoes not long ago, and they appreciate that," he said.
A returned missionary from the France Paris Mission, Brother Guerrette enjoys sharing his knowledge of scripture.
"As a kid I just read scripture to get through it. As I've grown up, I read them now to look for answers to my own problems," he said. He believes some teenagers have trouble relating to stories from the Book of Mormon.
It's why he likes to point out how much ancient and modern people have in common. "We talked about Nephi in the beginning of the year and his relationship with his family. There are some interesting family dynamics. They squabble. We talked about how we can be more like Nephi and not the murmuring brothers," he explained. "They had a lot of the same problems thousands of years ago that we face today."
He often invents trivia games to help the students remember verses and said that everyone in class laughs and learns from the instructional videos he uses. "All of the videos were made in the 1980s. We'll gather around my laptop and laugh about the '80s hairdos and cheesy special effects. They [the students] might not remember something I say, but they'll remember it from the video," he said.
One student, 17-year-old Ashley Guerrette, who is the seminary teacher's sister, enjoys both the fun and spiritual moments in class.
"The games we play help a lot. It's a whole different experience than going to Church. Everyone is your age ... once in a while you get an awesome lesson that helps your testimony grow even though it's early in the morning," she said with a smile. "If I wasn't a part of this Church, I'd be a totally different person."
Some teenagers are shocked when Lupe tells them that he attends seminary every weekday, often before the sun even rises. "Mostly they ask if I have to go. You have to want to do it.
"Otherwise, it's pretty pointless. Out there [in Utah] the classes are bigger, and the kids might not appreciate it as much. I realize how lucky we are," Lupe said.
Brother Guerrette hopes that appreciation will help foster a lifelong love for the scriptures. "I love stories that show how the Atonement works, like with Alma the Younger. It shows that the Lord can use us — as imperfect as we are — to help build His kingdom," he said.
On the coldest mornings, Brother Guerrette sometimes teaches class while wearing his winter jacket. The temperature frequently matches the age of his teenage students.
Despite the unique challenge the climate in Maine creates, he knows that helping to instill a love of Jesus Christ in others is worth any hardship.
"Being part of this Church is not something I look at as a once a week thing. It's about who you are all the way down to the core. Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ even when you're alone, even when no one is watching?" he asked.
"Being a Latter-day Saint means being the best me I can be and trying to live as the Savior lived."
