I also taught Gospel Doctrine today. Probably people get tired of listening to me sometimes. 😂
This week's lesson was a little different than most because we weren't talking about a specific block of scripture or any stories. We were discussing that we are responsible for our own learning. Great topic...but structured differently than most lessons. And something I feel pretty excited and passionate about. And it led to a really great discussion. In fact, I barely got to the part of the lesson that I thought we'd spend the most time on!
One of the things I loved about 2022 was setting goals for what I hoped to accomplish in Come Follow Me and in Sunday School. I did better at some than others, but it helped me as I studied to have these things in mind. So I’d love to hear...what are you hoping to get out of Come Follow Me or out of Sunday School this year? What are your personal or family goals...or is there something that would make Sunday School especially helpful for you?
My thoughts:
*Focus on Jesus...study of His names, His character, His miracles, His life. In everything we read, I want to see and learn of Him.
*Sister Scriptorian...will talk about this a bit more later, but this is a personal goal of mine...to work on becoming a scriptorian. I don’t have degrees in church history and doctrine or in scriptures and I will never be the most knowledgeable person about scriptures...but I believe we are all asked to become scriptorians, and this is one of my goals to work on.
*Become more steadfast and immovable...firm foundation.
*Discipleship.
What the class shared:
This lesson is unique in that we don’t have a block of scriptures we are studying or any stories to discuss. Instead we are to discuss principles related to learning and becoming...that each of us has responsibility for our own learning and for acting on the doctrines we learn.
Quote #1 Elder Bednar said, “Each member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an individual responsibility to learn and live the Lord’s teachings and to receive by proper authority the ordinances of salvation and exaltation. We should not expect the Church as an organization to teach or tell us everything we need to know and do to become devoted disciples and endure valiantly to the end.2 Rather, our personal responsibility is to learn what we should learn, to live as we know we should live, and to become who the Master would have us become. And our homes are the ultimate setting for learning, living, and becoming.”
Quote #2 Elder Bednar continued, “The overarching purpose of Heavenly Father’s plan is for His children to become more like Him. Accordingly, He provides us with essential opportunities to grow and progress. Our commitment to learn and live according to truth is increasingly important in a world that is “in commotion”4 and is ever more confused and wicked. We cannot expect simply to attend Church meetings and participate in programs and thereby receive all of the spiritual edification and protection that will enable us “to withstand in the evil day.”5”
What helps you to seek learning?
What do we learn from these verses of scripture about how we can seek spiritual knowledge?
2 Nephi 4:15; and
D&C 88:118.
*We read these verses and then discussed what each of them teach us about gaining spiritual knowledge. I expected this to take about 10 minutes, but there was a lot of discussion and comments. We talked about doing what we have learned, testing the Lord (and ourselves) through obedience, the Holy Ghost, praying and asking with sincerity, loving and delighting in learning and in the things of the Lord, being anxiously engaged, learning by prayer and faith, learning by study and through good books, putting in effort, applying what we've learned, teaching our children and more. This discussion took nearly the whole class time!
I think we each have a responsibility to gain as much knowledge as possible about the scriptures. For a couple of months now, I’ve been pondering this quote from President Kimball.
Quote #3: President Kimball said, “I stress again the deep need each woman has to study the scriptures. We want our homes to be blessed with sister scriptorians—whether you are single or married, young or old, widowed or living in a family.
Regardless of your particular circumstances, as you become more and more familiar with the truths of the scriptures, you will be more and more effective in keeping the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. Become scholars of the scriptures—not to put others down, but to lift them up! After all, who has any greater need to “treasure up” the truths of the gospel (on which they may call in their moments of need) than do women and mothers who do so much nurturing and teaching?”
Sister scriptorians. President Kimball was speaking to the women...and I do think there is a great need for women to study the scriptures and gain knowledge about the gospel, but the men have also been given similar counsel. And if the prophet asked us to do this, then I believe it is possible! Doable.
New Testament
39 ¶ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
Seek truth from good sources. Where do we go when we have questions? What do you do when something (in scriptures or in life) doesn’t make sense?
*I'd hoped and planned to share some of these ideas and then have people actually try one or two in Matthew 1 or Luke 1. But we were short on time, so I talked through most of them and shared a couple of examples that I'd already found. I had a poster with all these resources on it and a couple of people took photos of the poster and Sharon Goulding asked if she could have it. So hopefully it was at least a little bit helpful to some, though I definitely think it would have been better if people could have tried out 1 or more resources and then shared. I think that as I teach this year, I may try to spotlight one resource each lesson and give people a couple of minutes to play around with it.
Quote #4 Elder Bednar said, “...If all you or I know about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel is what other people teach or tell us, then the foundation of our testimony of Him and His glorious latter-day work is built upon sand.8 We cannot rely exclusively upon or borrow gospel light and knowledge from other people—even those whom we love and trust."
What sources do you turn to?
*Scripture Citation Index
*Other translations of the Bible
*Study Bibles
*Conference talks
*Trusted friends and family...but be cautious
*Commentaries
*Podcasts
*PRAYER!
*Other Scripture references/Bible Dictionary/Study Helps
*Social media pages...cautiously!!!!!!
*Patience
*Joseph Smith Papers
*Gospel Topics Essays
*Resources in manuals, on church website
*Strong’s concordance
*1828 Webster’s Dictionary
Come Follow Me manual counsels:
Seek understanding from God. God is the source of all truth, and He reveals truth through the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, and His prophets and apostles.
Act in faith. If answers don’t come right away, trust that the Lord will reveal answers when the time is right. In the meantime, keep living by the truth you already know.
Keep an eternal perspective. Try to see things as the Lord sees them, not as the world does. View your questions in the context of our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation.
***IDEA: You could also select a chapter in the New Testament and try studying it as a class using some of these ideas.***
Matthew 1...read through...what questions do you have? Any words that don’t make sense or you want to know more about?
By NO MEANS am I trying to say that my way of approaching scripture study is the right way or best way (I don’t think that there is such a thing...and my methods for scripture study change from day to day and have grown over time...)...but I have had several people in the last couple of years say that they don’t really know how to STUDY the scriptures or figure out things when they don’t understand. So I thought it might be helpful to just talk a bit about my process, let you add to that and then have you try out a resource you haven’t used much or at all before.
So if I were going to read Matthew 1, the first thing I would typically do is open my scriptures with a pen in hand and perhaps a colored pencil. I’d begin to read and think about things like...which verses stand out to me? What doctrines is this teaching? What do I need to DO to apply this? How does this relate to my life? What blessings are being promised?
Some days that is literally all I would do. Just read with a pen and make notes about those types of questions. I have a CFM journal that I take notes in and I also make notes in the margins. (Show this)
But if I came across a verse that didn’t make sense OR a verse that I wanted to think about more or something that intrigued me, I may stop and do one of the following things:
*Text a friend with my question.
*Read a commentary.
*Look at Scripture Citation Index to see when this passage has been used in General Conference and see if that sheds any light on it.
*Look up one or more of the words either in the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary or on Bible Hub’s Strong’s Concordance.
*Read the passage in other translations of the Bible.
*Read a Study Bible and see if it has notes on that passage.
*Look at the footnotes and look up other scriptures.
*Use the church website and search for that word or that topic.
*Look at JST if there is one.
*Red Headed Hostess or other study materials.
At other times, not during my scripture study, I often listen to podcasts related to CFM and sometimes take notes about them. I follow several social media pages that specifically relate to CFM/scripture study and will read their thoughts and insights.
So I’d like you to open up to Matthew 1 or Luke 1. Read part or all of the chapter. I’m going to give you about 5 minutes to read it and do one or more of the things I’ve suggested...or something else that helps you. In 5 minutes, I’d love for you to share something you learned or something you looked up or what you tried.
Matthew 1: 16 There’s a JST.
Matthew 1:18-19 NIV version: “18This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about d : His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet e did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”
Matthew 1: 18-19 The MESSAGE: “18-19 The birth of Jesus took place like this. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they enjoyed their wedding night, Joseph discovered she was pregnant. (It was by the Holy Spirit, but he didn’t know that.) Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.”
Strong’s Concordance: Sin: chata: to miss, go wrong, sin
Incur guilt
Bring into guilt, condemnation or punishment
Induce or cause others to sin
To miss oneself or lose oneself
DHM in MV; Arabic 
do wrong, commit a mistake or an error; II. make to miss the mark; IV. miss the mark, miss the way; Ethiopic 
fail to find or have; sometimes sin, especially in derivatives) —
bear the blame, cleanse, commit sin, by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss
A primitive root; properly, to miss; hence (figuratively and generally) to sin; by inference, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, (causatively) lead astray, condemn -- bear the blame, cleanse, commit (sin), by fault, harm he hath done, loss, miss, (make) offend(-er), offer for sin, purge, purify (self), make reconciliation, (cause, make) sin(-ful, -ness), trespass.
1984 G. Homer Durham spoke about the names of Christ and their meaning.
Thomas S. Monson The Bridge Builder 2003
President Monson said, “There are other “lost battalions.” Some struggle in the jungles of sin, some wander in the wilderness of ignorance. In reality, each one of us is numbered in what could well have been the lost battalion of mankind, even a battalion doomed to everlasting death.
“… by man came death. … For as in Adam all die.” 1 Cor. 15:21–22 Each of us is a partaker of the experience called death. None escapes. Were we to remain unrescued, lost would be paradise sought. Lost would be family loved. Lost would be friends remembered. Realizing this truth, we begin to appreciate the supreme joy which accompanied the birth of the Savior of the world. How glorious the pronouncement of the angel: Behold, a virgin “shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21
While the rivers of France witnessed the advance of those who rescued the “lost battalion” in World War I, so did yet another river witness the commencement of the formal ministry of a universal rescuer, even a divine redeemer. The scripture records, “And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Mark 1:11” (Lost Battalions, 1971)
Matthew 1:23 quoted by many!!
SHARE.
I think one of the greatest skills we can teach our youth and our children is where they can turn safely when they have questions. If we can teach them about some of these resources, and model for them how to seek faithful answers, I think we are providing important tools.
If time discuss the quote about making homes a sanctuary for learning. How have you done that?
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