Review what you learned in class today and things you did to help this happen. Then, fill out the form below and submit. Thanks!

To receive credit for seminary, you will need to make a scripture study goal. This goal is between you and the Lord. During the trimester, Brother Crockett will periodically ask about your progress, but your progress will not be recorded.

Please download the following pdf. Follow the instructions on what to look for and highlight. On a separate paper, write down what you discover.

Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives.

So first, agency’s role in discipleship. One of the most important gifts God gave His children was moral agency. This power and privilege—and responsibility—to act for ourselves is essential to realizing our full potential as children of God. It is central to our progression on the covenant path. God’s plan, as you know, was not to do everything for us but to provide a structure that allowed us to make our own choices to grow individually. Agency was key to our progression as spirits in the past, and it is key for what we can become under God’s plan of happiness, now and in eternity. The adversary knows this and seeks to compromise our agency.

But agency in the context of religious education requires a further step beyond imparting gospel truths. It is essential that we teach in a way that invites students to exercise their agency in the learning process. We want to help them become active participants in the process and take responsibility for their own learning. Activating students’ agency to take personal ownership in learning has implications for the development of lasting belief, lasting testimony. It is in so doing that they can become active and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Choosing for ourselves is one of the reasons President Nelson has been so focused on covenants. When we choose to enter and keep covenants, we are making uniquely personal choices to follow our Savior. President Nelson explains:

“During this life we get to choose which laws we are willing to obey—those of the celestial kingdom, or the terrestrial, or the telestial—and, therefore, in which kingdom of glory we will live forever. Every righteous choice that you make here will pay huge dividends now. But righteous choices in mortality will pay unimaginable dividends eternally. If you choose to make covenants with God and are faithful to those covenants, you have the promise of ‘glory added upon [your head] for ever and ever.’”

So, taking ownership for choices deepens personal conviction. When we don’t act for ourselves, we can unwittingly find that our faith lacks the depth required to overcome life’s questions and challenges and to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Lord’s own words:

“For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.”

Now, this foundational role agency plays in our own personal development has implications for the way we teach as religious educators. We ask mission leaders to remember this as they give their missionaries opportunities to lead and direct the missionary work. We ask youth leaders to give the youth opportunities to “bear the yoke” of leadership along with their adult mentors. And we ask you, our religious educators, to teach in ways that invite personal engagement and ownership of learning. In each of these settings, real growth happens most effectively when young people are given opportunities to act and not just be acted upon.

In Teaching in the Savior’s Way, we’re reminded that inviting diligent learning requires us to help students become agents in their own learning process. There are several ways this can happen, but let me emphasize at least three from that teaching resource.

First, we can create learning experiences where we “invite learners to prepare to learn.” This can happen through pre-reading assignments, study questions, and personal invitations.

Second, we should “encourage learners to share the truths they are learning.” There are so many ways to do this, and each of you will find personalized approaches that work for you and your students. When I was in law school, I often learned through what was called the Socratic method, where teachers helped students explore a legal case by asking the class to engage the material through a series of thoughtfully developed questions. We had to come to class prepared to articulate our own insights and to listen to others. I’ve seen institute teachers who give students opportunities to share what they are learning through well-structured class discussions, and this requires well-prepared instructors who engage well-prepared students in a spirit of inquiry and dialogue. I know that’s always the case in your classes. All the students are well-prepared. All the teachers are well-prepared. But that’s the invitation.

And third, we should “invite learners to live what they are learning” (italics added). We should always look for ways to invite students to apply what they are learning in their own lives. This can come through personal invitations, reflective exercises, and a host of other efforts to help students change and become something more in Christ.

Finally, on helping students take charge of their testimonies. Inviting diligent learning is foundational to developing lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ because it helps learners take responsibility for their learning, as we’ve been saying. One of the ways President Nelson has encouraged this ownership of our personal growth is in his invitation to the young adults to take charge of their testimonies. In his worldwide devotional to young adults in 2022, President Nelson stated:

“I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”

Tonight, I began by reviewing the purposes of religious education in the Church, including the need to help our students:

• “Develop faith in and a testimony of Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’ …
• Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, … [and]
• Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”

When we help students exercise their personal agency, their conversion will deepen in ways that lead to lifelong discipleship. Last October, President Nelson stated, “Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority.” And he added, “It is neither too early nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ.” Let us act diligently now before it is too late. Now is the time, as he said.

Knowing the purpose of God’s great plan, we now consider the respective roles of the three members of the Godhead in that plan.

We begin with a teaching from the Bible. In concluding his second letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul makes this almost offhand reference to the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion [or fellowship] of the Holy Ghost, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

This biblical scripture represents the Godhead and references the all-defining and motivating love of God the Father, the merciful and saving mission of Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost.

God the Father

It all begins with God the Father. While we know comparatively little about Him, what we know is decisive in understanding His supreme position, our relationship to Him, and His superintending role in the plan of salvation, the Creation, and all else that followed.

As Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote just before his death: “In the ultimate and final sense of the word, there is only one true and living God. He is the Father, the Almighty Elohim, the Supreme Being, the Creator and Ruler of the universe.” He is the God and Father of Jesus Christ, as well as of all of us. President David O. McKay taught that “the first fundamental truth advocated by Jesus Christ was this, that behind, above and over all there is God the Father, Lord of heaven and earth.”

What we know of the nature of God the Father is mostly what we can learn from the ministry and teachings of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught, one of the paramount purposes of Jesus’s ministry was to reveal to mortals “what God our Eternal Father is like, … to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.” The Bible contains an apostolic witness that Jesus was “the express image” of His Father’s person (Hebrews 1:3), which merely elaborates Jesus’s own teaching that “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).

God the Father is the Father of our spirits. We are His children. He loves us, and all that He does is for our eternal benefit. He is the author of the plan of salvation, and it is by His power that His plan achieves its purposes for the ultimate glory of His children.

The Son

To mortals, the most visible member of the Godhead is Jesus Christ. A great doctrinal statement by the First Presidency in 1909 declares Him to be “the firstborn among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh.” The Son, the greatest of all, was chosen by the Father to carry out the Father’s plan—to exercise the Father’s power to create worlds without number (see Moses 1:33) and to save the children of God from death by His Resurrection and from sin by His Atonement. This supernal sacrifice is truly called “the central act of all human history.”

On those unique and sacred occasions when God the Father personally introduced the Son, He has said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him” (Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35; see also 3 Nephi 11:7; Joseph Smith—History 1:17). Thus, it is Jesus Christ, Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, who speaks to and through the prophets. So it is that when Jesus appeared to the Nephites after His Resurrection, He introduced Himself as “the God of the whole earth” (3 Nephi 11:14). So it is that Jesus often speaks to the prophets of the Book of Mormon and to the Latter-day Saints as “the Father and the Son,” a title explained in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve’s inspired doctrinal exposition just 100 years ago.

The Holy Ghost

The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost, also referred to as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord, and the Comforter. He is the member of the Godhead who is the agent of personal revelation. As a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22), He can dwell in us and perform the essential role of communicator between the Father and the Son and the children of God on earth. Many scriptures teach that His mission is to testify of the Father and the Son (see John 15:26; 3 Nephi 28:11; D&C 42:17). The Savior promised that the Comforter will teach us all things, bring all things to our remembrance, and guide us into all truth (see John 14:26; 16:13). Thus, the Holy Ghost helps us discern between truth and falsehood, guides us in our major decisions, and helps us through the challenges of mortality. He is also the means by which we are sanctified, that is, cleansed and purified from sin (see 2 Nephi 31:17; 3 Nephi 27:20; Moroni 6:4).

IV.

So, how does understanding this heavenly revealed doctrine about the Godhead and the plan of salvation help us with our challenges today?

Because we have the truth about the Godhead and our relationship to Them, the purpose of life, and the nature of our eternal destiny, we have the ultimate road map and assurance for our journey through mortality. We know whom we worship and why we worship. We know who we are and what we can become (see D&C 93:19). We know who makes it all possible, and we know what we must do to enjoy the ultimate blessings that come through God’s plan of salvation. How do we know all of this? We know by the revelations of God to His prophets and to each of us individually.

Attaining what the Apostle Paul described as “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13) requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the plan of salvation and the gospel of Jesus Christ challenge us to become something.

As President Thomas S. Monson taught us in our last general conference:

“Essential to the plan [of salvation] is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by so doing will we obtain true, eternal happiness. …

“From the depths of my soul and in all humility,” President Monson declared, “I testify of the great gift which is our Father’s plan for us. It is the one perfect path to peace and happiness both here and in the world to come.”

I add my testimony to that of our beloved prophet-president. I testify that we have a Heavenly Father, who loves us. I testify that we have a Holy Ghost, who guides us. And I testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who makes it all possible, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

• “When to Receive Your Patriarchal Blessing” by Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita (Liahona, May 2023, 88–90)
• “Your Patriarchal Blessing—Inspired Direction from Heavenly Father” by Elder Randall K. Bennett (Liahona, May 2023, 42–43).

President Russell M. Nelson shared:

[A patriarchal blessing] is precious. It is personal scripture to you. It declares your special lineage. It reminds you of your linkage with the past. And it will help you realize your future potential. Literally, you can lay claim upon the Lord for fulfillment of those blessings through your faithfulness. (Russell M. Nelson, “Thanks for the Covenant” [Brigham Young University devotional, Nov. 22, 1988], 5)

Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita of the Seventy testified:

I frequently and prayerfully read my patriarchal blessing; it always gives me encouragement. I recognize what the Lord expects of me, and it has helped me to repent and be humble. When I read and ponder it, I desire to live worthy of receiving its promised blessings. …

… I bear my witness that Heavenly Father and His Beloved and Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, live. They love us. Patriarchal blessings are sacred gifts from Them. When you receive your blessing, you will realize and feel how They love you and how They focus on you individually. (Kazuhiko Yamashita, “When to Receive Your Patriarchal Blessing,” Liahona, May 2023, 90)

Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, former Young Women General President, shared:

At an FSY conference, I met two young women who had been struggling. Both young women mentioned turning to her patriarchal blessing to rediscover the Lord’s love and guidance for her personally. Find your patriarchal blessing, blow off the dust if you must, but study it often. If you don’t have one, get one—soon. Don’t delay finding out what the Lord wants to tell you now about who you are. (Bonnie H. Cordon, “Come unto Christ and Don’t Come Alone,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 10)

A long time ago, there lived a young man of modest means but uncommon strength of character. He worked long hours, treated others fairly, and used his hands to build what his heart could envision.  By diligence and goodness, his name became known across the land, and in time he built an empire of extraordinary wealth.

Yet the man feared what riches often do to the soul.

So he set a condition upon his fortune: that only those who could both prove they were of his bloodline and walk in his integrity could inherit it.  His hope was that his legal descendants would value virtue as much as gold.

Years passed into centuries.

His posterity multiplied, but their records were lost, their hearts grew faint, and few remembered the standard of the man from whom they came.  The empire, untouched and ever-growing, waited in silence for a rightful heir.

Generations later, in a quiet village, two brothers lived by simple trades.
One evening, as dusk fell and rain whispered on the roof, a stranger knocked upon their door.

They welcomed him in, shared their food, and warmed him by their fire.

The stranger told them a story—of a man long dead, whose immense fortune remained sealed away, awaiting an heir both true in blood and in spirit.  “I know,” said the stranger, “how to prove your claim. This wealth can be yours.  I can help you find the right legal documents—but you must live as he lived.”

The elder brother leaned forward, his eyes bright with wonder.  The younger laughed, shaking his head. “Another tale for fools,” he said, and sent the stranger from their home.

1. What is “lifelong discipleship?”
2. Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives. In Nephi’s words: “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”
3. In the CES resource “Strengthening Religious Education,” we’re taught:
4. “The purpose of religious education is to teach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ from the scriptures and modern prophets in a way that helps our students:
5. Develop faith in and a testimony of Heavenly Father and His ‘great plan,’ …
6. Become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ, who make and keep covenants, … [and]
7. Strengthen their ability to find answers, resolve doubts, respond with faith, and give reason for the hope within them in whatever challenges they may face.”¹
8. Lifelong discipleship is an essential aspect of the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine of Christ expresses how we come unto Christ and receive the gift of His atoning grace. We exercise our agency to have faith in Him, repent, be baptized, and receive the Holy Ghost. But for Christ’s Atonement to have its full, transformative effect in us requires that we continue in this covenant path—the path of discipleship—to the end of our mortal lives. In Nephi’s words: “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.”²
9. President Nelson has taught: “True disciples of Jesus Christ are willing to stand out, speak up, and be different from the people of the world. They are undaunted, devoted, and courageous.” How is this kind of discipleship achieved? What does that mean for us as religious educators? And how can we more effectively teach in a way that our youth and young adults become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ?
10. Agency’s Role in Discipleship
11. So first, agency’s role in discipleship. One of the most important gifts God gave His children was moral agency. This power and privilege—and responsibility—to act for ourselves is essential to realizing our full potential as children of God. It is central to our progression on the covenant path. God’s plan, as you know, was not to do everything for us but to provide a structure that allowed us to make our own choices to grow individually. Agency was key to our progression as spirits in the past, and it is key for what we can become under God’s plan of happiness, now and in eternity.
12. The adversary knows this and seeks to compromise our agency.
13. The War in Heaven can be seen, in large part, as a battle to preserve the agency of man. And that battle continues in this mortal sphere. Satan attacks agency on at least two fronts. On the one hand, he inspires [ideas and practices] that diminish personal responsibility or that employ [being forced or manipulated].
14. The other focus of the adversary’s assault against agency has particular significance for us as teachers. As identified in the scripture just cited, Satan, “the father of all lies,” acts “to deceive and to blind men.” Agency becomes meaningless if we don’t know what’s true and what’s not, and therefore cannot make informed, intelligent choices. The antidote to deception is truth….
15. God sent His Son as “the way, the truth, and the life.” He gives us prophets to teach and guide us to truth. He’s given the gift of the Holy Ghost to confirm that truth, and the teacher is to help students hear and choose to embrace truth.
16. But agency in the context of religious education requires a further step beyond imparting gospel truths. It is essential that we teach in a way that invites students to exercise their agency in the learning process. We want to help them become active participants in the process and take responsibility for their own learning. Activating students’ agency to take personal ownership in learning has implications for the development of lasting belief, lasting testimony. It is in so doing that they can become active and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
17. Taking ownership for choices deepens personal conviction. When we don’t act for ourselves, we can unwittingly find that our faith lacks the depth required to overcome life’s questions and challenges and to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. In the Lord’s own words:
18. “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.”
19. Teaching in the Savior’s Way
20. Now, this foundational role agency plays in our own personal development has implications for the way we teach as religious educators….And we ask you, our religious educators, to teach in ways that invite personal engagement and ownership of learning. In each of these settings, real growth happens most effectively when young people are given opportunities to act and not just be acted upon.
21. To create these types of learning experiences for His disciples, the Savior found ways to help them take responsibility for their learning. Consider [these] ways the Savior engaged His disciples: (1) asking inspired questions, and (2) extending personal invitations.  In all the Savior’s invitations, He gives His disciples opportunities to act, to think, and to take ownership of their learning and their growth.
22. Implications for Religious Education
23. Earlier this year, Elder Clark Gilbert extended an invitation to our seminary and institute teachers to find ways deliberately to provide students opportunities to act and take responsibility for their learning….this is a reminder that effective teachers invite students to take responsibility in their own learning.
24. In (the church manual) “Teaching in the Savior’s Way”, we’re reminded that inviting diligent learning requires us to help students become agents in their own learning process. There are several ways this can happen, but let me emphasize at least three from that teaching resource.
    1. First, we can create learning experiences where we “invite learners to prepare to learn.” This can happen through pre-reading assignments, study questions, and personal invitations.
    2. Second, we should “encourage learners to share the truths they are learning.” There are so many ways to do this, and each of you will find personalized approaches that work for you and your students.
    3. And third, we should “invite learners to live what they are learning” (italics added). We should always look for ways to invite students to apply what they are learning in their own lives. This can come through personal invitations, reflective exercises, and a host of other efforts to help students change and become something more in Christ.
25. Helping Students Take Charge of Their Testimonies
26. Finally, on helping students take charge of their testimonies. Inviting diligent learning is foundational to developing lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ because it helps learners take responsibility for their learning, as we’ve been saying. One of the ways President Nelson has encouraged this ownership of our personal growth is in his invitation to the young adults to take charge of their testimonies. In his worldwide devotional to young adults in 2022, President Nelson stated:
27. “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with the false philosophies of unbelieving men and women and then wonder why your testimony is waning. Engage in daily, earnest, humble prayer. Nourish yourself in the words of ancient and modern prophets. Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better. Spend more time in the temple and in family history work. As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”
28. When he spoke to the young adults, President Nelson asked a series of questions: “Do you want to feel peace about concerns that presently plague you? Do you want to know Jesus Christ better? Do you want to learn how His divine power can heal your wounds and weaknesses? Do you want to experience the sweet, soothing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working in your life? Seeking to answer these questions will require effort—much effort.” He validates the students’ concerns by saying: “If you have questions—and I hope you do—seek answers with the fervent desire to believe. Learn all you can about the gospel and be sure to turn to truth-filled sources for guidance.”
29. When we help students exercise their personal agency, their conversion will deepen in ways that lead to lifelong discipleship. Last October, President Nelson stated, “Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority.” And he added, “It is neither too early nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ.” Let us act diligently now before it is too late. Now is the time, as he said.