Richard G. Scott God has a specific plan for your life. He will reveal parts of that plan to you as you look for it with faith and consistent obedience. (“How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil,” Ensign or Liahona, May, 2004, 102)
Alan T. Phillips Do not misunderstand or devalue how important you are to your Father in Heaven. You are not an accidental by-product of nature, a cosmic orphan, or the result of matter plus time plus chance. Where there is design, there is a designer.
Your life has meaning and purpose. … You are a beloved child of Heavenly Father. (“God Knows and Loves You,” Liahona, Nov. 2023, 49)
Foreordination In the premortal spirit world, God appointed certain spirits to fulfill specific missions during their mortal lives. This is called foreordination. Foreordination does not guarantee that individuals will receive certain callings or responsibilities. Such opportunities come in this life as a result of the righteous exercise of agency, just as foreordination came as a result of righteousness in the premortal existence. (Topics and Questions, “Foreordination,” Gospel Library)
John C. Pingree At the same time God helps us fulfill divine assignments, the adversary works to distract and dissuade us from a life of meaning.
Sin is perhaps our greatest stumbling block, dulling our sensitivity to the Holy Ghost and restricting our access to spiritual power. …
Satan also seeks to distract us with less important matters. …
In addition, Satan discourages us with feelings of inadequacy. He makes our work appear too difficult or intimidating. …
Satan may also coax us to view our work as less valuable than the work assigned to others. But every assignment from God is important. …
As God works through us, the adversary may tempt us to take credit for any accomplishments. However, we can emulate the Savior’s humility by deflecting personal praise and glorifying the Father (see Matthew 5:16; Moses 4:2). (“I Have a Work for Thee,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 34–35)
How can you ensure that your behavior on the Sabbath will lead to joy and rejoicing? In addition to your going to church, partaking of the sacrament, and being diligent in your specific call to serve, what other activities would help to make the Sabbath a delight for you? What sign will you give to the Lord to show your love for Him?
The Sabbath provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen family ties. After all, God wants each of us, as His children, to return to Him as endowed Saints, sealed in the temple as families, to our ancestors, and to our posterity.
In addition to time with family, you can experience true delight on the Sabbath from family history work. Searching for and finding family members who have preceded you on earth—those who did not have an opportunity to accept the gospel while here—can bring immense joy.
I have seen this firsthand. Several years ago, my dear wife Wendy determined to learn how to do family history research. Her progress at first was slow, but little by little she learned how easy it is to do this sacred work. And I have never seen her happier. You too need not travel to other countries or even to a family history center. At home, with the aid of a computer or mobile device, you can identify souls who are yearning for their ordinances. Make the Sabbath a delight by finding your ancestors and liberating them from spirit prison!
Make the Sabbath a delight by rendering service to others, especially those who are not feeling well or those who are lonely or in need. Lifting their spirits will lift yours as well.
Not pursuing your “own pleasure” on the Sabbath requires self-discipline. You may have to deny yourself of something you might like. If you choose to delight yourself in the Lord, you will not permit yourself to treat it as any other day. Routine and recreational activities can be done some other time. (“The Sabbath is a Delight” CR April 2015)
Read your assigned talk. Take notes on things a person could do to get the most from General Conference. Be prepared to share what you’ve discovered with your group.
In Isaiah chapters 40-43, the prophet Isaiah uses lots of images to teach us about what the Lord can and will do for His people. We are going to look at some of those images and what they mean to help us rely more deeply on Christ.
Learning Journal
Make the following list in your Learning Journal. Leave enough room under each scripture reference to write down things you find while searching the scriptures.
Read each reference. Look for and underline the objects and images Isaiah is using and write them in your Learning Journal. Then, write a one to two sentence summary of the passage, describing what Christ has done and can do for His covenant people.
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.
Excerpts from a CES Fireside for Religious Educators, 12 June 2025
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.
