Teaching in the Savior’s Way

[F. Melvin Hammond] taught doctrine but he also taught me to learn for myself.

How would it be to have our children love to learn about the gospel of Christ.

Children inherit many things from their parents but a testimony isn’t one of them. … {What we can do} is provide an environment free from {thorns}.

We can describe the gospel but conversion comes when someone feels their own spiritual experiences confirming it in their heart.

I had another exceptional teacher while attending Ricks College many years ago. I was preparing to serve a mission and thought it would be helpful to attend a missionary preparation class. What I experienced changed my life.

From the first day of class, I realized I was in the presence of a master teacher. The teacher was Brother F. Melvin Hammond. I knew Brother Hammond loved the Lord and he loved me. I could see it in his face and hear it in his voice. When he taught, the Spirit enlightened my mind. He taught doctrine, but he also invited me to learn it on my own. That invitation helped me clearly see my responsibility to learn the Lord’s doctrine for myself. That experience changed me forever. Thank you, Brother Hammond, for teaching in the Savior’s way.

Brothers and sisters, everyone deserves to have this kind of learning experience both at home and at church.

What is the teacher to do when a student rejects any enlightening?

First and foremost, take it upon yourself to learn all you can about the Master Teacher Himself. How did He show love for others? What did they feel when He taught? What did He teach? What were His expectations of those He taught? After you explore questions like these, evaluate and adjust your way of teaching to be more like His.

• How did He show love?
• What pattern(s) in what He taught can I see?
• How can I emulate those patterns in my teaching at home?
• Study Teaching in the Savior’s Way to identify those patterns.

In October 2018 President Russell M. Nelson said that home-centered, Church-supported gospel learning “has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings. … Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining.

A sanctuary of faith and a center of gospel learning. I love the idea but it is a steep uphill battle after the last 5 years.

My final suggestion is to remember that conversion must come from within. As illustrated in the parable of the ten virgins, we cannot give someone else the oil of our conversion, as much as we might want to. As Elder David A. Bednar taught: “This precious oil is acquired one drop at a time … patiently and persistently. No shortcut is available; no last-minute flurry of preparation is possible.”

Come, Follow Me is based on that truth. I compare it to the angel who helped Nephi learn about Jesus Christ by saying, “Look!” Like that angel, Come, Follow Me invites us to look in the scriptures and the words of the modern-day prophets in order to find the Savior and hear Him. Like Nephi, we will be personally tutored by the Spirit while reading and pondering the word of God. Come, Follow Me is the springboard that helps each of us to dive deeply into the living waters of the doctrine of Christ.

A parent’s responsibility is similar in many ways. Children inherit many things from their parents, but a testimony is not one of them. We can’t give our children a testimony any more than we can make a seed grow. But we can provide a nourishing environment, with good soil, free of thorns that would “choke the word.” We can strive to create the ideal conditions so that our children—and others we love—can find place for the seed, “[hear] the word, and [understand] it” and discover for themselves “that the seed is good.”

This is both hopeful and daunting. It will take time no matter how well we do it. The primary y’all right now is to clear the thorns that have already grown in our family culture.

Conversion is a personal journey—a journey of gathering.

Everyone who teaches in the home and at church can offer to others the opportunity to have their own spiritual experiences.

We can offer the experiences but we can’t force them.