Gospel Learning and Teaching

four basics of gospel teaching

1. Immerse yourselves in the scriptures. Develop a habit of daily scripture study separate from your lesson preparation.
2. Apply in your life the things you have learned
3. Seek heavens help
• the role of a teacher is to awaken in the students a desire to learn, know, and live the gospel themselves
4. Promptly act in accordance with the spiritual promptings we receive

There can be a significant difference between what a teacher says and what those in the class hear or learn.

William E. Berrett used to say that this man somehow taught them; that across all those barriers, across all those limitations, this man reached into the hearts of those rowdy 15-year-old kids and changed their lives. And Brother Berrett’s testimony was ‘We could have warmed our hands by the fire of his faith.’

Successful gospel teachers love the gospel. They are excited about it. And because they love their students, they want them to feel as they feel and to experience what they have experienced. To teach the gospel is to share your love of the gospel.

1. immerse yourself in the scriptures. We cannot love what we do not know. Develop a habit of daily scripture study, separate and apart from your lesson preparation. Before we can teach the gospel, we must know the gospel.
• Brothers and sisters, it is contrary to the economy of heaven for the Lord to repeat to each of us individually what He has already revealed to us collectively. The scriptures contain the words of Christ. They are the voice of the Lord. Studying the scriptures trains us to hear the Lord’s voice.
2. apply in your life the things that you learn
3. seek heaven’s help. Appeal unto the Lord for His Spirit with all of the energy of your heart.
• When was the last time you knelt in prayer and asked the Lord to help you not just with your lesson but also to help you to know and to meet the needs of each student in your class?
4. it is of utmost importance that we exercise our agency and act, without delay, in accordance with the spiritual promptings we receive.
• You must not be afraid to exercise your agency and act upon the thoughts and impressions that the Spirit of the Lord puts into your heart. You may feel awkward at first, but I promise you that the sweetest and most gratifying experiences you will have as a teacher will be when you submit to the will of the Lord and follow the promptings you receive from the Holy Ghost. Your experiences will strengthen your faith and give you greater courage to act in the future.