Sunday School Supplements

The Gospel Doctrine lesson 21 manual objective is “to help class members understand righteous principles of government and avoid priestcraft and pride.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson 22 manual objective is “to help class members understand what it means to experience a change of heart and continue in the process of conversion.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #23 manual objective is “to increase class members’ understanding of the plan of redemption and the power of having more than one witness to testify of gospel truths.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #24 manual objective is “to help class members recognize the importance of honoring their foreordained roles, callings, and priesthood responsibilities and to help them understand that following the counsel of prophets helps us enter into the rest of the Lord.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #25 manual objective is “to inspire class members to follow the example of the sons of Mosiah by sharing the gospel and ministering to others.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #26 manual objective is “To encourage class members to strengthen their conversion and increase their desire to help others become converted.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #27 manual objective is “To help class members learn how to recognize and refute false teachings and stay true to their testimonies of Jesus Christ.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson 28 manual objective is “To help class members understand that the word of God will lead them to Jesus Christ and to encourage them to ‘nourish the word’ in their hearts.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #29 manual objective is “To teach class members Alma’s counsel for remaining faithful in the gospel and to help parents understand how to teach and counsel both righteous and unrighteous children.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson 30 manual objective is “To help class members gain a greater understanding of life after death and the mercy that is available to them through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

The Gospel Doctrine lesson 31 manual objective is to “To help class members see how the Nephites’ attitudes and actions in times of war can serve as a pattern for dealing with our earthly conflicts and the battle against Satan.”

When Bethany and I were writing Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Strong Women from the Book of Mormon, we talked about the story of the stripling warriors a lot. Three main ideas kept percolating for us:

When I had been the Relief Society president for about a year, a woman in the ward came to my house one Sunday evening. She said she felt like there was no place for her at church, that she wasn’t wanted or accepted there because her views and opinions didn’t match those many others had. She also expressed distress at some of the programs, policies and culture at church that she felt limited women and stifled their voices.

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #34; Helamen 6-11 Often in the evenings I sit in the hallway and knit while my little kids fall asleep. This quiet (hopefully) time gives me a lot of time to think and reflect, and more than once I’ve found myself thinking about all the women in history who spent their evenings knitting or working on clothing for their families. One evening, I started thinking about how several times in The Book of Mormon it mentions women spinning and weaving clo

I shy away from abrasive discourse. These days especially, I work hard to keep myself from jarring speech. There is so much of it. But Samuel the Lamanite’s talk from the wall (Helaman 13-15), made famous by the familiar illustration and his miraculous survival, was neither gentle nor avoidable. And the Lord ensured that he was heard. Fortunately, he spoke the truth.

The drama of 3 Nephi 1 always takes me by surprise. Without fail, I feel a tingle of suspense at the plight of the believers, their dramatic moment before the fulfillment of the most important prophecy of all. We know the end of the story. The miraculous sign occurs in the nick of time to save these believers from an unjust death sentence. And in the words of the manual, the people’s faith is “vindicated” when the prophecies are proven to be true.

This is shown literally in chapter 11, verses 13-15: “The Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel…And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by

As I read the Beatitudes, delivered again by Jesus in 3 Nephi 12, I think of eight women who exemplified or perfectly described these attributes in real life. All of the following stories are true. Some of the names have been changed.

When Bethany and I had turned in our final draft of Girls Who Choose God: Stories of Strong Women from the Book of Mormon, we breathed a deep sigh of relief. So good to be done! As it worked its way through several committees and processes, we were resting easy. However, when the proof came back to us and we read through the scriptures for a final check, I flinched. We had made a serious error and described the scene with the children and Christ WRONG.

I also think of the oft-repeated image of Christ as the mother hen, who gathered her chickens under her wings and nourished them, and who would gather her chickens under her wings and nourish them, if they would let her. Just one instance of this is found in 3 Nephi 10:5-6.