Sunday School Supplements

I have often wondered what Mary and Martha would have written about the Savior, and about the new church whose foundation he laid, had they recorded their witness (or had it been preserved). They and other women play prominent roles in the New Testament, and the men who recorded the Savior’s life, death, and resurrection gave them place in the record. But the women’s own voices are lost to us.

Few things reveal the gap between godly living and our human failings as strikingly as the law of consecration. The Lord started revealing the law of consecration to the early Saints in 1831. The purpose of this law was to take care of the poor and to teach individuals how to be “… a faithful, a just, and a wise steward…” (D&C 51:19).

In Lesson 15 of the Church History curriculum, we’re encouraged to use the story of Amanda Barnes Smith as an example of the spiritual gift of revelation. Can you recall the story of Amanda Barnes Smith off the top of your head? What if I said she’s the woman who received instructions on how to heal her son’s leg after the Haun’s Mill Massacre?

Ok, that’s a lie. When I was a teenager (and probably a child) I chafed against what I saw as the restrictions of the Sabbath Day. My parents were very strict about Sabbath observance and I was grumpy that I couldn’t go and play wiffle ball (at the Bishop’s house!) or sunbathe (just on the deck!) or even do my procrastinated homework (the glory of God is intelligence!).

I offered to write the lesson supplement on tithing because I knew it would be a more difficult topic for me. As a kid, teenager, and even through college I loved tithing and paid generously on what little money I had. It felt simple and straightforward—I was contributing directly to building the kingdom of God, and that concept felt empowering and exciting.

The Washington DC temple is situated on a wooded hill above the Capital Beltway. For drivers rounding the curve of the highway, the temple rises into sight, out of the trees and with a backdrop of sky. When I was a child, we would always sing out “there’s the temple!” as it came into view, and I would feel pure joy and wonder at its gleaming gold and white marble beauty. Before I ever went inside, the temple was a symbol of heaven, an image of peace that rose above the hectic

The plan of salvation is so basic to our doctrine that sometimes we forget how revolutionary it is. It puts us in the middle act of a three-act play—giving us a whole new perspective on where we came from, where we’re going and who we are.

The doctrine of the Kingdoms of Glory was always a bit of a conundrum for me. On the one hand, how merciful is the plan that provides a kingdom of glory for all of God’s children! On the other hand, there seemed to be so much I had to do, not only to obtain the Celestial Kingdom, but then also to fulfill the requirements to attain exaltation or highest degree of glory within the Celestial Kingdom.

During a Relief Society lesson, a ward member expressed how much she was looking forward to the Second Coming because things were so evil and bad in the world—that we were safe in the Church because we would be protected, that it was so much better here at church than in the world. While I understand her sentiment and appreciate that church is a sanctuary for her, I do recall thinking there’s a lot of greatness and goodness in the world—lots of good, kind people in and out of

I admit, I had already formulated what I was going to write about for this post before I read any of the references. I mean, it’s the Word of Wisdom— we all know what it’s about. And so I embarked on a desultory review and got stopped in my tracks. First, there are ALL SORTS of things in there I did not remember.

The church has always been big on learning, encouraging education, promoting teaching of many kinds. And it has been successful. I have attended a number of esteemed institutions of learning, encouraged by church principles, and been engaged in education all my life, but if asked about the most influential educational influences in my life, I would name two: first, the church, second, my husband. Leaving the second aside for this occasion, I have said many times that all I ev

Mary Ann Evans’ novel, Romola, tells the story of a young woman in an unhappy marriage. On the eve of her wedding, she visits her estranged brother, who receives her coldly and gives her a message, a warning vision couched in frightening symbols and full of dark premonitions of danger relating to her upcoming marriage.

In the middle of my junior year at BYU, I was called as a missionary to serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I knew it was what the Lord wanted me to do, but I had no idea how I—the girl who felt guilty every time I read about Alma wishing he were an angel so he could declare repentance—could be a missionary. I didn’t want to call anyone to repentance.

The First Presidency formally called the first two single sister missionaries, Inez Knight and Lucy Jane Brimhall, in 1898. Their call was in response to requests from the European and Californian mission presidencies to send female missionaries. President McMurrin wrote from England that there had been “instances in which our sisters gained attention in England, where the Elders could scarcely gain a hearing.”

Honestly, I mostly felt overwhelmed in reading through the Saints efforts to establish Zion. It seemed one upheaval after another in moving places, mobs, changing winds, respite, miracles, moving again. It wore me out just reading.

The Gospel Doctrine lesson #28 ; Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–33 ; 122 ; “ Within the Walls of Liberty Jail” ; “Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints” ; “Waiting for the Word of the Lord” ; and “Preparation of Joseph Smith: Strengthened by Trials.” In October of 1838, Governor Boggs of Missouri signed Executive Order 44, also known as the extermination order . “The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if n

Many of us are familiar with this lesson’s story of malaria-ravaged Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball rising from their mission-bound wagon to shout “Hurrah, Hurrah for Israel!” to encourage their sick wives. A less commonly shared story is what happened at home when the wagon pulled away.

This lesson focuses on the introduction of family history and temple work in the restored church. It describes some of Joseph Smith’s teachings about it and reminds us of its purpose and importance—that “the greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.” (History of the Church, 6:312–13)

When we teach D&C 132 in Sunday School we usually just focus on the first part, the part about eternal marriage. I have yet to be in a class where we’ve tackled the second part of D&C 132, the law of plural marriage.

D&C 135, the announcement of Joseph and Hyrum Smith’s murder, states that “Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.” Clearly, the use of the word “men” in this verse refers to both men and women.