My plea to the teachers of the Church is to study, ponder, and pray for guidance in your preparation. Use the scriptures and the approved curriculum materials, teaching with the objective to bless and inspire the lives of those assigned to you. How should you prepare for class? First, study the learning outline for the lesson you'll be teaching. You can find it online at lds.org/youth/learn. As you prepare, remember, you won't have time to cover everything listed in the outline, and that's OK. Just think about us and what we need to learn, and the Spirit will help you know what to teach.

I have done more pondering on the gospel than I ever have before. I read the lessons early, and it doesn't take long, because they're short lessons. But I ponder about my students, the girls in my class, and I think about them and their needs. And without fail, every week I have experiences that week that prepare me for what needs to happen on Sunday. You spend time on the tractor, and I think about the lesson that I'm going to give. In order for you to receive inspiration, there's got to be a little quiet time in your life. And you're not going to get that inspiration in 30 minutes before you teach the class. It just comes to you a little bit at a time. With our needs in mind, make a plan for class. Select the principles you want to focus on from the learning outline. Choose which learning activities and resources you'll use. Pay special attention to the words of living prophets that are a part of every outline. They're updated regularly, so you always have the most current teachings to help us learn. Our young men love hearing from our prophet. They love hearing from our General Authorities. It's relevant today, and they recognize that the prophet is in tune with what needs to be talked about today because they see it in their life. They hear it spoken in word, and then they see it in their daily lives. So the most up-to-date information is vital for our success and for our salvation as we continue to progress towards our Heavenly Father. Your most important preparation comes as you study, pray, and live the gospel. Then you can have the guidance of the Holy Ghost as you teach.

The preparation in some ways is a lot more significant, but it's more preparing myself spiritually. It's more reading my scriptures daily and saying my prayers and praying about the girls and thinking about those things that I need to, than studying a manual. It's about studying the scriptures and the materials that are given to you and then pondering on them throughout your day, applying them in your daily life, and then you're prepared for that coming Sunday of what's going to be taught and what the Spirit is going to guide you. Just like in everything else, the Savior is our perfect example of personal spiritual preparation. Through regular prayer, fasting, and study, He prepared Himself for His important mission. His call to you today is the same as it was to His ancient disciples: "Come, follow me."