“Teachings for Our Time” Changes Announced

Beginning this month, all fourth-Sunday “Teachings for Our Time” lessons will be taken from the most recent general conference issue of the Liahona or Ensign, according to a letter and instructions from President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to priesthood leaders, dated 1 October 2004.

According to Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the change supports oft-spoken counsel from Church leaders on the importance of studying what is said during general conference (see sidebar below).

“We hope this regular reference to the preceding general conference will keep the spirit of general conference and the teachings of the Brethren current in the lives of the members,” says Elder Holland.

Stake and district presidencies may oversee the selection of which talk or talks will be used each month.

“We encourage members to bring the most recent general conference issue of the magazine with them to their Melchizedek Priesthood and Relief Society classes on every fourth Sunday,” says Elder Holland. “Ward and branch leaders should ensure that all members have access to the Church magazines.”

Elder Holland cited a letter from the First Presidency sent on 18 July 2004 that stated, “Our desire is that the Church magazines be found in every Latter-day Saint home.”

“In a world that competes for our time with a great deal of printed and visual material not worthy of our attention, how grateful I am for the magazines of the Church which put inspirational, attractive, ennobling material at our fingertips,” says Elder Holland. “In our magazines there is something for everyone—from the youngest to the most elderly—and the generous support of the Church makes the cost for these materials far less expensive than virtually any other magazine or resource to which we could subscribe. In our age and time, we need to have the Church magazines in every home and their teachings demonstrated in every life.”

Members in the United States and Canada can subscribe to the Church magazines online at www.ldscatalog.com or by calling 1-800-537-5971. Outside the United States and Canada, members should contact their local distribution center or their ward or branch leaders.

Copies of general conference talks will also be available online by mid-November in 19 languages at www.lds.org under “Gospel Library.”

Instructors of “Teachings for Our Time” lessons can find suggestions for how to teach using general conference talks on page 120 of this issue.