Doctrinal Mastery Review 23

Memorize

Remembering scripture references and what they teach can help you in many ways. This lesson is intended to help you memorize multiple scripture references and key scripture phrases, or an entire doctrinal mastery passage, from the second half of the Book of Mormon.

Encourage memorization. Be careful not to discourage students who may struggle memorizing. Help students who may have learning disabilities find ways to memorize that may better suit their needs.

Student preparation: Invite students to choose a doctrinal mastery key scripture phrase and reference to memorize and to come to class prepared to share.

Possible Learning Activities

A doctrinal mastery passage lesson may need to be taught in place of this review lesson. Refer to the pacing schedule provided by the area or region director or coordinator to ensure that each doctrinal mastery passage lesson will be taught while seminary is in session.

The importance of repetition

Help students see the value of repetition, but do not spend too much time here. Ensure students will have sufficient time to memorize doctrinal mastery phrases or passages later in the lesson.

There are great benefits to repeating something we want to learn or remember. List some activities that often require constant repetition.

What are some ways you have benefited from repeating something many times?

If helpful, consider briefly discussing the fact that people mostly forget newly learned material weeks later, but they can improve retention by revisiting material. Also, rather than memorizing everything at once, it can be more effective to break down the material into smaller portions.

Display an image of Joseph Smith being visited by Moroni.

When the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni, now a heavenly messenger, visited Joseph Smith, he used repetition to help 17-year-old Joseph remember an important message.

What do you remember about these visits? (See Joseph Smith—History 1:33–49.)
What does it say about God that He would send Moroni four times to deliver the same message?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke of the repeated visits Moroni made to Joseph Smith and then taught:

Repetition is a vehicle through which the Holy Ghost can enlighten our minds, influence our hearts, and enlarge our understanding. (David A. Bednar, “Repeat Over Again … the Same Things as Before” [Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional, Jan. 26, 2016], byui.edu)

What does this help you understand about the benefits of repeatedly studying doctrinal mastery passages and key scripture phrases?
What might this say about the specific scriptures that were chosen for you to repeat and focus on?

Display or provide students with a copy of the following chart or invite them to locate the list of doctrinal mastery passages in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2022).

Invite them to review the references and key scripture phrases they have previously memorized and then to decide which passages they would like to focus on memorizing today.

Book of Mormon Doctrinal Mastery: Alma–Moroni

Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)

Scripture Reference	Key Scripture Phrase
Scripture Reference Alma 7:11–13	Key Scripture Phrase “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind.”
Scripture Reference Alma 34:9–10	Key Scripture Phrase “There must be an atonement made, … an infinite and eternal sacrifice.”
Scripture Reference Alma 39:9	Key Scripture Phrase “Go no more after the lusts of your eyes.”
Scripture Reference Alma 41:10	Key Scripture Phrase “Wickedness never was happiness.”
Scripture Reference Helaman 5:12	Key Scripture Phrase “It is upon the rock of our Redeemer … that ye must build your foundation.”
Scripture Reference 3 Nephi 11:10–11	Key Scripture Phrase “I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.”
Scripture Reference 3 Nephi 12:48	Key Scripture Phrase “Be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.”
Scripture Reference 3 Nephi 27:20	Key Scripture Phrase “Come unto me and be baptized … that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost.”
Scripture Reference Ether 12:6	Key Scripture Phrase “Ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
Scripture Reference Ether 12:27	Key Scripture Phrase “If men come unto me … then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
Scripture Reference Moroni 7:45–48	Key Scripture Phrase “Charity is the pure love of Christ.”
Scripture Reference Moroni 10:4–5	Key Scripture Phrase “Ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ … [and] by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

Students could use the following or other exercises to memorize the reference and key scripture phrase or the entire passage. Upon completion, students could display the visuals they create in option 2 and explain how what they made will help them retain what they memorized. If time permits, students could repeat these exercises for other doctrinal mastery scriptures.

Begin memorizing

Think of one or two ways you might invite the Holy Ghost to enlighten your mind as you use repetition to help you memorize. The following examples might help you:

Break what you want to memorize into smaller segments and repeat them separately.
Create a visual with all or some of the words you want to memorize.
Read part of the passage you want to memorize until you can recite it without looking. Using the first letters of the words could be helpful too.

Plan to repeat

Invite students to improve their retention by continuing to memorize outside of class time. Help student succeed by having them create a detailed plan and following up on their progress over the next days and weeks.

Think of ways you might continue memorizing over several days or weeks. The following ideas might help you decide:

Pray to Heavenly Father for help to remember what you memorize.
Choose a specific time of day to recite as much as you can from memory. You might set an alarm to remind you at the same time each day.
Invite someone to check your progress and retention by inviting them to look at the words as you recite to him or her.