Ether 1–5

Overview

When wicked people attempted to build a tower to reach heaven, the Lord confounded their language (see Genesis 11:1–9). The brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, pleading that He would spare his family and friends this confusion (see Ether 1:34–37), and the Lord responded with compassion. As the brother of Jared and his people built barges to cross the ocean, they encountered several significant problems. The brother of Jared approached the Lord with a plan to solve his problems and humbly prayed with “such exceeding faith” (Ether 3:9) that he saw and conversed with the Lord. The Lord commanded Moroni to seal up the recorded vision of the brother of Jared and explained that these writings would be revealed when people have faith as the brother of Jared did.

Prepare to Teach

The following information provides teachers with ideas of what may need to be prepared in advance for each lesson.

Ether 1

Lesson purpose: This lesson is intended to inspire students to pray more sincerely and consistently.

Student preparation: Invite students to read Ether 1:34–37 and to mark the phrase “cry unto the Lord.” Ask them to come prepared to share what this phrase means to them and how it might be different from the ways we sometimes pray.
Videos: “The Tower of Babel” (0:58); “Answers to Prayer” (12:39; watch from time code 2:16 to 4:31)
Videoconference teaching suggestion: When students pretend they have been asked to be part of a panel on improving their prayers, consider inviting them to ponder the questions for a minute or two before sharing. To help make the activity feel more like a panel, consider inviting parents or other youth to attend this last portion of the class.

Ether 2

Lesson purpose: This lesson can help students know how to seek the Lord’s help in solving their problems.

Student preparation: Invite students to come prepared to share experiences in which they or others they know received the Lord’s help to solve problems.
Videoconference teaching suggestion: Consider emailing students the chart for studying Ether 2. Before putting students into breakout rooms, consider assigning a student in each group to be the scribe and to share their screen so that their group can fill in the chart together. After the groups are done, invite a group or two to share their screen with the class and show their completed chart.

Ether 3

Lesson purpose: This lesson is intended to help students humbly exercise faith in Jesus Christ.

Student preparation: Invite students to think of three people they admire from Church history or the scriptures and how these people showed faith in Jesus Christ.
Handout: “The Faith of the Brother of Jared”
Videos: “Faith and the Goal” (4:40); “Rebuilding My Faith When I Felt Lost” (6:26)
Videoconference teaching suggestion: Consider dividing students into breakout rooms in groups of four to do activities A, B, C, and D. Ask one member of each group to be the leader and to decide who will do which assignment and in which order they should share. If there are not enough students for exact groups of four, consider having a few groups of three. It is not essential to have each group complete all four activities.

Ether 4–5

Lesson purpose: This lesson is intended to help students understand what they can do to gain further revelation.

Student preparation: Invite students to read Ether 4 as part of their daily scripture study, looking for truths that can help them receive additional revelation from the Lord.
Item: An object that is valuable to you or your family
Videoconference teaching suggestion: Consider sending a message before class asking a few students to show something that is valuable to them or their families during the lesson.

Doctrinal Mastery Review 24

Lesson purpose: This lesson will give students an opportunity to deepen their understanding of and explain truths found in various doctrinal mastery passages from the Book of Mormon.

Student preparation: Consider inviting students to prayerfully choose a Book of Mormon doctrinal mastery passage that they would like to understand better. Ask them to discuss the passage with a family member, close friend, or Church leader and to come prepared to share what they learn about the passage from their discussion.
Videoconference teaching suggestion: Consider assigning each student to send questions about a doctrinal mastery passage to a different student. You could do this by assigning every student a number and asking them to send their questions to the person with that number plus one (the student with the highest number will send questions to number one). Students will then strive to answer the questions and send them back by the end of the lesson.