Ether 12:1–22

Receiving a Witness of Truth

What has helped you in your efforts to learn spiritual truth? After detailing many years of Jaredite history, Moroni introduced the ministry of the prophet Ether. Moroni then shared some of the blessings that come from exercising faith in Jesus Christ, including how the trial of our faith can help us receive a witness of truth. This lesson is intended to help you exercise faith to receive a spiritual witness of truth.

Prepare yourself to teach. Because the Spirit testifies of truth and is the source of conversion, powerful gospel teachers prepare themselves spiritually long before they teach. Invite the Holy Ghost into your lesson preparation through sincere prayer, and seek to follow His guidance as you focus on teaching doctrine and principles.

Student preparation: Invite students to think of examples from the scriptures in which faithful actions led to spiritual witnesses, blessings, or answers from God.

Possible Learning Activities

“How do you know?”

Sister Rebecca L. Craven, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, shared the following experience she had while speaking with a young woman:

Do What Mattereth Most

Sister Craven teaches that as we strive to focus on what matters most, our relationship with God will be strengthened.

I had a sweet experience with a darling young woman who asked a very sincere question: “Sister Craven, how do you know that anything about the Church is true? Because I feel nothing.”

Before jumping to an answer, I first asked her some questions. “Tell me about your personal scripture study.”

She replied, “I don’t read the scriptures.”

I asked, “What about with your family? Do you study Come, Follow Me together?”

She said, “No.”

I asked about her prayers: “What do you feel when you pray?”

Her answer: “I don’t pray.” (Rebecca L. Craven, “Do What Mattereth Most,” Liahona, May 2022, 62)

• Based on your experiences, what could you say to help this young woman?

After students discuss the previous question, invite them to share examples of specific truths people may need to seek a spiritual witness of. Write their answers on the board. (Responses might include a witness that the Book of Mormon is true, that living a clean and virtuous life is important, or that the Word of Wisdom is a law of God.)

Think about spiritual truths that you would like to receive a spiritual witness or a stronger testimony of. Consider writing these in your study journal. As you study today, look for teachings that can help you gain a spiritual witness or strengthen your testimony.

“The trial of your faith”

As Moroni continued abridging the record of the Jaredites, he introduced the ministry of the prophet Ether. Despite being born into captivity and living among people who rejected the prophets (see Ether 11:20–23), Ether lived a righteous life and was called by God to be a prophet.

Read Ether 12:2–5, looking for how Ether’s preaching was received by the Jaredites.

• Why did the people refuse to believe Ether’s words?

Read Ether 12:6, looking for what Moroni taught about how we obtain a spiritual witness of truth.

Ether 12:6 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider marking doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so you can locate them easily. You will have an opportunity in the next lesson to practice applying the doctrine taught in this passage to a question or situation.

Elder Richard G. Scott (1928–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared one meaning of the phrase trial of your faith:

The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing

Faith in God and in His guidance through the Holy Spirit will sustain you in an increasingly more challenging world.

You can learn to use faith more effectively by applying this principle taught by Moroni: “Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith” [Ether 12:6; emphasis added]. Thus, every time you try your faith, that is, act in worthiness on an impression, you will receive the confirming evidence of the Spirit. Those feelings will fortify your faith. As you repeat that pattern, your faith will become stronger. (Richard G. Scott, “The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2003, 76)

• What did you learn from Ether 12:6 and this statement that could help someone who desires to obtain a spiritual witness or a stronger testimony of truth?

One truth we can learn from Ether 12:6 is if we desire a spiritual witness, then we must first exercise faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel.

Sister Rebecca L. Craven related how she responded to the young woman she spoke with:

Do What Mattereth Most

Sister Craven teaches that as we strive to focus on what matters most, our relationship with God will be strengthened.

My response to her was simple: “If you want to know anything, you will have to do something.”

Isn’t that true with anything we want to learn or know? I invited my new friend to start doing the gospel of Jesus Christ: praying, studying, serving others, and trusting in the Lord. Conversion won’t come while doing nothing. It comes through the power of the Holy Ghost as we intentionally make an effort to know by asking, seeking, and knocking. It comes by doing. (Rebecca L. Craven, “Do What Mattereth Most,” Liahona, May 2022, 62)

• Why do you think exercising faith in Jesus Christ through our actions is an essential aspect of receiving a spiritual witness of Him and His gospel?

• How can living the Savior’s gospel impact our feelings for Him?

Examples of faith

Think about experiences where you or others received a spiritual witness as a result of living the Savior’s gospel and exercising faith in Him.

Invite a few students to share the experiences they thought about. Explain that they should not share experiences that are too personal. Consider sharing your own experience as part of this discussion. The following video could also be used.

To see an example of someone who was strengthened as a result of exercising faith in the Savior, watch “Pure and Simple Faith” (5:21), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Pure and Simple Faith

A young woman exhibits faith that God will provide a way to meet her family’s basic needs.

As Moroni continued his discourse, he shared many examples of individuals who were blessed as they exercised faith in Jesus Christ.

For the following activity, consider dividing students into four groups and assigning each group one of the following sets of verses to study: Ether 12:7–10, 11–14, 15–18, 19–22. Invite each group to share with the class the examples of faith they read about.

Read Ether 12:7–22, looking for how the Lord blessed these people who exercised faith in Him. Consider marking any examples that stand out to you.

• Which of these examples of faith impressed you most? Why?

• How could one or more of the examples you studied help you in your personal circumstances?

Consider how you can apply what you’ve learned today to your life. Record two or three actions you can take to exercise faith in Jesus Christ and receive or strengthen your witness of the Savior’s gospel.

Commentary and Background Information

Ether 12:6. What does it mean to exercise faith and hope in things that are not seen?

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson, former Young Women General President, taught:

Be Ye Converted

True conversion occurs as you continue to act upon the doctrines you know are true and keep the commandments, day after day, month after month.

Sometimes we try to do it backward. For example, we may take this approach: I will be happy to live the law of tithing, but first I need to know that it’s true. Maybe we even pray to gain a testimony of the law of tithing and hope the Lord will bless us with that testimony before we have ever filled out a tithing slip. It just doesn’t work that way. The Lord expects us to exercise faith. We have to consistently pay a full and honest tithe in order to gain a testimony of tithing. This same pattern applies to all the principles of the gospel, whether it is the law of chastity, the principle of modesty, the Word of Wisdom, or the law of the fast. (Bonnie L. Oscarson, “Be Ye Converted,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 77)

Ether 12:12. Where can I find other accounts of modern-day miracles that resulted from faith?

Watch “A Wartime Miracle” to learn from President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) how faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His priesthood can lead to miracles.

A Wartime Miracle

Statement by President Thomas S. Monson in the priesthood session on March 31, 2012.

Read about when Joseph Smith healed and raised a man from his deathbed after the man expressed his faith in Jesus Christ (see Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days, vol. 1, The Standard of Truth, 402–403).

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative beginning

Students could be invited to think about why it can be important to do things in a certain order. For example, you could have students write the numbers 1, 2, and 3 in any random order on a piece of paper. Then display the following tasks and invite students to imagine what would happen if they tried to accomplish the tasks in the order they just selected:

• (1) Put on your socks. (2) Put on your shoes. (3) Tie your shoes.

• (1) Open your toothpaste. (2) Place toothpaste on your toothbrush. (3) Brush your teeth.

• (1) Open the messaging app on your phone. (2) Type a message. (3) Send the message.

Invite students to think of ways doing simple actions in the proper order can be important when it comes to spiritual matters.

Ether 12:1–4. Hope and faith can anchor our souls

If students could benefit from learning how the principles of faith and hope work together, consider inviting them to draw a boat and labeling it “My Life.” Next, invite them to draw an anchor connected to the boat, label it “Faith and Hope,” and draw some waves around the boat. Ask students what the waves might represent if the boat represents their lives. Invite students to explain the benefits of an anchor, and read Ether 12:1–4 together. Consider asking questions like the following:

• What does it mean to have a place at the right hand of God? (Consider directing students to Matthew 25:31–34 for help.)

• How does faith in Jesus Christ allow us to hope “with surety” for a place at the right hand of God?

• How has your faith and hope anchored you safely during rough times or personal storms?

Ether 12:6. Cross-referencing

To help students deepen their understanding of the doctrine taught in Ether 12:6, consider inviting them to search the scriptures for passages that teach similar ideas or concepts. List the references they find on the board (examples include John 7:17; Hebrews 11:1; Alma 32:21–31). Students could then be invited to make a scripture chain, connecting the passages they found back to Ether 12:6.

Ether 12:7–22. “In the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way”

As part of their study of Ether 12:7–22, students could be invited to learn more about how Jesus Christ blessed some of the individuals mentioned in these verses. The footnotes for these verses in Ether 12 contain cross-references to the accounts they refer to. Students could be invited to read these accounts and pay attention to how Jesus Christ blessed people as they exercised their faith in Him. After students complete their study, you could invite them to share what they learned that could increase their own faith in Jesus Christ.