Minerva K. Teichert (1888-1976), Escape of King Limhi and His People, 1949-1951, oil on masonite, 35 7/8 x 48 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1969

May 11–17

Mosiah 18–24

We Have Entered into a Covenant with Him

As you read Mosiah 18–24, think about the people you teach. What do you know about them? The Holy Ghost can inspire your thoughts and help you identify gospel truths that will be most relevant to them.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Invite class members to suggest some principles, or statements of truth, that they found during their study of Mosiah 18–24. (Some principles are listed in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families.) Encourage them to share verses from Mosiah 18–24 that teach these principles. What experiences have they had with these truths?

Teach the Doctrine

Mosiah 18:1–16

Baptism includes a covenant to serve God and stand as a witness of Him.

• As you read Mosiah 18 and prepare to teach, you may feel inspired to help your class members review and ponder their baptismal covenant. Here’s one way you could do this: Invite class members to work together to list on the board as many phrases as they can remember related to Alma’s description of the baptismal covenant. When they are finished, class members could read Mosiah 18:8–10 and add anything to the lists that may be missing. (They may also add phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 20:37, 77, and 79.) It may be helpful to ask them what each phrase means and what they can do to keep that part of the baptismal covenant. How does the Lord bless us as we strive to keep our part of the covenant?

  

  When we are baptized, we covenant to serve God and others.

• As Alma’s followers prepared to be baptized, Alma taught them that coming “into the fold of God” required making a covenant to follow God and care for His children (see Mosiah 18:8–9). Perhaps class members could share experiences when they or someone they know was strengthened by someone else fulfilling the baptismal covenant described in Mosiah 18:8–10. For example, when has someone comforted them or helped them bear their burdens? How have these experiences inspired us to keep our covenant? You might also remind class members about how Abinadi stood “as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (verse 9). What can we learn from his example as we seek to fulfill this part of our baptismal covenant?

Mosiah 18:17–31

God’s people are united.

• Mosiah 18:17–31 describes the commandments Alma gave his people to help them become united as members of Christ’s Church. To help class members think about how these commandments apply to them, you could ask them to search these verses in small groups and make a list of the commandments they find. How could following these commandments help ward members feel more united? Are there any goals that your class members could make individually or as a group to follow the example of Alma’s people?

• Some people wonder, why do we need a church? To help class members respond to this question, you could draw an outline of a Church building on the board and write this question under it. Class members could then search Mosiah 18:17–31 and write on the board possible answers they find in these verses. They can also find answers in the excerpt from Elder Christofferson’s talk in “Additional Resources.” Perhaps you could let a few class members role-play how they would respond to a friend who doesn’t believe an organized church is necessary. Why are we grateful to belong to the Church?

• While we would like to think that everyone feels welcome at church, unfortunately, not everyone does. What do we learn from the people of Alma in Mosiah 18:17–31 that can help us create a place where all feel that they belong?

Mosiah 21–24

The Lord can make our burdens light.

• The burdens your class members carry are different from those borne by Limhi’s people or Alma’s people while in captivity. But the messages of these accounts apply to anyone who feels overwhelmed by adversity or difficult circumstances. Invite class members to share what they learn from Mosiah 21–24 about how God can help us in the midst of our trials. (For a brief summary of these accounts, see L. Tom Perry, “The Power of Deliverance,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2012, 94–97.) Class members could also share times when they, like Alma’s people, experienced the fulfillment of God’s promise that He would ease their burdens and visit them in their afflictions (see Mosiah 24:14).

• It might be meaningful for class members to spend a few minutes writing down personal challenges they have faced and pondering ways the Lord helps them carry their burdens. Are there passages from Mosiah 21–24 that inspire them to turn to the Lord during adversity? How does the Lord’s promise to Alma’s people in Mosiah 24:14 relate to the covenant we make with the Lord at baptism? (see Mosiah 18:8–10).

Encourage Learning at Home

To inspire class members to read Mosiah 25–28, ask them to think about someone they know who has strayed from the gospel. Tell them that as they read these chapters, they might find insights on how to help that person return.

Additional Resources

Why do we need the Church?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said: “I realize that there are those who consider themselves religious or spiritual and yet reject participation in a church or even the need for such an institution. Religious practice is for them purely personal. Yet the Church is the creation of Him in whom our spirituality is centered—Jesus Christ. It is worth pausing to consider why He chooses to use a church, His Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to carry out His and His Father’s work.”

Elder Christofferson then shared reasons the Lord has organized a Church (see “Why the Church,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 108–11):

• “To preach the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ and administer the ordinances of salvation—in other words, to bring people to Christ.”

• “To create a community of Saints that will sustain one another in the ‘strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life’ [2 Nephi 31:18]. … Joined in faith, we teach and edify one another and strive to approach the full measure of discipleship.”

• To “offer a weekly gathering of respite and renewal, a time and place to leave the world behind—the Sabbath.”

• “To achieve needful things that cannot be accomplished by individuals or smaller groups [including] dealing with poverty, … [taking] the gospel to all the world … [building and operating] temples, houses of the Lord, where vital ordinances and covenants may be administered.”

• To make available priesthood keys, with which “the Church’s priesthood officers preserve the purity of the Savior’s doctrine and the integrity of His saving ordinances, … help prepare those who wish to receive them, judge the qualification and worthiness of those who apply, and then perform them … [and] identify both truth and falsehood.”