C. C. A. Christensen (1831–1912), Zion’s Camp, c. 1878, tempera on muslin, 78 × 114 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, gift of the grandchildren of C. C. A. Christensen, 1970

September 13–19

Doctrine and Covenants 102–105

“After Much Tribulation … Cometh the Blessing”

As you prepare to teach Doctrine and Covenants 102–5, listen to the promptings of the Spirit. He may lead you to principles not mentioned in this outline that will bless the people you teach.

Record Your Impressions

Invite Sharing

Class members could write down a verse or two from Doctrine and Covenants 102–5 that they find personally meaningful. Then they could trade verses with another class member and discuss with each other what they learned from these verses.

Teach the Doctrine

Doctrine and Covenants 103; 105

Our trials teach us valuable lessons and give us experience.

• As class members studied sections 103 and 105 this week, they may have found principles that can help us during times of trial or opposition; let them share what they found. Or you might invite them to look for such principles in Doctrine and Covenants 103:5–7, 12, 36; 105:5–6, 9–12, 18–19 (see also “Additional Resources”). What do these principles suggest about how we can respond when faced with difficulty or disappointment? Class members might be willing to share experiences in which blessings came “after much tribulation” (Doctrine and Covenants 103:12).

• If you feel that some historical background or personal accounts about Zion’s Camp would be useful, you could invite someone to review one of the following resources before class and briefly share what they learn: Saints, 1:194–206; “The Acceptable Offering of Zion’s Camp” (Revelations in Context, 213–18); or “Voices of the Restoration: Zion’s Camp” (in this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families). If we could travel back in time and talk to Zion’s Camp, what might we say to encourage them? What might they say to encourage us?

  

  Zion’s Camp stayed along the banks of Little Fishing River, pictured here.

Doctrine and Covenants 104:11–18

Each of us is “a steward over earthly blessings.”

• To help class members personalize the teachings in Doctrine and Covenants 104:11–18, you could invite them to imagine that they were going to entrust something precious to the care of someone else. What would they say to that person? What would they expect of him or her? Class members could then read Doctrine and Covenants 104:11–18 to discover what the Lord has entrusted into our care and what He expects of us. How might these verses affect the way we think about the world, our blessings, or the people around us?

• To help class members better understand “the way that … the Lord [has] decreed to provide for [His] saints” (Doctrine and Covenants 104:16), consider sharing the video “The Labor of His Hands” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Based on what we learn from this video and Doctrine and Covenants 104:11–18, what is the Lord’s way of providing for His Saints? You might also share this statement by President Marion G. Romney: “The Lord … could take care of [the poor] without our help if it were his purpose to do so. … But we need this experience; for it is only through our learning how to take care of each other that we develop within us the Christlike love and disposition necessary to qualify us to return to his presence” (“Living Welfare Principles,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 92). Give class members a few minutes to record their impressions about how they can help provide for others in the Lord’s way.

Additional Resources

The purifying power of trials.

Elder Orson F. Whitney taught: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [1972], 98).

Elder David A. Bednar said: “At some point in each of our lives, we will be invited to march in our own Zion’s Camp. The timing of the invitations will vary, and the particular obstacles we may encounter on the journey will be different. But our ongoing and consistent response to this inevitable call ultimately will provide the answer to the question ‘Who’s on the Lord’s side?’” (“On the Lord’s Side: Lessons from Zion’s Camp,” Ensign, July 2017, 35).

Improving Our Teaching

Work together with family members. “Because the home is the center of gospel living and learning, your efforts to strengthen a class member will be most effective when you work together with [his or her] … family members” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 8–9).