“Lesson 28—Doctrine and Covenants 18:11–16: ‘How Great Shall Be Your Joy,’” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)
“Doctrine and Covenants 18:11–16,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 28: Doctrine and Covenants 18
Doctrine and Covenants 18:11–16
“How Great Shall Be Your Joy”
As the Lord continued to reveal His will regarding His Church, He spoke to Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and David Whitmer about the joy that can come from sharing His gospel. This lesson can help increase students’ desire to share the Savior’s gospel with others.
Possible Learning Activities
What brings joy?
Consider inviting students to work in pairs for one to two minutes listing everything they can think of that brings them joy. Alternatively, place students in small groups and give each group a different color of whiteboard marker. For one to two minutes, everyone in each group could take turns writing something on the board that brings them joy.
Invite several students to share one thing they wrote and why it brings them joy.
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to feel joy (see 2 Nephi 2:25). In Doctrine and Covenants 18, the Savior declared what brings Him joy and explained how we can experience that kind of joy as well.
Consider inviting students to think about how much joy they currently feel in their lives and why they might want to feel more joy. Encourage them to look for teachings as they study today about how they can experience greater joy in their lives.
The joy of Jesus Christ
Invite students to ponder what the Savior might say if they asked Him what brings Him joy.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:11–13 and look for what brings the Savior great joy.
Invite students to ponder the next two questions before answering. Before asking them to share, you could invite them to write their answers in their study journals. It may also be useful for students to read Luke 15:1–10 before you ask the questions.
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Why do you think the Savior feels such great joy when we repent?
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How can knowing this about the Savior influence your actions and desires?
Doctrine and Covenants 18:15–16 is a doctrinal mastery passage. Consider inviting students to mark doctrinal mastery passages in a distinctive way so they can locate them easily.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 18:14–16 and mark phrases that show what the Savior wants for us.
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What do these verses help you understand about the Savior and His desires for us?
If needed, explain that one truth we can learn from these verses is that Jesus Christ wants us to feel the joy that comes from bringing others to Him. Consider writing this truth on the board.
Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy spoke of the joy that can come from sharing the gospel:
When a person learns the glorious purpose of life, comes to understand that Christ forgives and succors those who follow Him, and then chooses to follow Christ into the waters of baptism, life changes for the better—even when the external circumstances of life do not.
A radiantly happy sister I met in Onitsha, Nigeria, told me that from the time she learned the gospel and was baptized (and now I use her words), “everything is good for me. I am happy. I am in heaven.” Sharing the gospel kindles joy and hope in the souls of both giver and receiver. Truly, “how great shall be your joy” as you share the gospel! Sharing the gospel is joy upon joy, hope upon hope. (Marcus B. Nash, “Hold Up Your Light,” Liahona, Nov. 2021, 71)
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Why do you think guiding someone else to Jesus Christ brings a person so much joy?
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What experiences have you had (or know about) in which you have seen the joy of sharing the gospel with others?
To help students with the previous question, you could invite them to search for examples in the scriptures. They could read the words of Ammon (in Alma 26:1–16) and Alma (in Alma 29:9–17). You could also show “Inviting All to Come unto Christ: Sharing the Gospel” (4:30), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Overcoming obstacles
Explain that while these promises from the Lord can help motivate us to share His gospel, sometimes there are obstacles or concerns that might prevent us from sharing. Invite students to name some obstacles and to list their answers on the board. Then invite students to complete the following activity, imagining they know someone (or thinking of someone they know) who faces one of those obstacles.
Write down what you might share with the person who has concerns about sharing the Savior’s gospel. Consider including the following:
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What you know about the Savior that could increase your desire to bring others to Him (and a scripture that testifies of what you know, if possible)
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How coming closer to the Savior has brought you joy and why you would want others to receive the same blessings
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Experiences you or others you know have had in bringing souls unto Christ and how those experiences brought joy
After students have had sufficient time to create a response, give them an opportunity to share what they wrote. One way to do this could be to invite one or two students to role-play as someone who has concerns about sharing the gospel. Other students could share one thing they thought of that could help.
After this discussion, give students the following invitation:
Take some time to reflect on what you have learned and felt in this lesson. Write down how you feel about sharing the gospel and trying to bring others to Jesus Christ. Consider including anything you learned, especially about the Savior, that you would like to remember.
Consider ending by inviting one or two students to share what they learned or want to remember. Testify of the truths you have discussed today.
Memorize
You may want to help students memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase during this lesson and review them in future lessons. The key scripture phrase for Doctrine and Covenants 18:15–16 is “How great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” Ideas for memorization activities are in the appendix materials under “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities.”