Lesson 71: Doctrine and Covenants 58–59

Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–29

“Anxiously Engaged in a Good Cause”

Many Saints, including a group from Colesville, New York, had recently arrived in Jackson County, Missouri. They desired to help the Savior to build Zion, but they were unsure what to do. The Lord explained that they were expected to use their agency to find ways to help and serve. This lesson can help students understand how to follow the Savior’s example of going about doing good.

Possible Learning Activities

A day in the life of Christ

Before class, consider writing They go about doing good on the board. Invite each student to share the name of someone they know whose life fits that description. A few volunteers could share why that phrase reminds them of the person they picked.

Tell students that Acts 10 is a record of Peter’s teachings in Caesarea. Invite them to turn to Acts 10:38 to see whose name Peter would have written on the board.

Imagine what it might be like if Jesus had been born in our day, lived in your neighborhood, or attended your school.

• What do you imagine Him doing that could be described as “[going] about doing good”?

To help students desire to follow the Savior’s example, consider giving them time to record their thoughts about the following prompt in their study journals.

Try to imagine how it might make you feel if you spent a Saturday with Jesus “[going] about doing good” all day. How might this experience influence how you would choose to spend your time even on days when you were not with Him?

Choosing to do good

When Doctrine and Covenants 58 was received, Joseph Smith and some of the elders of the Church had recently arrived in Missouri. They desired instructions on how to establish the Church and build up Zion in the area. The Savior taught them how they could use their agency to do His work.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–29 to learn what the Savior taught the Saints about using their agency. Write words and phrases that you find in the appropriate sections of the following chart. (Note: “It is not meet” means it is not necessary or desirable.)

Consider displaying the following chart on the board or providing students with their own copy. It might help some students engage more in this activity if they are invited to complete it with a partner.

Using our agency to become …

More like Jesus	Less like Jesus

When students are finished, consider asking questions that help them to think about and understand the meaning of phrases they found. For example:

• What do you think it means to be “anxiously engaged,” or actively seeking, to do good?

• Why do you think we should avoid being “compelled,” or forced, to do good?

• Why do you think our motives for doing good are important?

In your study journal or in your scriptures, in your own words, record one or two truths that you can tell are important to the Savior from these verses.

Invite students to share the truths they recorded or to write them on the board. One truth they might express is that God rewards those who actively seek to bring righteousness to pass.

You may want to invite students to ponder or record how often they actively seek for ways to serve God and others without waiting to be told what to do. Invite them to pay attention to ways they can strive to be more anxiously engaged in a good cause as they continue to study.

• What examples can you think of from the scriptures where someone lived the Savior’s teachings in these verses?

• What are examples of the Savior noticing opportunities to do good and using His agency to act?

You might consider showing students the video “Jesus Christ Has Compassion and Heals the People” (6:32), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. It portrays the resurrected Savior choosing to stay extra time among the Nephites to serve and heal them.

Jesus Christ Has Compassion and Heals the People | 3 Nephi 17:1–10

Or you might show the video “Widow of Nain” (2:22), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. It portrays the Savior noticing a mourning mother and choosing to pause, comfort her, and heal her son.

Widow of Nain

The Savior’s teachings in our lives

Consider helping students discover how the Savior’s teachings in verses 26–29 may look in real-life situations. You could use some of the following situations or others that better relate to your students.

Divide students into small groups to discuss which verses or phrases best apply to each situation. Encourage groups to think of multiple ways each person could use their agency to engage in a good cause.

Then consider inviting each group to repeat the activity by creating their own scenario where a teenager could apply the Savior’s teachings in section 58.

1. Juliet was recently assigned to minister to a family she has never met. She’s not sure how to even begin.

2. Ann’s Sunday School teacher is a great person but is not an experienced teacher. Many of her classmates seem to have lost interest and no longer try to engage in the lessons.

3. Jasmine notices that her mother has seemed more tired than usual recently.

4. Xavier came across some cruel posts about another student on social media.

5. Jared has a free afternoon with nothing he is expected to do and nowhere he needs to be.

To conclude, consider inviting students to sing or listen to a hymn that reinforces principles learned in this lesson. One option is “Have I Done Any Good?” (Hymns, no. 223). Ask them to ponder how the lyrics apply to principles the Savior taught in section 58. Invite one or two students to share with the class what they feel the Savior would want them to remember from their study today. It may be helpful to allow students to write their thoughts before inviting some to share aloud.

You might invite students to look for a chance to act on what they learned before the next seminary lesson. You could follow up by inviting willing students to share their experience with the class.

Extending the learning experience: The previous invitation is an example of helping students extend their learning experience beyond the classroom. For more training on how to do this, see the training titled “Invite learners to live what they are learning” found in the Teacher Development Skills. Consider practicing the skill, “Plan to follow up on invitations given in a previous class and invite learners to share their experiences living what they learned.”.

Additional Resources

What are some examples of ways we can apply Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–29 in our lives?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said the following shortly after leaders of the Church introduced the ministering program. Many members had questions about how to effectively minister to others.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

We … suggest that you not wait for many more instructions. Just jump into the pool and swim. Head toward those in need. Don’t be immobilized wondering whether you should do the backstroke or the dog paddle. If we follow the basic principles that have been taught, stay aligned with priesthood keys, and seek the Holy Spirit to guide us, we cannot fail. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Ministry of Reconciliation,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 77)

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency explained how these principles could apply to our seeking revelation and guidance from God:

Fundamental to any effort to receive revelation is a commitment to do all we can with our own efforts and judgment. This means we need to serve and to work.

Going forward with our service and work is an important way to qualify for revelation. In my study of the scriptures I have noted that most revelation to the children of God comes when they are on the move, not when they are sitting back in their habitations waiting for the Lord to tell them the first step to take. (Dallin H. Oaks, “In His Own Time, in His Own Way,” Ensign, Aug. 2013, 22)

Sister Rebecca L. Craven of the Young Women General Presidency shared a way these principles could apply to gaining a testimony:

Do What Mattereth Most

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.”

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)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternate beginning

You could begin the lesson with a scenario like the following where someone can either use their agency to do something good or choose to not act unless they are compelled to.

Imagine that as you are walking down the street, you see an elderly person fall. Which of the following should you do?

1. Pause to see if Heavenly Father prompts you to help.

2. Wait to see if the elderly person directly asks you for help.

3. Hope that someone will tell you what to do.

4. Immediately see how you can help the person who fell.

After students respond, ask them to share reasons someone might have for choosing each of the different options. Then invite them to read Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–29 and to ponder how our choices will influence who we ultimately become.

“Faithful in tribulation”

Invite students to ponder a competition where judges consider the degree of difficulty when determining the score a person deserves. Examples could include gymnastics, ice skating, or snowboarding. Help students relate this to our perfect Judge, Jesus Christ, who completely understands the difficulties that each person on earth is dealing with. Then invite students to read Doctrine and Covenants 58:1–4, looking for what they learn about our Savior’s judgment.

Modern application of verses 26–29

One way to help students see modern relevance in the Savior’s teachings is to provide groups with copies of the statements in the “Additional Resources” section. Each group could read the statements and determine which phrases from Doctrine and Covenants 58:26–29 best apply. Then invite students to share different situations where a teenager could use what those phrases and statements teach.

Relevance activity

On a small piece of paper, each student could write down one place they will be during the next week (home, school, church, work, soccer field, and so on) and place it in a bucket. Randomly pull papers out of the bucket, and invite the class to share creative ways someone could choose to proactively do good in that situation or place.

Actively engaging in learning

To help students discuss how the truths in section 58 could apply to their seminary experience, consider displaying this statement from Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“A learner exercising agency by acting in accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost and invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive reception. …

“… A student must exercise faith and act in order to obtain the knowledge for himself or herself” (David A. Bednar, “Seek Learning by Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 2007, 64).

Invite students to describe choices a student could make before class, during class, and after class that could increase or decrease what they learn and feel in seminary.

If helpful, students could discuss how the principles in section 58 and Elder Bednar’s statement could enhance their experience learning in school settings as well.