Lesson 106: Doctrine and Covenants 89–92

Doctrine and Covenants 90

The First Presidency

the First Presidency

In March 1833, the Lord directed Joseph Smith to set apart Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams to be his counselors in the First Presidency. As a presidency, these three men held priesthood keys that allowed them to preside over the Lord’s kingdom on the earth. This lesson can help students feel the importance of the direction Jesus Christ gives The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through His First Presidency.

Possible Learning Activities

Keys can provide access

One way to start class is to demonstrate that keys allow us to access special items when needed. You could invite students to write down on small slips of paper things they feel are important to keep safe. Invite volunteers to share what they wrote and why. Collect the papers and lock them in a place that can only be accessed with a key. If you cannot secure the papers in something that can be locked with a key, you could place them in a box and invite students to imagine their papers are locked up. Show students a key and invite them to think about the value of that key. You might ask:

• What are some important things in your life that require keys for you to be able to access them?

• Who would you trust to use and protect the key? Why?

Consider explaining that the Savior holds the priesthood keys that are used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Invite students as they study today to think about who He entrusts with those keys on earth and what they help us access.

Jesus Christ organized the First Presidency

To prepare students to study the passage below, you may want to display the image of the First Presidency in 1833 (see primary image of this lesson) and provide some of the following context:

What is known today as the First Presidency was first referred to as the Presidency of the High Priesthood. Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams were called and set apart as counselors to the Prophet Joseph Smith in March 1833 to form this presidency. In Doctrine and Covenants 90, the Lord revealed instructions to Joseph Smith about the responsibilities of the First Presidency.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 90:1–3, 6, looking for what God entrusted to Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams.

• What responsibility did the Lord give these men to bear?

  Allow students to share what they understand about priesthood keys. Also provide time for students to ask questions they might have about priesthood keys and the organization of the Lord’s Church. As needed, you could invite students to look up “Keys of the Priesthood” in Guide to the Scriptures (scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org) to learn more and share what they find.

• What can we learn from these verses about how the Lord governs His Church?

Students may mention multiple truths we can learn. One truth you might emphasize is that Jesus Christ leads His Church on earth through the priesthood keys He has given to His First Presidency.

To help students understand and feel the importance of this truth, you could show the video “Where Are the Keys?” (2:51), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

You could also display and discuss the following statement.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained ways the Savior uses keys in His Church to bless our lives:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

In the authority of these keys, the Church’s priesthood officers preserve the purity of the Savior’s doctrine and the integrity of His saving ordinances. They help prepare those who wish to receive them, judge the qualification and worthiness of those who apply, and then perform them.

With the keys of the kingdom, the Lord’s servants can identify both truth and falsehood and once again authoritatively state, “Thus saith the Lord.” (D. Todd Christofferson, “Why the Church,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 110)

• What can we learn about Jesus Christ from the way He uses priesthood keys in His Church?

To help students better understand the duties of the First Presidency, you could invite them to create and complete a table like the following in their study journals. Allow students to learn with a partner or small group through reading, discussing, and sharing insights.

Scriptures	How the Lord blesses us through the First Presidency
Doctrine and Covenants 90:9
Doctrine and Covenants 90:14–16
Doctrine and Covenants 107:8–9
Doctrine and Covenants 107:33
Doctrine and Covenants 120, section heading and verse 1
Doctrine and Covenants 124:125–126

The First Presidency and the oracles of God

This section can help students understand that the Lord leads His Church through revelation to the First Presidency. Explain that in these passages, the Lord refers to revelations to His chosen leaders as “the oracles of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 90:4–5).

Read Doctrine and Covenants 90:4–5, looking for how the Lord feels about the oracles (or revelations) He gives us through His First Presidency.

• What do you learn from these verses?

• When have you felt that the revelations of God protected you from the storms of life?

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the greatest responsibility of the Lord’s prophet:

Elder Neil L. Andersen

A prophet does not stand between you and the Savior. Rather, he stands beside you and points the way to the Savior. A prophet’s greatest responsibility and most precious gift to us is his sure witness, his certain knowledge, that Jesus is the Christ. Like Peter of old, our prophet declares, “[He is] the Christ, the Son of the living God” [Matthew 16:16]. (Neil L. Andersen, “The Prophet of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 27)

• What are some ways the prophet and his counselors point us to Jesus Christ?

  Use the words of prophets to emphasize doctrine and principles. The following activity gives students an opportunity to study the words of prophets. For more practice on how to use the words of prophets, see the training titled “Teach from the scriptures and the words of latter-day prophets” in Teacher Development Skills: Teach the Doctrine. Consider practicing the skill “Prepare invitations that help students connect truths found in the scriptures to what living prophets are saying.”

  Give students an opportunity to study some recent messages from the prophet or his counselors. Students could choose one member of the First Presidency and look up one of his most recent general conference addresses on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Maybe you could divide the class into three groups, where each group studies the words from one member of the First Presidency, looking for teachings they feel are important for youth to understand. Students could then report what they learn. With each teaching shared, encourage students to ponder and express how it points us to the Savior Jesus Christ.

  You might conclude the lesson by inviting a few students to share what they learned and felt today that was most relevant to them. Consider asking questions such as the following:

• What did you learn today that you want to remember?

• If someone asked why you listen to the directions from the First Presidency, what is one thing you would want to explain to them?

Additional Resources

What are examples of priesthood keys used in the Lord’s Church?

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency explained:

President Dallin H. Oaks

Holders of the various offices of the Aaronic Priesthood officiate in the ordinance of the sacrament under the keys and direction of the bishop, who holds the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood. The same principle applies to the priesthood ordinances in which women officiate in the temple. Though women do not hold an office in the priesthood, they perform sacred temple ordinances under the authorization of the president of the temple, who holds the keys for the ordinances of the temple.

Another example of priesthood authority under the direction of one who holds the keys are the teachings of men and women called to teach the gospel, whether in classes in their home wards or in the mission field. Other examples are those who hold leadership positions in the ward and exercise priesthood authority in their leadership by reason of their callings and under the setting apart and direction of the priesthood leader who holds the keys in the ward or the stake. This is how the authority and power of the priesthood is exercised and enjoyed in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Melchizedek Priesthood and the Keys,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 70)

Doctrine and Covenants 90:28–31. Who is Vienna Jaques?

Vienna Jacques walking next to covered wagon

Vienna Jaques was a Church member who demonstrated great faithfulness to the Lord and His restored Church. She helped bring others to Christ and consecrated her possessions to the Lord. She also donated a large sum of money during a time when money was desperately needed.

The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44) wrote a letter to Vienna Jaques and told her that the Spirit whispered this to his heart:

the Prophet Joseph Smith

Joseph thou art indebted to thy God for the offering of thy Sister Vienna which proved a [savior] of life … , therefore she should not be forgotten of thee. (Joseph Smith, in History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 addenda, josephsmithpapers.org)

Learn more about her in the following resources:

• Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources, “Vienna Jaques,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org

• “Jaques, Vienna,” josephsmithpapers.org

Supplemental Learning Activities

Getting to know the First Presidency

Before talking about some of the responsibilities of the First Presidency, you might ask students to briefly share what they know about Joseph Smith’s counselors. Consider sharing a fact or two about each counselor. For help, see the following:

• Church History Topics, “Sidney Rigdon,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org/study/history/topics

• Doctrine and Covenants Historical Resources, “Frederick G. Williams,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org

Students could also get to know the current First Presidency by each learning about the life of one member of the Presidency. For example, they might look up their biographies on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and discover details about their families, their professional lives, their birth dates, or what they were interested in when they were teenagers.

Students could work on their own and then share what they learned with students who learned about different members of the First Presidency.

You may want to direct students to the “First Presidency” page on ChurchofJesusChrist.org or provide paper copies of the information.

The Lord provides support

The organization of the First Presidency was one way the Lord provided Joseph Smith with the needed support in his responsibilities. To help students picture this, you could invite a volunteer to hold a small weight at arm’s length for as long as he or she can without any help. When the student’s arms begin to tire, invite two students to stand next to him or her to help support the weight. You might then display the following image and allow students to share what they know about the account in Exodus 17:8–13.

Moses being supported by Aaron and Hur

You could then discuss questions such as these:

• When have others helped you with something that was difficult to accomplish on your own?

• What are some ways Jesus Christ provides individuals in His Church with support they might need from others?

Doctrine and Covenants 91. Discerning truth

Choose a particular topic and invite students to list different sources where someone might find information on it. Ask students to discuss how you can know if something you read about this topic is true.

Explain that the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 91 told Joseph Smith how to discern if something he was reading was true. When he received this revelation, Joseph Smith was translating the Bible and had come to a portion called the Apocrypha.

If students are interested, you might share that the Apocrypha is a collection of sacred books that were not originally included in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) but were included in the Greek translations of the Old Testament used in Jesus’s day. The copy of the Bible Joseph Smith used to create his inspired translation contained the Apocrypha. The Lord told Joseph that it was not necessary for him to translate this portion of the Bible (see Doctrine and Covenants 91:1–3).

Invite students to read Doctrine and Covenants 91:4–6, looking for the Lord’s counsel on how to discern truth from error in the things we read, watch, or listen to. The doctrinal mastery passage Doctrine and Covenants 8:2–3 could also be helpful in discussing this topic. Encourage students to exercise caution when they are uncertain about the truth of information they discover.