Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Contents
Title Page
Introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Doctrine and Covenants Lessons
- The Restoration Proclamation
- Doctrine and Covenants 1
- Joseph Smith—History 1:1–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 2; Joseph Smith—History 1:27–65
- Doctrine and Covenants 3–5
- Doctrine and Covenants 6–9
- Doctrine and Covenants 10–11
- Doctrine and Covenants 12–17; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 18
- Doctrine and Covenants 19
- Doctrine and Covenants 20–22
- Doctrine and Covenants 23–26
- Doctrine and Covenants 27–28
- Doctrine and Covenants 29
- Doctrine and Covenants 30–36
- Doctrine and Covenants 37–40
- Doctrine and Covenants 41–44
- Doctrine and Covenants 45
- Doctrine and Covenants 46–48
- Doctrine and Covenants 49–50
- Doctrine and Covenants 51–57
- Doctrine and Covenants 58–59
- Doctrine and Covenants 60–63
- Doctrine and Covenants 64–66
- Doctrine and Covenants 67–70
- Doctrine and Covenants 71–75
- Doctrine and Covenants 76
- Doctrine and Covenants 77–80
- Doctrine and Covenants 81–83
- Doctrine and Covenants 84
- Doctrine and Covenants 85–87
- Doctrine and Covenants 88
- Doctrine and Covenants 89–92
- Doctrine and Covenants 93
- Doctrine and Covenants 94–97
- Doctrine and Covenants 98–101
- Doctrine and Covenants 102–105
- Doctrine and Covenants 106–108
- Doctrine and Covenants 109–110
- Doctrine and Covenants 111–114
- Doctrine and Covenants 115–120
- Doctrine and Covenants 121–123
- Doctrine and Covenants 124
- Doctrine and Covenants 125–128
- Doctrine and Covenants 129–132
- Doctrine and Covenants 133–134
- Doctrine and Covenants 135–136
- Doctrine and Covenants 137–138
- The Articles of Faith and Official Declarations 1 and 2
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World
- The Living Christ
Life Preparation Lessons
- Doctrinal Mastery: Finding Answers to My Questions
- Scripture Study Skills
- For the Strength of Youth: Making Choices
- Building Self-Reliance
- Physical and Emotional Health
- Preparing for Future Education and Employment
- Succeeding in School
- Missionary Preparation
- Temple Preparation
- Teachings of Church Leaders
Appendix

Lesson 111—Doctrine and Covenants 97: Zion—The Pure in Heart

“Lesson 111—Doctrine and Covenants 97: Zion—The Pure in Heart,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Doctrine and Covenants 97,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 111: Doctrine and Covenants 94–97

Doctrine and Covenants 97

Zion—The Pure in Heart

Image

girl holding a temple recommend

While experiencing severe persecution, the Saints in the land of Zion (Jackson County, Missouri) wanted to know the Lord’s will for them. The Lord taught them about the blessings of being pure in heart. This lesson can help students become pure in heart.

Possible Learning Activities

Pure water

Consider starting class with an object lesson using water. Show the class pure water, and discuss the blessings of pure water and the consequences of using impure water. You could help students compare the blessings of pure water to the blessings of having a pure heart.

Image

pouring water in a glass

What are some benefits to having clean and pure water?
When water is impure, what are some ways to purify it?
How might pure water be compared to a pure heart?

In Doctrine and Covenants 97, the Lord expressed His desires that His people have pure hearts. As you study today, think about the state of your heart. Seek inspiration to understand the blessings of allowing the Lord to purify your heart.

Zion is the pure in heart

A group of elders in “Zion,” a name that at that time was used when referring to Jackson County, Missouri, wanted to know the Lord’s will for them, so they wrote a letter to Joseph Smith to seek answers. In response, the Lord described great plans for the school, the Church, and even the temple in the land of Zion. To motivate the Saints to be pure and accepting of Him, the Lord compared them to two trees: one that would be cut down and another that was fruitful (see Doctrine and Covenants 97:1–10). Just as the Lord called the people of Enoch Zion (see Moses 7:18), the Lord wanted to call His Saints in the latter days Zion. He wanted them to become like Him, not just live in a place called Zion.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 97:21, looking for how the Lord described Zion.

You may want to write Zion is the pure in heart on the board. You could invite students to mark words in their scriptures that teach this truth.

If students need help answering the following question, you could direct them to Mosiah 5:2 or Alma 13:12.

What do you think it means to be pure in heart?

President Russell M. Nelson taught about what we can do to be pure:

Image
President Russell M. Nelson

The Lord does not expect perfection from us at this point in our eternal progression. But He does expect us to become increasingly pure. Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power. (Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 68)

What does this statement help you understand about purity?

The Lord’s blessings available in temples

In Doctrine and Covenants 97:10–21, the Lord gave His people instructions that would help them be pure in heart. Read Doctrine and Covenants 97:10–12, looking for what instructions the Lord gave His people.

What do you know about the Lord’s temples that helps you understand why they could help His people be pure in heart?

This might be a good place to help students practice the scripture-study skill of finding lists in the scriptures. Students could list the blessings that would come from building the temple.

You could also draw an outline of a temple on the board. Invite students to fill it with words and phrases that describe the Lord’s blessings.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 97:13–21, looking for blessings the Lord described that are connected to worshipping in His temples.

How can these blessings motivate us to be pure in heart?

Students may have noticed that one of the blessings the Lord promised was that the pure in heart “shall see God” (verse 16). You may want to invite students to link this verse to Psalm 24:3–5 and Matthew 5:8 and ask students what connections they notice in these verses between being pure in heart and seeing God.

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency quoted Doctrine and Covenants 97:15–17 and taught what it can mean to see God in the temple:

Image
President Henry B. Eyring

President Russell M. Nelson made clear for us that we can “see” the Savior in the temple in the sense that He becomes no longer unknown to us. President Nelson said this: “We understand Him. We comprehend His work and His glory. And we begin to feel the infinite impact of His matchless life” [Teachings of Russell M. Nelson (2018), 369].

If you or I should go to the temple insufficiently pure, we would not be able to see, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the spiritual teaching about the Savior that we can receive in the temple. (Henry B. Eyring, “I Love to See the Temple,” Liahona, May 2021, 30)

How might this promise motivate someone to become pure in heart?
Why do you think the Lord requires a pure heart to enter the temple?

Becoming pure in heart

You could help students discuss how the temple recommend interview can help us evaluate if we are pure in heart. Maybe a few students who recently were interviewed to receive a temple recommend can share what answering those questions was like for them. You could also give the following invitation:

The temple recommend interview questions can be found in For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices. Take time to ponder each of the temple recommend questions. Think about how your answers reflect the state of your heart.

Give students time to reflect on these questions in class. Once students have pondered each question, you might encourage them to choose one or two things they can do that could help purify their hearts. You might ask students to answer the following questions in their journals:

What will you do to allow the Lord to purify your heart?
Why do you think it is so important to both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that your heart is pure?

Additional Resources

Doctrine and Covenants 97:11–12. What did the Lord mean when He asked for tithing to build the temple?

As used in section 97, tithing referred to any freewill offering or donation (see The Joseph Smith Papers, Documents, Volume 3: February 1833–March 1834, 201, note 241).

What blessings does the Lord provide through building temples?

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

Image
President Russell M. Nelson

Let us never lose sight of what the Lord is doing for us now. He is making His temples more accessible. He is accelerating the pace at which we are building temples. He is increasing our ability to help gather Israel. He is also making it easier for each of us to become spiritually refined. I promise that increased time in the temple will bless your life in ways nothing else can. (Russell M. Nelson, “Focus on the Temple,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 121)

How does qualifying for a temple recommend prepare me for the temple?

President Russell M. Nelson explained:

Image
President Russell M. Nelson

Individual worthiness to enter the Lord’s house requires much individual spiritual preparation. But with the Lord’s help, nothing is impossible. In some respects, it is easier to build a temple than it is to build a people prepared for a temple. Individual worthiness requires a total conversion of mind and heart to be more like the Lord, to be an honest citizen, to be a better example, and to be a holier person. (Russell M. Nelson, “Closing Remarks,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 121–122)

Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Image
Elder Quentin L. Cook

It is our great desire that members of the Church will live to be worthy of a temple recommend. Please don’t see the temple as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal. Working with their bishop, most members can achieve all righteous requirements in a relatively short period of time if they have a determination to qualify and fully repent of transgressions. (Quentin L. Cook, “See Yourself in the Temple,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 98)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Doctrine and Covenants 97:1–2. Seek diligently to learn wisdom

Students might benefit from learning about increasing their ability to learn wisdom and truth. Ask students to share some attributes and behaviors of someone who has a great desire to learn.

You could explain that Parley P. Pratt was called to preside over a school of the elders in Zion similar to the School of the Prophets Joseph Smith established in Ohio. Parley and Joseph wrote letters back and forth, and Doctrine and Covenants 97 came in response to one of those letters. Invite students to read verses 1–2, looking for what the Lord said made the elders in Zion good learners. Help students identify a truth from these verses, such as the Lord is merciful and will bless us with wisdom and truth as we humble ourselves and seek diligently to learn.

You could ask students to discuss and discover why the Lord might be willing to bless us with wisdom and truth when we approach learning in this way.

Doctrine and Covenants 97:7–9. Two trees

Image

tree 1

Image

tree 2

Doctrine and Covenants 97:7–9 can help students learn about what they can do to be accepted of the Lord. Invite students to ponder why they would want to be accepted of the Lord. You could invite students to describe the two trees in the verses or to make a simple drawing of each tree. They could label the fruit on the good tree with the attributes described in verse 8. Discuss what it means to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit and to observe our covenants by sacrifice. Ask students to share how doing these things can help us be accepted of the Lord.

Doctrine and Covenants 97:18–28. “Zion—the pure in heart”

It might be good for students to understand what Zion is and how it relates to them. Write the word Zion on the board and ask students to share what they know about Zion. Help students understand that the people living in Jackson County, Missouri, referred to the place they lived as Zion. The Saints living in Missouri wanted to establish Zion as they read about in the scriptures (see Topical Guide, “Zion, Sion”). Help students discover how the Lord defined Zion by reading Doctrine and Covenants 97:21 (see also Moses 7:18). You could then invite students to study Doctrine and Covenants 97:18–28, looking for what blessings the Lord wanted to give the Saints in Missouri, if they chose to be “the pure in heart” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:21).