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 131—Doctrine and Covenants 121–123: “Peace Be unto Thy Soul”

“Lesson 131—Doctrine and Covenants 121–123: ‘Peace Be unto Thy Soul,’” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Doctrine and Covenants 121–123,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 131: Doctrine and Covenants 121–123

Doctrine and Covenants 121–123

“Peace Be unto Thy Soul”

After being betrayed and arrested on false charges, the Prophet Joseph Smith and other Church leaders were imprisoned in a small jail in Liberty, Missouri. During the winter of 1838–39, the Saints in Missouri were subjected to terrible conditions and suffered greatly. Amidst this suffering, the Lord comforted them with compassionate counsel and knowledge from heaven. This lesson can help students understand how God can help us through our trials.

Possible Learning Activities

“O God, where art thou?”

Before class, consider displaying the following questions for students to see as they arrive. Once class starts, invite students to share realistic situations that might lead a person to ask questions like these.

“O God, where art thou?” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1)
“O Lord, how long shall [we] suffer these wrongs … ?” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:3)

After students have shared, invite them to reflect on challenges they or their loved ones are currently facing. Encourage students to record any thoughts or feelings they might have about their challenges, including if they have had questions like those expressed on the board.

As students continue their study, encourage them to invite the Holy Ghost to help them identify divine principles that can provide personal peace and comfort during their trials.

Historical context

To help students understand the historical context of the sections they will study, consider showing the video “Lessons from Liberty Jail” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 3:00 to 8:49. Displaying pictures of Liberty Jail can help students understand what Joseph Smith and the other prisoners were going through.

Alternatively, you could organize students into groups of three and provide one of the following summaries to each student in the group. Invite them to take turns reading their summaries and to share what they might be thinking or feeling if they were placed in similar circumstances.

Summary 1: On October 31, 1838, George Hinkle, a member of the Church and a colonel in Missouri’s state militia, betrayed the Prophet Joseph Smith. Hinkle told Joseph that members of the Missouri militia, who had laid siege to the Saints in Far West, Missouri, wanted to meet and discuss terms of peace. Arriving to the meeting under a flag of truce, Joseph and other Church leaders were forcefully arrested as prisoners of war.

Summary 2: For the next month, Joseph and his associates were mistreated and moved from jail to jail as they awaited a trial based on false accusations. On December 1, 1838, the men were imprisoned in a small jail in Liberty, Missouri. During the next four months, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Alexander McRae, Lyman Wight, and Caleb Baldwin were held in the lower dungeon of Liberty Jail during a bitterly cold winter. Sidney Rigdon was also with them for a time, but a judge authorized his release in late January of 1839.

Summary 3: The dimensions of the dungeon room were approximately 14 feet by 14 feet (4.3 meters by 4.3 meters), and the ceiling was between 6 and 6.5 feet high (between 1.8 and 2 meters). The only natural light or fresh air came from two small, barred windows near the ceiling. From outside these windows, people often mocked and insulted the prisoners. The men were forced to sleep on the floor with only a little dirty straw for padding and were given very little protection from the cold. The dungeon had a single bucket for human waste, and the meager food provided was so disgusting that the men could only eat it out of desperate hunger. Occasionally, the food was poisoned. The prisoners intensely missed their friends and families and felt deep sorrow when they heard about the suffering Saints being driven from Missouri during the cold of winter.

You might point out that Doctrine and Covenants 121–123 contains selections of a letter from the Prophet Joseph to the Saints. He wrote it near the end of his imprisonment in Liberty Jail after months of suffering. The letter included some of Joseph’s prayerful requests and the Savior’s loving counsel.

Lessons from Liberty Jail

Read Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–6, looking for questions and pleas Joseph Smith expressed to the Lord.

Which questions or petitions from Joseph Smith can you relate to?
How did Joseph Smith’s words show his faith in and reverence for God?

Consider inviting students to title a blank page in their journals, “Lessons from Liberty Jail.” As they study God’s reply to Joseph’s prayers, encourage them to make a list of truths they discover.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–9, 26, 33; 123:17, looking for counsel from God that can help someone during a difficult trial.

After class members finish compiling their lists of truths, suggest they choose two they really like and write them on a separate sheet of paper. Have students trade their papers with someone sitting close to them. Invite students to circle a favorite word or phrase on the papers they received and write a brief description of why they like it. This process could be repeated multiple times with different students. When students receive their own papers back, encourage them to add insights they learned from others to their study journal pages.

Invite a few students to write a truth from their list on the board. The following are examples of principles they could share: In God’s eternal plan, the trials of the righteous will be but a small moment; If we endure our trials well, God will exalt us on high; God can give us peace in the midst of our trials. Consider asking some discussion questions like the following.

If you had been in Liberty Jail, which principle would have been most comforting to you? Why?
What are some ways God has blessed you with peace and comfort during a trial?
What do you think is the difference between enduring a trial and enduring a trial well?
What can we learn from how Jesus Christ endured His own trials and hardships?

To help students further understand how the Lord can help them through difficult trials, consider sharing the following statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

The lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through it. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into … a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lessons from Liberty Jail,” Ensign, Sept. 2009, 28)

How have you seen the truth of Elder Holland’s statement in your life or in the life of someone you know?

To conclude, invite students to complete the following in their journals. You might ask volunteers to share what they wrote.

Think about the challenges you reflected on at the beginning of the lesson. Select at least one truth from your “Lessons from Liberty Jail” list that could help you or others with a current trial. Briefly explain how the Lord might bless and strengthen you for acting in faith on this truth.

Supplemental Learning Activities

Liberty Jail dimensions

To help students gain a sense of the harsh conditions the Prophet and his friends faced while in Liberty Jail, you may want to use tape or some other means to mark a square on the floor that is 14 feet by 14 feet (4.3 meters by 4.3 meters). Invite the whole class to stand in the square and remain there during the first part of the lesson while they are learning the historical context for these sections.

Additional historical summary

As time permits, the following historical summary could be inserted into the lesson between summaries 1 and 2.

While in the jail at Richmond, Missouri, Joseph Smith and other Church leaders heard the prison guards describe, in filthy language, many of the terrible deeds that had been committed against the Latter-day Saints. These wrongful actions included robbery, property damage, rape, and murder. Parley P. Pratt recalled Joseph Smith’s reaction after painfully listening to the horrific descriptions.

“On a sudden [Joseph] arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

“‘SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and bear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!’”

The guards “begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.” Parley later recalled of this experience: “I have seen the ministers of justice … in the Courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; … but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri” (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. [1938], 211; see also page 210).

Doctrine and Covenants 121:1. “Where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?”

As students study and ponder some of the questions posed by Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail, they may wonder about the meaning of his second question in verse 1. Explain that a pavilion is a building or structure that provides covering. The Prophet Joseph may have been feeling distanced from God and wondered why He remained hidden or covered for a time. Consider sharing the following explanation from President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency:

18:14

Where Is the Pavilion?

Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–8. Principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge

Students may benefit from using principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to analyze the Savior’s response to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail. For example, after reading Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–8, you could ask some questions like the following:

What are some principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge you see in verses 7–8?
How can viewing our adversity and afflictions with an eternal perspective offer relief and bring peace to our souls?
How can trusting Jesus Christ and acting in faith help us endure trials well?

Doctrine and Covenants 123:11–14. Helping others find the truth

To help students better understand their duty to invite all to come unto Jesus Christ, consider writing the following scripture passages on the board:

Invite three students to each read one of the scripture passages aloud. Invite remaining class members to explain how they think the scripture passages relate to each other. Consider asking questions like the following:

What do you think it means that many people on the earth are “blinded by the subtle craftiness of men”? (Doctrine and Covenants 123:12).
How can sharing the Savior’s light and preaching His gospel help others recognize the truth?

Invite students to search for words and phrases in Doctrine and Covenants 123:11–14 that highlight the importance of helping others find the truth and come unto Jesus Christ. Encourage students to mark these phrases in their scriptures and list some principles on the board. Example principles might include the following: We have an imperative duty to help others find the truth; We should waste and wear out our lives sharing the Savior’s light; We should attend to our duty to preach the gospel with great earnestness.

Remind students that there are likely many people they know who are unaware of the message of the Restoration. Encourage them to brainstorm some ideas concerning how to better reflect the light of Jesus Christ and invite people they know to come unto Him.