“Lesson 150—Pioneers in Every Land: Preparing the Way for Others,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)
“Pioneers in Every Land,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual
Lesson 150: Doctrine and Covenants 135–136
Pioneers in Every Land
Preparing the Way for Others
From 1847 to 1868, thousands of pioneers demonstrated great faith in Jesus Christ as they traveled by wagon or handcart to gather with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley. Today, pioneers from all around the world continue to demonstrate great faith as they gather with the Saints wherever they live. This lesson can help students feel a desire to be pioneers by preparing the way for others to follow Jesus Christ.
Possible Learning Activities
Pioneers
Note: It may be effective to find examples of pioneers in your stake, ward, or country and prepare to share their stories as part of the lesson. If possible, you may even invite them to come to class and present their experience.
Consider displaying the following activity to help students understand the definition of a pioneer. Students could share their guesses with the class or in small groups. You could adapt this activity to include pioneers whose lives affected people in your area.
Match the people with their accomplishments.
|
People |
Accomplishments |
|---|---|
People 1. Johnnes Gutenberg | Accomplishments A. First Relief Society president in Taiwan |
People 2. Elizabeth Jackson | Accomplishments B. First woman to win a Nobel Prize, awarded for her research on radiation |
People 3. Chen Lin Shu-liang | Accomplishments C. Invented the printing press |
People 4. Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay | Accomplishments D. First to climb to the summit of Mount Everest |
People 5. Marie Curie | Accomplishments E. Traveled by handcart to the Salt Lake Valley |
When students have finished guessing, provide the correct answers (1-C, 2-E, 3-A, 4-D, 5-B).
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What do these people have in common?
Help students understand that one of the things these people had in common was that they were pioneers. A pioneer can be defined as a person who goes before and prepares the way for others to follow. You could also watch “I Am a Pioneer” (1:16), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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How have the accomplishments of these pioneers prepared a way for others to follow?
The example of Jesus Christ
President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the following about Jesus Christ:
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the ultimate pioneer in preparing the way. Indeed, He is “the way” for the plan of salvation to be accomplished so that we can repent and, through faith in Him, return to our Heavenly Father. (M. Russell Ballard, “Follow Jesus Christ with Footsteps of Faith,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 35)
To help students analyze this statement, consider inviting them to identify scriptures that illustrate ways Jesus Christ was a pioneer. If they need help, you could provide the following passages or others of your choosing.
Read some of the following verses: John 13:15; 14:2–6; 2 Nephi 31:5–12; and Mosiah 16:7. Look for ways Jesus Christ could be considered a pioneer.
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What did you find?
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How have the Savior’s actions to prepare a way for you been a blessing in your life?
Explain to students that there are many ways the Savior is a pioneer that can be done only by Him. However, there are some ways we can follow His “example … [and] do as [He has] done” (John 13:15) to be pioneers for others. Invite students to write the following as a heading in their study journal: “Like the Savior, I can be a pioneer by faithfully showing others the way to follow.”
Consider displaying the following questions, and invite students to respond to them under the heading above in their study journals:
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Do you feel like you are leaving an example you want others to follow?
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What excites you about being a pioneer? What makes you nervous?
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How do you feel Jesus Christ can help you be a pioneer for others?
Throughout the remainder of this lesson, invite the influence of the Holy Ghost to increase your desire to be a Christlike pioneer for others to follow.
Handcart pioneers
Invite students to share what they remember learning about the trek west and Doctrine and Covenants 136. Consider reviewing Doctrine and Covenants 136:6–7 to illustrate one way the first Saints to travel west were asked to be pioneers.
Consider displaying an image of a handcart and summarizing the following information.
After many companies had traveled to Salt Lake City in wagons, typically pulled by oxen, Brigham Young encouraged Saints to use handcarts. Pioneers pulled handcarts themselves enabling cheaper and faster travel. Only 10 of the more than 350 emigrating companies traveled by handcart. Though most of the handcart companies made the journey without major problems, winter storms in 1856 caused the Willie and Martin handcart companies to be stranded along the trail. Many lost their lives due to starvation and extreme temperatures. Rescue efforts made by Church members in Utah provided needed supplies and helped the travelers complete their journey, saving over 1,200 lives (see Church History Topics, “Handcart Companies,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org/study/history/topics).
Consider sharing a story or testimony from a handcart pioneer such as the following. Invite students to look for ways they could apply the example of the pioneer to their lives.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared the following account of a handcart pioneer.
I am moved by the account of Elizabeth Jackson, whose husband Aaron died after the last crossing of the Platte River with the Martin handcart company. She wrote:
“I will not attempt to describe my feelings at finding myself thus left a widow with three children, under such excruciating circumstances. … I believe … that my sufferings for the Gospel’s sake will be sanctified unto me for my good. …
“I [appealed] to the Lord, … He who had promised to be a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless. I appealed to him and he came to my aid.”
Elizabeth said she was writing the history on behalf of those who passed through like scenes with the hope that posterity would be willing to suffer and sacrifice all things for the kingdom of God. (Quentin L. Cook, “LDS Women Are Incredible!,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011, 18)
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What did Elizabeth testify about the Lord?
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What did she hope others would learn from her example?
Consider inviting students to identify doctrinal mastery passages or other scriptures that illustrate how Elizabeth was able to receive strength from the Savior. Some examples could be Matthew 11:28–30; Alma 7:11–13; or Doctrine and Covenants 6:36.
Ask how these scriptures can help our desire to be a pioneer for others.
Examples of pioneers
Explain that Saints are no longer asked to gather in the Salt Lake Valley. They are invited to become pioneers by gathering in stakes of Zion wherever they live and preparing the way for others to follow Jesus Christ. The examples of pioneers throughout the world can help us follow Jesus Christ and be pioneers wherever we are.
For the following activity, provide students with the handout “Pioneers around the World,” which contains stories adapted from Global Histories available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Alternatively, you could invite students to read stories of their ancestors at FamilySearch.org or reflect on those they identified if they completed the student preparation activity. They could also read about pioneers in their country found in Global Histories in the Church History section of the Gospel Library.
Complete the following activity, looking for how the examples of pioneers throughout the world can help you in your efforts to be a pioneer.
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Read the story of one or more pioneers.
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Identify how they were a pioneer.
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Look for ways Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ helped them.
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Write in your study journal how their Christlike examples can inspire you to be a pioneer for others.
Pioneers around the World
American Samoa
“God Said Yes”
Leva ‘aia Levao lived with severe health problems. In 2015 she developed boils on her eyes. The boils were healed after missionaries gave her a priesthood blessing. They began reading the Book of Mormon with her.
Some people in the island’s small community were unhappy to see Levao considering a new religion. They mocked her efforts and belittled her. Still, she remained firm and was soon baptized. Her husband, Tui, and her three children soon followed her into the faith, and Levao later served in her branch as Relief Society president. Others, influenced by her example of dedication, called her the heart of the Church on Olosega.
South Korea
“I Shall Never Again Be Truly Cold”
Choi Dong Sull was a Presbyterian minister who felt it was his responsibility to protect members of his congregation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, he began meeting with missionaries and finding clarity to doctrinal issues that had troubled him. He knew his new convictions would require a career change and jeopardize his relationship with his father, who was chairman of the Presbyterian Church of Korea at the time.
Dong Sull chose to be baptized in the Han River. “I wanted my baptism to be an experience as much like Jesus Christ’s as possible,” he explained. On the foggy morning of September 5, 1981, the water of the Han River was cold, but when he came up out of the water, Dong Sull described an inner warmth. “Now I belong to God’s true Church,” he said. “I shall never again be truly cold.” Two weeks later, his wife and two sons were also baptized—this time in a warm meetinghouse. Joining the Church didn’t make life easy for Dong Sull and his family, but it made new blessings possible. “The persecutions and sufferings … after my baptism are beyond my ability to tell,” said Dong Sull. “We lost much in the process [of joining the Church], yet we have gained more than we ever dreamed of.”
Côte d’Ivoire
“Doors of Life and Happiness”
Lydie Zebo Bahie was the last child of her family living at home when both her parents died. This loss led to severe depression. Her nephew, Faet Nadege, introduced her to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When she went to church for the first time, Lydie felt great love from the sisters of the Relief Society and Young Women organizations. Though she had stopped reading during her period of depression, she found herself able to focus once again as she studied the Book of Mormon. She was baptized on November 18, 1995.
Not long after her baptism, she received an opportunity to return the love that had been shown to her by serving in the Relief Society and Young Women organizations. She also served as a branch missionary, inviting others to discover the same fellowship and peace she had recently found. “All of these callings strengthened me and helped me progress, both spiritually and mentally,” Lydie said.
Lydie became one of the first sister missionaries to serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kinshasa Mission.
When students have finished studying, consider placing them in small groups to share what they learned.
Invite students to write what they learned or studied today that helps increase their desire to be a pioneer. They could also write ways they may want to follow the Savior’s example and be a pioneer for others and why.