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 161—Doctrinal Mastery Practice 10: Apply Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

“Lesson 161—Doctrinal Mastery Practice 10: Apply Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual (2025)

“Doctrinal Mastery Practice 10,” Doctrine and Covenants Seminary Teacher Manual

Lesson 161: “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”

Doctrinal Mastery Practice 10

Apply Principles of Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge

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students participating in class

Doctrinal mastery can help students build the foundation for their lives upon Jesus Christ and His gospel. This lesson will give students the opportunity to share doctrinal mastery passages that are meaningful in their lives and help them learn and apply divine principles for acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Possible Learning Activities

Doctrinal mastery review: Share

To help students briefly review what they have learned this year and prepare them to share doctrinal mastery passages that have impacted their lives, consider writing the incomplete phrase One of my favorite … on the board.

You could finish the phrase in a few different ways, such as people in Church history, stories that we learned this year, or things I learned from a classmate. For each way you finish the phrase, allow students to briefly share with a partner their answers and why they chose them.

Finally, complete the phrase with doctrinal mastery passages. Give students time to review the list of doctrinal mastery passages in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023). Invite them to share with a partner the passage they selected and what it means to them. Be sure to leave enough time for the following practice application activity.

Learn and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge

Before introducing the following account, it may be helpful to allow students to briefly review the principles in paragraphs 5–12 in the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document. (Suggested review activities are included in “Doctrinal Mastery Review Activities” in the appendix of this manual.)

Note: The suggested topic in this lesson can be very sensitive and personal to many students. As the class discusses the following account, remind them of God’s love for all of His children and His desire for us to treat all people with respect and love.

See the “Alternate scenario” section in “Supplemental Learning Activities” if you feel that it would be better for students to practice applying the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to a different situation.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles described a young man who faced a very difficult challenge. As you read about this young man’s situation, ponder why applying principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge would be important for him.

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Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

I speak of a young man who entered the mission field worthily but by his own choice returned home early due to same-sex attraction and some trauma he experienced in that regard. He was still worthy, but his faith was at crisis level, his emotional burden grew ever heavier, and his spiritual pain was more and more profound. He was by turns hurt, confused, angry, and desolate. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 49)

You can help prepare students to see relevance in this lesson by allowing them to process their understandings and feelings associated with situations like this. You might encourage students to write their thoughts in their study journals by displaying prompts such as the following:

What questions or concerns about Heavenly Father’s plan or about the Church do you think this young man might have?
How might his relationship with Heavenly Father be affected by these questions or concerns?
Why is it important for people in similar situations to understand and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge? Why is it important for their friends and family to also apply those principles?

Keep in mind that this lesson cannot answer every question students might have. God has not yet revealed every answer. This lesson is meant to help students become more faithful disciples of Jesus Christ through applying principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge as they face questions and concerns in their lives.

Invite students to share with the class what they have learned about principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge that they feel would be most helpful to this young man, his friends, or his family. Allow plenty of time for this discussion.

Depending on the available time after the discussion, you can choose from the remaining lesson material to help students better understand these principles.

What did the young man do?

Consider asking class members to find a partner and providing each partnership with a copy of the rest of the story told by Elder Holland. Invite them to underline evidence of how this young man and others applied principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Then consider displaying the questions below for partners to discuss.

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Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

His mission president, his stake president, his bishop spent countless hours searching and weeping and blessing him. … [His mother] bore to her son her testimony of God’s power, of His Church, but especially of His love for this child. In the same breath she testified of her own uncompromised, undying love for him as well. …

This [young man’s] sexual orientation did not somehow miraculously change—no one assumed it would. But little by little, his heart changed.

He started back to church. He chose to partake of the sacrament willingly and worthily. He again obtained a temple recommend and accepted a call to serve as an early-morning seminary teacher, where he was wonderfully successful. And now, after five years, he has, at his own request and with the Church’s considerable assistance, reentered the mission field to complete his service to the Lord. I have wept over the courage, integrity, and determination of this young man. (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Behold Thy Mother,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2015, 49)

How do the choices the young man made show his faith in Jesus Christ? How do you think his choices affected his relationship with Heavenly Father?
Why do you think it’s important that his mother chose to testify to him of God’s love for him?
What evidence do you see that he turned to divinely appointed sources? How do you think his choice of sources may have influenced his faith in Jesus Christ?
Suppose this young man is not able to find answers to some of his questions or concerns. What do you know about Heavenly Father and His plan that could be helpful for him to remember?

Fill in the blank

For this activity, consider writing on the board the three incomplete statements below.

Choose one of the following statements from the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document and try to complete it from memory. Then check your answer using paragraphs 5–12 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section.

“During times when we may not immediately find answers to our questions …”
“We seek the help of the Holy Ghost in order to …”
“Learning to recognize and avoid unreliable sources can …”

Think about why the principles in the statement you chose are important for the young man and his friends and family to understand.

Invite students to move around the room and share insights with each other. You might encourage them to keep finding new partners until they have shared their thoughts with at least one person who chose option 1, one who chose option 2, and one who chose option 3.

Divinely appointed sources

Consider displaying the following questions. Then give students sufficient time to search for scriptures and statements before inviting them to answer aloud.

If needed, you could provide students with the suggested resources in the “Additional Resources” section.

Which doctrinal mastery passages from the Doctrine and Covenants (or other books of scripture) do you think could help this young man?
What statements from Church leaders would be helpful for him or his loved ones to study?

Supplemental Learning Activities

Personal application

You might conclude class by inviting students to prayerfully answer one of the following questions in their study journals:

What do you feel Heavenly Father would have you do with questions or concerns that you have?
How can choosing to follow the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge affect your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when questions or concerns arise?

Alternate scenario

Rather than using the scenario and accompanying activities that are suggested above in the lesson, students may enjoy creating their own scenarios to demonstrate their understanding of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

One way to do this is to invite small groups of students to create a realistic scenario in which applying principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge would be important. For example, they might create a scenario about a teenager who is struggling with mental or emotional health or who is worried about the choices that a sibling is making. After taking time to prepare and discuss, groups could present their scenarios to the class and share how each principle of acquiring spiritual knowledge could bless the lives of those in their scenarios.

If helpful, you could display the following steps to give the students some structure as they create scenarios.

Create a name, age, and personality for the person in your scenario.
Describe a situation this person faces that could lead him or her to have spiritual questions or concerns.
List one or two questions or concerns that he or she is wrestling with.
Discuss how the person in your scenario could apply each principle of acquiring spiritual knowledge and how doing so could bless his or her life.