Lesson 1 Teacher Material

Prelude to the Restoration

The Lord Jesus Christ ended the Great Apostasy when He restored His gospel and organized His Church once again on the earth. After participating in this lesson, students should be able to recognize the hand of the Lord in the events preceding the Restoration and explain the need for truth to be dispensed again to God’s children in our day.

Note: If possible, contact students who register for this course prior to their first day of class and invite them to read the preparation material for lesson 1 before coming to class. If you will be teaching lessons 1 and 2 together, invite students to also study the material for lesson 2.

Suggestions for Teaching

Show students who are unfamiliar with the preparation material how to access it electronically. You might also provide paper copies to students who do not have electronic devices.

IMPROVING OUR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Prepare with students in mind. As you prepare to teach, consider what you hope students will feel and do and how you hope their lives will change as a result of the lesson and the course. Prayerfully consider the needs of your students and listen to the direction of the Spirit as you prepare. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught teachers that “a student is not a container to be filled; a student is a fire to be ignited” (“Angels and Astonishment,” Church Educational System training broadcast, June 12, 2019).

The Great Apostasy made the Restoration of the gospel necessary.

Invite a student to read aloud the introduction to the lesson 1 preparation material.

Display a live plant and a dead or dying plant (or a dead branch in some dirt). Or display the accompanying images if real plants are not available.

• Why do you think these plants look different from each other? What kind of analogy about our own spiritual condition could we make using these plants?

Explain that an Old Testament prophet named Amos warned the wicked people of Israel that they would experience a famine. Invite students to read Amos 8:11–12, looking for what type of famine Amos warned of.

Invite students to search section 1 of the preparation material, looking for what was lost during the Great Apostasy. Have students report what they find.

Show students the video “Dispensations: The Pattern of Apostasy and Restoration” (6:52). Invite students to think as they watch about what the pattern of apostasy and restoration depicted in the video teaches us about Heavenly Father.

• What do you think this pattern of apostasy and restoration teaches us about Heavenly Father?

• Why is the dispensation of the fulness of times different than any other dispensation? What are your thoughts or feelings about living during this time?

The Lord prepared the way for the Restoration of the gospel.

Display the following truth: The Lord prepared the way for the Restoration of the gospel.

Invite students to form small groups and then take turns reading from section 2 of the preparation material, looking for what events prepared the way for the Restoration of the gospel. (If most of your students were able to read the preparation material prior to class, you might invite them to summarize the content in section 2.) Display the following questions, and provide time for each group to discuss them together.

• How did the Lord prepare the way for the Restoration to take place?

• What can we learn about the Lord by how He prepared the way for Joseph Smith and the Restoration?

Students can take an active role in their gospel learning.

Display a list of the lesson titles for the course (you can find them in the table of contents). Explain that this course will focus on the foundational events, doctrine, and scripture of the Restoration, as well as address difficult topics that sometimes come up in Church history. Consider inviting students to read through the list of future lessons and share with the class which topics they would most like to learn about. Note their responses so you will know which lessons you might give a little more emphasis to during the course.

Explain that the preparation material is an integral part of this course and can enhance students’ personal gospel learning and help prepare them to make meaningful contributions during class.

To help students understand the blessings that can come from preparing for each class experience, display the following statement by Elder Kim B. Clark of the Seventy:

If you really desire to learn deeply, if your heart and your mind are open to learning, and if you act on that desire, the Lord will bless you. When you do your part—pray in faith, prepare, study, engage actively, and do your very best—the Holy Ghost will teach you, magnify your capacity to act on what you learn, and help you become what the Lord wants you to become. (Kim B. Clark, “Learning for the Whole Soul,” Ensign, Aug. 2017, 27)

Invite students to carefully ponder how they would answer the following questions:

• How will sincere participation in this course help my spiritual growth?

• Am I willing to pay the price of studying on my own before each class so I can come prepared to learn more deeply? When in my schedule will I commit to making my personal study and preparation a priority?

Consider encouraging students to record their goals related to these questions. You might also discuss as a class how they could help one another come ready to learn more deeply. (Ideas might include setting up class text messaging groups, study groups, ways to remind each other of their goals, or discussion forums where they can share insights from their study.)

For Next Time

Explain to students that the preparation material for the next class includes portions of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s firsthand accounts of his First Vision. Invite students to consider what we can learn from the various accounts as well as the significance of having our own testimonies of the reality of the First Vision.