Scripture Study Goals

Skill: Invite students to identify and use the invitations and promises from President Nelson’s Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary or Personal Invitation to Attend Institute to guide them in setting a meaningful personal scripture study goal.

What is my initial understanding or ability? (Assessment):

How have you used or how could you use President Nelson’s Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary or Institute to help your students set a meaningful scripture study goal?

What is it and why is it important? (Define):

Through His prophets, the Lord has repeatedly taught the importance of studying His word. Helping students identify invitations given and blessings promised by ancient and modern prophets can help them recognize blessings they would like to have and increase their desire to study the scriptures. One way to do this is to invite students to identify and use the invitations and promises of scripture study given by President Nelson in his Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary (Russell M. Nelson, “Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org) or Personal Invitation to Attend Institute (Russell M. Nelson, “Personal Invitation to Attend Institute,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org). and use them as a guide in setting a meaningful personal scripture study goal. After reminding students that an important part of their seminary or institute experience is to set and work toward a meaningful personal scripture study goal, you can

• have students read or watch President Nelson’s Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary or Institute looking for invitations and blessings related to scripture study;

• have students share what they discovered; and

• invite students to seek the direction of the Spirit to know what their personal goal should be that will help them work toward receiving the promised blessings they desire.

Who or what provides a good illustration of this? (Model):

After reminding his students that one important and powerful thing they can take away from their seminary experience is to develop a habit of studying the scriptures, Brother Mayor emphasizes the importance of setting a scripture study goal. He then gives his students a copy of the text from President Nelson’s Personal Invitation to Attend Seminary. He invites them to look for and mark invitations and blessings related to scripture study as they watch the video of the message. After the video, Brother Mayor asks his students to share what they marked and an invitation or promise that stood out to them. He then invites them to take some time over the next day or two to prayerfully seek the direction of the Spirit to know what personal scripture study goal they can set that will help them work toward receiving the promised blessing(s) they desire.

How can I practice using this skill or applying this principle? (Practice):

Write each of the following:

• A question, thought, or quote you can use to remind your students of the importance of setting and working toward a personal scripture study goal.

• An invitation you can use to help your students identify invitations and promises related to scripture study as they review President Nelson’s message.

• An invitation or activity you can use to help your students share and discuss what they learned.

• An invitation to seek the direction of the Spirit in setting their personal scripture study goal.

Ponder or discuss:

• What did you learn as you created the invitations above?

• What impact do you feel giving your students the opportunity to review President Nelson’s message in this way could have on them?

How and when will I incorporate this?

In the coming week, use the activity you created (or a similar one) to help your students set a meaningful scripture study goal. (This could be easily adapted to encourage students to reflect on, evaluate, or encourage them to work toward a goal they have already set.)