Lesson 2 Teacher Material

Responding to the Lord’s Prophets

The Lord’s prophets reveal and teach the word of God. As we heed their teachings, we can experience the power of God’s word in our lives. After this lesson students should be able to explain how we are blessed when we trust in the Lord’s prophets and the messages they are called to deliver. Students will also evaluate their own efforts to heed current prophetic counsel.

Suggestions for Teaching

Improving Our Teaching and Learning

Adapt lesson material to meet students’ needs. Sometimes lessons contain more material than you can cover adequately in class. Rather than trying to cover everything in the lesson plan, focus on the scriptures and material that will most help your students take effective, righteous action so they can become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Seek direction from the Holy Ghost and from students to help you know what principles, questions, and activities to use in class.

The Lord sends Lehi to prophesy to the people of Jerusalem.

Begin class by asking students to reflect on a time when someone responded negatively to a message or idea they were trying to share.

• Why do members, missionaries, and prophets continue to share messages that they know may be unpopular?

Display a picture of Lehi preaching. Invite a student to describe the setting for the beginning of the Book of Mormon as recorded in 1 Nephi 1. (If you are teaching the first two lessons of this course together, students may not have had an opportunity to study the preparation material for this lesson. You may want to invite a student to read 1 Nephi 1:4 aloud.)

• What do we learn about the Lord and His prophets at the beginning of the Book of Mormon? (Consider reading or reviewing with students the statement by President Henry B. Eyring in section 1 of the preparation material.)

Explain that in a vision, the Lord gave Lehi a book to read. Lehi read that Jerusalem would be destroyed. (See 1 Nephi 1:12–13.)

Read 1 Nephi 1:14 together, looking for how Lehi reacted to the vision.

• What did Lehi learn about the Lord’s character? How do you think this knowledge of the Lord’s mercy affected Lehi’s resolve to prophesy to the people of Jerusalem?

Invite students to read 1 Nephi 1:18–19, looking for what we can learn about prophets from Lehi’s experience. Help students identify truths such as the following: Prophets declare the words and will of the Lord. Prophets teach and testify of Jesus Christ and the redemption that comes through Him.

• What are some recent messages from our living prophets and apostles that declare the words and will of the Lord?

Invite students to review the statements by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Ulisses Soares in section 1 of the preparation material and share what stood out to them.

• How do these statements affect the way you feel about our current prophets? How do they affect the way you feel about Jesus Christ?

• What recent prophetic messages have helped you to better recognize God’s love for His children? (Students pondered a question similar to this when they studied section 1 of the preparation material.)

Nephi receives a confirmation that prophets teach the word of God.

Invite students to identify some prophetic teachings people may struggle to accept in our day. (Note: If needed, remind students that our intent is not to criticize the Lord’s prophets but to discuss how we can respond with faith to a prophetic message that we or someone we know may find difficult to understand or accept.)

• Why might it sometimes be challenging to accept what a prophet declares?

Display or ask the following question: What can I do if I struggle with something a prophet teaches? As students discuss this question, feel free to use all or some of the following material to help them consider how they would respond if they or someone they know had this concern.

Ask students to imagine how Lehi’s family may have felt when Lehi told them the Lord wanted them to leave their home and travel into the wilderness.

• How did Laman and Lemuel react to leaving their home? How did Nephi react? (Invite them to review 1 Nephi 2:11–13, 16–17. You might point out that Nephi’s heart may also have needed softening [see 1 Nephi 2:16].)

• What are some of the different ways people in the Book of Mormon responded to prophets and their messages? (You may want to give students time to review what they learned while studying section 3 of the preparation material.) What were the consequences of their reactions? When have you seen similar examples of these different types of responses in our day?

• What can we learn from Nephi’s response to his father’s message? What is the Lord’s role in helping us know if the words of His prophets are true? (Students may identify a principle such as this one: As we humble ourselves and turn to the Lord, He can help soften our hearts to the truthfulness of prophets’ words.)

Read the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

You may know for yourself what is true and what is not by learning to discern the whisperings of the Spirit. …

My dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to seek earnestly a confirmation from the Spirit that what I have told you is true and is from the Lord. He has declared that we may seek knowledge from heaven and expect to receive it [see Doctrine and Covenants 42:61]. …

Ask your Heavenly Father if we truly are the Lord’s apostles and prophets. (“The Love and Laws of God” [address given at a Brigham Young University devotional, Sept. 17, 2019], 4–5, speeches.byu.edu)

• What experiences have you had with learning for yourself the truthfulness of a prophet’s divine call or message?

As you finish the discussion about the question “What can I do if I struggle with something a prophet teaches?” consider giving students time to ponder and record what they have felt or learned that might help them or someone else who has a similar question.

You may want to invite a few students to share what they will do differently in the future if they struggle with something a prophet teaches.

For Next Time

You may want to show a picture of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life and invite students to consider as they study the preparation material for the next class what this vision can teach us about the power of the word of God.