Introduction

The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have established the Teachings of Presidents of the Church series to help you draw closer to your Heavenly Father and deepen your understanding of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. These books are designed to be used for personal study and as resources for teaching. They can also help you prepare home evening lessons, prepare other lessons or talks, supplement lessons at church, and answer questions about Church doctrine.

This book features the teachings of President Thomas S. Monson, who served as the 16th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from February 3, 2008, to January 2, 2018.

Personal Study

As you study the teachings of President Thomas S. Monson, prayerfully seek the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The questions at the end of each chapter will help you ponder and apply President Monson’s teachings. The following ideas may also be helpful:

• Write thoughts and feelings that come to you from the Holy Ghost as you study.

• Mark or highlight passages you want to remember.

• Read a chapter or passage more than once so you can understand it more deeply.

• Ask yourself questions such as “How do President Monson’s teachings increase my understanding of gospel principles?” and “What does the Lord want me to learn from these teachings? What does He want me to do?”

• Ask yourself how the teachings in this book can help you with personal challenges and concerns.

• Share what you learn with family members and friends.

Teaching from This Book

The following guidelines will help you teach from this book, whether at home or at church.

Prepare to Teach

Study the chapter to become confident in your understanding of President Monson’s teachings. Prayerfully select the teachings that you feel will be most helpful. You may also want to encourage those you teach to study the chapter.

Seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost as you prepare to teach. Ask the Spirit to inspire you with ideas about how to share and discuss President Monson’s teachings.

Encourage Participation

Actively participating in gospel discussions helps members learn and receive personal revelation. Encourage them to share their thoughts and questions while discussing President Monson’s teachings.

The questions at the end of each chapter are a valuable resource for encouraging discussion. You might also think of other questions. You could also ask others to share personal experiences that relate to the teachings.

Encourage Application

President Monson’s teachings are most meaningful when members apply them in their lives. As you discuss his teachings, talk about how they can apply to responsibilities at home, in the Church, and in other settings. Invite those you teach to consider, “What will I do differently because of what I learned from President Monson?”

Conclude the Discussion

Briefly summarize the principles you have discussed, or ask one or two others to do so. Testify of the truthfulness of these principles. You may also want to invite others to share their testimonies about these principles.

Information about Source Materials

The teachings in this book are direct quotations from President Thomas S. Monson’s sermons and writings. Quotations from published sources have retained the punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and paragraphing of the original sources unless editorial or typographic changes have been necessary to improve readability. Because the quotations maintain fidelity to published sources, you may notice minor stylistic inconsistencies in the text. For example, pronouns referring to Deity are lowercased in some quotations and capitalized in others.

President Monson often used the terms men, man, and mankind to refer to all people, both male and female. He also frequently used the pronouns he, his, and him to refer to both men and women. These language conventions were common in his era.