Q&A:
Questions and Answers

Answers are intended for help and perspective, not as pronouncements of Church doctrine.

It’s hard for me to sit through my Sunday School class. The lessons always seem to be on subjects we’ve talked about over and over. What should I do?

New Era

Sunday School can be a good opportunity to learn more about a single gospel subject in depth. In class, you also have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss things you don’t quite understand. But the biggest part of enjoying your Sunday School lessons is getting involved. Don’t just sit back and wait to be entertained. You need to bring your attention to the lesson, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how interesting your lessons can be.

First of all, you need to get rid of the notion that, since you’ve discussed or learned about a subject a few times, you know everything there is to know. The more you study the gospel, the more you will discover. The scriptures, both in the Old Testament book of Isaiah and in 2 Nephi, talk about learning step by step: “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Ne. 28:30; see also Isa. 28:9–13).

Did you notice the warning at the end of this scripture? It says that if we think we have learned enough, even that knowledge will be lost. The Lord wants us to understand the doctrines of his kingdom. We need to know these gospel principles for our salvation. And if we diligently search and learn, we will be blessed by receiving more wisdom and knowledge.

We will have many different teachers in our lives. Just because we don’t find the manner in which one particular teacher gives lessons to be as personally interesting as another doesn’t mean that our classmates might not find that teacher’s manner of teaching more powerful for them. If our teachers are teaching the truth, there can be great power in the message.

You can learn life-changing truths with the help of the Holy Ghost. If you are prayerful and diligent, you may find an answer to your prayers through the words of your Sunday School teacher. Be sure you are always in attendance. You never know which day it will happen, that the lesson will be taught in such a way to open up your mind. Your teachers have been called and given a blessing that they may prepare the things you need to hear. You need to be ready to receive those words.

As you participate more by bringing your scriptures, asking questions, and paying attention to what is being taught, you will find the lessons becoming more interesting. And as you gain wisdom, you will receive the Lord’s blessing of more knowledge “line upon line.”

Readers

I feel exactly the same way, or I used to. I thought I knew mostly everything on a particular subject. I was so wrong! I found that if I really listened to the things being said that I would learn something new.

Carla Burchell, 16
Weston-Super-Mare, England

I find that the more you relate stories and lessons to your own life, the more interesting they’ll become. You might even want to take short notes and carry them with you as you go to school and work.

David Kleparek, 17
Pleasant Grove, Utah

When I feel like the lesson is boring or we have already talked about it, I try to participate more. Share your questions and ideas. It makes the lesson seem different if you ask different questions.

Jenny Foley, 13
North Ogden, Utah

If it is hard for you to sit through your class, then you should pray for help in feeling the Spirit. And if it is still hard for you, then you should ask this question to yourself and think about it: What would our Savior do?

Faavae L. Toy. Leiataua, 17
Pago Pago, Samoa

I got thinking if they keep teaching the subject over and over then it’s got to be important. So I started listening more and stayed in my Sunday School class. I realized I was actually getting more out of what they were teaching, and I really started to enjoy the lessons. Just try to listen and stay focused, and your interest in the lessons will increase.

Virginia Titus, 14
Paradise, California

Sunday School class is a big help to me. It gives me spiritual nourishment and my testimony increases. Think how the lesson applies in your life. Pray always for guidance of the Spirit. Open your heart and your mind in order for you to understand the lesson.

Sister Fe Baquiran Aquino
Philippines Cagatan de Oro Mission

I used to get tired of the subjects in Sunday School until it hit me that I was being taught the things that God wanted me to know. I had taken for granted that I have been blessed with this knowledge. I realized that these lessons contained the basic principles of our religion, the one we proclaim to be the only true faith and that I would need to know these things if someone asked me about my church. I tried to apply the things I was hearing and be grateful for the truth that I had.

Michelle Middlemas, 15
Sandy, Utah

If you’ll listen, you’ll hear and learn things you didn’t know or hear before. Plus, if you listen to the lesson, you’ll feel the Spirit, and you’ll enjoy it and grow spiritually.

Jamae Stotts, 16
Bella Vista, California

Photography by Matt Reier. Posed by models.

When Christ was just a boy of 12, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem. He became so absorbed in the things that were being taught in the temple that his parents found him “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions” (Luke 2:46). We need to do the same. We need to become involved in the lessons that are taught us by listening and asking questions. (Painting Christ in the Temple by Heinrich Hofmann.)