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How can I learn to be more patient?

How can I learn to be more patient?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without being angry, frustrated, or anxious. We can develop patience by seeking to do God’s will and accepting His timing, trusting that He will fulfill all of His promises to us. As we learn to be patient in small things, we prepare ourselves to face larger trials with patience.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

What experiences have taught you about patience (including both major trials and less dramatic experiences)? What has helped you to be patient during challenging times?

What influences do the young women face in today’s society that may lead them to become impatient? How might you help them learn patience and trust in the Lord’s timing and promises? What blessings will come to them if they are patient?

What can the young women do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

The Savior taught by example in every setting. He showed patience and long-suffering both to those who followed Him and to those who persecuted Him. How might your example of patience with those you teach help them learn to be more patient themselves?

Video: “Prepare to Teach”

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Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our class: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

  • Our responsibilities: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

  • Our lives: Remind the class of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a class presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the class; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help class members understand the doctrine.

  • Write on the board a few questions about Job—What kind of man was Job? What tested his patience? What does he teach us about patience? Read Job 1; 19:25–26 as a class, and discuss answers to the questions. What do the young women learn from Job’s example that might help them be more patient? How did his faith in the Savior help him face his trials with patience?

  • As a class, read paragraphs 9 through 17 of Elder Robert D. Hales’s talk “Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done,” looking for answers to the question “What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?” For additional insights, invite the young women to look up the scriptures that Elder Hales quotes and share anything else these scriptures teach about patience. How could the young women use Elder Hales’s words or these scriptures to help someone who may be losing hope?

  • Write on the board the headings Patience and Impatience. Give each young woman one of the scriptures about patience suggested in this outline. Invite the class to take turns reading their scriptures aloud, discussing what they teach, and writing on the board the blessings of patience or consequences of impatience. What additional blessings and consequences can they add to their lists? Invite each young woman to write on a piece of paper a situation that would require patience (encourage them to include not just major trials but also day-to-day irritations or inconveniences). Have them exchange papers with another young woman, write a response that would show patience, and then share with the class what they have written.

  • Show the young women several Mormonad posters from recent issues of the New Era or Liahona. Divide the class into small groups, and invite them to create their own Mormonad on the topic of patience. They could start by finding a scripture on patience (such as those listed in this outline) and think of a creative way to present it on a poster. Ask them to share their posters with the class and explain what patience means to them. (As part of this discussion, you may want to share with the class the definition of patience found at the beginning of this outline.)

  • Show the video “Continue in Patience,” and invite the young women to discuss what they learn about patience from the video. What are some situations in which the young women become impatient? Invite each young woman to read one section from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk “Continue in Patience,” and ask her to summarize for the rest of the class what she learned from the section she read. How can President Uchtdorf’s counsel help the young women become more patient?

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3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

  • Ask the young women to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a class to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young women a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

  • Remind the young women that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.