Learning from general conference

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to have a living prophet on the earth today. His teachings, and those of other general Church leaders, are a great strength to the members of the Church—including the youth you teach. The Lord declared: “Thou shalt give heed unto all [the prophet’s] words and commandments which he shall give unto you … ; for his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith. For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you” (Doctrine and Covenants 21:4–6).

Resources to Help You Prepare

With the quorum or class presidency, select one or more messages from the most recent general conference that you feel will be most meaningful to the youth you teach.

Transcripts and videos from general conference are available online (see conference.ChurchofJesusChrist.org) and in the Gospel Library app.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

What principles or doctrines were taught in this conference message? Which of these do you feel will be most helpful to the youth in your quorum or class?

What experiences or examples did the speaker use? What principles do these experiences or examples teach? What experiences from your own life can you share that relate to these principles?

What did the speaker invite us to do? What blessings did he or she promise we would receive? What invitations and promised blessings will you discuss with the youth?

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

“Consider how using music, stories, pictures, and other forms of art can invite the Spirit, clarify gospel principles in memorable ways, and help learners relate the gospel to their everyday lives. Remember that such resources should not be the focus of the lesson, but only tools to help you teach the doctrines of the gospel more effectively” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 22).

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

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

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

Our quorum or 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 duties: 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 quorum or 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 quorum or class presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

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

Study the selected message or messages from general conference and seek the guidance of the Spirit (see “Questions to Ponder before You Teach”). Then plan a way to help the youth discover truths from the message. The following activities can help:

Summarize the message. Invite the youth to read the message and write a one-sentence summary of it. Challenge them to reduce their summary to a short phrase that they can easily remember.
Learn about a scripture. Invite the youth to read a scripture referenced in the selected message. Ask them to discuss how the teachings in the message help them better understand the scripture.
Prepare and share. Before the meeting, invite several young men or young women to read different sections of the message and come prepared to share their insights, feelings, and understandings.
Find a phrase. Select several paragraphs from the message, and invite the youth to search them, looking for phrases that help them understand the doctrine being taught. Ask them to share what they found and why it is important.
Create a picture. Invite the youth to find a quotation from the message that is meaningful to them. Then they could make a poster, bookmark, or meme based on this quotation that they could share or display in their homes.
Find invitations and blessings. Give each young man or young woman a copy of the talk and different colored markers, pencils, or crayons. Invite them to use different colors to highlight things such as gospel principles, invitations to act, promised blessings, and warnings. Invite the youth to share insights about what they found.
Share quotations. Invite the youth to share quotations from the message that inspire them. What do these quotations inspire us to do? What opportunities do we have to share these teachings with others?
Prepare a lesson. Ask the youth to work in pairs to plan a home evening lesson based on a section of the message. What could we do to help our family members understand these teachings and how they relate to our lives? Invite some of the pairs to share their plans.
Read and share. Read together several quotations from the message. Ask the youth to share examples from the scriptures and from their lives that illustrate what these quotations mean to them.

3. Plan to act

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

How will you encourage youth to apply the message or messages to their lives? Consider the following:

Ask the youth 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 quorum or class to apply what they have learned?
Give the youth 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 youth that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.