Welcome to closer to Christ through general conference
where two friends who love Jesus share our own
approach to studying the most recent general
conference talks This is Abby and Amy. Let's
jump into it we're talking about that all may
be edified. This is by brother Chad H Webb. He's
the first counselor in the Sunday School general
presidency. So he starts out picture this, you're
about to take a very important test. And you're
told that you can bring one sheet of paper with
whatever you need to help you. So some people
furiously scribbled, you know, tiny print every
bit of information that could possibly be on
the exam. And then in this top, it illustrates
a clever student. who said that his tutor could
stand on the piece of paper. So it would be.
This would be able to provide insight to any
question presented. It's such a great backstory
to discussing the power that we have when we
allow ourselves to be tutored with the help of
the Holy Ghost. We see the Holy Ghost working
with individuals and groups across the world
in every denomination, but as members of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints,
I think sometimes we might forget how blessed
we are that we can have constant companionship
with this member of the Godhead, the perfect
tutor, the Holy Ghost. Absolutely, Abby. How
do we prevent the apathy toward one of the sweetest
gifts that we've been given? If we remember the
gift of the Holy Ghost and then also show gratitude
for the experiences that we have with the Holy
Ghost, we're likely to recognize that we are
constantly, like you said, Abby, it's a constant
gift and we're always being blessed by that.
The Holy Ghost knows all things, testifies of
truth, and will bring all things to our remembrance.
I know we all want experiences with God and we
want to know that He's hearing our pleas, that
He's invested in the decisions that we're making.
And we can constantly be talking to Him, but
sometimes you'll hear people say, you know, I'm
talking to Him, but I don't know if He hears
me. I don't know if He's there to answer my prayers.
Maybe you see that happening in other people's
lives, but you're not so sure that it's happening
for yourself. And the reason is because it takes
effort to hear Him. I agree. And we all know,
you know, that phrase, our beloved prophet, President
Russell M Nelson, frequently spoke about the
importance of hearing him. So just, I mean, as
you dig into that, it's not that he's not talking,
it's that it's going to take some effort on our
part to know how it is that we hear him. Absolutely.
For each one of us, because it's going to be
an individual. And a lot of that prophetic advice
centered around increasing our own spiritual
capacity to have encounters with the Holy Ghost.
And it's always there and it's always available
for us to have this constant companionship. But
like you said, it takes effort on our part to,
first of all, recognize it and then also to receive
that inspiration. Because many times it is happening,
we just haven't taken the time to stop and even
recognize. And the more that we do take those
moments that it does become easier. It's an individual
process, but when I'm watching like right now
we happen to be in primary, definitely the songs
are inviting the spirit. And when our music leader
takes a moment to point out when she's feeling
the spirit and she says, do you feel anything?
Do you feel special? The kids are usually in
a kind of a quiet enough demeanor that they're
like, oh, I do feel something different. That
might be some of their first encounters with
it. you know, music aside isn't happening, church
aside isn't happening. It can be in any moment,
anywhere. They feel a twinge of that, that they
can say, oh, this is that same, you know, that
same friend that I felt before about that. Brother
Webb, as his role is in the Sunday School general
presidency, directs us to some really helpful
information. that's provided in the manual teaching
in the Savior's way. I know Amy and I talked
about this before, because we just had a primary
training on it. And so it had nothing to do with
the general conference talk, but by virtue of
what was on our mind from that day as we were
podcasting about another talk, that this came
up. And so I actually shared the image that he's
referencing on our Facebook page. I think it's
so nice to have eyes on it. But really, this
talk centers around how in our homes and in our
church callings, we can magnify those if we're
teaching with the Holy Ghost and basically the
process of doing what it takes to invite the
Holy Ghost more fully into our teaching opportunities.
So if you're a visual person, you'll find it
helpful to either reference it in the teaching
in the Savior's Way manual, you can go to our
Facebook page, Closer to Christ through general
conference, or if you seem to like, just listening
to things and picturing it. This is like a Venn
diagram as we're talking about these points.
Okay, so the Venn diagram has three main pieces.
They are invite diligent learning, teach the
doctrine and focus on Jesus Christ. And he explains
to this talk that when we do these things effectively,
the center of this is that we can provide opportunities
for deeper conversion to Jesus Christ. On the
outside of this Venn diagram, we need to love
those we teach and teach with the Holy Ghost.
So it's a process. I mean, I've thought of it
a lot as I've been teaching my little primary
kids, as I've been teaching in my home and...
you know, when all of the pieces are kind of
harmonious, you're like, yep, that's gonna sink,
that's gonna sink a lot deeper. Yeah, just having
it top of mind. It's very easy to weave it in
just as long as you like remember what those
three things are. I appreciated that in our training.
So let's dig into one of those first ones. It's
invite diligent learning. So have you ever considered
the different impact a lesson has when we study
the material with a prayer in our heart and also
a focus on those we teach? We often grow our
faith and understanding. and are prepared at
that point to share that with the class. We just
need those participants to show up essentially
and to listen and then also to tune in to the
effort that we put into the materials. And also
when the spirit is there. Last week, Abby, you
were gone last week and the lesson that I gave,
the kids wanted to share a lot. You know how
at the beginning we have them share? Sometimes
we have girls who love to chat and then we have
boys who don't say so much. And this one student
in particular raised his hand twice and shared
something. And he shared something that was pretty
like close to his heart about one of his animals
dying and how his animal had like protected the
family and all the animals from a pack of four
coyotes. and how their animal, how their dog
came back and was bloody and passed away and
that's why they were getting a new dog. Anyway,
when I heard that my heart just like I kind of
got tears in my eyes just because he was sharing
something so real, you know, and at the end of
it. I was able to bear testimony to all the kids.
Because they'd shared something from the heart,
each one of them that week, I was able to bear
testimony and say, you know, Jesus knows you.
He sees you. He's excited for you to go get this
new dog that you're getting and he sees your
broken heart over the other one. You know, just
each one of them as we, so that's one thing I
like is for us to invite them to share things.
Because when they do do that, we know more of
what to say to be more specific and really fine
tune that teaching and let them know that Christ
also sees them. Heavenly Father also sees them.
So now we're going to consider another scenario,
a more effective one. We do, we put our time
into preparation for ourselves in that same way.
And this time we think of a question to share
with the learners in advance of the lesson and
encourage them to come with any question that
they thought on their own study and learning.
And of course, this is age appropriate, right?
Sometimes kids aren't going to, they're going
to have things like you know, on a lower level,
or sorry, a more basic level. The lesson plan
is gospel -based, meaning it's centered in true
doctrine, which is a point we will focus on in
a little bit. But those questions your diligent
learners have been considering for a week or
more influence the direction of this discussion.
So you're less concerned with covering every
single thing, right? Like, oh, we didn't get
to this or that. Becoming the facilitator of
everything that these diligent learners have
brought to discuss. Some in the group may be
having an experience with the spirit, but if
you are feeling it, invite them to recognize
that the things coming to their own hearts and
mind is actually personal revelation. Then when
we finish a lesson, we don't really consider
it because we hit each, you know, maybe a success
if we hit each and every bullet point that we
planned out in advance because we skipped other
comments and things like that. It's pretty much
the essence of the lesson that we gave. And when
we have connection with our those that we're
teaching, it is always a better outcome. Our
success as a teacher actually comes from seeing
that the learners are sharing and developing
habits of life lifelong discipleship. That would
be the mark of a great teacher. I love just thinking
about the scenario of the two different types
of teachers. I know that the heart's in the right
place. And I know that the teacher that comes
with the eight by 10 and the bullet points and
really concerned about covering everything has
a great heart at the core of it. They wouldn't
have put the time and preparation into that lesson
if they didn't love these learners. Right. I
agree. Kids these days have so much to share
and we have so much to be blessed by when it's
a more collaborative effort. Yes, you can tell
when kids are trying to like sidetrack you and
like purposefully steer you away from the lesson
material, but When they're sharing from the heart,
it's different like who cares where the lesson
goes to what it has nothing to do with the lesson
I mean, that's the great part about the home
centered gospel the church supported. It's like
We're hopeful that the lesson material is already
there in the heart than the piece that they've
come to church to share or the thing that sparks
for them to share. You can't predict what that's
going to be. And you can't hope that it's exactly
a specific answer so that it can just flow right
in with your lesson the way that you've planned
it out. Right. And if it's in your heart, then
you'll be able to kind of take that detour and
still make it totally work. Because everything
can be turned back to Jesus Christ, right? So
much catching up today because we've had like
six weeks of like primary program practice or
we had a general conference, we had state conference,
Amy was gone one week, I was gone one week. Anyway,
scenario, like just kind of a, just multitude.
And then it was supposed to be fifth Sunday,
which it's hit and miss whether we're teaching
or not, but we ended up teaching. So I think
they had a lot of energy that they wanted to
share. And I was like, okay, I knew that was
going to be the case. So we just came off singing
a very powerful song on choose him again. And
when it's a fifth Sunday in primary, we're supposed
to focus on covenant path, appendix B or whatever,
not just the lesson material. So I'm like, okay.
We've, we were coming off this high note with
this song. So we're going to hit the lesson first
when typically Amy and I, we get them opened
up and sharing and participating by letting us
know whatever's on their mind from the week.
Not necessarily church related. So I was like,
I'd prepared this for the podcast, you know,
earlier in the week and it kind of on my mind.
And I was like, well, if we can just. go into
the lesson, then we can know what kind of time
we have at the end to save. So when they're just
going on story after story, they're like, one
of our guys is like, church is over. I'm like,
exactly. So we can wrap it up. Like there's an
obvious end to their stories. They all matter
to us, but like, we know that we got the meat
of the gospel, like right there in the beginning,
playing off of the great lessons that they're
learning from the music. And that just happens
to be for our young primary class right now.
Seasons are different. Right. I know for a fact,
one of the absolute best ways to learn is by
sharing what we have studied. So when I prepare
a lesson, oftentimes the impressions that I'm
getting are for me to be tutored. And if I'm
like, oh, I just want everybody to feel that
and come to that conclusion, that's not really
the point of it. Stick to the lesson material
because you know that you're in true doctrine
if you're in the material that they've provided
for you, but allow the spirit to decide what
the learner is going to hear and experience.
Absolutely. With usually a good question in advance
is the best way to get to the end goal. Yeah.
When we're in the lesson and we choose to share
something, Brother Webb shared this, it's true
of all things. When we share in a lesson, we're
exhibiting our agency. basically saying we want
to be a participant, we're signaling to the Holy
Ghost that we're willing to expand our capacity.
Which, when we go back to that first part on
hearing Him, a lot of that is growing our capacity
to feel the Spirit and hear the Spirit. It's
always there. How much abundance can we take
in? When we act, we invite more. So if you're
not feeling it, you're not feeling inspired by
lessons, even if you don't want to, start with
participating. Say something. And then it becomes
more like family father wants something said
from the pulpit like I hate bearing my testimony
I don't really like to plan that in advance,
but I've When I know that it's like time to bear
my testimony I'll be like, hey if there's something
you want me to share on the pulpit like impressed
me to do so. And I've said that prayer and been
just content to sit and listen to the testimonies
that are born. A lot of times things were on
my mind, comes out of the mouth of another speaker
and I'm like, that's so great. They said it,
what was on my heart. But sometimes I'll say,
you know, be your mouthpiece, tell me, you know,
impressed with me, what you want me to share.
And then your heart's beating like it's going
to like just... pop out of your chest and it
propels you up to the stand. You're like, what
am I doing up here? What am I going to say? And
you open your mouth and you share whatever you're
going to share and you feel that relief. Like
I shared whatever I needed to. Sometimes that's
for me. Sometimes, you know, from a comment after
like, thank you for sharing that really touched
me or sparks the next testimony, whatever the
case may be. Like just pairing yourself with
the Holy Ghost in those scenarios, I've seen
huge growth to my own testimony in that way.
President Nelson invited us, like I said, to
do this in this way, to hear him. And so I love
this from the talk Elder Webb shared. As in all
things, Jesus Christ is the perfect example.
He has invited each of us to be diligent learners
and to take charge of our own testimonies. He
invited his disciples to prepare to learn, to
share what they were learning, and to act in
faith. He prayed for them, saw their divine potential,
listened to them, and helped them know they were
loved and needed. Um, when you see these things
in others that you're teaching, I just want to
agree with Amy here. Don't hesitate to share
with them these things that you're seeing from
them, these qualities, these characteristics.
Be so appreciative of the comments that they're
saying. Sometimes we don't articulate the things
we want to say the best, but if we're encouraged
to participate and to share, even if we flub
it up, then we're going to do it more and we're
going to have more opportunities and encounters
with the spirit. He also said, don't, I don't
know if I said this already, but he said, words
of encouragement, oh, this is good, words of
encouragement from a trusted teacher could be
just the spark that makes a huge change in another's
life. So, I mean, he had mentioned this teacher
that he had that said something about him being
a good writer. and basically like with more focused
effort, you could be really good at writing.
It's like I never even thought of it that way.
So she said something, it could have gone in
one ear and out the other, but apparently he
really took it to heart and he really invested
in his education at that point in the writing
aspect. Reading through this talk, for instance.
It's well written. Very well written. So, I mean,
he took a document that we have, I don't know
if he was participated in helping form that document.
He's been in church education forever, but I'm
not sure how far back that goes, but he put into
beautiful words something, my visual brain does
need to see the document, but knowing the document
and then hearing the words, I'm like, oh, he
made that very obvious and clear what the purpose
is. When we open our mouths to teach, if we want
to do it with the spirit, here's the way to do
it. Any other thoughts on this piece of the diagram?
No, I feel like we've covered it. Or I have.
Let's move on to another essential part of the
equation, and that is to teach the doctrine.
We could ask ourselves a question. Is my gospel
study an instruction rooted in the Word of God?
There's enough true doctrine that we can study
that we don't need to sensationalize or speculate
on what the Lord has not revealed. From the talk,
he says, focus on essential and eternal gospel
principles, which allows the spirit to testify
of truth. Again, we follow the example of the
Savior. He said, my doctrine is not mine, but
he that sent me. I know people get fixed on like
a point of doctrine that they're unsettled with.
They spend more time looking at that. There's
a lot of question marks, too. You know, certainly
there's an opportunity to study up on that and
read as much as we do know, truth revealed, on
that difficult thing. But I know that it's always
a good idea to focus our efforts on, like, root
ourselves on the basic principles and premise
of the gospel. Because a lot of the things that
we get uncertain on is because of the way that
man has interpreted that thing. Right. Is that
too vague? I don't want to stir up any drama,
like what people are struggling with, because
I want to say it's very valid if you struggle
with the concept in the gospel, you should have
that struggle. That should be something that
you feel comfortable enough that you have the
opportunity to wrestle with. But a lot of the
times the way to resolve that issue is to tenfold
center yourself on the truth that you do know.
And for me to go to God rather than someone else,
right? Right. So when you want answers to those
secondary things, those pieces and parts of the
gospel that are unsettling, why is it fair that
you're going to a source that has no intention
of pointing you back to Jesus Christ? They're
usually trying to point you to them, whatever
they want you to follow in their world. So our
source material is very important to consider
when we have a desire to focus on true doctrine.
So where do we find this? We find it in the scriptures.
We find it in teachings of modern prophets through
general conference. And also, studying the scriptures
individually and his family's attending church
each week gives us multiple options to hear his
doctrine and also to hear him. Never before in
history of the world have we had such an incredible
opportunity to access true doctrine. And at the
same time, it has never been easier to find false
doctrine. When we feast upon the word of God
with consistent effort, we can learn to understand
and also love the scriptures and trust that they
have the answers to the questions of our soul.
When we do these things, it's easier to spot
false teachings through the same gift of the
Holy Ghost. So yeah, Abby, like you were saying,
to put more weight on the things that you learn,
so each of us individually, from the scriptures
and modern prophets through the Holy Ghost, than
that of false teachings that others would have
you believe from maybe their study, That's just
far less reliable material than actually going
to the scriptures and the source. So let's talk
about the final piece of the equation. And this
last one is to focus on Jesus Christ. It was
a perfect timing in his talk when he shared.
It's fun. I think it's fun that this talk landed
in December, as a lot of people around the world
are more focused on Jesus Christ at this time.
I know we're trying to make Easter as, you know,
Christ -centered is Christmas, but universally,
I think people know Christmas triumphs and people
are a little kinder, a little bit more thoughtful,
a little bit more Christ -centered for sure.
He says this, we can speak more often and more
reverently of Him and seek more opportunities
to express testimony, gratitude and love for
Him. Whatever the setting is, we remember Him.
We can have His Spirit to be with us. So in our
lessons, how easily could we just insert a simple
question like, Can you think of a time when Jesus
Christ exemplified this principle? Yeah. In the
material we are studying, we can focus on His
titles, which is one of my personal favorite
things to do. I thought of you when I read that.
His roles, His attributes, seeking not only to
learn what He has done, but also better understand
who He is, if we want to be like Him. Yeah, for
sure. And I found it helpful that Elder Webb
gave a specific example. What is it, Brother
Webb? Brother. Okay. Brother Webb gave a specific
example of what this looks like. So he said,
for example, when studying the principle of repentance,
it's important to understand how to repent. But
it's also essential to remember what Jesus Christ
has done to make repentance possible and to understand
what repentance teaches us about Him, about His
true nature and His characteristics. What does
our opportunity to repent say about His love,
His patience and mercy, His belief in our divine
potential, his willingness to atone for our sins,
and the joy he finds in forgiving. That is awesome.
I like that because it also, you know, sometimes
when you think about repentance, like everything
we learn line upon line, you know, and I think
as a kid, you know, learning the lesson of like
the things that you need to do to repent. Sometimes
you get step one, step two, step one, step two.
And I love that he says, you know, think about
the true nature of Jesus Christ, why he does
it, the joy he finds in forgiving. I mean, that
just makes it much more of a personal relationship
with each one of us and our savior. Agreed. I'm
just thinking like there are at least three,
maybe four chunks that I'd like direct quote
him. So I'm just thinking back. He, it's not
wrong, he is an excellent writer. I'm like, I
can't say that any better than he's saying. So
I'm like, direct quote from the talk here. Another
awesome example that he pointed out. Okay, well
first, he pointed out titles of Jesus Christ.
So here are some names that he specifically mentioned
in this talk. Lamb of God, Redeemer and Physician.
So he says, when we consider these names, maybe
it will help us to see that repentance is his
invitation to cleanse, change and heal us. Cleanse,
change, redeem and heal physician. Like, could
you write that better? No, that's why we're just
gonna speak it right exactly like he said it.
Then, when he was talking about attributes of
Jesus Christ, I also love this example, so I'm
going to share it. He said, when we're reading
about Nephi building a boat, we might focus only
on Nephi. Focusing on the Savior can help us
see that this record was not preserved to teach
about how great Nephi was, but to show us the
greatness of God, that he gives us strength to
keep his commandments, delivers us in time of
need, and Nephi. Nephi points to God, we should
be looking for God in those stories. Absolutely.
We can think Nephi is great, but that wasn't
his intention either. So, love it when he said
that. I do want to add my testimony. When we
become engaged in considering the names of Christ
and attributes of Christ, it'll become second
nature to us and we will see him in everything.
And if we will focus on Jesus Christ, teach his
doctrine and learn diligently and also invite
diligent learning through the Holy Ghost. It
deepens our faith in Jesus Christ. It helps us
to become more like him. And that really is the
aim of all of our gospel teaching. When I got,
again, Abby was gone last week, but I got home
from church and I just had, my heart was so full
after this lesson. I'd really thought about the
kids. There was connection and... I just wrote
a quick text to our Sunday School president who
just put that together. Short and sweet teacher
training. That's what I was gonna say. It was
impactful. For whatever reason, we only had 20
minutes. Yeah, and it was perfect. I think it
was just the duration of singing time. And so
he gets in, he's like, this is gonna be fast,
but this is, so you messaged him. I just messaged
him and I said, thanks for doing that because
I have felt a difference. I said, I feel a deeper
love of Jesus Christ and I feel a deeper love
for each one of our little students. I love them.
We're coming to the end of the year. Don't say
it. I know, right? They're just so sweet and
they have just such pure hearts. And I really
feel like it was because we have been as a team
teachers, we've been putting this into practice
since he just brought that up and reminded us
about it. And I just feel like this is another
reminder. And so I'm bearing my testimony that
it has made a difference just keeping it top
of mind. And it has really brought a lot of joy
to my life. I agree. Follow up, because I didn't
catch the story of our little guy losing his
dog, but he did share this week when I was there
that they do have a new puppy. And no name yet,
but that makes it kind of extra tender that he
brought that up, that he knew that the class
is invested enough in his story that he got to
share like, hey, we got a new puppy. So I'm just
kind of thinking when we create an atmosphere
for learning and we're doing these things in
the right way, what we can also see, we love
the student, we love the kids that we're teaching
that encompasses what we're doing, but I think
they love each other. we know that they love
each other. They notice when one of them is gone,
curious about what they're up to, glad to see
when they come back, and you teach activity days
too, so I'm sure you're seeing them outside of
just that Sunday gathering, them interacting
with each other and these other things, and that's
kind of the fun part of the gospel, you get together.
You could you can have spiritual experiences
you can have opportunities with the Holy Ghost
even in the fun times when there's that camaraderie
and that love is there that's been fostered.
So absolutely It's been a fun class. It's kind
of sad to think about them going moving on up
But we still get them in primary to keep an eye
on and we still watching Any other thoughts to
share that was it I've loved this talk. I've
loved reviewing it. I love sharing it. And hopefully
we're reaching the ears of people that are teaching
in their homes and teaching in, in. Immigrative
callings, young women's, Relief Society Primary,
Elders Quorum, wherever you're teaching. And
maybe you're already just knocking this out of
the park. And this is, this is your subscription
for a perfect lesson. And, you know, maybe, maybe
you've heard something today in reviewing Elder
Webb's talk that your brother Webb. Brother Webb's
talk that you think, hey, that's the tweak that
he wants me to make. That's what's going to make
these lessons a little bit more impactful, powerful,
and help deepen people's conversion to Jesus
Christ, the ultimate goal of our teaching. I'm
going to close with his testimony. He says, I'm
grateful for the teachers in my life who help
us to know and follow Jesus Christ. I'm grateful
for the Holy Ghost, the perfect tutor. It is
through the Holy Ghost that I know that Heavenly
Father loves us and has a perfect plan for us,
that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer
of the world, and that his gospel and church
have been restored. I gratefully testify of these
things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.