Sunday School General Presidency on This Year’s Study of the Doctrine and Covenants

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By Kaitlyn Bancroft, Church News

The Doctrine and Covenants chronicles revelations given to early members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from their time in the Eastern and Midwestern U.S. through their settling in Salt Lake City.

But while early Church history events took place in North America, Sunday School General President Paul V. Johnson said his presidency is making efforts to ensure that this year’s “Come, Follow Me” study of the Doctrine and Covenants is relevant to members around the globe.

For instance, he and his counselors — Brother Chad H Webb, First Counselor, and Brother Gabriel W. Reid, Second Counselor — work with an advisory council of people from all over the world. “We want the input so that we can focus on things that would be relevant and helpful to other parts of the world,” President Johnson said.

The Sunday School General Presidency recently spoke to the Church News about the Doctrine and Covenants, scripture study resources, advice for teachers and other topics related to this year’s “Come, Follow Me” study.

Brother Reid, who was born in American Samoa, invited Church members everywhere to give the Doctrine and Covenants a chance.

“Make sure to put in the spiritual work to really unpack the Doctrine and Covenants,” he said, “and you’ll find that it is definitely written for me as a Polynesian, [for people] in other parts of the world, just as much as it was for someone who was born here in North America.”

Brother Webb added that although Church members’ individual circumstances might vary, they’re united through the gospel. “The power of the word is real in every culture among every people.”

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Doctrine and Covenants Study Aids

Church members last studied the Doctrine and Covenants collectively in 2021, as the world emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The world is in a different place now, and it’s “such an exciting time to be able to study the Doctrine and Covenants,” Brother Reid said. “I love what President Joseph Fielding Smith said, that it is our book and it was written for us.”

The Church offers a variety of study aids to help Latter-day Saints learn from the Doctrine and Covenants.

However, both President Johnson and Brother Webb emphasized that the scriptures themselves are the most important material a Church member can study.

“The primary source of our study this year is the Doctrine and Covenants,” Brother Webb said. “We don’t want anything to get in between us and our study of this word of God, and with the help of the Holy Ghost, [we can] learn what He would teach us.”

With that in mind, the Sunday School General Presidency discussed a number of study helps, including:

• The “Come, Follow Me” manual.
• “Saints,” Volume 1, a narrative history of the Church.
• The Joseph Smith Papers project.
• Church magazines such as the Liahona, For the Strength of Youth and The Friend.
• “Revelations in Context.”
• Videos about people, places and events.
• Virtual tours of historic sites.
• The illustrated “Doctrine and Covenants Stories” for children.
• The “Topics and Questions” section in the Gospel Library app.

The “Topics and Questions” section is particularly helpful for addressing complex and sensitive issues, Brother Webb said.

“There are just so many resources to help people, whatever their question is,” Brother Webb said. “But having said that, I would point us back to the primary resource, ... the scriptures and teachings of living prophets. And then these are secondary resources.”

President Johnson added that the purpose of secondary resources is “to help us understand and apply what we read in the scriptures and what we hear from the prophets.”

What to Pay Attention to This Year

The Doctrine and Covenants is unique among the standard works, both for its modernity and for its rich level of detail not always present in other books of scripture.

President Johnson noted these features while discussing facets of the Doctrine and Covenants he hopes Church members pay attention to this year.

“We can see clearly, as we’re reading the Doctrine and Covenants and also studying the associated history to give us the context, what’s going on that triggers these questions and these answers from the Lord,” he said. “We can see how He deals with the prophets and with His people, and then it also becomes clear to us He deals with us in the same way and that we can hear His voice.”

Brother Webb added that while the Lord speaks in all sets of scripture, He speaks more in the Doctrine and Covenants than in any other book. “That makes this a powerful experience in the scriptures.”

He also emphasized the “unspoken message” to young adults found in the Doctrine and Covenants: that the Lord puts “incredible” trust in them.

Brother Webb said Joseph Smith, like most early Church leaders, was in his mid-20s when the Church was organized, and with the Lord’s help, they did “remarkable things” at a very young age.

They also made mistakes, learned and grew, “and that gives me hope. … That makes me think I have a chance to learn and grow and be who Heavenly Father would have me be.”

President Johnson said young adults have a great responsibility now, but it won’t be long before the baton is fully handed off to them — before the work of carrying the kingdom forward is entirely theirs. “The more they can learn about how the kingdom was built and grew and [is] connected with the Savior Jesus Christ, the more prepared they’ll be.”

Advice for Teachers, Parents and Leaders

The Sunday School General Presidency also offered advice to teachers, especially those who will work with youth and children this year.

President Johnson said the aim of all gospel teaching and learning is to deepen individual conversion and become more like Jesus Christ. This means relying on Heavenly Father and the Savior to change hearts, views, actions and natures.

That’s why it’s so important that teachers focus on Jesus Christ, President Johnson said. He pointed to the “Teaching in the Savior’s Way” resource, which lists specific ways for teachers to center their lessons on Christ.5

At the same time, teachers can add variety to their lessons by including Church history specific to that week’s readings, he said.

“When we’re studying a section in the Doctrine and Covenants or a part of Church history, [we see] how the interaction goes with the Savior and the people. … The Savior is the same, but the way He reaches out to the people, the way He teaches them, is a little different,” President Johnson said.

For parents and leaders of young children, he continued, it’s key to simply love the Lord and the children. As they do so, they’ll receive inspiration for listening to children and helping them understand.

“I think [parents and leaders] can see great things out of the mouths of babes … as they’re exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Savior works with His children,” President Johnson said.

The Lord is grateful for teachers around the world, he added and will bless their individual efforts.

‘The Continuing Nature of the Restoration’

The Sunday School General Presidency closed its discussion by bearing testimony of Joseph Smith, the ongoing Restoration and the Savior Jesus Christ.

President Johnson noted the Church’s recent focus on the Savior and preparing for His Second Coming. He particularly emphasized the 2020 Restoration Proclamation and teachings from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“It’s been a reminder to us … about the continuing nature of the Restoration,” he said, “that we’re in the middle of this, that we’re all part of it, and that the Savior is leading this work and this Church at this time.”

President Johnson also drew parallels between Joseph Smith and President Russell M. Nelson. The heavens were open wide when Joseph knelt to pray in 1820, he said, and they’re still open today as President Nelson leads the Church.

Brother Reid recalled President Nelson’s first talk as the current Prophet about the importance of revelation. He encouraged missionaries to put themselves in Prophet Joseph’s shoes by asking the heavens for personal revelation.

He added that the Doctrine and Covenants is an important tool for missionaries because it testifies of the Restoration, of the Father and Son’s divinity and of Jesus Christ’s Church.

“I know now, very similar to the pattern we see in the Doctrine and Covenants, that the Lord calls weak people to do His work, and I’m one of them,” Brother Reid said. “And so I’m just grateful to know that the Lord does qualify those who He calls and that this is His work.”

Brother Webb said that the voice of the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants is one of joy and deliverance. Though the world has many challenges, “there are so many reasons to be hopeful and happy and optimistic because the Lord is in charge.”

And President Johnson reiterated that the heavens are open and this is the dispensation of the fullness of times.

“Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ,” President Johnson testified. “Jesus lives, and He is guiding His Church today through Russell M. Nelson and the other apostles. I am so grateful to be involved.”