Gospel Teaching in the Home

Introduction

It is our responsibility and sacred duty to teach the gospel in our homes. Our children’s earliest
memories should include moments of prayer, scripture study, and gospel learning within our homes.

Elder Devin Durrant’s talk from the April 2018 General Conference, ”Teaching in the Home- A Joyful and
Sacred Responsibility” helps us to know how to approach gospel teaching as parents, grandparents, and
disciples of Christ.

Alicia discussed teaching by example.

Aurora discussed scripture study.

Ariana discussed prayer.

Clarissa discussed family home evening.

On-Call Teaching

We must be ready, at any moment, to teach our children.

1 Peter 3:15- But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to
every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear;

The Savior Jesus Christ taught in this way. He used every moment to teach and applied daily activities to
gospel teaching. He taught during meals, when walking through fields, climbing hills, on boats, when at
wells, walking past a fig tree, and when interacting with others. He never lost an opportunity to teach
the gospel.

The on-call teaching Elder Durrant discusses embodies this principle.

Working on-call, it is important to be prepared.

 Be fully prepared to be on-call as a physician.

 Years of preparation prior to being on-call. 4 years of medical school, then residency training
 Having Back-up available
 Learning from every experience

On-call varies- at times it is just a quick phone call from a nervous mom, at times it is administering life
saving measures in extreme situations. However, every interaction is important.

Alicia quoted Moses 1:39 and taught how we are all involved in the Lord’s work by teaching the gospel
in our homes.

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But what is our work?

D&C 11:20-21- Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might,
mind and strength. Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then
shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the
power of God unto the convincing of men.

The more personally prepared we are and the closer connection to the Holy Ghost we have the easier it
will be for us to teach the gospel in every moment.

Recent calling as YM president- devotionals, discussions, and reflections after every activity taught
myself and the YM that the Gospel is relatable in every aspect of our lives.

We need to recognize and utilize moments where truth can be taught in our homes. The things of the
world are pushing more and more into our lives- they need to be counterbalanced with moments of
eternal truth. By doing so the light of the Gospel will illuminate the path of our lives.

We don’t have to be gospel scholars! We don’t have to have doctorates in gospel teaching. Preparation
helps, but worthiness to have the Holy Ghost with us brings its own promise:

John 14:26- But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you.

We have the promise- if we are worthy of the Holy Ghost, “all things” will be brought to our minds in
our moment of needs. Any conference talk, quote, scripture, or other truths can be brought to our
minds.

We need not have every answer! The Lord, when working with and teaching us will often allow us to
find solutions for ourselves by studying the problem out and following inspiration.

D&C 9:8- Behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then it must ask me if
it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you
shall feel that it is right.

It’s ok to say “I don’t know” in regards to gospel questions, but it’s not okay to leave it at that.

What better gospel teaching can we do than to teach our children how to search out answers to their
questions and problems through personal sturdy and prayer? Let us teach them to search, ponder, and
pray.

If we teach them to learn for themselves then we have truly given them the truth…

Family Scripture Reading

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Learning language- the gospel has it’s own language; if we don’t speak it, then it is much harder to
understand.

Our brains are constantly changing, but as children we have to most flexibility to learn and retain. The
things we are exposed to in those early years stay with us- forever, whether we are conscious of it or
not.

Teaching on their level- Ammon and King Lamoni…

Start early, but teach truth!

We started with Gospel Picture Art Kit- we showed a picture and told the story. Eventually we realized
that we needed to add more- so we would read just one verse that applied to that picture. Now we are
at the point with the older girls that we as we read the Book of Mormon we discuss the meaning behind
the verses and try to apply them to our lives.

1 Nephi 19:23- And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses;
but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto
them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it
might be for our profit and learning.

Introducing the scriptures early and reading them often with our families will encourage gospel learning.
They will learn the language of the gospel, they will feel the spirit, they will hear the voice of the Lord
and learn to recognize it, the will read truth, and will know what source to turn to when they have
questions and challenges.

Conclusion

Our lives are busy, we have much to do. We must prioritize and do the best things first- this includes
learning and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our homes. We need to seek out every opportunity to
teach our children truth.

2 Nephi 25:26- And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of
Christ, and we write according to our porphecies, that our children may know to what source
they may look for a remission of their sins.

We must talk of Christ and His gospel often so that our children will know Him.

Elder Durrant said:

“As parents, we introduce our children to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We help
our children say their first prayer. We offer guidance and support as they enter the covenant
path through baptism. We teach them to obey God’s commandments. We educate them about

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 His plan for His children, and we help them recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. We tell
them stories of ancient prophets and encourage them to follow living ones. We pray for their
triumphs and ache with them during their trials. We testify to our children of temple blessings,
and we strive to prepare them well to serve full-time missions. We offer loving counsel as our
children become parents themselves. But—even then—we never stop being their parents. We
never stop being their teachers. We are never released from these eternal callings.”

Family home evening is a perfect time to teach the gospel, enjoy time together, put away the things of
the world, and have fun. By praying together we are able to all approach the throne of God in our hearts
and minds. We are always on-call as gospel teachers in the home. We should be prepared, but if we love
our children and are worthy of the Holy Spirit then we will know what to say. We teach the language of
the gospel and teach our children how to find eternal truths by reading the scriptures together. We
teach by example- our children see us doing good, serving others, reading and studying the gospel on
our own, and will catch us on our knees praying for guidance.