Often young people ask questions like, “My parents are divorced. Who am I sealed to?” While these questions may vary in a myriad of ways, they essentially come to the very heart of the sealing ordinance, to the very center of the truth that marriage covenants are sacred before GodContinue Reading

This material contains links to a few books that have helped me understand the context and content of the scriptures. As an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you). Click here to see all of my favorite books on Amazon. Trances inContinue Reading

These notes contain links to a few books that have helped me understand the context and content of the scriptures. As an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you). Click here to see all of my favorite books on Amazon. Mosiah 25-28Continue Reading

The question raised recently by a student in class as to the necessity of a body as it relates to the purpose of life has sparked this and the previous post.  Much of this post comes from a talk by Elder David A. Bednar entitled “Ye Are the Temple ofContinue Reading

See also: I do not know what God is I am afraid I can’t answer that Recently I had a student ask a well thought question.  He wanted to know why a body is essential for our growth.  “Why do we even need a body?  Can’t we learn what theContinue Reading

I found the following seminary teaching advice from Joe Spencer to be quite valuable and wanted to post a piece of it here.  I agree that “the process of learning—and so the process of teaching—is the process of moving from immediate answers to unanswerable questions, from supposed knowledge to recognizedContinue Reading

There is an increasing sentiment among some seminary students that the world is overpopulated, running out of resources and that the future looks bleak.  Many students have expressed to me thoughts such as, “What’s the use?  The world is going to end anyways.  Why get married and have children?  WillContinue Reading

In our classroom we have a “question box”.  I have found this to be a useful tool in the classroom.  When a student has a question that would take us far off topic, yet is still relevant to their lives, a teacher has a couple of options.  The teacher canContinue Reading

The demands of justice The atonement of Jesus Christ: his suffering, death on the cross, and resurrection made it possible for all mankind to be resurrected and forgiven of their sins.  Occasionally I am asked why Jesus had to die.  A student recently asked why Jesus could not just forgiveContinue Reading

Recently several students have asked about suicide.  The questions are mostly asking how the Lord will judge those who take their own lives.  This and questions relating to how the Lord will judge us are common among the youth.  When Joseph Smith was 17 years old, he approached the LordContinue Reading