5 Quotes Plus Discussion-Promoting Questions

See also Teaching Helps

Elder Uchtdorf’s memorable talk includes topics such as visitors to the Church, the faults we find at Church, unity, fitting in, and contributing to Church life.

You can find his full talk here. Unless you opt to spend a lot of time on a particular quote, try to pick around 2 questions per quote. Choose the questions that resonate the most with you and make a meaningful discussion for your group of personalities. These highlights and questions fit with Lesson Template 1 or Template 2. You can also check out several other General Conference Talks with 5 Highlights.

All blue quotes by Dieter F. Uchtdorf (unless otherwise noted).

Lesson Prep

• You can arrange the quotes in any order that makes sense to you. I suggest starting with the most important ones and working your way down. Don’t worry about covering all the quotes.
• If you want the discussion to be more meaningful, hand out reading assignments ahead of time and ask the reader to answer one question about them (pick one of the questions below and give it to them, along with the assigned quote). The sooner you do this, the better, but if possible, at least show it to them before the Sacrament meeting. You can also text or email it.
• Ask various people to read and participate – especially those who aren’t asked as much.

Lesson Delivery

• Ensure every class member has the conference talk and scriptures in front of them or on their phone. Always invite the class to read along—hearing and seeing the words together increases comprehension and engagement.
• Avoid videos – they shut down discussion. Save them for personal study.
• If the discussion gets too non-spiritual, pull it back by going to the next quote or question.
• Make sure you assign others to read the quotes. You’re talking enough already, and letting others read allows more people to participate.
• Encourage discussion by accepting all reasonable answers. Validate people for participating, and be thankful they spoke up. Engage with the answer in a conversational way whenever it feels natural. Never say, “That’s not the right answer,” or “We haven’t got to that part of the lesson yet.”
• Remember, spiritual discussion is golden. We want people to talk about the gospel together.
• If the discussion takes a different turn than your planned lesson, roll with it. The Spirit intends for you to be successful.

Quote #1 (visitors)

Possible engagement tool: Have your class members think of a time when they brought a visitor to Church, were a visitor themselves or got to know a visitor at Church?

But it’s important to remember that when most people experience The Church of Jesus Christ for the first time, they aren’t thinking about priesthood authority or ordinances or the gathering of Israel. What they are likely to notice, above all else, is how they feel when they are with us and how we treat each other. “Love one another,” Jesus said. “By this all will know that you are my disciples.” Very often, a person’s first testimony of Jesus Christ comes when he or she feels love among the disciples of Jesus Christ.

Possible discussion questions: Have you had any positive experiences with visitors at Church? What went well? Why is the love of Christ so important?

Optional – Elder Uchtdorf’s Story

(Consider paraphrasing this into a few sentences for the sake of time.)

Many years ago Sister Uchtdorf and I were traveling through southern Germany. It was just before Easter, and we invited a good friend, who was not a member of the Church, to join us in our Sunday worship service. We loved this dear friend, so it was normal and natural to share with her how we felt about the Savior and His Church and to invite her to come and see! She accepted the invitation and joined us at the meetings of a nearby branch.

If you have ever brought a friend to church for the first time, you can probably relate to the way I felt that Sunday morning. I wanted everything to go perfectly. Our friend was a highly educated, spiritual person. I earnestly hoped the meetings of this branch would make a good impression on her and represent the Church well.

The branch met in some rented rooms on the second floor of a grocery store. To get there, we had to take the stairs at the back of the building, passing the strong aromas from goods stored there.

As the sacrament meeting began, I thought about my friend experiencing this for the first time, and I couldn’t help but notice things that made me cringe a little. The singing, for example, didn’t exactly sound like the Tabernacle Choir. Restless, noisy children could be heard during the sacrament. The speakers did their best, but they were not skilled at public speaking. I sat uncomfortably through the meeting, hoping that maybe Sunday School would be better.

It wasn’t.

All morning I worried about what our friend must think of this church we had taken her to.

Afterward, as we drove home, I turned to talk to our friend. I wanted to explain that this was just one small branch and it didn’t really represent the Church as a whole. But before I could say a word, she spoke up.

“That was beautiful,” she said.

I was speechless.

She continued, “I’m so impressed with how people treat each other in your church. They all seem to come from different backgrounds, and yet it’s clear that they genuinely love each other. This is what I imagine Christ wanted His Church to be like.”

Well, I quickly repented of my judgmental attitude. I had wanted picture-perfect meetings to impress my friend. But what the members of this branch had achieved was a heart-perfect spirit of love, kindness, patience, and compassion.

Quote #2 (ideal)

Possible engagement tool: The Church is a work in progress because its members are a work in progress. Elder Uchtdorf offers frank advice for when we encounter disappointments.

…We rarely get to experience the ideal. Until the perfect day, there will always be a gap between the ideal and the real. So what should we do when the church doesn’t feel like the perfect day? When, for whatever reason, our ward or our personal ward doesn’t yet nurture perfect faith or love, or when it feels that we don’t fit in? One thing we should not do is give up on the ideal.

The title page of the Book of Mormon includes this important caution: if there are faults, it says, “they are the mistakes of men; wherefore, condemn not the things of God.” Can a book, or a church, or a person have faults and mistakes and still be the work of God? My answer is a resounding yes. So, while we hold ourselves to the Lord’s high standards, let’s also be patient with one another. We’re each a work in progress, and we all rely on the Savior for any progress we make. That’s true for us as individuals, and it’s true for the kingdom of God on earth. The Lord invites us not just to join His kingdom but also to be anxiously engaged in building it.

Possible discussion questions: What stands out for you today from this quote? What does “anxiously engaged in building” the Church mean to you? How can we do that? Will people at Church disappoint us? What can we do when something like that happens?

Quote #3 (hearts)

Possible engagement tool: Have your class think about what it would take to get everyone to be of one heart. (I completely understand if you thought about something like lightning strikes from heaven.)

God envisions a people who are of one heart and of one mind. To be of one heart, we must seek pure hearts, and that requires a mighty change of heart. But that doesn’t mean changing my heart to align with yours, nor does it mean changing your heart to align with mine. It means that we all change our hearts to align with the Savior. If we are not there yet, remember: with the Lord’s help, nothing is impossible.

President Uchtdorf has devised the perfect formula for getting closer to Zion. Telling people they should learn to get along might be difficult if one or the other person doesn’t want to do the work to be more unified. However, focusing our hearts on Jesus Christ and moving closer to Him through repentance and personal growth will help more of us get along automatically. And individually, it will help us have a lot more spiritual confidence.

Possible discussion questions: Whose heart should we focus on if we want more unity? What happens if we focus on the condition of other people’s hearts? (We’re miserable when we focus on the guilt of others.) What are some ways we can align ourselves more with the Savior?

Quote #4 (perfect fit)

Possible engagement tool: Ask your class to ponder the question, “Who is the Church for?” as we read this next quote.

The unity we seek is not to have everyone stand in the same place. It is to have everyone face in the same direction—toward Jesus Christ. We are one not because of where we have been but where we’re striving to go, not because of who we are but who we seek to become. That is what Christ’s church is all about. If you love God, if you want to know Him better by following His Son, then you belong here. If you are earnestly seeking to keep the Savior’s commandments, even though you are not perfect at it yet, then you are a perfect fit for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Possible discussion question: Who is our Church for? How would you explain Elder Uchtdorf’s message to a friend?

Quote #5 (disciples)

This is a great closing statement.

As I learned from my friend in Germany, our love for God and His children is a powerful testimony to the world that this is truly the Savior’s church. May God bless us to patiently but diligently seek to live up to the ideals our Savior, Redeemer, and Master has set for us, so all will know that we are His disciples.

Possible discussion questions: What is the most important way to know if someone is a disciple of Christ or not? (If they show love for others.)

Summary

Summarize class discussion highlights and/or share your testimony and feelings about Elder Uchtdorf’s talk. Thank your class for their excellent contributions and insights.

Final Comment

Please teach the quotes in any order that makes sense to you.

Teach with confidence, and if you would like some tips on how to feel more confident while teaching – try “9 Tips for More Class Participation.” May the Spirit bless and guide your efforts.