5 Quotes Plus Discussion-Promoting Questions

See also Teaching Helps

Elder Kearon’s first General Conference address was dynamite. He is already a beloved apostle for many. This is a wonderful lesson and a boost of spiritual fuel for your class. I hope you have a successful, satisfying experience teaching it.

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 Elder Patrick Kearon (unless otherwise noted).

Lesson Prep

At least a week ahead of time, I would assign 2 to 3 people to read a quote from the lesson and be ready to share their thoughts on that quote in class. Try to ask people who don’t speak up all the time. The discussion quality often increases when you give people time to think about the quotes and/or questions.

Please do not worry about covering every quote! Quality discussion makes a lasting impact; sometimes, your group needs to discuss one topic more than another.

Printable Files

Under Construction

• Teacher’s master copy
• 5 Quotes handout

Quote #1 (fabulous)

“My friends, my fellow disciples on the road of mortal life, our Father’s beautiful plan, even His “fabulous” plan, is designed to bring you home, not to keep you out. No one has built a roadblock and stationed someone there to turn you around and send you away. In fact, it is the exact opposite. God is in relentless pursuit of you. He “wants all of His children to choose to return to Him,” and 👉He employs every possible measure to bring you back.”👈

That quote immediately brought this verse to mind. And it’s full of tender mercies in disguise.

“How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not!” (Doctrine and Covenants 43:25)

Everyone’s learning style is different, and God will speak in the voice you can hear.

Which one speaks to your soul and gets it moving?

Voices Jesus Christ Will Use to Bring You Back

• Send prophets
• Send angels
• His own voice
• Thunder
• Lightning
• Tempest (violent windstorm with rain, hail, or snow)
• Earthquakes👈
• Hailstorms
• Famine (severe food shortage)
• Pestilences (plagues, outbreaks and disease)
• Sound of a trump
• Voice of judgment (Reproof like Enos described)
• Voice of mercy (tender blessings and expressions of love)
• Voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life (teaching us about the great number of rewards that come from obedient living)

My own story: I was living in Salt Lake City when the 5.7 Magna earthquake hit in 2020. Not only did it hit once, but it kept going with sizable aftershocks for weeks. (Apparently, it still hasn’t died down.)

That earthquake jolted my whole being to its very core. I felt every aftershock take inventory of my soul.

The earthquake has a voice by divine design. How miraculous that so many of us heard that same voice. “Repent! Reset your priorities and get your affairs in order.”

Some of my friends started paying attention to their food storage for the first time in years. Others realized their lives were wrapped around things that didn’t matter, and it was time to embrace higher pursuits.

People’s lives altered course.

Several of my lagging good intentions and procrastinated promptings were finally jerked into motion. (That’s how the Divine Code blog  started.)

Earthquakes talk. Natural events speak to us.

They are a part of God’s design to reach us in a way that motivates us to come back and upgrade our lives, and then He can save us.

Possible discussion questions: What’s your learning style—what voice do you respond to best? Does anyone have any experiences where you felt God was helping you to come back? How can we help others come back? Has anyone ever experienced a natural disaster or witnessed a natural event that changed you or your mindset in some way? Does the world sometimes interpret the bad things that happen differently? Why is Elder Kearon’s point about roadblocks vs. God’s relentless pursuit so essential to understand?

Quote #2 (purposes)

Our loving Father oversaw the Creation of this very earth for the express purpose of providing an opportunity for you and for me to have the stretching and refining experiences of mortality, the chance to use our God-given moral agency to choose Him, to learn and grow, to make mistakes, to repent, to love God and our neighbour, and to one day return home to Him.

He sent His precious Beloved Son to this fallen world to live the full range of the human experience, to provide an example for the rest of His children to follow, and to atone and redeem. Christ’s great atoning gift removes every roadblock of physical and spiritual death that would separate us from our eternal home.

Possible activity: Have your class pull out of a list of purposes for being here on Earth. (Accept reasonable answers, don’t expect a perfect list.) It works best if they have a copy of the quote to read along.

• stretching and refining experiences
• use our moral agency to choose God
• learn and grow
• make mistakes
• repent
• love God and our neighbor
• return home to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

Possible discussion questions: Which one of these purposes stands out for you today, and why is it important to you? Difficulties and trials are so hard; why must we experience them? Why would a loving God permit affliction and tragedy in our lives? (Accept all reasonable answers—God is in the business of growing the best version of you possible, not taking all difficult experiences away immediately.) Elder Kearon points out that Christ’s great atoning gift removes every roadblock. How can we use that atoning gift? Elder Kearon names three purposes for Jesus Christ’s coming to earth and living a mortal life. What are they? (Accept all reasonable answers — to provide an example to follow, atone, and redeem.)

Quote #3 (plan)

Elder Kearon beautifully explains God’s ultimate motivation and intent.

This quote comes in 5 parts—but it is one long, related quote. You can read the five parts in a row and discuss them at the end (recommended) or stop and discuss each one.

Note: For the best participation and attention, this quote should be read by five different people. Instruct them to read their quote as soon as the last one finishes.

Intro

Everything about the Father’s plan for His beloved children is designed to bring everyone home.

What do God’s messengers, His prophets, call this plan in Restoration scripture? They call it the plan of redemption, the plan of mercy, the great plan of happiness, and the plan of salvation, which is unto all, “through the blood of mine Only Begotten.”

Quote A

The intent of the Father’s great plan of happiness is your happiness, right here, right now, and in the eternities. It is not to prevent your happiness and cause you instead worry and fear.

Quote B

The intent of the Father’s plan of redemption is in fact your redemption, your being rescued through the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ, freed from the captivity of sin and death. It is not to leave you as you are.

Quote C

The intent of the Father’s plan of mercy is to extend mercy as you turn back to Him and honour your covenant of fidelity to Him. It is not to deny mercy and inflict pain and sorrow.

Quote D

The intent of the Father’s plan of salvation is in fact your salvation in the celestial kingdom of glory as you receive “the testimony of Jesus” and offer your whole soul to Him. It is not to keep you out.

Possible discussion questions: Of the four different names Elder Kearon mentions: the plan of redemption, the plan of mercy, the great plan of happiness, and the plan of salvation – which one is most meaningful to you? (Accept all reasonable answers; for me, it’s the plan of mercy because I know it is COMPLETE MERCY that such a plan was even designed. God didn’t have to do that for us—but in His great love, He wanted to anyway.) What phrase or words stand out from these four quotes today, and what thoughts do you have about it? How do you feel about Elder Kearon’s message of the good news of the gospel? Of the four different names Elder Kearon mentions: the plan of redemption, the plan of mercy, the great plan of happiness, and the plan of salvation – which one is most meaningful to you? (Accept all reasonable answers; for me, it’s the plan of mercy because I know it is COMPLETE MERCY that such a plan was even designed. God didn’t have to do that for us—but in His great love, He wanted to anyway.) Do we sometimes forget how tender and personable God and Christ are?

Quote #4 (our part)

Does this mean anything goes with regard to how we live our lives? That the way we choose to use our agency doesn’t matter? That we can take or leave God’s commandments? No, of course not. Surely one of Jesus’s most consistent invitations and pleas during His mortal ministry was that we change, repent, and come unto Him. Fundamentally implicit in all of His teachings to live on a higher plane of moral conduct is a call to personal progression, to transformative faith in Christ, to a mighty change of heart.

God wants for us a radical reorientation of our selfish and prideful impulses, the eviction of the natural man, for us to “go, and sin no more.”

Possible activity: Post a list of “our part.” Ask your class to choose one and share what that means to them.

Our Part

• change and repent
• come unto Him (means live His laws)
• live on a higher plane of moral conduct
• personal progress
• strengthened faith in Christ
• mighty change of heart
• radical reorientation of our selfish and prideful impulses
• evict the natural man
• go and sin no more

Possible discussion questions: What is our part in the plan of mercy? How well will the plan of salvation work without us doing our part? Who benefits the most from doing our part? If you could choose one to work on, which would it be – who doesn’t mind sharing? (Be prepared to share yours first.)

Quote #5 (infinite)

If you are prone to worry that you will never measure up, or that the loving reach of Christ’s infinite Atonement mercifully covers everyone else but not you, then you misunderstand. Infinite means infinite. Infinite covers you and those you love.

Possible discussion questions: What would you say to a discouraged friend about “measuring up” or about the Savior loving even them? Who does Jesus Christ intend to save? Why is that such an important message today?

Summary

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

Final Comment

Let’s encourage everyone to have a higher faith in God and themselves. This is a powerful message to share with your class. Godspeed your efforts to bring the Spirit into your discussions and learning.

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.

PDFs for Download – click the blue word links to view online.

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