5 Quotes Plus Discussion-Promoting Questions

See also Teaching Helps

By sincerely questioning and seeking spiritual answers, one can deepen one’s faith, obedience, and understanding, leading to personal growth and a closer relationship with God.

You can find her 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 Tracy Y. Browning (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

• Avoid videos – they shut down discussion. Save them for personal study.
• 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 a lesson takes a different turn than you planned, roll with it. The Spirit intends for you to be successful.
• If the discussion gets too non-spiritual, pull it back by going to the following quote or question.

Quote #1 (intro)

This intro helps set the stage for the rest of Sister Browning’s talk. Quickly explain that Sister Browning reminded us school once taught children that our solar system had nine planets. But in recent decades, science discovered we have just eight planets because Pluto belonged to a different system.

Optional: Have someone read this quote (which I shortened).

“Their eventual breakthrough reconfigured our planetary zone and resulted in Pluto being rehomed to this new region of space and our solar system consisting of eight planets.

One leading planetary scientist…had this to say about this experience: “We thought we understood the geography of our solar system. We didn’t. We thought we understood the population of planets in our solar system. And we were wrong.”

What is striking to me about this period of space exploration history are [the] parallels [between] expanding scientific horizons and the journey that we, as children of God, undertake to seek answers to our spiritual questions.

Possible discussion question: Have you ever discovered you were wrong about a gospel concept because you gained new insight? Does anyone have an example they can share?

Quote #2 (answers)

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught that “asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness” but rather “it’s a precursor of growth.”

God the Father and His Son’s way of imparting Their wisdom to us prioritizes inviting the power of the Holy Ghost to be our personal teacher as we center Jesus Christ in our lives and in our faithful seeking for Their answers and Their meaning. They invite us to discover truth through devoted time spent studying holy scripture and to seek for latter-day revealed truth for our day and our time, imparted by modern-day prophets and apostles. They entreat us to spend regular, worshipful time in the house of the Lord and to take to our knees in prayer “to access information from heaven.”

Possible activity: Have your class help you pull out Sister Browning’s suggestions for finding answers. You can write them on the board.

• study scriptures
• study General Conference talks
• go to the temple
• heartfelt prayer on our knees

Possible discussion questions: How do you get answers to your questions? Have you ever had an experience where you suddenly understood a gospel concept you’ve never known or were mistaken about before? How did it feel when you discovered the truth? Who would like to share something meaningful about the gospel they learned or a doubt they conquered?

Deepen the Understanding

Speaking directly to our personal effort as seekers of truth, our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has taught that we must have “a deep desire” and “ask with a sincere heart [and] real intent, having faith in [Jesus] Christ.” He has further taught that “‘real intent’ means that one really intends to follow the divine direction given.”

Possible discussion question: What does President Nelson mean by his definition of ‘real intent’? Is Heaven likely to give us an answer if we’re not ready or willing to accept it?

Difficult People

Sometimes, people ask questions to antagonize or spread their own doubts to others. The Lord has given us guidance for those situations.

But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. (2 Timothy 2:23)

Elder Bednar expounded on this when he said: “The word heed suggests taking notice of or paying attention to someone or something. Thus, the lyrics of the hymn “Let Us All Press On” admonish us to make an affirmative decision to pay no attention to “what the wicked may say.” And Lehi and the people with him who were partaking of the fruit of the tree provide a strong example of not paying attention to the mocking and scorn that so frequently come from the great and spacious building.” (Elder Bednar, But We Heeded Them Not – April 2022)

“Heed them not” is one of the best pieces of advice for personal and public life. It’s simple to do and hard to master. Sometimes, it’s best not to absorb, respond, or pick up what is verbally thrown at us. And it’s okay to say, “I have no response to that.” Demanded answers to contentious questions are not owed to anyone.

Quote #3 (patience)

We gain gospel understanding and know-how piece by piece.

The Lord’s method of teaching is “line upon line, precept upon precept.” We may be required to “wait upon the Lord” in the space between our current line of understanding and the next yet to be delivered. This sacred space can be a place where our greatest spiritual conditioning can occur—the site where we can “bear with patience” our earnest seeking and renew our strength to continue to keep the sacred promises we have made to God through covenant.

Our covenant relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ signals our prevailing citizenship in God’s kingdom. And our residency therein requires aligning our life to divine principles and putting in the effort to grow spiritually.

Sister Browning’s comment gives added light to this verse by Paul in Romans, chapter 2.

6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds:

7 To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, >>> eternal life:

8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, >>> indignation and wrath. (Romans 2:6-8)

Patience in doing well is truly a virtue that brings blessings to our lives and opens doors.

Possible discussion questions: How has “line upon line” worked in your life? Do you understand more now than you did five years ago? What is the reward for keeping the faith and being patient, even though you might have unanswered questions? Is it possible to have vexing questions you’re seeking answers to and be faithful and trusting at the same time? What might Sister Brown mean by ‘aligning our life’ and ‘putting in the effort to grow spiritually’?

Quote #4 (gateway)

The Lord has told us that through our obedience and diligence, we may gain knowledge and intelligence.

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. (D&C 130:18-19)

God’s laws and commandments are not designed to be an obstacle in our life but a powerful gateway to personal revelation and spiritual education.

By cultivating good spiritual habits, we create a gateway so that knowledge and intelligence flow to us.

Possible quick discussion: Can you think of examples where gaining spiritual knowledge has directly influenced other parts of your daily life and relationships? What practical steps can someone take to start ‘gaining more knowledge and intelligence’ as described in the quote? How does this scripture influence your view on the importance of education and personal growth?

Quote #5 (trust)

Possible engagement tool: Write ‘Trust’ with its definitions on the board or post word strips.

trust: place confidence in, lean on, look to,

I once heard that trust is the highest form of worship we can give to God.

Elder Richard G. Scott taught that “this life is an experience in profound trust—trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7).

5 ¶ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7 ¶ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. (Proverbs 3:5-7)

To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.”

Possible discussion questions: Do you have someone in your life that you trust? Why did you trust them? Why might we trust the Lord? In what ways can we show and express our trust in Jesus Christ?

Summary

Summarize class discussion highlights and/or share your testimony and feelings about President Holland’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.