Doctrine and Covenants and Church History Gospel Doctrine ...

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2. Prepare to serve the Lord.
Throughout the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord counsels us in how to prepare
ourselves to serve Him. Explain that this preparation should be a continual
effort throughout our lives.
• What are some of the attributes the Lord desires in those who serve Him?
(See the following scriptures. List the attributes on the chalkboard and use
the questions to encourage discussion.)
a. D&C 4:3; 11:8. Why is desire an important attribute in serving the Lord?
How can we increase our desire to serve Him?
b. D&C 4:5–6; 12:8; 18:19. Which attributes are repeated most frequently
in these verses? Invite class members to share experiences that show the
importance of any of these attributes in serving the Lord.
c. D&C 11:6, 20. Why is obedience important in serving the Lord?
d. D&C 4:7; 31:12. How has prayer helped you in serving the Lord?
Encourage class members to select one of these attributes and prayerfully
strive to improve in it.
• Read D&C 11:21 with class members. What can we learn from this verse
about preparing to serve the Lord? How have your experiences shown the
wisdom of this counsel?
3. “The field is white.”
Throughout the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord communicates a sense of
urgency about spreading the gospel. This is because the purpose of missionary
work is “the salvation of souls” (D&C 100:4).
• Read D&C 4:4, 11:3, and 33:3 with class members. What did the Lord mean
by comparing missionary work to a field that is ready to be harvested?
(Answers could include that many people are prepared to receive the gospel.)
• The Lord warned the elders not to be idle and said that they should “go forth”
rather than “tarry” (D&C 60:13; 75:3). How might this warning apply to us?
Why do some of us delay sharing the gospel?
Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve related the following experience:
“It’s easy to say, ‘The time isn’t right.’ But there is danger in procrastination.
Years ago I worked for a man in California. He hired me; he was kind to me; he
seemed to regard me highly. I may have been the only Latter-day Saint he ever
knew well. I don’t know all the reasons I found to wait for a better moment to
talk with him about the gospel. I just remember my feeling of sorrow when I
learned, after he had retired and I lived far away, that he and his wife had been
killed in a late-night drive to their home in Carmel, California. He loved his wife.
He loved his children. He had loved his parents. He loved his grandchildren, and
he will love their children and will want to be with them forever.
“Now, I don’t know how the crowds will be handled in the world to come. But
I suppose that I will meet him, that he will look into my eyes, and that I will see
in them the question, ‘Hal, you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?’” (in Conference
Report, Oct. 1998, 42; or Ensign, Nov. 1998, 33).