Lesson 8: The Church of Jesus Christ Has Prophets to Teach Us

Throughout the scriptures we hear prophets warn the people of upcoming dangers and tell them how to avoid disasters. One such prophet was Noah who spent years trying to help the people repent. Because of the people's wickedness, the Lord was going to cover the earth in water. Not only did the Lord send Noah to warn them, the Lord also had Noah prepare away for the people who did repent to be safe.

Elder W. Don Ladd taught: “When it starts raining, it is too late to begin building the ark. … We … need to listen to the Lord’s spokesmen. We need to calmly continue to move ahead and prepare for what will surely come. We need not panic or fear, for if we are prepared, spiritually and temporally, we and our families will survive any flood. Our arks will float on a sea of faith if our works have been steadily and surely preparing for the future” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 37; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 29).

Heavenly Father still wants to warn and protect us. God tells the prophet what we should do. If we follow the prophet, we will be happy and Heavenly Father will bless us. Following the prophet means to do the things he tells us to do even when it isn't convenient.

Lesson 7: Faith in Jesus Christ

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Reading from the scriptures and learning about people who have seen Jesus helps us to have faith in Jesus. Even though we may not have seen Jesus with our own eyes, we can have faith that he lives and loves us because of the testimonies of those who have seen him and have told us about him in the scriptures. We can know in our hearts that Jesus is our Savior when we ask our Heavenly Father in our prayers.

Lesson 6: Jesus Christ’s Church Has Been Restored

When Jesus lived on the earth, he wanted the people to learn and obey his teachings. These teachings would help the people learn what they must do to return and live with him and Heavenly Father again. Jesus organized his Church to help the people learn to live his teachings. After Jesus and his Apostles died, the people did not live by what Jesus taught. People changed his teachings so that the true Church was lost. Jesus took his priesthood from the people on the earth. This meant that people could no longer be baptized with the proper authority. Also, without that priesthood authority, people could not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, be sealed in the temple as a family, or have a prophet to speak for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ on earth.

Because Heavenly Father loves His children, He promised to restore His Gospel. Many good people continued to search for the restoration of His gospel and the Priesthood authority. When Joseph Smith went into the grove to pray, he was given the answers that many were seeking for--The truth needed to be restored and Heavenly Father would work through His prophet to bring back the light and knowledge that had long been taken from the earth.