At FAIR, we like to keep abreast of various resources which become available for studying, understanding, and teaching the gospel. With the current Sunday School year focusing on the Doctrine and Covenants, there are two new resources to which we would particularly like to call your attention, as well as some old favorites.

I’d like to kick the year off with a bit of an introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants, along with some links and suggested reading that will enhance your lesson preparation or participation. Then I’d like to discuss three common ways of reading the scripture. This year holds some important and dramatic differences from any previous cycle through this curriculum. The primary distinction is the availability of the work of the Joseph Smith Papers Project. While Revelations and Translations, Volume 1 (R1) and Volume 2 (R2) (reviewed here and here) are tremendously important, even key to a serious approach to the revelation texts, the Joseph Smith Papers website is almost overwhelming in its documentary and contextual goodness (http://josephsmithpapers.org/). For example, it has the earliest revelation texts in the documents section, the manuscript and published revelations collections in the revelations section, and biographical sketches of all those mentioned in the supplemental materials.

Not long after my call to serve as one of the Twelve Apostles, I was summoned to the office of the President of our Quorum, President Ezra Taft Benson. He expressed deep concern that members of the Church did not fully appreciate the value of the Book of Mormon. With emotion in his voice, he read to me from the eighty-fourth section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

And so it begins—our study of the Doctrine and Covenants! If you’re feeling a little wary, maybe a little intimated, don’t freight. If you feel like you already know everything there is to know about the Doctrine and Covenants, hold onto your hats because we are going study like never before. So grab your scriptures, and let’s dive into Doctrine and Covenants section 1.

Manual 1; Excerpt from "Our Father's Plan – Big Enough for All His Children," by Quentin L. Cook

Purpose: To teach children the importance of the sacrament

This article is intended to help readers better utilize the new Teaching in the Savior's Way manual that was recently released.

Six houses that belonged to my ancestors still stand in Nauvoo; nice brick and frame homes, with lawns and gardens and trees and carriage houses. I can hardly imagine the stretching and commitment necessary for their owners to gather up a wagon load of non-perishable goods, sweep the floor a final time, and follow the prophet of God across the Mississippi and into the setting sun. My own home is large and lovely, with a wrought iron fence and roses and fruit trees and a garden. My children grew up here. My grandchildren identify this as the ancestral home. I wonder how I would respond if circumstances and revelation were to require an uprooting and transplanting . . .

We recently talked with Sister Wendy Watson Nelson, beloved wife of President Russell M. Nelson. She shared with us her thoughts on being an apostle’s wife and an author, as well as her passion for temple work and sharing the gospel.

Have you ever thought, “Oh, I could do that so much better”? Maybe it was something as important as a job or as trivial as a party invitation, but you just knew that your effort would’ve been superior than the person who actually did it. Well, in Doctrine and Covenants 67–70, we are going to learn about a few men who were so convinced that they could write revelation better than Joseph Smith, they even tried it. So grab your scriptures, and let’s find out what the result was and what it can teach us about how God operates today.