Welcome to Our�Missionary Preparation Class��Lesson 2:�Our Need for the Atonement

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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About the Class Instructor

• My name is Jimmy Smith
• Founder of Latter-day Saint Mission Prep website
• I live in Texas in the United States
• I served my mission to Argentina, 1995-1997

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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About this Mission Prep Class

• Following the Church’s Missionary Preparation Teacher Manual
• Teaching my two teenage children and record the lessons for others to enjoy
• This video, my website, and other content I create is NOT a publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Before We Begin: Make Sure You Have a Way to Take Notes

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Vital for Missionaries to Understand the Atonement

• “Full-time missionaries participate in the work of salvation by helping others learn how to access the blessings of the Atonement through faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, confirmation, and enduring to the end.” –Mission Prep Teacher Manual

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Bible Dictionary: Atonement

• “The word describes the setting “at one” of those who have been estranged and denotes the reconciliation of man to God. Sin is the cause of the estrangement, and therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin.”
• “Jesus Christ, as the Only Begotten Son of God and the only sinless person to live on this earth, was the only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. By His selection and foreordination in the Grand Council before the world was formed, His divine Sonship, His sinless life, the shedding of His blood in the garden of Gethsemane, His death on the cross and subsequent bodily resurrection from the grave, He made a perfect atonement for all mankind.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Sin

Atonement

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Why We Need the Atonement

• “Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind.”

• President Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning [1988], 33

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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What is the Fall?

• Mosiah 16:3–4 “For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil. Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.”

Image from

Roger Inonga, Wikimedia Commons

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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The Fall of Adam and Eve Led to Spiritual and Physical Death

• “Because Adam and Eve … partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were cast out from the presence of the Lord. In other words, they experienced spiritual death. They also became mortal—subject to physical death. This spiritual and physical death is called the Fall. …As descendants of Adam and Eve, we inherit a fallen condition during mortality. We are separated from the presence of the Lord and subject to physical death. We are also placed in a state of opposition, in which we are tested by the difficulties of life and the temptations of the adversary.”

• True to the Faith [2004], 56

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Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Consequences of the Fall. �Need for an Atonement.

• Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
• 1 Cor 15:22 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
• 2^nd Nephi 2: 25 – 26 “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Consequences of the Fall. �Need for an Atonement.

• 2 Nephi 9:6-7 “For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.
• Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.”

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Consequences of the Fall. �Need for an Atonement.

• Alma 42:9–11 “Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.”
• “Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.”
• “And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.”

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion: The Fall and �The Need for Atonement

• What do these scriptures teach about how each of us is affected by the Fall of Adam and Eve?
• How do these scriptures help explain why we all need the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives?

Christ in Gethsemane

by Heinrich Hofmann

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Increasing our understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

• “As you remember the Resurrection and the price paid and the gift given through the Atonement, ponder what the scriptures teach of those sacred events. Your personal witness of their reality will be strengthened. They must be more than principles you memorize. They must be woven into the very fiber of your being as a powerful bulwark against the rising tide of abomination that infects our world. …Without the Atonement, Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness could not have been placed fully into effect. The Atonement gives all the opportunity to overcome the consequences of mistakes made in life. When we obey a law, we receive a blessing. When we break a law, there is nothing left over from prior obedience to satisfy the demands of justice for that broken law. The Savior’s Atonement permits us to repent of any disobedience and thereby avoid the penalties that justice would have imposed.”

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• “He Lives! All Glory to His Name!” by Elder Richard G. Scott, Ensign or Liahona, May 2010

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Increasing our understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

• “My reverence and gratitude for the Atonement of the Holy One of Israel, the Prince of Peace and our Redeemer, continually expand as I strive to understand more about it. I realize that no mortal mind can adequately conceive, nor can human tongue appropriately express, the full significance of all that Jesus Christ has done for our Heavenly Father’s children through His Atonement. Yet it is vital that we each learn what we can about it. The Atonement is that essential ingredient of our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness without which that plan could not have been activated. Your understanding of the Atonement and the insight it provides for your life will greatly enhance your productive use of all of the knowledge, experience, and skills you acquire in mortal life. …There is an imperative need for each of us to strengthen our understanding of the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that it will become an unshakable foundation upon which to build our lives.”

• “He Lives! All Glory to His Name!” by Elder Richard G. Scott, Ensign or Liahona, May 2010

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion: Increasing our understanding of Atonement

• How will a greater understanding of the Atonement enhance your knowledge, skills, and experience in this mortal life?
• How can a prospective missionary make the Atonement “be more than principles you memorize” but rather “woven into the very fiber of your being”?

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Find the Pattern�in these Scripture Passages

• Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Like
• “And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also.” 1 Nephi 8:12
• Enos’ Mighty Prayer
• “When I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren.” Enos 1:9
• Sons of Mosiah
• “They were desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish.” Mosiah 28: 3

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion: Understanding Atonement and Desire to Share

• Preach My Gospel says, “As your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ grows, your desire to share the gospel will increase.” Why is that so?
• Ponder the Atonement of Jesus Christ. How is it a part of your motivation to serve a mission?
• Write in your journal some things you could do to increase your understanding and gratitude for what Jesus Christ has done for you.

Jan Kahánek

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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What Lehi taught we should do with our knowledge of the Atonement

• “Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.”
• “Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.”
• “Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.” 2 Nephi 2:6–8

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Helping Investigators Receive the Blessings of the Atonement

• “I have asked missionaries what it is they want investigators to do as a result of their discussions with them. ‘Be baptized!’ is shouted forward in an absolute chorus. ‘Yes,’ I say, ‘we do want them to be baptized, but what has to precede that?’”
• “… Almost never do the missionaries get around to identifying the two most fundamental things we want investigators to do prior to baptism: have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repent of their sins. Yet ‘we believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; [then] third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost’.”

• “Missionary Work and the Atonement,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Mar. 2001

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Helping Investigators Receive the Blessings of the Atonement

• “A convert’s new life is to be built upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His redeeming sacrifice—a conviction that He really is the Son of God, that He lives this very moment, that He really is the door of the sheepfold, that He alone holds the key to our salvation and exaltation. That belief is to be followed by true repentance, repentance which shows our desire to be clean and renewed and whole, repentance that allows us to lay claim to the full blessings of the Atonement.”

• “Missionary Work and the Atonement,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, Mar. 2001

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion

• What must an investigator do “to lay claim to the full blessings of the Atonement”?

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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What should investigators do before being baptized?

• D&C 20:37 “And again, by way of commandment to the church concerning the manner of baptism—All those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion: Receiving the Blessings of the Atonement

• What are some things investigators should do that show they are developing faith in Jesus Christ?
• Humble
• Repent
• Good Works
• What role do missionaries play in helping investigators meet the qualifications for baptism?
• Your Purpose: Invite Others to Come Unto Christ

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Most Important Thing Missionaries Can Do to Bring People unto Christ

• D&C 18:11–14 “For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.”
• “And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.”
• “And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!”
• “Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.”

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Helping Others Learn about the Atonement of Jesus Christ

• “As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In paying the penalty for our sins, Jesus did not, however, eliminate our personal responsibility. We must show that we accept Him and that we will follow His commandments. Only through the gift of the Savior’s Atonement can we return to live with God.”
• Preach My Gospel Manual, pages 51–52

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Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Discussion: Repentance and Relying on the Atonement

• Why is repentance the only way to gain access to the full blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ?
• What are some things that might help you when you teach investigators about the Atonement?
• Why are you looking forward to teaching the Atonement of Jesus Christ to others?

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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The Scriptures are the Primary Source for Teaching the Gospel

• “And again, the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel.” D&C 42:12
• “The words and the way they are used in the Book of Mormon by the Lord … should be used by us in teaching gospel principles” (Ezra Taft Benson, May 1987, 84).

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Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Teach with Greater Power By Using the scriptures

• D&C 71:1 “Behold, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, that the time has verily come that it is necessary and expedient in me that you should open your mouths in proclaiming my gospel, the things of the kingdom, expounding the mysteries thereof out of the scriptures, according to that portion of Spirit and power which shall be given unto you, even as I will.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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How to Improve Teaching Skills: Use the Scriptures

• “Your ability to teach with power from the scriptures comes in large measure from the time you personally spend studying them. As you daily feast upon the word, your ability to teach from the scriptures will improve. In addition, your invitations to study and ponder the scriptures will be more powerful because you are doing the same thing in your life. Help people gain faith in Jesus Christ through studying the scriptures—particularly the Book of Mormon—and to gain a testimony that the scriptures are sources of revealed truth. When people come to believe the scriptures, you will be better able to help them understand the doctrine correctly.” Preach My Gospel manual, p. 182

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Our Need for the Atonement

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• Santa Fe Argentina, 1996
• Teaching a 1^st discussion, they brought their pastor
• Silence when I pulled out the Book of Mormon

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Steps for Improving Teaching by Using the Scriptures

Preach My Gospel manual (page 181):

• Context
• Introduce the passage and provide background
• Read It
• Call out difficult vocabulary words and explain them
• Principles
• Point out what the verses mean
• Highlight gospel principles found in the passage
• Apply It
• Tell how you’ve applied the scripture to your life
• Help others apply the passage in their lives

Missionary Preparation Class

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Our Need for the Atonement

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Example: Sharing a Scripture from 3^rd Nephi 11 using Steps

• Context
• After great destruction in the Americas at the death of Christ, the surviving Nephites had gathered at the temple in a land called Bountiful
• Read It
• 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
• Principles
• God loves us and wants us to know of a surety that Jesus is the Savior of the World
• Apply It
• Knowing of God’s love for the Nephites and hearing their testimony has strengthened my own and given me courage to follow Jesus and it can do the same for you

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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Conclusion and Homework

• Make note of scriptures that help you understand Jesus Christ and His Atonement
• Write in your journal your feelings about the Savior and His Atonement
• Share your testimony of the Atonement with someone at home, at church, or online
• When sharing scriptures, in a talk or FHE, use the steps—context, principles, application
• Read/Watch Church Talks/Videos about Atonement
• Not a One Time Thing – Atonement
• None Were with Him - An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ
• Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives by President Russell M. Nelson
• In the Strength of the Lord, BYU Devotional by David A. Bednar

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 2

Our Need for the Atonement

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