Welcome to Our�Missionary Preparation Class��Lesson 8: Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

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 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

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 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

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

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Review of Previous Lessons

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

A Young Missionary’s �Testimony of Joseph Smith

• There was a “young missionary who came from a small, rural community …[One day] he called at the home of Elmer Pollard in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Feeling sorry for the young men who, during a blinding blizzard, were going house to house, Mr. Pollard invited the missionaries into his home. They presented to him their message. He did not catch the spirit. In due time he asked that they leave and not return. His last words to the elders as they departed his front porch were spoken in derision: ‘You can’t tell me you actually believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God!’”

“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

A Young Missionary’s �Testimony of Joseph Smith

• “Our country boy spoke to his companion: ‘Elder, we didn’t respond to Mr. Pollard. He said we didn’t believe Joseph Smith was a true prophet. Let’s return and bear our testimonies to him.’ …Fear struck their hearts as they approached the door from which they had just been ejected. They knocked, confronted Mr. Pollard, …and then with power borne of the Spirit, our inexperienced missionary spoke: ‘Mr. Pollard, you said we didn’t really believe Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I testify to you that Joseph was a prophet. He did translate the Book of Mormon. He saw God the Father and Jesus the Son. I know it.’

“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

A Young Missionary’s �Testimony of Joseph Smith

• “Some time later, Mr. Pollard, now Brother Pollard, stood in a priesthood meeting and declared, ‘That night I could not sleep. Resounding in my ears I heard the words “Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know it. I know it. I know it.” The next day I telephoned the missionaries and asked them to return. Their message, coupled with their testimonies, changed my life.’”

“Come, All Ye Sons of God,” President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2013

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Questions to Discuss / Ponder

• If you were one of these missionaries who was rejected by Mr. Pollard, what would you have done?

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• Why do you think the missionary’s testimony of Joseph Smith had such a profound effect on Mr. Pollard?

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith’s First Vision

• The story of Joseph Smith’s First Vision
• Hannah: Events leading up to the First Vision
• Abe: The First Vision and Immediate Aftermath

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:5

“There was in the place where we lived an unusual excitement on the subject of religion. It commenced with the Methodists, but soon became general among all the sects in that region of country. Indeed, the whole district of country seemed affected by it, and great multitudes united themselves to the different religious parties, which created no small stir and division amongst the people, some crying, “Lo, here!” and others, “Lo, there!””

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:8

• “During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; …still I kept myself aloof from all these parties. …In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was …to come to any certain conclusion who was right.”

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Questions to Discuss / Ponder

• What questions did Joseph Smith have and what made it so difficult to decide which church to join?
• How might Joseph Smith’s questions be similar to the questions that people in the world have today?

Zacarías Family

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:11

“While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:12

“Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. …I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.”

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:13-14

• “At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God.”
• “So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:15

• “I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.”
• What might be some reasons that Satan attacked Joseph Smith in this moment?

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:16

• “Exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction …I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:17

• “It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Joseph Smith—History 1:18-19

• “My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, ...[so] I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right”
• “…I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; …that those professors were all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’”

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Questions to Discuss / Ponder

• What did Joseph Smith learn from the First Vision?
• In what ways did the First Vision start to overcome the consequences of the Great Apostasy?
• Why do you think missionaries teach about the First Vision during their first lesson with investigators?

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Previous Religious Leaders�and Reformers

• “For centuries the heavens remained sealed. Good men and women, not a few—really great and wonderful people—tried to correct, strengthen, and improve their systems of worship and their body of doctrine. To them I pay honor and respect. How much better the world is because of their bold action. While I believe their work was inspired, it was not favored with the opening of the heavens, with the appearance of Deity.”

“The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith” by Gordon B. Hinckley, Oct 2002 Gen Conf

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Why was Joseph Smith �Chosen by God?

• “Why did both the Father and the Son come to a boy, a mere lad? For one thing, they came to usher in the greatest gospel dispensation of all time, when all of previous dispensations should be gathered and brought together in one. …The instrument in this work of God was a boy whose mind was not cluttered by the philosophies of men. That mind was fresh and without schooling in the traditions of the day.”

“The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith” by Gordon B. Hinckley, Oct 2002 Gen Conf

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

The Apostasy and Restoration

• In what way was Joseph Smith’s work different from the work done by previous religious leaders and reformers?
• “Even though many good people believed in Christ and tried to understand and teach His gospel, they did not have the fulness of truth or the priesthood authority to baptize and perform other saving ordinances. They had inherited a state of apostasy as each generation was influenced by what the previous one passed on, including changes in the doctrine and in ordinances such as baptism. As God had done with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and other prophets, He called Joseph Smith to be a prophet through whom the fulness of the gospel was restored to the earth.” –PMG

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Summary of Things Reestablished through the Restoration

from Preach My Gospel section on The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

The Book of Mormon as a Testament of the Restoration

“Knowing that doubt, disbelief, and misinformation would remain after centuries of darkness, our loving Heavenly Father brought forth an ancient volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible, which contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. This volume of holy scripture provides convincing evidence that Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God. This record is the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.” -PMG

Image from the Gospel Media library on churchofjesuschrist.org

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Questions to Discuss / Ponder

• Why and how is the Book of Mormon convincing evidence that Joseph Smith is a prophet and Jesus Christ’s Church has been restored through him?

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

The Grand Promise at the End of the Book of Mormon

• Moroni 10: 3 – 5
• Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
• And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
• And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Questions to Discuss / Ponder

• What steps must a person take in order to gain a witness that the Book of Mormon is true?
• Why is it crucial for an investigator to read and to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon?

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

“Two hundred years ago, on a beautiful spring morning in 1820, young Joseph Smith, seeking to know which church to join, went into the woods to pray near his home in upstate New York, USA. He had questions regarding the salvation of his soul and trusted that God would direct him.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

“We affirm that under the direction of the Father and the Son, heavenly messengers came to instruct Joseph and re-establish the Church of Jesus Christ. The resurrected John the Baptist restored the authority to baptize by immersion for the remission of sins. Three of the original twelve Apostles—Peter, James, and John—restored the apostleship and keys of priesthood authority. Others came as well, including Elijah, who restored the authority to join families together forever.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

“We further witness that Joseph Smith was given the gift and power of God to translate an ancient record: the Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Pages of this sacred text include an account of the personal ministry of Jesus Christ among people in the Western Hemisphere soon after His Resurrection. It teaches of life’s purpose and explains the doctrine of Christ, which is central to that purpose. As a companion scripture to the Bible, the Book of Mormon testifies that all human beings are sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven, that He has a divine plan for our lives, and that His Son, Jesus Christ, speaks today as well as in days of old.”

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

“With reverence and gratitude, we as His Apostles invite all to know—as we do—that the heavens are open. We affirm that God is making known His will for His beloved sons and daughters. We testify that those who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

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Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Conclusion and Homework

• Pray and ask God if there is someone with whom you might share
• a copy of the Book of Mormon
• your testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith
• Your testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ
• Act on the spiritual promptings you receive
• Church Talks, Videos to Check Out
• Gordon B. Hinckley’s Oct 2002 Gen Conf talk, “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith”
• Videos “Come, All Ye Sons of God” Parts 1 and 2, available on the Church website media-library
• Video “Invitation to Read the Book of Mormon: Jynx” (8:06), The District 2, available on YouTube

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Thank You for Watching or Listening

• I have a testimony that these things are true
• Visit the Latter-day Saint Mission Prep Website at
• www.MormonMissionPrep.com

Missionary Preparation Class

Lesson 8

Teaching the Message of the Restoration (Part 2)

www.MormonMissionPrep.com