Seminary Kickoff Fireside
August 16, 2025
Our purpose is to help each other deepen our conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, qualify for the blessings of the temple, and prepare ourselves, our families, and others for eternal life with our Father in Heaven.
What promises do you desire for yourself?
“You might be thinking, ‘I just do not have time, Elder Rasband. I am already over-committed; I have to get good grades; I am taking too many credit hours; I have tough [teachers] who expect my full attention; I am working; and I can barely get to church on Sunday.’”
Know this: You cannot put your testimony on the shelf during your [education] years.”
Learn to balance learning by study and by faith by attending seminary and institute, Elder Rasband encouraged. “Equal time, brothers and sisters. Give the Lord equal time in your [education] experience. Then give Him equal time the rest of your life.”
(Oct 13, 2024)
“Whatever is on your to-do list, give equal time, not spare time, to the Lord…”
Our purpose is to help each other deepen our conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, qualify for the blessings of the temple, and prepare ourselves, our families, and others for eternal life with our Father in Heaven.
4 Keys to Accessing the Promised Blessings
Moses provided an example of how to discern between God and Satan. When Satan came tempting Moses, he detected the deception because he had just had a face-to-face interaction with God. Moses quickly realized who Satan was and commanded him to depart. When Satan persisted, Moses knew how to call upon God for more help. Moses received divine strength and rebuked the evil one again, saying, “Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship.”
We should follow that example.
“Cast Satan’s influence out of your life! …
With frightening speed, a testimony that is not nourished daily “by the good word of God” can crumble. Thus, the antidote to Satan’s scheme is clear: we need daily experiences worshipping the Lord and studying His gospel. I plead with you to let God prevail in your life. Give Him a fair share of your time. As you do, notice what happens to your positive spiritual momentum.”
President
Russell M. Nelson
The need for continued participation in seminary and institute remains. It’s not a coincidence that Latter-day Saint youth start seminary at the age of 14 — the same age Joseph Smith was when he received the First Vision and started his education and preparation for his prophetic role.
By the time young people get to junior high or middle school and move toward high school and then on to college, they need more fortification and reinforcement than a once-a-week Sunday experience provides. That’s where the idea of a daily scriptural experience and faith-promoting exchanges with a teacher and other students come in.
From students’ first seminary class on through to their college experience, ideally, they’re having a scriptural experience and a spiritual education every day of the week. Given the world we’re in, they need it.
The Lord is interested in the whole man and the whole woman. He wants the entire soul rewarded and edified. Reason and revelation, the physical and the spiritual, the temporal and the eternal — those always dovetail. The Lord intended it that way. We’re missing something if we neglect either the spiritual or intellectual side of learning. And in the gospel, we don’t have to. I’m grateful the Church Educational System is built around the concept of an integrated, whole-souled man and woman.
Immerse Yourself Daily in the Scriptures