(Please accept my gift of my 7-volume Pillars of Zion series. Click on this link: www.pillarsofzion.com.)

Commit to a serious study of the Doctrine and Covenants and amazing blessings will follow.

A few years ago when my bishop extended to me a call to teach the Gospel Doctrine class, I thought I had gone to heaven. I jokingly told him that I would accept the call on the condition that I would keep it for life. Should anyone love a calling this much?

If you attend my class in the Orchard 6th Ward, I put you to work. If you think I am going to be the source of your scriptural insights, you are sorely mistaken. My job is to get you to the Holy Ghost, who is the real Teacher.

One way I try to do that is to sit down each year and prayerfully consider the needs of my class, structure commitments and proffer promises that I believe the Lord is willing to grant. Then I compile everything into a handout, clear it with my bishop, and release it to the class.

Although I cannot speak to the needs of other classes, I thought you might be interested in the goals of our class this year.

Commitments

1.I will search the Doctrine & Covenants completely in 2013, and I will pay particular attention to and mark the promises and passages that reveal who Christ is and what that means to me.

2.I will search in the Doctrine & Covenants daily. I will begin with prayer to invite the Spirit to teach me, and I will ask for things that I desire to know or blessings that I need in my life and in the lives of others.

3.I will keep a Doctrine & Covenants journal to record impressions from the Spirit.

4.I will attend the temple regularly to connect the teachings of this book with the temple covenants and ordinances and to place the names of my loved ones and friends in need of help on the prayer roll.

5.I will recommit to my family history to connect the teachings of this book with the temple covenants and ordinances, and I will take my family names to the temple.

Promises

1.As much as the Book of Mormon brought me to Christ, the Doctrine & Covenants will bring me to Christ’s kingdom. (Ezra Taft Benson). As much as the Book of Mormon taught me the fullness of the gospel, the Doctrine and Covenants will teach me the fullness of the priesthood.

2.I will learn keys to understanding “the code of the most solemn, the most godlike proclamations ever made to the human family.” (Wilford Woodruff)

3.I will become intimately familiar with the voice of Jesus Christ-his messages, warnings, exhortations, and his explanation of the doctrines and covenants of exaltation.

4.I will learn the doctrines and orders of the Priesthood and I will gain greater power in the priesthood principles to move the mountains in my life and become more like Christ.

5.I will learn the purpose of my creation, and I will learn how to create an eternal family and take my place in the family of the gods-to know what they know, do what they do, live how and where they live and possess what they possess.

6.I will learn how to take upon my the entirety of the new and everlasting covenant, lay hold on its supernal blessings, and receive all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

7.I will gain an elevated testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ by learning how to fully take upon me His name and names, and I will gain a testimony of the ministering of angels with power to call them into my life.

8.I will acquire an ability to pray and receive revelation and begin to acquire greater power, like prophets, to eventually part the veil. I will feel strokes of intelligence flow into my mind each time I prayerfully search this book.

9.I will become a testifying witness of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and I will gain an unwavering testimony of the mission of Joseph Smith.

10. Miracles will become more evident and frequent in my life, especially as they concern the safety, security and blessings for my loved ones.

11.I will learn how to become a Zion person.

12.I will learn to discern the signs of the times with power to be at peace in an imploding world, and I will learn to become part of the foundation of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Your Commitments and Promises

I encourage you to prayerfully write down your personal commitments to seriously search the Doctrine and Covenants this year, then listen to the Spirit extend to you promises. You will be astounded at the power that will come into your life this year and the changes that will happen. I promise!

Author’s Note

Please accept my gift of my 7-volume Pillars of Zion series. Click on this link: www.pillarsofzion.com. I invite you to follow our Internet missionary project: www.gospelideals.org.