Links for other months: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November

December, Week 1

Day 1

Primary
1. Today read Doctrine and Covenants 137.
2. In 1823, the sudden death of Alvin, the oldest son, devastated the Smith family. The family asked a local minister to officiate at Alvin’s funeral. As Alvin had not been a baptized member of the minister’s congregation, the clergyman claimed that Alvin could not be saved. Joseph’s brother William later said, “[The minister] … intimated very strongly that [Alvin] had gone to hell, for Alvin was not a church member” (in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 401–3). Throughout his life, Joseph experienced even more loss with his wife Emma, as they buried four of their six infant children.
3. Read the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

Mercifully, God’s great plan of happiness and its eternal blessings can be extended to those who did not have the opportunity to hear the gospel in mortality. Temple ordinances can be done vicariously for them. (Russell M. Nelson, “Celestial Marriage,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 94)

4. Read this statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

What about those who are not able to marry in this life or those who cannot be sealed to their parents in this life? We know that the Lord will judge each of us according to the desires of our hearts, as well as our works, and that the blessings of exaltation will be given to all who are worthy. (Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 10)

5. What will happen to those who are not able obtain the blessings of the gospel in this life? President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency explained:

Only a very small minority of God’s children obtain during this life a complete understanding of God’s plan, along with access to the priesthood ordinances and covenants that make the Savior’s atoning power fully operative in our lives. …

… Our Heavenly Father is anxious to gather and bless all of His family. While He knows that not all of them will choose to be gathered, His plan gives each of His children the opportunity to accept or reject His invitation. And families are at the heart of this plan. (Henry B. Eyring, “Gathering the Family of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 20–21)

Youth
1. Today read Doctrine and Covenants 137.
2. In 1823, the sudden death of Alvin, the oldest son, devastated the Smith family. The family asked a local minister to officiate at Alvin’s funeral. As Alvin had not been a baptized member of the minister’s congregation, the clergyman claimed that Alvin could not be saved. Joseph’s brother William later said, “[The minister] … intimated very strongly that [Alvin] had gone to hell, for Alvin was not a church member” (in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 401–3). Throughout his life, Joseph experienced even more loss with his wife Emma, as they buried four of their six infant children.
3. Read the following statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

Mercifully, God’s great plan of happiness and its eternal blessings can be extended to those who did not have the opportunity to hear the gospel in mortality. Temple ordinances can be done vicariously for them. (Russell M. Nelson, “Celestial Marriage,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 94)

4. Read this statement by President Russell M. Nelson:

What about those who are not able to marry in this life or those who cannot be sealed to their parents in this life? We know that the Lord will judge each of us according to the desires of our hearts, as well as our works, and that the blessings of exaltation will be given to all who are worthy. (Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 10)

5. What will happen to those who are not able obtain the blessings of the gospel in this life? President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency explained:

Only a very small minority of God’s children obtain during this life a complete understanding of God’s plan, along with access to the priesthood ordinances and covenants that make the Savior’s atoning power fully operative in our lives. …

… Our Heavenly Father is anxious to gather and bless all of His family. While He knows that not all of them will choose to be gathered, His plan gives each of His children the opportunity to accept or reject His invitation. And families are at the heart of this plan. (Henry B. Eyring, “Gathering the Family of God,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 20–21)

Day 2
Primary
1. Today, read Doctrine and Covenants 138:1-24.
2. President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, a great-grandson of President Joseph F. Smith, shared the following about the vision that is now Doctrine and Covenants 138.

On October 3, 1918, having experienced intense sorrow over the millions who had died in the world through war and disease as well as the deaths of his own family members, President Smith received the heavenly revelation known as “the vision of the redemption of the dead.” …

The revelation he received on October 3 comforted his heart and provided answers to many of his questions. We too can be comforted and learn more about our own future when we and our loved ones die and go to the spirit world by studying this revelation and pondering its significance in the way we live our lives each day. (M. Russell Ballard, “The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 72–73)

3. Read the following statement by President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency about the work of salvation for all Heavenly Father’s children in the spirit world.

The work of salvation in the spirit world consists of freeing spirits from what the scriptures frequently describe as “bondage.” All in the spirit world are under some form of bondage. (Dallin H. Oaks, “Trust in the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 26)

4. Elders David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

The Savior said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of [heaven].” Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins is an essential saving ordinance in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here in the temple, we do baptisms for the dead. Two members of our Church will come into the baptismal font dressed in white, and there they will be baptized for their departed ancestors. Baptism for the dead was taught by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, and we have the privilege of continuing that ordinance in the Church today in all of the temples throughout the world.

One of the great questions in Christianity is what happens to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ. His is the only name under heaven whereby a man or a woman can be saved. But yet among all those who have ever lived, only a relative few have heard of Him, have had the opportunity to learn His doctrine, and to receive the saving ordinance of baptism by immersion. That is made possible through proxy baptism for the dead. There are some people who will ask if we are compelling or constraining our ancestors to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the answer is no. It is a loving offering. And they then have the opportunity to accept or reject that ordinance. (David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband, in “Two Apostles Lead a Virtual Tour of the Rome Italy Temple” , ChurchofJesusChrist.org)

Youth
1. Today, read Doctrine and Covenants 138:1-24.
2. President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, a great-grandson of President Joseph F. Smith, shared the following about the vision that is now Doctrine and Covenants 138.

On October 3, 1918, having experienced intense sorrow over the millions who had died in the world through war and disease as well as the deaths of his own family members, President Smith received the heavenly revelation known as “the vision of the redemption of the dead.” …

The revelation he received on October 3 comforted his heart and provided answers to many of his questions. We too can be comforted and learn more about our own future when we and our loved ones die and go to the spirit world by studying this revelation and pondering its significance in the way we live our lives each day. (M. Russell Ballard, “The Vision of the Redemption of the Dead,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018, 72–73)

3. Read the following statement by President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency about the work of salvation for all Heavenly Father’s children in the spirit world.

The work of salvation in the spirit world consists of freeing spirits from what the scriptures frequently describe as “bondage.” All in the spirit world are under some form of bondage. (Dallin H. Oaks, “Trust in the Lord,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2019, 26)

4. Elders David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

The Savior said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of [heaven].” Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins is an essential saving ordinance in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And here in the temple, we do baptisms for the dead. Two members of our Church will come into the baptismal font dressed in white, and there they will be baptized for their departed ancestors. Baptism for the dead was taught by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, and we have the privilege of continuing that ordinance in the Church today in all of the temples throughout the world.

One of the great questions in Christianity is what happens to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ. His is the only name under heaven whereby a man or a woman can be saved. But yet among all those who have ever lived, only a relative few have heard of Him, have had the opportunity to learn His doctrine, and to receive the saving ordinance of baptism by immersion. That is made possible through proxy baptism for the dead. There are some people who will ask if we are compelling or constraining our ancestors to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And the answer is no. It is a loving offering. And they then have the opportunity to accept or reject that ordinance. (David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband, in “Two Apostles Lead a Virtual Tour of the Rome Italy Temple” , ChurchofJesusChrist.org)