Since 1997, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has published a collection of the teachings of each of the 17 prophets who have served as President of the Church.
On Thursday, Aug. 1, the Church released the first of these collections to be published, in part, while a prophet is still alive. Four chapters from “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson” are now available for study on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Gospel Library app.
1st topics
The newly released four chapters are not the first four, sequentially, in the digital manual. And other chapters will be released in batches, similar to how the Church’s new hymns are also being released. This allows those who wish to study President Nelson’s teachings on specific topics to begin doing so immediately and to learn more from him on other topics as they are published. When complete, the Church anticipates this volume will include 28 chapters.
The first four chapters to be released are (with their official chapter number):
2. The Atonement of Jesus Christ
The last volume of “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church” to be released was that of the late President Thomas S. Monson, in 2022. President Monson died in 2018 after having served as an Apostle and President of the Church for 54 years.
Counselors’ testimonies
In social media posts published on Thursday morning, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, first and second counselor in the Church’s First Presidency, respectively, expressed their testimonies of President Nelson as the Lord’s prophet and someone who loves the Savior Jesus Christ.
President Oaks wrote, “I have known President Russell M. Nelson, my dear friend, for many years. In that time, he has endured difficulties of varying degrees. Yet he has provided a remarkable example of how understanding the Atonement of Jesus Christ can bring to us heavenly relief in our trials.”
President Eyring wrote of his gratitude for the “sweet testimony and inspired guidance” from President Nelson included in the newly released chapters.
“Let us follow President Nelson’s example as we seek to increase our faith in the Savior that we may all overcome the mountains we face,” he said.
In his post, President Oaks testified that President Nelson “doesn’t just teach these truths; he truly believes and lives them. Like him, let us find peace in our challenges by turning to our Savior Jesus Christ.”
How to find
These first four chapters are available in 12 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog and Tongan.
To begin studying from these four chapters, Gospel Library app users should navigate from the Library icon to the Books and Lessons section to Teachings of Presidents. If the user’s app has been updated Aug. 1, President Nelson will appear as the first option on the list of Presidents of the Church. If the user’s app has not been updated, pulling down and releasing from the top of the screen should queue the new content to be updated on most iOS and Android devices.
Immersive study
While President Nelson was sustained and set apart on Jan. 14, 2018, as the President of the Church, the chapters of his teachings will include content from his time serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as well. Having served in that quorum since 1984, President Nelson has 40 years of gospel teaching and testimony that is being distilled into this compilation of teachings.
To provide a more immersive study experience, this new manual does more than provide text excerpts of general conference messages or other messages from President Nelson. Many teachings include embedded videos of full messages President Nelson has shared.
For example, in “Chapter 2: The Atonement of Jesus Christ,” videos from general conference are included from as recently as last year, when President Nelson spoke in the October 2023 general conference about how the Lord has sustained and strengthened him while recovering from an injury to the muscles in his back. Another reaches back to a 1992 Brigham Young University devotional.
Related content attached to that chapter includes messages in the Liahona magazine and videos published by the Church that feature President Nelson. One example is the “Atonement — Not a One-Time Thing” video that was created in conjunction with the 2013 youth theme.
For the first time, the Church has added a new section to each chapter called “Invitations and Promises.”
This section will include a way for those studying the chapter to consider ways to apply the teachings on that topic in their lives. This may be helpful for home evenings, Sunday classes, seminary and other gospel learning settings.
Users of the Gospel Library app can also create a study plan in the app that will help them navigate from among 50 different messages from President Nelson. From the app’s Home, users can scroll to Study Plans, then Start New Plan, and scroll from left to right to select Messages from President Nelson. The app will then display 50 messages that users can mark individually when they have completed studying. As they mark a message as completed, the Study Plan section on the app’s home page will show a completion percentage to help users know how much of the plan they have completed.
Ahead of 100th birthday
The release of these first chapters comes nearly one month before President Nelson will celebrate his 100th birthday, on Sept. 9. He will be the first Prophet of this dispensation to be a centenarian. In lieu of gifts that he said he has no need of, President Nelson invited people around the world to “reach out to ‘the one’ in our lives who may be feeling lost or alone.”
Since issuing that invitation on June 1, other leaders of the Church have published ways they have seen him and others reach out to the one to serve and love like the Savior did during His mortal ministry.
‘Come, Follow Me’
Prior to 2019, volumes from “Teachings of Presidents of the Church” had been used for study in Relief Society and elders quorum classes. With the Church’s adjustment announced in October 2018 general conference that Sunday meetings would move from three hours to two hours in length, general conference messages became the focus of most of those quorums and classes every other week.
At that same time, “Come, Follow Me” became the official curriculum for gospel study both at home and at church. And in 2024, Church curriculum and “Come, Follow Me” was further simplified from four manuals to one manual to be used across age groups and classes.
The new “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson” is not currently scheduled to be a manual of study for Sunday classes and quorums.
