After releasing four chapters of the “Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson” manual in 2024, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released an additional six chapters to study on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and on the Gospel Library app.
The chapters have not been released in sequential order. 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 six most recently released chapters are (with their official chapter numbers):
12. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ
15. Prayer
18. Joy and Hope Through Jesus Christ
20. The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
24. The Name of the Savior’s Church
The first four chapters released were:
2. The Atonement of Jesus Christ
Since 1997, the Church has published a collection of the teachings of each of the 17 prophets who have served as President of the Church. This is the first of these collections to be published, in part, while a prophet is still alive.
Some of the chapters are available in 12 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog and Tongan.
Immersive study
President Nelson was set apart as President of the Church on Jan. 14, 2018, but the chapters of his teachings will also include content from his time serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Having served in that quorum since 1984, President Nelson has 40 years of gospel teaching and testimony that are being distilled into this compilation of teachings.
To provide a more immersive study experience, the new manual does more than provide text excerpts of general conference messages or other talks. Many teachings include embedded videos of full messages President Nelson has shared.
For example, Chapter 12: Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, includes videos from previous general conference addresses, a special missionary broadcast from June 2013 and a video about President Nelson’s invitation to youth to experience the joy of missionary service.
The Church has also added a new section to each chapter called “Invitations and Promises.”
This section will help learners consider ways they can apply specific teachings in their lives and may be helpful for home evenings, Sunday classes, seminary and other gospel learning settings.
For example, Chapter 18: Joy and Hope through Jesus Christ includes the invitations:
- “Look to the Lord, and He will fill your heart with hope.”
- “Live as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and you will find true joy.”
- “As we love and serve our neighbors, we will find joy in life.”
- “Teach others about the goodness of God.”
Navigating the Gospel Library app
To begin studying from these new chapters, Gospel Library app users should navigate from the Library icon to the Books and Lessons section, then to Teachings of Presidents. If the user’s app has been updated after Aug. 1, President Nelson will appear as the first option on the list of Church presidents. 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.
Users of the Gospel Library app can also create a study plan in the app that will help them navigate 50 different messages by 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.
President Nelson’s 100th birthday
President Nelson recently celebrated his 100th birthday with a special broadcast on Monday, Sept. 9.
Leading up to his birthday, President Nelson invited everyone on June 1 to spend 100 days before his birthday finding ways to reach out to “the one.”
“One of the places where the Savior used the number 100 in the scriptures was the parable of the lost sheep,” President Nelson wrote on social media. “Though 99 of his flock were safely by his side, the shepherd went in search of the one who was lost.”
Since issuing that invitation, other leaders of the Church have published ways they have seen him and others reach out to the one like the Savior did during His mortal ministry.
The birthday event was broadcast live on the Church’s YouTube channel and on broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, and is still available to watch on those platforms.
‘Come, Follow Me’
Prior to 2019, volumes from “Teachings of Presidents of the Church” were used for study in Relief Society and elders quorum classes. With the Church’s announcement in October 2018 general conference that Sunday meetings would move from three to two hours in length, general conference messages became the focus of most quorums and classes every other week.
At that same time, “Come, Follow Me” became the official curriculum for gospel study both at home and 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.
