PROVO, Utah — Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave counsel to new mission leaders on teaching according to the pattern set forth by the Savior to build faith in Him.
Speaking at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Thursday, June 10, as part of the 2025 Seminar for New Mission Leaders, Elder Christofferson focused his remarks on Chapter 10 of "Preach My Gospel," “Teach To Build Faith in Jesus Christ.”
“Consider how the Savior engaged people and invited them to exercise their own moral agency, to learn and apply gospel truth,” he said. “Jesus did not just tell His hearers what they should do, nor did He do everything for them. He taught in ways that required them to think, participate, discuss and apply His teachings.”
Because the Savior taught this way, His disciples were more prepared to receive and be led by the Holy Ghost in acting for themselves, Elder Christofferson taught.
And missionaries’ desire to do the same for those they teach: “To help friends become converted disciples of Jesus Christ who can enter into a covenant relationship with Him and take the Holy Ghost as their guide through life to the end,” he said.
Elder Christofferson emphasized three elements of teaching in the Savior’s way:
- Asking inspired questions.
- Extending invitations.
- Using the scriptures.
During his remarks, he showed a video of currently serving missionaries talking about how they endeavor to teach as the Savior taught and asked mission leaders what they noticed.
One mission president noted that inspired questions allowed the learners to receive answers. “I thought that was beautiful,” he said.
A sister said: “I liked when they talked about considering the needs of the people; that helped them to tailor the lesson to their needs.”
Said another mission president: “I love it when they said to teach the gospel of Christ clearly to help those they are teaching make the right decisions.”
Another sister noted how the missionaries in the video were teaching their friends to apply principles, “and to me, that would be inviting them to act and following up with that commitment.”
Asking inspired questions
On the topic of asking inspired questions, Elder Christofferson said using questions was one of the ways Jesus Christ taught for understanding, to ensure His hearers grasped what He was saying.
“When He asked His disciples, ‘Whom say ye that I am?’ He clearly knew the answer with more clarity and depth than they did, but He allowed Peter the opportunity to reflect and then answer the question himself,” Elder Christofferson said. “Peter’s verbalization deepened his own witness when he declared, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:15-16).”
Extending invitations
The Savior regularly invited people to use their agency and act on His words, according to Elder Christofferson.
“He was not simply imparting information, He was helping people become disciples,” he said.
After His Resurrection, the Savior asked Peter three separate times: “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?” And each time Peter answered, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” The Savior then invited Peter to act by replying, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Said Elder Christofferson: “Frequently, the Savior’s invitations came — and they still come today — with accompanying promises. For example, ‘Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’ (Doctrine and Covenants 88:63).”
By extending invitations as the Savior did, friends receive the opportunity to act, think and take ownership of their learning and growth.
Using the scriptures
“The Lord’s counsel to Hyrum Smith still resonates today: ‘Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men,’” Elder Christofferson quoted from Doctrine and Covenants 11:21.
Elder Christofferson also pointed to a line in “Preach My Gospel,” Chapter 10, which tells missionaries to help people develop faith in Jesus Christ through studying the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon.
“Missionaries need to know, love and teach with the Book of Mormon,” he said. “I bear witness of the divine origin of the Book of Mormon and the truth of its witness of Christ.”
