Hello, fellow teachers. This is gospel teaching, and I'm Casey Griffiths.

You know, when I was first teaching, I think one of my real anxieties was that students just wouldn't connect with the scriptures.

And don't get me wrong, I loved the scriptures, and they'd already had a huge impact on my life.

But I just didn't have a lot of confidence that the words in the scriptures

would connect with high school students. So it felt like I stalled in class as long as I could

before I actually got into the scriptures. I'd ask them about their day, we'd play games,

we'd do bonding activities, just about anything I could to keep them engaged.

My perspective started to change with advice from some good teachers and a verse in the

Book of Mormon that's still one of my favorites today.

It's found in Alma 31, where Alma is leading a mission to reclaim the Zoramites, a hostile

faction that had broken away from the Nephites.

And you might remember that Alma had assembled the Book of Mormon equivalent of the Dream Team.

He has three of the four sons of Mosiah with him, they had to leave Himnigh behind to

run the church, and his old companion Amulek and their former adversary, now friend, Zezraim.

But before the texts talk about the power of these missionaries to change minds and hearts,

it mentions something even more powerful when it comes to reaching people.

It reads,

And now as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just,

yea, it had a more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword or anything else

which had happened unto them.

Therefore, Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the Word of God.

In my own teaching, I realized I was neglecting the most powerful tool in my possession, the Word

...