Assess Your Learning 6

Alma 17–Alma 52

young woman studying the scriptures

This lesson is intended to help you evaluate the goals you have set and the growth you have experienced during your recent study of the Book of Mormon.

Help students learn to value self-assessment. Regular and consistent self-assessment can help students see how they are becoming more like the Savior. Invite students to prayerfully consider what they know and how they feel about Jesus Christ. Encourage them to sincerely evaluate their progress and consider changes they can make as they strive to live His gospel.

Student preparation: Invite students to come ready to share what they’ve learned or ways they’ve grown spiritually over the past few weeks. It may be helpful to have students review their study journal or notes in their scriptures.

Possible Learning Activities

Measuring growth

• What are the following tools used for?

Consider displaying pictures of the following tools or, if possible, bringing in some of the actual items.

oral thermometer

blood pressure measuring equipment

weight scale

• How are each of these tools valuable and important?

Just as it is important to measure physical health and growth, it is also important to evaluate your spiritual health and progress. This lesson will provide you with an opportunity to do this.

Help students reflect on their recent spiritual progress by asking questions like the following. Consider displaying these questions and inviting students to record their answers in their study journals before sharing their answers with the class.

• What have you learned recently that you are grateful for?

• What changes have you noticed in your feelings and attitudes lately?

• What are some ways you have applied what you have been learning?

Complete the following activities to evaluate your spiritual learning and growth. Consider asking Heavenly Father to help you identify the progress you have made and areas you might need to improve in.

Your class’s study in Alma may have emphasized truths other than those assessed in the following activities. Adapt the following activities to include those truths you emphasized. Remember that all the ideas do not need to be covered in this lesson or approached in the linear way they are written.

Explain important truths about the plan of salvation and the role of Jesus Christ

This part of the lesson is intended to help students explain aspects of the plan of salvation and the role of Jesus Christ from their recent scripture study. Adapt the following in a way that helps students best reflect on and explain what they learned based on how or what you taught.

From your study of Alma, you may have learned some things that can help you better explain truths about the plan of salvation and the important role of Jesus Christ.

Choose one of the following activities to complete.

Consider displaying the following scenarios and questions for students to respond to.

Activity 1: The plan of salvation

Imagine that one of your friends recently had a loved one pass away.

• Thinking about some of the truths from your recent study, what could you share with your friend about the plan of salvation? How might this help him or her? (See Alma 11; 12; 40.)

If students need help, consider referring them to specific references about the plan of salvation, such as Alma 11:41–45; 12:24–25; 22:13–14; 40:11–14, 21, 23.

Activity 2: The role of Jesus Christ

Imagine talking to someone who is skeptical about your belief in Jesus Christ.

• Thinking about some of the truths from your recent study, what could you share with this person about the important role of Jesus Christ? (See Alma 26; 34; 36.)

If students need help, consider referring them to specific references about the role of Jesus Christ, such as Alma 26:12–14, 16, 22, 35–37; 34:8–10; 36:16–21. It may be helpful to inform students that the words Ammon was speaking about God in Alma 26 can refer to both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Feel an increased desire to change because of Jesus Christ

In your recent study, you have learned about many people who changed because they learned about Jesus Christ.

Consider inviting students to name some of the people they have studied in the Book of Mormon who experienced change because of Jesus Christ. The following three examples could be shared if needed. Students could be divided into groups and assigned to review one of the following sets of verses. Then a student from each group could summarize what the group read for the rest of the class.

• Lamanites taught by Ammon: Alma 17:13–16 (before); Alma 19:33, 36 (after)

• King Lamoni’s father: Alma 20:8–14 (before); Alma 22:15–18 (after)

• Alma the Younger: Alma 36:6 (before); Alma 36:18, 24–26 (after)

• What did you notice about their willingness to change?

Reflect on your desire to change because of Jesus Christ. The following questions may help you do this. You may consider responding to these in your study journal.

The following questions could be displayed, and students could choose to answer them in their study journals.

• Have you felt some of the same desires that these people in the Book of Mormon did? Why have you felt this way?

• What do you think could lead or has led you to feel these same desires?

Receiving revelation from the Holy Ghost

An important objective in seminary is to help you increase your ability to receive personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.

Reflect on recent experiences you have had receiving personal revelation from the Holy Ghost. You might review some of the notes you wrote in your scriptures or study journal as you have studied in class or at home.

Before beginning the following discussion, it may be helpful to show “Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation” (3:04) to help students recognize some of the ways the Holy Ghost speaks to us. This video is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Invite the students to discuss some of the ways they have recently been blessed by receiving personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. The following questions can help with this.

• What insights have you received from the Holy Ghost in your recent study of the Book of Mormon?

• What has the Spirit helped you understand or feel about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?

• What righteous actions has the Holy Ghost recently prompted you to take?

Encourage students to continue to seek for and act on personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.

Supplemental Learning Activities

An alternate way to start the lesson

Consider displaying an image of the dashboard of a car with all the indicator lights visible. Help students understand that indicators on a car dashboard provide valuable information that tells how the vehicle is functioning and warnings if something is wrong. Students could identify the meaning and purpose of as many symbols as they can on the vehicle dashboard shown. Explain that, like car dashboard symbols, seminary Assess Your Learning lessons can help them know how they are doing spiritually and evaluate their growth and how they have implemented their gospel study.