Visualizing the Scriptures

Define

Explain that when we visualize the scriptures, we create a mental picture of what we are reading. This skill can help us better relate to the events, stories, and people we read about in the scriptures. The following ideas and activities can help us visualize the scriptures:

• Look for descriptive words and phrases that can help you picture the events in detail.

• Use details you find to imagine what people in the scriptures might have been thinking or feeling.

• Picture yourself in the scripture story, and consider what feelings and thoughts you might have if you experienced the events being described.

• Search for pictures and videos in the Media Library, found at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, that can help you visualize a scripture account.

Model

To model the skill of visualizing, consider using one of the following ideas or create one of your own.

• Give brief context to the story of Daniel and the lions’ den (see Daniel 6:1–15). Then read Daniel 6:16–23, and point out descriptive details that can help students visualize the story. You could display the accompanying picture and invite students to imagine what it might have been like for Daniel to enter an enclosure filled with lions.

  You might share how visualizing Daniel’s experience (or King Darius’s experience) makes the events in the story more real and personal to you. You could also share how it helps you appreciate Daniel’s (and Darius’s) faith as well as the Lord’s power.

• Another option for modeling this skill is to read Doctrine and Covenants 45:44–45 and then show a portion of Elder Neil L. Andersen’s talk “We Talk of Christ” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 91) from time code 12:28 to 13:48. Elder Andersen helps us visualize the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. You might share how visualizing the Savior’s Second Coming influences your faith in Him and your hopes for that day.

Practice

Select a scripture passage from this week’s reading to practice this skill of visualizing scriptures. Or you could select a passage from the examples provided below. Invite students to study the passage and practice visualizing the scriptures by using the ideas in the “Define” section. You could display these ideas. After students practice, invite them to share their experience with a partner or in small groups. They could share one or more of the following:

• Words and phrases from the scriptures that helped them create a mental picture

• A personal insight they gained from doing the visualization

• Their thoughts about how an image or a video helped them feel more connected to the scriptures

Note: You might remind students that a picture or video is an interpretation of the scriptures and not an exact depiction of what happened.

Additional passages for practice:

• Exodus 14:10, 21–22. With the Lord’s power, Moses parts the Red Sea.

• Matthew 14:24–32. Jesus invites Peter to walk on water.

• 3 Nephi 11:13–15. The Nephites feel the Savior’s wounds.

• Doctrine and Covenants 110:2–4. Jesus Christ appears to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple.

Invite and Follow Up

Encourage students to visualize the scriptures as they study. Ask them to come to the next class prepared to share what they learned from doing so. Remember to follow up during the next class and allow time for students to share and discuss how this skill influenced their learning in the scriptures.