Lesson 2-29 "Exaltation"

This lesson has a lot of rich doctrine: the plan of salvation, the difference between immortality and exaltation, how to gain exaltation, the necessity of covenants and ordinances. Depending on your young women, you can spend varying amounts of time introducing and reviewing those concepts . To supplement the lesson doctrinally, Preach my Gospel (lesson 2: The Plan of Salvation) has a straight-forward (and a little more substantive) treatment of the plan of salvation and exaltation as well as some key definitions.

For those more been there, done that young women who may feel they already know the material (I know some Laurels that may fit into that group) you could put together a quiz from the definitions to see where to focus your time. Or draw the five circles of the plan of salvation and see how much they can complete, then fill in the gaps and create discussion.

The objective of the lesson is that "each young woman will desire exaltation." That's a particularly lofty objective! As I thought about the lesson, I realized that if I was going to try to build that kind of motivation and urgency about exaltation I would want to stimulate more discussion and engagement beyond the core doctrine of the lesson.

In many ways, helping young women build a desire for exaltation is much like that famous marshmallow experiment with pre-schoolers (also cited by Elder Uchtdorf in his talk on patience in General Conference last April). The researchers left the children each with a marshmallow and the instructions that they could eat it now or wait 15 minutes and have two marshmallows. Many children found it too difficult to wait, even with the promise of those extra rewards. With exaltation we have the added challenge of the extremely delayed gratification and the difficulty in conceiving of the reward. Interestingly, one of the capacities that help children cope with the stress of delayed gratification in similar studies is through language, both self talk (private speech) and having a mentor to talk with and help bridge the gap between what the child can do now and what she is growing to be. I think that's equally true of gospel learning and the path to exaltation.

A couple of thoughts for discussion:

1. Melvin J. Ballard's firsthand account (in the lesson) glimpsing what being in the presence of the Savior feels like are vivid. I especially like this:

"If I shall live to be a million years old, I shall never forget that smile... The feeling that I had in the presence of Him who hath all things in His hands, to have His love, His affection, and His blessing was such that if I ever can receive that of which I had but a foretaste, I would give all that I am, all that I ever hope to be to feel what I then felt!”

Now there's some motivation for desiring exaltation!

2. The lesson's resource guide supplement asks a great question:

If repentance allows me to come back, why should I worry now about staying on the path to exaltation?

I'd love to hear your answers to how you would approach this. I think it's a valid question and one that crosses the minds of many youth and adults. Recently at our stake's youth conference, I liked the answer the temple matron gave on this very topic. She talked about the effectiveness of the atonement and repentance in washing away our sins but that the loss of time--that precious earthly commodity--can't be restored.

3. Sometimes the same plan of salvation that give us so much hope can also feel overwhelming. When we see the long path of discipleship stretching ahead, it's understandable to feel discouraged sometimes. I like the following two quotes for addressing this reality with both frankness and hope:

"As you ponder your progress on the "strait and narrow path," be assured that eternal life is within your reach. The Lord wants you to return to Him, and He will never require anything of you that you cannot fulfill. All his commandments are calculated to promote your happiness." (True to the Faith, p. 52-53).

"When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascent step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel--you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348).