Terry Lloyd currently serves as the Sunday School president in the Snyderville Ward in Park City Utah stake. In addition to other callings, he has taught in Primary, Sunday School, priesthood quorums, and early morning seminary. In his professional life he is a financial analyst and occasionally provides training on finance and accounting topics.
Enter Terry…
For some, this may already be familiar news, but for others, it’s a valuable addition to resources for anyone teaching youth. In January 2024, the Church introduced life resource lessons into the seminary curriculum. The lessons were released in some areas of the United States and Canada, and then rolled out globally in January 2025. These weekly lessons are designed to build on traditional scripture study, equipping youth with essential tools for both their spiritual and temporal lives. The new lessons address critical areas such as:
- Mission, temple, and educational preparation
- Scripture study skills
- Emotional resilience
- Life skills
- Teachings of latter-day prophets
This significant update reflects the Church’s commitment to help our youth navigate a challenging world. Leaders across various Church departments, including the Missionary, Temple, and Welfare and Self-Reliance departments, collaborated with Seminary and Institute administrators to identify ways to strengthen our youth. Their collective efforts aim to address a pressing need; the increasing prevalence of depression, anxiety, and emotional struggles among teens and young adults.
A Timely Response to Today’s Challenges
The inclusion of emotional resilience and life skills is particularly timely. We live in an age where mental health concerns, such as depression and anxiety, are more prominent than ever, in and out of the Church. These lessons offer a gospel-centered framework for understanding the nature of life’s challenges, our eternal identity as children of God, and our relationship with Heavenly Parents. They provide practical skills for managing stress, building healthy relationships, and finding hope in the Savior.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and President Dallin H. Oaks have long emphasized the need to make gospel teaching relevant and applicable in daily life. These new resources embody their teachings, showing youth how gospel principles can provide directly applicable tools for handling life’s stresses.
Lessons for All Teachers
Although these new materials are tailored for the five-day-a-week seminary program, their principles are universally applicable. Youth leaders, Sunday School teachers, and parents can all draw from these lessons to strengthen their teaching. They align beautifully with the guidance to teach in the Savior’s way—focusing every discussion on Jesus Christ.
For example this link is to the discussion outline for “Building Emotional Strength in the Lord.” It was part of a worldwide training broadcast to seminary and institute instructors last January announcing the lessons and materials. (These worldwide seminary broadcasts are some of the best foundational instruction in gospel teaching I have ever attended. The last eight years of the broadcasts are archived here.)
If you’re teaching youth even twice a month, consider how these lessons can enhance your efforts. For example, incorporating emotional resilience teachings into a mutual activity or discussing temple preparation during a Sunday lesson can help youth feel supported in all aspects of their lives.
Over the course of four years in seminary, students will have many opportunities to learn how to apply the Savior’s teachings to a variety of different circumstances and situations. The learning experiences that the Life Preparation lessons add to scripture course lessons will better prepare an entire generation to meet the challenges of life by drawing on the Savior’s strength, teachings and gospel.
In a recent training broadcast to seminary and institute instructors, Elder Clark G. Gilbert, Church Commissioner of the Church Educational System, encouraged teachers to rise to the occasion. He reminded us:
“Our young adults live in perilous times, but the Lord has prepared prophets who have the calling and the capacity to say, ‘Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.’ May we too have the courage, the discipline, and the faith to hear their words and, in doing so, carry God’s message to His children across the earth.”
Elder Gilbert’s words call all of us—whether seminary instructors, youth leaders, or parents—to be diligent in our efforts to teach, guide, and strengthen the rising generation with practical advice in daily life.
Moving Forward
These life resource lessons are more than an addition to the seminary curriculum; they represent the Church’s proactive effort to prepare youth for the complexities of life. By integrating gospel principles with practical life skills, these lessons reinforce the Savior’s invitation to “come unto me” and show how His teachings bring peace and purpose in every aspect of life.
For more information on the curriculum updates or to access the broadcast Elder Gilbert referenced, you can find resources here. May we all embrace this inspired direction and continue to prepare our youth to stand steadfast in these “perilous times.”
