“Each of us, at some time during our membership in the Church, will be a teacher,” President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, told seminary, institute, and religion teachers and educational administrators at a Church Educational System fireside. “That is one of the beauties of this Church,” he said. “The call to teach is an opportunity to follow Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher.”
The fireside was held at the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 28, 2011.
President Uchtdorf offered five selected topics of counsel for teachers:
First, follow the Master Teacher. Everything we do should center on the Savior—“His gospel, His teachings, His example, and His love.” By expressing our love for the Savior, we help others to develop the same love.
Second, teach the truth with courage and clarity. The world offers many morally-confusing philosophies. Remain committed to the eternal, unchanging doctrines of the gospel and teach them so clearly that they cannot be misunderstood.
Third, teach by the Spirit. Having the Spirit enables teachers to touch hearts and lives and allows those listening to receive eternal learning.
Fourth, teach from the heart. President Uchtdorf recalled the greatest teachers in his life as those who spoke “spirit to spirit, heart to heart . . . with sincerity, passion, and conviction.”
Fifth, testify. “The teacher who bears testimony by the power of the Spirit will be able to touch the hearts and minds of the students,” President Uchtdorf said. He reminded teachers of the example of Brigham Young, the second president of the Church, who felt the Holy Ghost in the testimony of a man without eloquence or talents for public speaking. He quoted Brigham Young: “The Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual [illuminated] my understanding . . . and [I knew] for myself that the testimony of the man [was] true.”
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