October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Bishop Sean Douglas › Youth

30-minute lesson · Youth · Ages 11–18: classes, quorums, or home

Put Your Name in the Verse

From “The Hour of Your Mission Is Come,” by Bishop Sean Douglas · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference

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The big idea

God prepared you to invite His children to come unto Christ, and the Savior's call to serve is addressed to you by name.

Objective

Youth will decide where a mission belongs on their own list of plans and choose one step of preparation to take this week.

Before you teach

  • Read Bishop Douglas's talk and Doctrine and Covenants 31:1, 3, 5–7.
  • Bring a slip of paper and a pencil for each person.
  • Write the six scrambled story lines from segment 3 on the board and cover them until you need them.
  • Label four corners of the room, on paper or just by pointing: Education, Dating, Family time, Sleeping in.
  • Ask youth to bring scriptures or phones; they will use them.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

3 min0–3

Top five

  1. As youth sit down, hand each a slip and a pencil. Say: You have sixty seconds. Write the top five things you hope to do in the next ten years. Go.
  2. Call time. Ask them to put a star by the one that matters most and keep the slip face down. No one has to share.
  3. Offer a prayer, or ask a youth to. Say that Bishop Douglas of the Presiding Bishopric spoke straight to the rising generation, and today they get to answer him.
5 min3–8

What takes a back seat

  1. Explain that Bishop Douglas listed things that take a back seat for a season on a mission, including education, dating, careers, family time, and sleeping in on Saturday mornings.
  2. Say: Walk to the corner that would be hardest for you to set aside. Ask one person in each corner for a one-sentence reason.
  3. While they are still standing, have someone read Mosiah 28:3 from a phone, then read President Nelson's words that Bishop Douglas quoted (aligned quote).
  4. Have them sit and discuss the questions.
Ask
  • Bishop Douglas says the Lord's expectations are high and that it is worth it. What would make it worth it to you?
  • What did the sons of Mosiah want so much that everything else could wait?
7 min8–15

Story scramble: Elder Sanchez

  1. Split into two or three teams. Uncover the board: (A) Called as a bishop on his wedding day. (B) A friend helps him start his mission papers. (C) Baptized at nearly 24. (D) A desire to serve suddenly swells in his heart. (E) Serves as a missionary in Lima, Peru. (F) Stops participating for a time.
  2. Teams race to put the letters in order using paragraphs 8–11 of the talk on their phones. First team with the right order (C, F, B, D, E, A) and able to point to where the talk says so wins.
  3. Ask a youth to read aloud what Merlin said when asked why he wanted to serve (key quote from paragraph 9).
  4. Add the ending: today Merlin is a stake president, and he and his wife, Gali, have three children. They cannot fathom what their lives would be if he had not served.
  5. Discuss the questions.
Ask
  • The friend helped with mission papers before Merlin had decided. Who has done something like that for you, or who could you do it for?
  • Merlin's reason was not about where he would go or what he would get. What do you notice about his reason?
6 min15–21

Honest questions

  1. Say: Here are questions people your age really ask. What if I am not sure I want to go? What if I do not know enough? Is it the same for young women and young men? Let them add their own.
  2. Read paragraph 14 of the talk together. Be clear and gentle about what the prophets have said: the Lord has asked every worthy, able young man to prepare for and serve, and for him it is a priesthood responsibility; for young and able sisters a mission is a powerful, but optional, opportunity, and they are invited to pray to know if the Lord would have them serve.
  3. Read Alma 10:6 and ask what Amulek admits about himself. Point out that Bishop Douglas said some might be like Amulek, and that Merlin's story shows it is not too late to hear.
  4. For the worry about not knowing enough, read paragraph 16: Bishop Douglas says they already have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement that can bless the world. Then read Elder Caussé's words about testimony (aligned quote).
  5. Read the key quote from paragraph 7 about being held in reserve. Ask the question below.
Ask
  • Bishop Douglas says, “Take care not to become distracted.” What are the alternatives of far less worth that could quietly crowd a mission off someone's list?
6 min21–27

Your name in the verse

  1. Read the second invitation in the Invitations list: Bishop Douglas invited each of them to put their own name in place of Thomas's.
  2. Have everyone open Doctrine and Covenants 31:1, 3, 5–7 on a phone or in their scriptures. Give three minutes of real silence to read it with their own name in verse 1.
  3. Ask them to copy onto the back of their slip the one phrase that felt most like it was meant for them.
  4. Invite a few to share their phrase and why. Do not press anyone.
  5. Point out the promises attached to the call, such as “your tongue shall be loosed” and “I will open the hearts of the people, and they will receive you.”
Ask
  • How did it feel to read these verses with your name in them?
3 min27–30

Back to the list

  1. Read the first invitation in the Invitations list word for word.
  2. Have youth turn their slip over to their top five. Silently, they decide where a mission belongs on that list and write it there. For young women, that may mean writing: pray to know.
  3. Ask each to circle one step from the Act list, or write their own, to do before next class.
  4. Bear a short testimony of the Savior and of the truth that they are needed. Tell them you will open next week by asking who took their step and what happened. Close with prayer.

Key passages from the talk

“God held you in reserve for this time.”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 7

“I only want to be close to Jesus Christ and to follow Him.”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 9

“Don’t be distracted by alternatives of far less worth.”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 13

“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 19

The speaker’s direct invitations

“To all the rising generation of the Church, I invite you to place serving a full-time mission high on your list.”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 13

“I invite each of you to substitute your name for Thomas’s”

Bishop Douglas’s talk, paragraph 17

Scriptures

  • Mosiah 28:3 Read aloud in segment 2 while youth stand in their corners. Ask what the sons of Mosiah wanted so much that everything else could wait.
  • Alma 10:6 Read in segment 4. Ask what Amulek admits about himself and how Merlin's story shows it is not too late to hear.
  • D&C 31:1, 3, 5–7 Read silently in segment 5 with your own name in place of Thomas's. Copy one phrase onto your slip.

Other voices that agree

“Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”

President Russell M. Nelson, quoted in this talk (paragraph 6)

“It need not be long, eloquent, or dramatic—it only needs to be true.”

Elder Caussé · The Gift of Testimony, paragraph 22

Three things to remember

  • God prepared me, before I was born, to invite His children to come unto Christ.
  • The best reason to serve is wanting to be close to Jesus Christ and to follow Him.
  • The Lord's call comes with promises, and I can read them with my name in them.

Ways to act this week

  • Pray this week to know what the Lord would have you do about a mission, and write down any thought or feeling that comes.
  • Read Doctrine and Covenants 31:1, 3, 5–7 once more at home with your name in it, and put your phrase where you will see it every day.
  • Ask a returned missionary one honest question: What was hard, and why was it worth it?
  • Be the faithful friend: do one practical thing to help a friend come to church, a class, or an activity.

Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.

Music

  • Called to Serve

Adapting the lesson

  • At home or with two or three youth: skip the corners and teams. Talk through what would be hardest to set aside, order the story lines together, and spend the saved time on Doctrine and Covenants 31.
  • Short on time: do segments 1, 5 and 6 (about 12 minutes) and tell Merlin's story in a few sentences.
  • If recent converts or youth who are unsure about serving are present, let Merlin's story lead: he was baptized at nearly 24 and had not planned on a mission.

This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.