Lesson 1 · Chapter 1 of the manual

Building Emotional Strength in the Lord

My Foundation: Exercise Faith in Jesus Christ 32 slides ~75 min core · flexes 60–95 5 official videos Ready

Present slides Facilitator guide (printable) Read the chapter ↗

Run of show

15 min

Open — welcome, why this year, one warm-up, how the council works, the weekly pattern

slides 1–10

13 min

My Foundation — exercise faith in Jesus Christ: video, Ether 12:18, prophetic priorities

11–14

31 min

Learn — what resilience is, challenges in God’s plan, agency, change, gratitude (+ optional tools)

15–28

5 min

Ponder — quiet; two questions; a personal commitment

29

11 min

Action partners, commit, close

30–32

Optional slides (marked in the deck) add up to 24 more minutes: the group video, Circle of Control, Mountains to Climb, thought-trap preview, and the 3-step reset. The manual allots 90–120 minutes for the full chapter.

Scripture anchors

“And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God.”Ether 12:18 · faith comes before power, not after

“…they are free to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.”2 Nephi 2:26 · agency: we choose our response

“I give unto men weakness that they may be humble … then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”Ether 12:27 · weakness is the doorway, not the verdict

Videos in this lesson

Five official videos.

Each opens on churchofjesuschrist.org. Download them before class if the building’s Wi-Fi is unreliable. Starred ones are in the core 75-minute path.

Facilitator additions

What we added, and why.

The manual’s content is kept as written. These are marked Optional in the deck so you can skip any of them.

Four warm-ups (pick one): Battery level · Worst senior-year advice · Stand up, this or that · The shaken bottle. Replaces the manual’s one-minute introductions for a group that already knows each other.
The transition zone — one slide naming the senior-year pressure out loud so the doctrine lands on real life.
Circle of Control — a whiteboard exercise that sits naturally under “act and not be acted upon.”
Thought-trap preview — three minutes, max. Lesson 2 owns this topic.
The 3-step reset — a physical tool to take home tonight; Lessons 3–4 teach body and stress skills in full.

Your week

My commitments.

Tap what you chose. It saves on this device. B and D are for everyone; pick at least one of A, C, or E.

AI will act on one way to strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ.
BI will write down one thing I am grateful for each day and thank God for it.
CI will work on my personal commitment from the Ponder section.
DI will contact and support my action partner.
EI will share what I’ve learned with my family or friends.

My personal commitment (from Ponder)

Something I want to change

My action partner

Name

Phone

Our check-in (day & time)

Copy a text

Hey! Midweek check-in from our Emotional Resilience group — how are your commitments going? Anything I can help with?

Battery check: what % are you at today, and what’s the app draining it? Mine’s at __%.

What’s one thing from today you’re grateful for? I’ll go first: __

Did you get a chance to do your faith commitment this week? No pressure — just checking in like we said.

Everything on this page is stored only in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

When the bottle is shaking

The 60-second reset.

In 4 · hold 4 · out 4 · hold 4. Four rounds. Then name the feeling, and take one small step that is yours to take.

Full instructions on the home page