Even though the daily scripture study class for Mormon youth, called seminary, is now 100 years old, taking part is still a day-to-day proposition. Take New Zealander Sabrina M. as an example. She rises early each school day, prepares for her day, and then attends an hour of scripture study before her regular school classes begin.
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She and hundreds of thousands of other young members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide are making seminary a priority, and seeing the benefits in their lives.
The following transcript of an interview with Sabrina sheds some light on why young Latter-day Saints participate in seminary, and how it is helping them develop into strong and capable adults.
Q: Why do you go to seminary?
A: "I really enjoy it, but sometimes I don't feel like going, so I just push myself and those are the times I have really needed it. It helps me at school throughout the year, and helps me to focus."
Q: What is your seminary teacher like?
A: "She is very kind and makes it easy to understand everything. She can explain things very well."
Q: What style of teacher do you have? How does she teach you?
A: "She uses the chalkboard a lot, which makes it a lot easier to see what is happening. It is very easy to understand that way."
Q: Do your friends at school, who are not members of the Church, know that you go to seminary?
A: "Yes they do, and I brought one once, and she really enjoyed it quite a bit."
Q: Can you think of something that you have studied, that has carried with you, or something that stands out in your mind?
A: "I really like in the Book of Mormon the 2000 stripling warriors, how they were faithful and courageous."
Q: Has there been something in the past that this story has helped you get through?
A: "Actually last year in Social Studies my class was learning about our faith, and so I was able to share with my class everything we were learning about in the Doctrine and Covenants."
Q: Did you learn about other religions as well as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
A: "Yes, but really not as much as we did about Mormons."
Q: Was the information your teacher was giving you fairly accurate?
A: "Yes, it was quite correct, but anything she was iffy about, I was able to help her."
Q: Were you the only Mormon teenager in the class?
A: "Yes, I was the only one in the class, but they all know I am a member."
Q: Do you notice some of the other students acting differently around you?
A: "Yes, I have a good friend who I notice does things differently around me than she does with other people."
Q: If you had a good friend who was debating as to whether to go to seminary, what would you tell her?
A: "I would tell her that at the end, it would all be worth it, because it helps you with your school....and [you] feel the spirit a lot more."
Q: Do you learn about the scriptures in seminary?
A: "Yes we do, we have scripture mastery, and we have to memorize scriptures."
Q: How many scriptures do you have memorized?
A: "About 10."
Q: Do you feel like you are a close knit group of seminary students?
A: "We are quite good friends, and if we are alone we can go to each other, and talk about things, it is quite comforting. Everybody knows that I have standards."
Q: What are you learning about as you study the Doctrine and Covenants?
A: "Learning about the Doctrine and Covenants, and Joseph Smith, and the things that he went through for this Church, it is amazing and just makes me think it is so true, and no one would risk their life for a book, unless it was true."