{
  "lessonDate": "2026-09-21",
  "lessonNumber": 196,
  "lessonTitle": "Our Covenant Responsibility to Share the Gospel",
  "semester": "fall-2026-ot",
  "source": "Seminary manual, Lesson 196 — Missionary Preparation (Life Preparation)",
  "scriptureBlock": "Abraham 2:9–11; Genesis 12:3; Isaiah 49:5–6; 1 Nephi 22:7–9",
  "bookName": "MISSIONARY PREPARATION",
  "deckType": "lifeprep",

  "lessonObjective": "Help students see sharing the gospel as part of who they already are by covenant, rather than an errand they will run at nineteen — and attach it to one real face.",

  "doctrinePrinciple": "As Abraham's seed, we have a covenant responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.",

  "personalScriptureStudy": {
    "chapters": "Abraham 2:9–11",
    "questions": "This is a Doctrinal Mastery passage — mark it. What did the Lord promise Abraham, and what did He ask of Abraham's seed in return? Who is the seed?"
  },

  "teacherNote": "SUPPLIES: four envelopes numbered 1–4, and the manual's two-sided handout 'The families of the earth' printed front and back and cut along the dotted lines. Sort pieces into the envelope matching the heading number on the back. Four groups; duplicate to eight if the class is large. THE ACTIVITY: each group invents a person from one of the images — name, country, family, what is going well, what is hard — and introduces them to the class. Keep those names on the board; the whole lesson refers back to them. THE PIECES ASSEMBLE INTO ONE PICTURE at the end, which is the point and should not be spoiled early. ABRAHAM 2:9–11 IS DOCTRINAL MASTERY — mark distinctively. ELDER BEDNAR is the anchor: 'Missionary work is a manifestation of our spiritual identity and heritage… That is who we are, and that is why we are here.' IDENTITY, NOT OBLIGATION — that framing is the whole difference between this landing well and landing as guilt. Preach My Gospel page 1, first three paragraphs, is worth reading aloud. FIRST of the Missionary Preparation arc (196–200) and it follows straight on from Lesson 116's ensign on 09-17; make that link out loud.",

  "cards": [
    {
      "card": 0,
      "layout": "lifeprep-activity",
      "sectionName": "THE ACTIVITY",
      "tagline": "Every piece is somebody.",
      "title": "MISSIONARY PREPARATION — THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH",
      "subtitle": "Four Envelopes. One Picture.",
      "challengeHead": "THE CHALLENGE",
      "challengeText": "Each group gets an envelope of puzzle pieces with faces on them. You will invent a life for one of those faces — and only at the end find out the pieces make a single picture together.",
      "activityHead": "THE ACTIVITY",
      "steps": [
        { "title": "OPEN IT", "text": "Take your envelope. Spread the pieces and look at the people on them." },
        { "title": "GIVE ONE A LIFE", "text": "Pick a face. Name, country, family, what is going well, what is hard." },
        { "title": "INTRODUCE THEM", "text": "Tell the class about your person. We keep their name on the board." },
        { "title": "NAME YOURS", "text": "Now write the name of one real person you know who is not a member." }
      ],
      "bandHeading": "TALK ABOUT IT",
      "bandQuestions": [
        "What is hard in their life?",
        "What would the gospel give them?",
        "Who did you write down?",
        "What holds you back?",
        "Why does one face help?"
      ],
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.",
        "attribution": "Abraham 2:11"
      },
      "artPrompt": "A natural photograph of teenagers around a classroom table assembling a large jigsaw puzzle made of photographs of people's faces, several pieces joined and more spread around, bright morning light."
    },

    {
      "card": 1,
      "layout": "lifeprep-apply",
      "sectionName": "MAKE IT REAL",
      "tagline": "That is who we are.",
      "title": "MISSIONARY PREPARATION — YOU ARE ABRAHAM'S SEED",
      "subtitle": "Not An Assignment. An Identity.",
      "scripturesHead": "WHAT THE SCRIPTURES SHOW",
      "scriptureList": [
        "Abraham 2:9–11  —  Doctrinal Mastery: the covenant",
        "Genesis 12:3  —  all families blessed through him",
        "Isaiah 49:6  —  a light to the Gentiles",
        "1 Nephi 22:7–9  —  the covenant is being kept now",
        "Preach My Gospel, page 1  —  your commission"
      ],
      "planHead": "MAKE YOUR PLAN",
      "planQuestion": "Who is the one person you wrote down?",
      "plan": [
        "What is actually hard in their life right now?",
        "What could the gospel of Jesus Christ give them?",
        "What is one small thing you could do this week?"
      ],
      "ideasHead": "IDEAS: HOW COULD I BLESS THEM?",
      "ideas": [
        "Learn their story first.",
        "Be a real friend.",
        "Answer a question honestly.",
        "Invite them to something.",
        "Pray for them by name.",
        "Serve without an agenda."
      ],
      "challengeHead": "CHALLENGE THIS WEEK",
      "challengeText": "Pray for the person you named, by name, every day this week — and do one kind thing for them that has no strings attached.",
      "rememberHead": "REMEMBER",
      "rememberText": "Elder David A. Bednar: \"We are the seed of Abraham… That is who we are, and that is why we are here.\" This is not a job you take on at nineteen. It is a description of what you already are.",
      "scrollQuote": {
        "text": "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles.",
        "attribution": "Isaiah 49:6"
      },
      "artPrompt": "A warm painterly golden-hour scene of an ancient patriarch standing beneath a vast night sky full of stars over open desert, the first light of dawn at the horizon."
    }
  ],

  "journalPrompt": "Write the name of one real person you know who does not have the gospel. Write what is hard in their life right now, and what the gospel of Jesus Christ could give them. Then write one thing you will do for them this week — and the day you will do it."
}