The 25-minute adjustment is here — so instead of talking about it for one more episode, we ran one. Ryan Wilkins joins Kevin Jones and Julie Hillyard to teach an unscripted, real-time 25-minute lesson on a title of the Savior most of us think we already understand: the Rock. Ryan walks through four different rocks in scripture. No lecture, no right answers, no exhausting every point. Just scripture, questions, and three people wrestling out loud.

Then we stop and take the whole thing apart. What made it work? Ryan opened with a problem, not a principle — "what keeps you up at night?" — and brought it back at the end so every insight landed on something real. He picked four things instead of covering everything, said "there's more we could say about that" and kept moving, made it obvious there was no right answer, and did far less talking than anyone expected. We get into preparing your class during the week instead of only in class, training people to ask questions, why "slow down" is the right counsel even when you have less time, why an unfinished discussion is a productive one, and why prescribing application may be the thing to give up first. If you taught yesterday and it went sideways — or it went great and you want to know why — this is the episode.

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Teaching Restored, The book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HCFD364F

In the final episode of our five-part series on the 25-minute Sunday schedule, Kevin Jones and Julie Hillyard tackle the hardest question of all: what is the actual outcome we're after? Not the Sunday school answer — the real one. Starting from a simple question about where the baptismal covenant is found (and why Alma, Christ, Moroni, and the Doctrine and Covenants don't word it the same way), Kevin and Julie land on something that reframes the whole series: the Savior rarely handed out answers. He told parables, He asked inspired questions, and He extended invitations — and then He gave people space to wrestle. As Julie puts it, the transformation happens in the space. The point was never the answer. The point is who we become on the way to it.

From there they get practical: how to build "proving polarities" questions that make people think (and how to use AI to help you write them if that's not your gift), why counseling together beats one person talking for 25 minutes, how to make a discussion real instead of hypothetical, how to point out the Spirit without isolating the person who isn't feeling it, and a postmortem checklist for evaluating your own class afterward. Plus the image that ties it all together — treat your classroom like an escape room, and be the clue giver instead of the answer key. Julie also offers two important cautions: stirring the pot is not the same as creating chaos, and if you're truly seeking revelation for your class, it won't look like the class next door. Next week: Ryan Wilkins walks through an actual 25-minute lesson.

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This is Part 4 of our series on the 25-Minute Adjustment, and it's a different kind of episode: Kevin Jones, Julie Hillyard, and Kyle Smith went live inside ZionLab, the Leading Saints online community, with host Kurt Francom and a room full of ward and stake leaders. Ahead of time they asked the community what worries them most about the shorter second hour, sorted many responses into five themes, and then worked through them live with a bishop, a stake Relief Society president, a Sunday School president, and an elders quorum president in the room.

Inside: how to handle transitions when your building is on a bow-tied schedule, why the adults — not the youth — are the real transition problem, and what actually motivates people to walk into class on time. Then the hard one: how do you make room for people to speak when there isn't enough time for everyone to speak? You'll hear practical tools you can use this Sunday — posting the council topic ahead of time so people arrive ready, small-group shares that get quiet voices heard, teaching the class to validate each other's comments instead of leaving that to the teacher, going five questions deep to turn a comment into a testimony, ending class on a cliffhanger question and picking it up the next week, and letting silence do the teaching after someone shares something vulnerable. Plus a bishop's youth deciding to go completely analog at church, and a first look at two new Teaching Restored tools: an evaluation tool that analyzes the audio of your class, and 25 lesson skeletons built for 25-minute lessons.

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The lesson time got cut in half — but the material didn't. So what do you actually do differently? In this episode, Kevin and Julie sit down with Teaching Restored team member Kyle Smith to tackle the 25-minute change head-on, and the big idea is freeing: the shortness isn't the enemy — unfocused time is. A well-focused 25 minutes beats an unfocused 45 every time. Kyle walks through four core principles that hold true no matter how long your class is — expect students to come prepared, recognize that not all scripture is created equal, use variety that fits the scripture block, and get everyone into the Word of God rather than just talking about it. Along the way you'll hear practical ways to invite preparation, why "high love + high expectations" beats lowering the bar, and how to meet learners right where they are.

Then Kyle unveils the tool this episode is built around: "lesson skeletons" — 25 bare-bones outlines (one per scripture type: historical narrative, poetic, doctrinal, prophetic) that you fill in with your own scriptures, quotes, and activities. Think plug-and-play bones for experience prep, not content prep — a skeleton for you and God to put the flesh on. They're timed for 25 minutes but flexible enough for any class length, and Kevin, Julie, and Kyle react to them live. Whether you teach primary, youth, Gospel Doctrine, or institute, this one will change how you walk into class. All 25 skeletons will be posted free on teachingrestored.com.

Teaching Restored the book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HCFD364F

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The Church's move to weekly 25-minute lessons is almost here — and the biggest change isn't the clock, it's how we prepare. In Part 1 of our "how" series, Kevin and Julie welcome new Teaching Restored team member John Hester to talk about spiritual preparation and discerning the needs of the people you teach. John shares the "water tower" principle he's never forgotten: fill the tower all week through deep, broad study, and when you open the spigot on Sunday, it pours out with power. The catch? You prepare everything — and you may only use a fraction of it in the room. The goal shifts from covering content to helping people have an experience with the Savior.

Along the way the three dig into what "discerning needs" really looks like, why every ward's lesson should sound a little different, the value of a weekly "postmortem" after class, how to make teacher council meetings actually productive, and a simple framework for narrowing to the one doctrinal center that points to Christ. Maybe the most practical takeaway: don't just prepare yourself — prepare your learners too, with midweek nudges and questions so they walk in ready to discuss. If you've felt overwhelmed by the change, this one is meant to bring you relief and peace.

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The book we have been talking about for years is finally available on Amazon. The Teaching Restored book will teach you how to ask great questions when teaching the Restored Gospel, and how these questions can make all the difference in the quality of your lessons. And not just Sunday lessons, but lessons in your families and with your friends. Go grab a copy and learn how to teach by asking powerful, inspired questions.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HCFD364F

Starting September 6th, Sunday lessons shrink to 25 minutes — and if your first reaction is "how am I supposed to teach anything in that?", this episode is for you. In Part 1 of our five-part series on the 25-Minute Adjustment, Kevin and Julie start where every good change starts: with WHY. Julie walks through the three purposes the Church has made crystal clear — focusing more on the teachings of Jesus Christ, strengthening gospel learning in the home, and increasing fellowship, belonging, and community at church — and shows why the methods are changing while the purpose never has. When your WHY is clear, the HOW stops feeling like a crisis.

Along the way they trace how we got here (2018's two-hour block, Come, Follow Me, Teaching in the Savior's Way, counseling questions in Relief Society and elders quorum) and reframe these shorter lessons as a council, not a lecture. You'll hear why less time actually helps you focus more, why your prep should shift from content to connection, and why the teacher's job is now to create the conditions for people to have their own experiences with Christ — not to deliver an outline. If you're a teacher, a Sunday School president, or a bishop wondering what to do for that fifth-Sunday conversation, don't skip to the logistics. Start with WHY. Then come back for Parts 2–5, dropping every Monday this month.

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Kevin and Julie make a confession: in almost 140 episodes, they've never once tackled Primary — mostly because it intimidates them. So they brought in someone who lives it. Whitney Boyer is a former fourth-grade teacher, a current Primary president, a mom of four, and the host of the new "Come and Do" podcast for Primary teachers. Whitney flips the whole idea of Primary on its head: instead of asking "how do I entertain these kids for 30 minutes?", she asks "what will my children DO to learn?" She makes the case that Primary kids are the biggest group of investigators in the entire Church — and that the same student-led learning we champion for teenagers belongs in the Primary room, where kids shift from passive consumers to active creators.

From there it gets wonderfully practical. Whitney walks through drawing, role play, and imaginative play to turn abstract gospel principles into concrete action (wait until you hear how a child draws "gentleness"), a simple three-step lesson plan — hook, teach the story and doctrine, then apply and practice — and her two go-to classroom-management tools: clear, positive expectations paired with consistent follow-through, and specific positive praise that invites the Spirit. She and Julie also dig into including neurodivergent kids, partnering with parents, and getting children into the actual language of the scriptures. Best part? Almost none of it is exclusive to Primary — it'll make you a better teacher of youth, adults, and your own family. If Primary has ever scared you, this one's for you.

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September 6th the Church changes to 25 minute classes in the second hour. Are you ready? Do you know how to make this shorter time REALLY effective? In August, all our episodes will be focused on ideas of how to be effective in those 25 minutes. PLUS, we have a ton of resources.

We love a clean hero. But when we flatten Saul, David, or Solomon into a simple good guy or bad guy, we miss the whole point — and we set our own faith up for a fall. In this episode, Kevin and Julie are joined by guest Kyle Smith to talk about "simplicity on the other side of complexity": the idea that real, lasting understanding only comes after we climb the mountain of complexity instead of sliding back down and resenting it. They apply that framework to the scriptures, where the heroes turn out to be faithful but broken, courageous but flawed, repentant and inconsistent — in other words, a lot like us.

Together they walk through the complicated lives of the Old Testament kings, why God preserved the failures of His prophets ("God's not creating propaganda — He's teaching redemption"), and the danger of either hero-worship on one side or "you are enough" moral relativism on the other. Most of all, it's a practical conversation for teachers and parents: how to develop a scripture character honestly, ask the questions that let students see themselves in the story, and point every messy, human life back to the one choice that changes everything — Jesus Christ.

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