I was hopelessly out of my class in that class.  There were three former stake presidents, our current stake president, two former Bishops and several former high councilmen, not to mention that one that still was a High Councilman.  Any hope of actually making a meaningful contribution to the class dwindled after three months, so I simply sat there absorbing all I could.

Then one day the instructor asked, "Can anyone here quote the tenth Article of Faith?"

I waited for the inevitable rush of voices, and raised my head slowly when I heard nothing but silence.  I glanced all around me and everyone there was studying the floor.  Tentatively, bewilderedly, I raised my arm about half way, knowing that surely someone else there would still beat me to supplying the answer.  But instead, the instructor says "Did you need me to repeat the question, Brother Roberts?"

"No, I know it," I said.

"You know it?" he asked, obviously perplexed since I had never participated before.

"Yes.  We believe in the literal gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes, that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."

The instructor was even more astonied.  He glanced down at his manual twice, then exclaimed.. "Why, that's right.  That's almost exactly right."

There was another stunned silence and then Brother Baum -- on my left -- asked me, "Were you ever a teacher in Primary?"

"Yes," I responded.

"That explains it," Brother Baum told the class.  Everyone laughed and the class went on.  Ever after that instructors deliberately called on me for answers frequently.

As I sat there that day my mind wandered a bit back to my second Primary class.  We teachers had been asked by the Primary Presidency to help them learn the Articles of Faith before the year was out and I had posted a puzzle on the board which read:

The kids were told this was a special code that any of them could read quite easily if they applied the right key to it.

The code was left up for two weeks before I began to hear murmurings from the parents that the code was too hard, that none of the kids would ever be able to break it.  I waited for three more weeks, never saying a word about the code that remained on the chalk board.  After that I gave up; the parents were right; I had gone beyond their capacity.  And I just forgot it was up there.  Then one morning in the middle of class a student leaped to her feet and exclaimed... "I can read it!  I can read it!"

The class gathered around her as she began to read it off the board.  "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."  One after the other all of them read a share of the code, as proud of themselves as I was.

If you will learn the Articles of Faith by heart you will never be at a loss for a subject to speak on.  You will know the basic precepts of the Church and be able to discuss them intelligently with anyone.  I have learned them by heart, backwards, forwards, in order, out of order and in any order.  In conjunction with the code above the same memorization mechanical prompter that follows will serve you in good stead for any subject of your choice.  You were able to read the above code, weren't you?

Okay, there are two kinds of memory, short term and long term.  We'll be working on both of them.  It is fairly obvious that the children of today learn quicker on a computer than they do from a book. So, put your little children down in front of the computer screen and say, here you go, learn the Articles of Faith. You can walk off with full faith that they will shortly know the Articles of Faith far better than you do.

The first thing we want to do is read all the way through the Articles of Faith to familiarize ourselves with them.  Be sure to say the words "Article of Faith # X" for each one as you read it as that will be a trigger to learning them in order, out of order and in any order.

Go through this until you can make it all the way through.  
Then you are ready for the old hat trick.

1. Find a hat.  Any hat will do that is still in one piece.

2. On thirteen scraps of paper write one number on each scrap, using numbers 1-13.

3. Wad each number up into a tiny ball.

4. Put all the balls into the hat.

5. Draw out one number at a time.

6. Repeat the Article of Faith corresponding to that number.

7. Any time you stop, stutter or stall over the wording, put that number aside until you finish.

8. After you finish, go through the INVISIBLE regime for each article that you missed.

9. Wait a full day and try the hat trick again.  Don't quit until the hat holds no secrets from you.

10. Walk up to anybody in Church and challenge them.. "Give me a number, any number 1 through 13."

When they give you a number, reel the Article of Faith corresponding to the number they chose, then ask them if it be right.  Now, if that person can't verify that you did get it right, send them to this page so THEY can learn the Articles of Faith too.  Backwards, forwards, in order and in any order.

A month after people begin avoiding you in the hallways, 
come back and go through the INVISIBLE  part again 
about twice, 
then try the hat trick again to prove yourself herewith that you have got them memorized.

Three months later, do it again.

One year later, do it again.

If you EVER forget one of the Articles of Faith, come back for a refresher course.

 Isn't this fun?