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 astonished.  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, getting to participate was no longer a problem; instructors would deliberately call on me for answers frequently.

After you 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. 

Learn The Articles of Faith by yourself

I have learned the Articles of Faith by heart, backwards, forwards, in order, out of order and in any order.  The same mechanical memorization prompters that follow will serve you in good stead for studying and remembering any subject of your choice.  Remember this maxim:  The best cure for a bad memory is more practice.  No matter how bad your memory is, it can get better.  The better it gets the better your memory can become. Is there any limit?  Well, several people have memorized the entire phone book for the Los Angeles metro.  I believe it was President Taylor that had the Bible memorized in four different languages.  As a son or daughter of Heavenly Father you have the capacity of learning and memorizing anything you set your mind to.

There are three kinds of memory, short term, mid term and long term.  We'll be working on all three 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.

I'm not going to tell you to start every learning experience with prayer because you already know that. You know that anything you do with an idea of serving Heavenly Father with it can be learned twice as easy when you start with prayer.  As we roll along I'll reveal some of the other power-learning tools I have picked up.  

Without further ado let's read all the way through the Articles of Faith just to familiarize ourselves with them.  Be sure to say the words "Article of Faith # X" for each one as you read it because that will become a trigger for learning them in order, out of order and in any order.  You're going to be a whiz.

Go through this whole page until you can make it all the way through.  Then you are ready for your first try at 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?

These same principles work for learning any other kind of subject.  For example:  wanting to learn Spanish to better serve Spanish speaking members that visit our ward I downloaded the Church's recorded introduction to the Doctrine and Covenants to my computer.  Finding it way too fast for me I slowed it down to a Texas drawl.  Then I played the introduction in slowed down Spanish while reading the same passage in English.  3 times, 4, 7, 12 and more, because I am a slow learner, I waded all the way through that passage.  Finally I could read it in English and say it in Spanish or read it in Spanish and say it in English, word for word.

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I Find lost insurance companies -- This service might be needed, like when a loved one dies and their insurance company can't be found.  The last personal help I provided was for a policy that paid one half of a whole million dollars.  Not being LDS, he didn't even say "Thank you" for supplying this free service.

I also maintain the Tale Wins Site to help people learn how to write better.  1,400,000 people per year visit those pages.  I also provide help for those wanting to start real web sites of their own, and I reveal the old, time-tested methods and tools to get traffic to their web sites. As a hobby Special Bulletin is an outlet for my daily thoughts but others are invited to post there also.