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While following and even commenting on the recent topic on evolution (https://mormonhub.com/forums/topic/63530-adam-and-eve-and-evolution/), I have a slight sense of foreboding as we begin our study of the OT this year. Lesson 3 (https://www.lds.org/manual/old-testament-gospel-doctrine-teachers-manual?lang=eng) is on the creation, and, as the other thread (and many of the other attempts to discuss the topic on this forum over the years) shows, it has the potential to become a long debate generating more heat then light and otherwise getting bogged down in some irrelevant sub-topics. My intention is not to rehash the same discussion -- that can continue in the other thread. My intention here is to get advice and counsel from the peanut gallery mormonhub crowd for teachers and participants to make these lessons productive. What topics should be included? What should be avoided? I notice that the manual does not even acknowledge that these kind of debates exist. Is it better for the teacher to follow the manual and hope it doesn't come up or acknowledge the debate and explain that he/she does not want to delve into those kind of questions? When do you bite your tongue if someone brings up a topic on the "don't talk about that" list? When do you stop biting your tongue?

Hey guys, So, I was sitting through a lesson today and I realized that even though I've been a member for 9 months I don't know some basic things! The first thing that bothered me was "Baptismal Covenants". I vaguely remember the questions asked of me, namely, do you believe in Heavenly Father, do you sustain the First Presidency, do you follow the WOW, are you engaging in homosexual behavior, ect. But I realized that I don't actually know what I promised Heavenly Father when I was baptized. Could anybody run down for me what those are? The Church's definition of the Atonement. I felt in my heart the pain of the Garden of Gethsemane, and I always assumed that this was "The Atonement", but when used in a sentence as if everybody knew what it meant, that freaked me out. The lesson was on having the Gospel become the center in our life. What does "The Atonement" mean in this concept? Those were the two that stood out to me. Are there any scriptures that lead specifically to those two concepts? Thanks!