Tech Forum

It looks as if the clerks in my stake center have been cleaning out there offices, and dumping all their old student manuals from the past ten years into the meetinghouse library. The shelves there are full of unused copies of the "Teachings of the Prophets" manuals, as well as both the old and the new versions of Gospel Principles.

Time for a bonfire, I guess.

I don't know what the limitations are, but it is possible to return some unused manuals to Distribution Services for credit. That may not be as convenient in Nebraska as it would be in Utah, but from your description, it sounds like you might have hundreds of dollars worth of manuals, so it might be worth a try.

That's not unexpected for the Gospel Principles (2009) version, but the old one can go. The current one is still used for the Gospel Essentials class and also for occasional other usage by other leaders at times for class material as well as by members and even missionaries.

Same for the 'Teachings of the Living Prophets' Institute manual, there was an older version that was used for 30 years, that one had the Tabernacle interior (General Conference photo) in purple tones on the cover, and was printed in a different way than the new blue cover one is. Toss the old white with purple printing cover one, keep the new one.

Is the "Family Guidebook" still a current publication? I see piles of it everywhere.

Yes. We use the Family Guidebook regularly for a variety of uses. One that might not be obvious is that we give it to new Elders because it has a nice section on performing priesthood ordinances in a fairly compact little handbook.

Actually, Handbook 2, Section 20.1.6, says that "Leaders ensure that each priesthood holder has the Family Guidebook or Duties and Blessings of the Priesthood, Part B, so he can have his own copy of these instructions [on performing ordinances and blessings]." Since the Family Guidebook is much smaller, we choose that one.