Faith: A Bond of Trust and Loyalty
By Elder Sandino Roman
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts saving his friend José Luis from drowning in a pool, experiencing divine assistance in the process.
When I was 17, I made an agreement with my friend José Luis to teach him how to swim. So one morning we dedicated time to practice. When our lesson was over and I was leaving the pool, I heard my friend shouting for help. He was drowning in the deep end of the pool.
I threw myself into the water and swam toward him while praying for help. As I grabbed his hand to pull him to the surface, my desperate friend climbed onto my back and put me in a choke hold. Now we were both drowning. Trying my ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Faith: A Bond of Trust and Loyalty
By Elder Sandino Roman
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a childhood memory of promising his mother to always strive to be the best son and make her proud, which became a guiding principle in his life.
Let me use a personal example: When I was a child, I found my mother crying alone one day. When I asked her why, she gently said, “I need you to be a good boy.†Even though I knew that I was not the cause of her distress, I loved and trusted my mother like no one else and wanted to make her life less difficult. So, with tears in my eyes and with all the solemnity that a nine-year-old can have, I promised her that day I would always strive to be the best son and make her proud.
Can yo ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Harden Not Your Heart
By Elder Christopher H. Kim
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on his confusion as a young boy about why Laman and Lemuel did not believe in the teachings of their father Lehi and brother Nephi, even after an angel appeared to them.
When I was a young boy, as I read the Book of Mormon, I often wondered why Laman and Lemuel did not believe the truths that were given to them, even when an angel of the Lord appeared and spoke to them directly. Why couldn"™t Laman and Lemuel be more humble and obedient to the teachings of their father, Lehi, and their younger brother Nephi?
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Harden Not Your Heart
By Elder Christopher H. Kim
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the story of a couple he and his wife knew, where the husband was a new member of the Church and the wife was learning about the gospel but struggled to commit to baptism until she understood the importance of humility and repentance.
My wife, Sue, and I have known a wonderful couple for the last four years. When we initially met them, the husband was a new member of the Church, and his wife was meeting with the missionaries to study the gospel. Many missionaries met with her to help her come unto Christ. We felt that she had a vibrant testimony of the gospel and knew that the Church was true. She felt the Spirit often during our visits and actively participated in all the meetings. She loved to interact with the wonderful me ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Harden Not Your Heart
By Elder Christopher H. Kim
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker illustrates the ultimate example of meekness and humility through Jesus Christ, who humbled Himself before the Father and was obedient to Him by being baptized and submitting His will to the Father at the end of His mortal life.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was the ultimate example of meekness. In 2 Nephi 31:7 we read, "But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments." Even though He was holy and perfect, He humbled Himself before the Father and was obedient to Him by being baptized. At the end of His mortal life, Jesus Christ submitted Hi ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Joy Through Covenant Discipleship
By Elder John A. McCune
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
Uyanga Altansukh, a Mongolian woman, felt inspired by the bright countenance of the mission president and later joined the church, embracing the teachings including tithing and rejoicing at the announcement of a new temple.
One day in 2023, Uyanga Altansukh was at work in the northern Mongolian city of Darkhan when the Mongolian mission president entered her workplace. In her words:
"I saw him and thought he had this bright light in his countenance. He was very kind and fun to those around him, and I felt warmth. Before he left, I asked him some questions. A few days later, he came into my work again and asked if I could attend his church. I thought it might be helpful. I was worried for my children"™s future, as ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Joy Through Covenant Discipleship
By Elder John A. McCune
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker shares an experience of being called into President Nelson's office with his wife, feeling loved and reassured, only to discover later that President Nelson's daughter had passed away the same day.
I now would like to share another experience. In January of 2019, my wife, Debbie, and I were invited into the office of President Nelson. He had positioned a chair close to us, and we sat almost knee to knee. After extending to us our current calling, President Nelson turned to Debbie and focused on her. He was kind, loving, gentle, and full of joy, like the perfect father or grandfather. He held Debbie"™s hand and patted it, reassuring her that it would be OK and that our family would be ble ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
My Love for the Savior Is My "Why"
By Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls deciding to do things essential to them out of love for the Savior and for their fellow brothers and sisters, rather than just because they were invited or asked to do it.
Pondering over this and all the invitations we had received, I recalled something that I learned and decided long ago. I am trying to do these things which are essential to me because I love Him; I love our Savior. This is the real and most powerful reason why I do what I do, and then connected with this is my love for you, my fellow brothers and sisters.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
My Love for the Savior Is My "Why"
By Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on how traditions can sometimes dictate our efforts to build faith in Jesus Christ without considering their impact on our covenantal connection with the Savior.
It is interesting that sometimes because we have consistently done things to the point that they have turned into traditions, we allow these traditions or activities to dictate our efforts to build faith in Jesus Christ. It seems that we do these things because we have done them for many years, without considering their impact on our covenantal connection with the Savior.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
My Love for the Savior Is My "Why"
By Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker uses the example of setting goals like reading scriptures or preparing activities to question whether the real goal is to accomplish these tasks or to use them as tools to connect with the Savior.
For example, when you set a goal to read the scriptures, offer sincere prayers, or prepare an activity for your family or ward, is the real goal simply to accomplish these tasks? Or are these actions the means, the tools at your disposal, to achieve the true goal? Is the purpose merely to hold an activity because we have done it for many years and then check the box that we have completed it? Or, once again, are these the means we use to learn, to feel, and to connect with the Savior?
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
My Love for the Savior Is My "Why"
By Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
President Dallin H. Oaks challenges everyone to prepare for an Easter celebration of Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice, establishing traditions that focus on learning about the Savior and remembering His Resurrection.
A prime example of Christ-centered traditions is the challenge President Dallin H. Oaks extended to all of us in the name of the First Presidency. President Oaks said: "As we enter this new year, let us prepare for an Easter celebration of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. "¦ No matter what others believe or do, we should celebrate the Resurrection of our living Savior by studying His teachings and helping to establish Easter traditions in our society as a whole, especially withi ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
My Love for the Savior Is My "Why"
By Elder Ricardo P. Giménez
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker illustrates the principle of connecting actions with love for the Savior by contrasting the approach of reading all general conference messages at once and checking them off a list with the approach of studying and pondering the messages to improve and become closer to the Savior.
Let me illustrate the principle that I am trying to convey. One option, which is probably extreme, could be to read all the messages from general conference all at once; then, when I am done, I will check this invitation from my to-do list without doing anything else with what I read. I understand this is an extreme case, but it is not unreal. Probably, many are at some point between this and the ideal.
The invitation is to study and ponder the messages from the general conference and use them t ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker was baptized at 26 and his work in aquaculture in Chile led him to see life differently, recognizing the presence of God in all things.
Jesus Christ changed my life when I was baptized at the age of 26 in my beloved Frutillar, Chile. At that time, my job took me across the ocean, rivers, and lakes of the beautiful Chilean Patagonia.1[I worked as an engineer for more than 20 years developing aquaculture in Chile.]After my baptism, I saw my work and my life in a new and different way, recognizing that truly "all things denote there is a God."2[Alma 30:44]
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker talks about the comfort and hope he finds in attending the temple, and the healing miracles he's seen in his children who live with unseen illnesses.
Attending the temple has given me comfort and great hope about our eternal destiny. I have experienced heavenly connections with people on both sides of the veil. I"™ve seen healing miracles in the lives of my young children, two of whom live with unseen illnesses that require daily care for the rest of this life.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker relates the life cycle of salmon to our spiritual journey, emphasizing the guidance system both salmon and humans have to return to their origins.
In nature, salmon are born in the source of the rivers. At some point in their lives, they need to swim downriver to reach the ocean, where they find the nourishment and conditions necessary for their development.
But the ocean is also a dangerous place where predators lurk and where fishers try to catch the salmon with flashy hooks that imitate food but do not nourish them. If the salmon can survive these threats, they will be ready to use their powerful guidance system to return upriver to the ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
Moses's encounter with God and subsequent temptation by Satan illustrates the importance of remembering one's divine nature in the face of adversity.
Before His birth in mortality, Jesus Christ appeared to Moses and spoke to him on behalf of the Father. He told Moses He had a great work for him to do. During that meeting, the Lord called him "my son" several times.
After that experience, Satan came tempting him, saying, "Moses, son of man, worship me."
Moses responded to the temptation by remembering his divine nature, saying, "Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God."7[SeeMoses 1:4"“13]The truth freed Moses from an attack by the ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a personal story of being offended during a priesthood class and how a fellow church member helped him refocus on Christ.
I know how real the hooks of mortality can be. One Sunday, as a new convert, I was teaching a priesthood class when an unsettling conversation arose. I struggled to finish my lesson. I took offense and felt that I was the victim. Without saying a word, I headed for the exit with the idea that I would not return to church for a while.
At that very moment, a concerned priesthood holder stood in front of me. He lovingly invited me to focus on Christ and not on the situation we had experienced in cl ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Our Heavenly Guidance System
By Elder Sergio R. Vargas
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
Ricardo GarcÃa, the first member of the Church in Chile, expressed his happiness from the gospel on the day before he passed away.
In November 1956, Ricardo GarcÃÂa entered the waters of baptism in Chile, becoming the first member of the Church in my country.10[See Trent Toone, "Builders and Blessings: How Early Latter-day Saint Pioneers Shaped the Growth of the Church in Chile,"Church News, Feb. 18, 2025, thechurchnews.com.]Just one day before he died, he declared before his family and friends, "Many years ago, missionaries invited me to be happy along with my family. I am a happy man. Tell everyone in Chile the go ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Participate to Prepare for Christ"™s Return
By Elder Steven D. Shumway
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts an encounter with Elder Neil L. Andersen, who humorously acknowledged the speaker's feelings of inadequacy as a new General Authority and reassured him that it would get better in five or six years.
A few months ago, I was standing in a hall when Elder Neil L. Andersen walked by. I had just been called as a new General Authority. Likely sensing my feelings of inadequacy, he smiled and said, "Well, there looks like a man who has no idea what he is doing." And I thought, "There is a true prophet and seer." Elder Andersen then whispered, "Don"™t worry, Elder Shumway. It gets better"”in five or six years."
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Participate to Prepare for Christ"™s Return
By Elder Steven D. Shumway
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2025
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a personal story of how accepting a calling as an activities planner for a singles ward led him to meet his future wife, Heidi, emphasizing the blessings that can come from saying yes to service.
I learned this lesson while working and studying chemical engineering in college. I was asked to be the activities planner for a singles ward. This was my nightmare calling. Still, I accepted, and at first it was drudgery. Then at one activity a beautiful girl was smitten by the way I served the ice cream. She returned three times, hoping to catch my attention. We fell in love, and she proposed to me just two weeks later. Well, maybe it wasn"™t quite that fast, and I was the one who proposed, ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →