Elder Kevin S. Hamilton,, a General Authority Seventy, spoke during the Saturday afternoon session of April 2022 general conference. He taught how the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes it possible to overcome weaknesses and become more like Heavenly Father. The following is a summary of what he said.
Notable quotes from Elder Hamilton
“While it is indeed good to be authentic, we should be authentic to our real, true selves, as sons and daughters of God with a divine nature and destiny to become like Him.”
“Humility, coupled with faith in Jesus Christ, will allow us to access the enabling power of His grace and the fullness of blessings available because of His Atonement.”
“As sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven, we have the power within us to change.”
Summary of Elder Hamilton’s talk
One of Satan’s greatest lies is that men and women cannot change and should not change. However, in order to be authentic to “our real, true selves, as sons and daughters of God with a divine nature and destiny… then we will all need to change.”
The Lord operates through conditions, or “if-then” statements. He has taught that “as we first change our fallen natures, our weakness, then we will be able to change our behaviors.”
Humility and faith in Jesus Christ are requisites to accessing the enabling power of His grace, which makes it possible to overcome all obstacles, all challenges and all weaknesses.
“The Savior worked out His infinite and eternal Atonement so that we could in fact repent, change and become better. We can actually be born again. We can overcome habits, addictions and even the ‘disposition to do evil.’”
Becoming like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ happens through change or repentance. “We become new, clean, different and we simply continue to work at it every day. Sometimes it may feel like two steps forward and one step back, but we continue to humbly move forward in faith.”
About Elder Hamilton
- Elder Kevin S. Hamilton was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2013. He has also served as Belgium Brussels/Netherlands Mission president from 2003 to 2006, stake president, high councilor, bishop and full-time missionary in the Switzerland Geneva Mission.
- He was a co-founder and partner in a venture capital firm and also worked in the telecommunications industry in several companies, serving as CEO a number of times.
- Elder Hamilton was born on March 26, 1955, in Wenatchee, Washington. He married Claudia Keysor on July 27, 1978, in the Los Angeles California Temple. They are the parents of six children.
Elder Hamilton in the news
- Elder Hamilton, who is the executive director of the Family History Department, presented with Elder David A. Bednar and Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; President Camille N. Johnson, Primary general president; and Sister Reyna I. Aburto, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, during the 2022 Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction on the benefits of temple service and family history work and released on March 3.
- “Connection is this powerful thing,” Elder Hamilton said of RootsTech 2022’s theme #ChooseConnection. He was one of the FamilySearch leaders who hosted two events at the World Expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that coincided with the RootsTech 2022 family history conference on March 3-5.
