Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Sunday morning session of April 2025 general conference about the Restoration of Christ’s Church 195 years ago. The following is a summary of what he said.
Elder Bednar’s talk summary
The organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 195 years ago “was the culmination of a sequence of miraculous experiences.”
Having his prayer answered by seeing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as part of his First Vision was the first of three specific experiences for the Prophet Joseph Smith.
“Joseph did not pray merely to know what was right. Rather, he prayed to know what was right so he could do what was right.”
Second in this Restoration was the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon.
“The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, confirms the truthfulness of the Bible and restores plain and precious truths that were lost from the Bible.”
Third was the restoration of priesthood keys lost with the deaths of the New Testament apostles.
“Ancient prophets and apostles personally conferred priesthood authority upon Joseph Smith and committed priesthood keys to him.”
Those prophets and apostles were John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Moses, Elias and Elijah.
“As you pray earnestly with the expectation to both receive and act upon an answer from God, as did young Joseph Smith, your capacity to recognize and respond to that divine witness will be increased.”
Read the full text of Elder Bednar’s talk: ‘The Times of Restitution of All Things’
Notable quotes
“Joseph did not pray merely to know what was right. Rather, he prayed to know what was right so he could do what was right.”
“The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, confirms the truthfulness of the Bible and restores plain and precious truths that were lost from the Bible.”
“Ancient prophets and apostles personally conferred priesthood authority upon Joseph Smith and committed priesthood keys to him.”
Who is Elder Bednar?
- Elder David A. Bednar has been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for about 20 years, having been ordained on Oct. 7, 2004.
- He served as president of Ricks College during its transition to BYU–Idaho and has stated, “The creation of BYU–Idaho was one of the most important educational events of the Restoration.”
- He met his wife, Sister Susan Robinson Bednar, after returning from his mission to Germany and while playing flag football for home evening at BYU. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on March 20, 1975, and are the parents of three sons.
What has Elder Bednar done recently?
- In the October 2024 general conference, Elder Bednar used lessons from the Book of Helaman in the Book of Mormon to teach about avoiding pride.
- In honor of their 50th wedding anniversary, Elder and Sister Bednar shared lessons learned from marriage.
- Ministering in Europe and the Middle East, Elder Bednar taught about covenants and grace.
- Elder Bednar and President Porter promoted peacemaking at an international conferences in the Middle East.
Read more of Elder Bednar’s general conference addresses, or follow him on Facebook, Instagram and X/Twitter.
