Editor’s note: To support personal and family gospel learning, the Church News is publishing articles on messages from October 2025 general conference. It is recommended to listen to or read the full address in addition to reviewing these resources.
About this talk
- “The Family-Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ”
- President Dallin H. Oaks | President of the Church
- Sunday afternoon session of October 2025 general conference.
- Theme: God’s plan centers on the family, which finds its purpose and power through temple covenants, Christlike love and unity, despite the challenges of modern life.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of President Oaks’ message here.
Outline
I.
- The doctrine of the Church centers on eternal families. As the Church focuses on early stages of temples already announced, members are invited to move forward in providing sacred ordinances. With approval from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, there were not any temples announced in this conference.
II.
- The family is pivotal to God’s plan and is ordained of Him. The gospel of Jesus Christ is implemented through mortal families and designed to exalt God’s children in eternal families. The Church of Jesus Christ is a family-centered church.
III.
- In a world where marriage and childbearing are in decline, Latter-day Saint values and practices should improve those trends, not follow them.
- With modern life’s distractions, few experience consistent family-centered activities. Parental influences are being diluted, and family organization and cooperation are declining.
IV.
- Even when families face loss or separation, God provides strength, love and support through family members and the doctrine of eternal families. This was the case with President Oaks’ family when his father died.
- Families are the ideal place to learn and demonstrate eternal values — such as the importance of marriage and children, the purpose of life and the true source of joy. It’s also the best place to learn kindness, forgiveness, self-control and the value of education and honest work. Parents and grandparents teach most powerfully by example. When loved ones do not yet embrace gospel values, individuals need to show love and patience, remembering that repentance and spiritual growth can continue beyond mortality through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
V.
- Following the example of Jesus Christ, families find unity and joy through selfless service and shared experiences. Parents strengthen bonds by teaching both spiritual and practical skills — working, learning and worshipping together. In a world full of distractions, true connection comes as families turn away from technology and turn their hearts toward one another.
- Families draw enduring strength as they pray, worship and share sacred traditions together, finding inspiration in their own stories of faith. Through the sealing powers of the priesthood, families are bound eternally and invited by Jesus Christ to walk the covenant path that leads to a heavenly reunion.
Reflection questions
What does it mean to you that God’s plan of happiness is centered on the family?
How can Latter-day Saints strengthen faith in the divine purpose of marriage and childbearing, even as these rates decline in society?
What examples have you seen of families who resist worldly trends and live with eternal purpose?
What lessons — spiritual or practical — can you intentionally teach in your home this week?
Whether currently in a traditional family or not, what does the promise of eternal sealing mean to you personally, and how does it shape the way you view your family today?
Speaker quotes
- “The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the family. Essential to our doctrine on the family is the temple. The ordinances received there enable us to return as eternal families to the presence of our Heavenly Father.”
- “The Church of Jesus Christ is sometimes known as a family-centered church. It is! Our relationship to God and the purpose of our mortal life are explained in terms of the family. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan of our Heavenly Father for the benefit of His spirit children. We can truly say that the gospel plan was first taught to us in the council of an eternal family, it is implemented through our mortal families, and its intended destiny is to exalt the children of God in eternal families.”
- “Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is our ultimate role model. We will be blessed if we model our lives after His teachings and self-sacrifice. Following Christ and giving ourselves in service to one another is the best remedy for the selfishness and individualism that now seem to be so common.”
Reference scriptures
- “And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents.”
- “I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead. The dead who repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the ordinances of the house of God, And after they have paid the penalty of their transgressions, and are washed clean, shall receive a reward according to their works, for they are heirs of salvation.”
- “After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”
Invitations and promises
- “Parents also have a duty to teach their children practical knowledge apart from gospel principles. Families unite when they do meaningful things together. Family gardens build family relationships. Happy family experiences strengthen family ties. Camping, sports activities and other recreation are especially valuable to bond families. Families should organize family reunions to remember ancestors, which lead to the temple.”
- “Parents should educate children in the basic skills of living, including working in the yard and home. Learning languages is a useful preparation for missionary service and modern life. The teachers of these subjects can be parents or grandparents or members of the extended family. Families flourish when they learn as a group and counsel together on all matters of concern to the family and its members.”
- “Great blessings come to families if they pray together, kneeling night and morning to offer thanks for blessings and to pray over common concerns. Families are also blessed as they worship together in Church services and in other devotional settings. Family bonds are also strengthened by family stories, creating family traditions and sharing sacred experiences.”
- “I testify of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Only Begotten Son of God, our Eternal Father. He invites us to follow the covenant path that leads to a heavenly family reunion.”
Stories
- When President Oaks was growing up, he lived in a setting “where almost all that happened during the day was under the direction of the family.” Today, few experience consistent family-centered activities. Parental influences are being diluted, and family organization and cooperation are declining.
- The faith and gospel teaching of President Oaks’ family sustained him after his father’s death. When his father died, his grandfather stepped in as a father figure. Even in incomplete families, God provides strength, love and support through family members and the doctrine of eternal families.
- Families can make time for one another by setting aside technology and focusing on shared activities, prayer, worship and telling family stories — practices that invite the Spirit and strengthen family bonds across generations.
Additional resources
- Related image: “We’ll Ascend Together” by Sage Hastriter
- Related hymn: No. 1026, “Holy Places”
- Related video: “Choosing Eternal Families Over Modern-Day ‘Idols’ | Elder Quentin L. Cook”
Recent conference talks on family
- Elder Ronald A. Rasband: “The Family Proclamation — Words From God” (October 2025)
- Sister Amy A. Wright: “Thou Art the Christ” (April 2025)
- Elder Hans T. Boom: “True to the Faith That Our Parents Have Cherished” (April 2025)
Who is President Oaks?
- President Dallin H. Oaks was set apart as the 18th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Oct. 14, 2025, about 41 years after he was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Oaks was a law clerk to Chief Justice Earl Warren in the U.S. Supreme Court and served as a Utah Supreme Court justice until his call to apostleship in 1984. At the time of this talk, he was serving as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
