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 Atoning Love of Jesus Christ”
- Elder Neil L. Andersen | Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
- Saturday evening session of October 2025 general conference.
- Theme: The Savior forgives sin and heals wounds caused by the sins of others.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of Elder Andersen’s message here.
Outline
- Jesus Christ’s merciful Atonement, which secures victory over death and sin, is “the most consequential contribution of all human history.” For Elder Andersen, understanding the Savior’s divine gift is “an open-ended heavenly tutorial.”
- God’s love is manifested in the Savior’s compassion in forgiving sin and healing wounds caused by the sins of others. Healing and forgiveness are each found in their fullness in the Savior’s atoning love.
Faith in Jesus Christ
- The miracle of forgiveness is available to all and offered through the grace of Jesus Christ. Turning from sin, turning toward God and strengthening faith in Christ are “a beautiful beginning.”
Honesty
- A desire to return to God is accompanied by the determination to be honest with Heavenly Father, oneself, those who were harmed and one’s priesthood leader.
Restoring what is broken
- The effects of serious sin on others are often difficult to overcome. The Lord, through His grace, can help heal those who have been hurt by one’s actions. Individuals should follow the example of the sons of Mosiah, “zealously striving to repair all the injuries which they had done” (Mosiah 27:35).
- While in the process of repenting and desiring to return to the Church, one man learned that restitution isn’t just about money.
Divine approval by degrees
- Be patient while seeking the Lord’s forgiveness. He gives His blessing and approval by degrees, in His time.
Injured and suffering
- Those who have been unfairly injured by others’ sins can be reassured that the Savior knows them and loves them. As individuals continue to trust in Him, their “sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20).
- All constantly need the atoning grace of the Savior. As President Dallin H. Oaks taught, individuals qualify for the Savior’s help when they believe in Him and pray for it.
Elder Robert E. Wells
- Elder Robert E. Wells, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, lost his wife to a plane crash when he was 32 years old. He had a spiritual experience in which the Savior lifted his burden of guilt and despair.
- All can be sanctified in Christ through His Atonement. As individuals believe in Him, follow Him and trust Him, the Savior will lift them from sorrow and sin.
Reflection questions
How does strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ help us in our desire to fully repent and feel forgiveness?
How has the Savior helped you repair something you could not repair alone?
What do you think Elder Andersen means when he says the Lord gives His blessing and approval “by degrees”? How have you experienced this in your life?
What does Elder Robert E. Wells’ experience teach you about the Savior’s Atonement?
How can you more fully believe, follow and trust in the Savior so He can lift you from your sorrows and sins?
Speaker quotes
- “If you have committed serious sins and are in the process of repenting or have the desire to fully repent and feel the unspeakable joy of forgiveness, please know this miracle is awaiting you. The Savior continuously calls, ‘Come unto me’ (Matthew 11:28).”
- “Your Heavenly Father rejoices in your resolve to come unto Him with a broken heart and contrite spirit. Having a contrite spirit is humbly putting yourself in the hands of God; having a broken heart brings what the Apostle Paul described as ‘godly sorrow’ (see 2 Corinthians 7:8-11), a deep longing of the soul to return to Him whatever the cost.”
- “The sadness you have felt, the heartbreak, the loss, the suffocating feeling of betrayal, the upending of your life as you imagined it to be — I give you my absolute assurance, the Savior knows you and loves you. Reach out to Him. He is your comfort and strength; He will send His angels to bear you up. When will your pain be gone, your grief subdued, the unwanted memories forgotten? I do not know. But this I do know: He has the power to bring beauty from the ashes of your suffering.”
Reference scriptures
- “And I said: Lord, how is it done? And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.”
- “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.”
- “And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions. And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage. And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger.”
Invitations and promises
- “Be patient as the Lord gives you His blessing and approval by degrees. In the Lord’s time, you will feel His voice telling you, ‘Let these things trouble you no more’ (Alma 42:29). One day, as you continue to turn to the Savior, your Heavenly Father will take ‘away the guilt from [your heart], through the merits of his Son’ (Alma 24:10).”
- “As you continue to place your trust in Him, your clouds of darkness and anguished sobbing in the night will be transformed into cascading tears of joy and peace in the morning’s light. ‘Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. … And your joy no [one] taketh from you’ (John 16:20, 22). That moment will come. I testify that it will come.”
- “I testify of the love, the mercy and the grace of our Savior and Redeemer. He lives. We are His; we are children of the covenant. As we believe in Him, follow Him and trust Him, He will lift us from our sorrows and our sins. Then, beyond this mortal life, in our Father’s house, we will live with Him forever and ever.”
Stories
- While preparing this general conference talk, Elder Andersen received an unexpected email from a man who is in the process of repenting and desiring to return to the Church. The man’s former wife was still suffering from the loss of their eternal marriage, and his priesthood leader asked him to prayerfully consider what more he could do for his former wife and children. The man learned that restitution isn’t just about money.
- While living in Paraguay in 1960, Elder Robert E. Wells — an emeritus General Authority Seventy who was then employed as an international banker — lost his wife to a plane crash. Their children were ages 7, 5 and 2. He blamed himself for the plane crash and felt he was guilty of neglect. In time, he was blessed with a spiritual experience in which the Savior lifted his burden of guilt and despair.
From the footnotes
- 4. Your increasing faith will make your prayers more sincere, your scripture study more meaningful and your desires more exact in keeping God’s commandments.
Additional resources
- Related image: “Jesus Praying in Gethsemane (Christ in Gethsemane)” by Harry Anderson
- Related video: “The Wounded Shall Be Healed”
- Related hymn: No. 1010, “Amazing Grace”
Recent conference talks on healing
- Elder Matthew S. Holland: “Forsake Not Your Own Mercy” (October 2025)
- Elder Patrick Kearon: “Jesus Christ and Your New Beginning” (October 2025)
- Sister Kristin M. Yee: “Beauty for Ashes: The Healing Path of Forgiveness” (October 2022)
Who is Elder Andersen?
- Elder Neil L. Andersen was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 4, 2009. He had served as a General Authority Seventy since 1993, during which time he managed development of the film “The Testaments of One Fold and One Shepherd” and supervised the initial launch of Mormon.org, now ComeUntoChrist.org.
