Speaking from the visitors’ center of the historic Kirtland Temple — the first temple of the Restoration — President Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, invited today’s youth, like the stalwart Saints in Kirtland, Ohio, to remember to look unto Christ in every thought and “doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36).
This, he said, is one of the most important lines of scripture that could be given to any young man or young woman in their “decade of decision.”
“Like the struggling Saints here in the 1830s, we will have to make decisions quickly, and they will be important, in some cases affecting the rest of our lives,” he said. “Think of the difference it made in the lives of now millions of people, because those pioneers kept going forward in spite of opposition to do so.”
President Holland spoke during a worldwide devotional for youth, made available for wards and stakes to watch on Sunday, Oct. 26, or afterward. Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman and Young Men General President Timothy L. Farnes also spoke from the Kirtland Temple, as the broadcast focused on the 2025 youth theme, “Look unto Christ.”
Youth were invited to gather in groups with their ward or stake, view the broadcast together and reflect on all they have learned from the theme this year.
Afterward, youth were given the opportunity to answer the questions “How has looking to Christ helped you in times of need?” and “What specific action will you take today to continue to look to Him?” and bear testimony.
Decisions that shape the future
President Holland said he hoped to tell the youth some lessons he has learned in his years that they have not yet learned in their days.
First, their time in the Young Women and Young Men programs should be some of the happiest years of their lives — filled with fun, some freedom and not too much responsibility.
But already they are facing decisions that will shape their futures. In this decade of life, their friends are important, as are the people they will start to date. They will go to the temple to receive their endowment and serve a mission. All of this comes with increased responsibility.
“For example, how you live after you return from the temple and your mission will be one indication of how your sense of responsibility is developing and what the Lord can trust you to perform in the future,” President Holland said.
As he has said in the past, President Holland affirmed to the youth how much his full-time mission in Great Britain affected him for good.
“If I can talk to you about a veritable pot of gold at the end of your rainbow, it is that combined experience of receiving your temple endowment and going on a mission,” he said. “There are lots of reasons for this, but at the top of the list is that it is God’s work. He already knows you, and perhaps for the first time in your life, you get to know Him deeply and personally.”
Every single person has reason to feel fear sometimes, but remembering the invitation to look unto Christ — not doubting or fearing — is the answer, President Holland explained, adding that the Saints in Kirtland who did this saved the Church and their posterity in the process.
He bore his testimony of the things he knows because he has tried to look unto God and Jesus Christ in every thought.
“My young friends, I am more certain than anything else I know in this world that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and the way to peace and salvation,” President Holland said. “I know that Joseph Smith, exactly the age some of you are now, saw God, the Eternal Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. I know that the Book of Mormon is the most important book I have ever read in my life.”
He concluded, “I am not fearful for the future of this Church because of you.”
Hyrum Smith’s example
The broadcast began with singers performing this year’s youth theme song, “Look Unto Christ,” filmed in three locations and sung in the English, Spanish and Portuguese languages.
Then, a group of youth stood together and were asked to take a step forward if they had ever felt a series of specific struggles or successes. After the process, the words “Look Unto Christ” appeared on the screen.
President Farnes said repentance is a way that youth can turn to the Savior, and there is power in taking small and simple steps toward Him. President Freeman said youth can turn to Jesus Christ again and again throughout the day and let Him direct their steps.
The two general officers began their remarks standing on the grounds of the Kirtland Temple. The Church acquired the historic building in March 2024, and it is open for public tours.
President Freeman pointed out how the early Latter-day Saints in Kirtland were trying to do the work of the Lord and build His kingdom, but they were being persecuted. It was a time of doubt and fear, but they had to look to Christ.
She shared one of her favorite stories from when the Church members began to build a house of the Lord. The site was a field of grain that needed to be cut. Hyrum Smith, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s brother, was so excited, President Freeman said, that he ran home to get a tool to help, and his mother asked where he was going.
“And Hyrum said, ‘We are preparing to build a house for the Lord, and I am determined to be the first at the work,’” President Freeman recounted, adding that as Hyrum looked unto Christ, his doubt and fear went away.
President Farnes asked the youth to consider what they will do to begin the work with that kind of enthusiasm and how they can take steps toward the Savior.
“He’s there, He’s ready, He’s prepared, looking unto Him and feeling the power or the strength, the peace that He’ll give us, the comfort as we fully turn to Him,” President Farnes said.
Steps to take to look unto Christ
Next, President Farnes and President Freeman went inside the Kirtland Temple, where they explained the sacred things that had happened — such as Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and then the prophets Moses, Elias and Elijah coming to restore the keys of the gathering of Israel.
They each spoke of steps that the youth might take to draw closer to Jesus Christ and look unto Him — whether it’s beginning the day with prayer or praying more often, being in the scriptures every day, qualifying for a temple recommend, doing family history work, entering the temple, receiving a father’s blessing, preparing for a patriarchal blessing, extending forgiveness, enrolling in seminary, preparing for a mission and more.
President Freeman said that like Hyrum Smith in 1836, who grabbed a tool to help clear the land, youth today in 2025 can accept one of those invitations and deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
Said President Farnes: “At times, fear and doubt may still occasionally creep in. That’s when we need to remember to take those simple steps towards Him, to turn to Him and understand the strength that He promises us.”
They concluded with their testimonies, beginning with President Freeman; who said: “I know that Jesus Christ is our strength. And I know that the Holy Ghost will not fail us if we listen and respond to His promptings. Then we will be led to look unto Christ in every thought.”
President Farnes said: “Heaven and earth combined for the people of Kirtland. And my prayer for you is that heaven and earth combine for you as you more fully turn to Christ. He lives and His greatest desire is to receive you. Turn to Him.”
