PROVO, Utah — For some time, Sister Amy A. Wright and her husband had invited a close friend to attend church with them. The friend eventually accepted, and after sacrament meeting, Sister Wright asked her friend what she thought of the service.
The friend said she loved the administration of the sacrament and how the speakers taught from and bore testimony of Jesus Christ and the scriptures. She also loved the music and recognized some of the hymns.
Recounted Sister Wright: “Then she paused and said, ‘I learned something.’ With tears in her eyes, she added: ‘I did not know Jesus was coming again. This changes everything.’”
Speaking at the 2026 Seminar for New Mission Leaders, the first counselor in the Primary general presidency and member of the Church’s Missionary Executive Council testified that a knowledge and testimony of God’s plan changes everything.
She added that a knowledge of the plan of salvation transforms every aspect of life and helps missionaries fulfill their calling and answer deep questions of the soul.
During her Friday, June 19, message given at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, Sister Wright led new mission leaders through four foundational truths found in God’s plan of salvation that help missionaries fulfill their divine purpose.
Truth 1: Jesus Christ is the central figure of God’s plan of salvation
“Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ” teaches missionaries that regardless of where they serve or whom they teach, their message should focus on Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel.
“When missionaries focus on Jesus Christ — His life, His Atonement and His role in Heavenly Father’s plan — their lessons become more meaningful and spiritually powerful,” she said.
Understanding Jesus Christ and His divine role helps individuals act in faith and accept invitations.
Truth 2: As God’s children, all lived with Him before their birth
A testimony of God’s plan gives deeper meaning to families and eternal life.
“Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement make eternal families possible,” Sister Wright said. “Missionaries fulfill their divine purpose as they testify that the family is ordained of God and central to His eternal plan and that through ordinances and covenants, family relationships can endure beyond this life and continue eternally.”
While battling an aggressive form of cancer several years earlier, Sister Wright spent many hours with others suffering from illness and hoping to be healed. Over two years, she formed relationships with fellow patients from many backgrounds.
Throughout those relationships, she never learned what they did for a living, how much money they made, what education they had received, where they had traveled or what type of car they drove.
Instead, she was shown photos of loved ones.
“In the face of mortality, the only metric that mattered was family,” Sister Wright told mission leaders.
Truth 3: Under the direction of God the Father, Jesus Christ was the Creator of the earth
“Preach My Gospel” Chapter 3 states: “The Creation is an expression of God’s love and of His desire for us to have the opportunity to grow.”
From that eternal perspective, Sister Wright said, missionary work is central to gathering God’s children. A missionary’s success is not defined by how others choose to respond to their invitations. Missionaries teach of Jesus Christ while respecting an individual’s agency.
“This is Jesus Christ’s harvest,” she said. “And every soul is precious to Him.”
Truth 4: All can return to live with God the Father and Jesus Christ as eternal families
Eternal life is the highest state of happiness and glory in the celestial kingdom. Sister Wright taught that righteous men and women are united through covenants with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that lead to exaltation.
“This family-centered exaltation is only possible because of Jesus Christ,” she said.
A number of missionaries come from incomplete or part-member families, while others have experienced the loss of one or both parents. Sister Wright counseled leaders to exemplify the attributes of a joyful, united, celestial marriage.
“The blessing of eternal families is greater than any social stand, cultural trend, world philosophy or physical tendency,” she continued.
In closing, Sister Wright testified that the promises of God’s plan of salvation are possible only through Jesus Christ. Quoting Doctrine and Covenants 84:36–38, she taught that those who receive God will inherit all that He has.
“All means all,” she said. “I cannot begin to comprehend the definition of all. But this I do know: All of this is possible because of Jesus Christ, He who, when worlds without number hung in the balance, did not shrink.”
