Young single adults attending the 2024 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference convention on Aug. 2 and 3 attended breakout sessions taught by mental health professionals, Brigham Young University professors, certified financial planners, seminary teachers and more.
The classes came between keynote addresses given by Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman and Elder Kyle S. McKay, General Authority Seventy and Church historian, on Friday, Aug. 2; and by Sharon Eubank, director of Latter-day Saint Charities and a former member of the Relief Society General Presidency, and Elder Kevin W. Pearson, General Authority Seventy and president of the Utah Area, on Saturday, Aug. 3.
The breakout sessions focused on four areas: spiritual growth, emotional wellness, personal development and temporal well-being. Here are highlights from the Friday, Aug. 3 classes in each category.
Spiritual growth
Covenants
BYU professor Barbara Morgan Gardner taught “Accessing God’s Power Through Covenants.”
Gardner began by sharing a picture of her family and asking the class what they saw. Most people commented on how large and happy the family looked.
But Gardner revealed that when the photo was taken, “my fiancé had just left me and my mother was dying of cancer.” So how does this picture show “unfeigned” happiness?
Gardner explained that choosing to make and keep sacred covenants makes it possible to experience joy, even during hard times.
“If the focus of your life is grounded in the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you will be able to access God’s priesthood power. … Then you can smile regardless of the circumstance,” she said.
Spiritual resilience
Lori Newbold, director of training services for Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, taught “Spiritual Resilience.” She started by explaining some purposes of mortality:
- Eventual immortality and eternal life (see Moses 1:39).
- Receive a body.
- Learn and grow line upon line to become like God (see 2 Nephi 28:30).
- Prepare to meet God (see Alma 12:24).
- Follow the Lord’s commandments (see Abraham 3:25).
- Learn through suffering and afflictions.
“If these are the purposes for which God is working in my life,” said Newbold, “then that means He’s not going to do anything that’s not accomplishing those purposes.” So, whenever Saints face trials, they can ask: “What purpose of mortality is being accomplished in this?”
Newbold said young adults will find opposition from the adversary, but because of Jesus Christ, nothing can permanently harm them (see Ether 6:10). ”Have you ever considered that part of the opposition and the intensity you feel is not from God?” she asked. “It’s because of your influence, your potential, the power of who you are and what you have to offer. The strength, the goodness of who you are, not the weakness.”
Temple attendance
Anthony Sweat, a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, taught “Making Temple Attendance More Meaningful.” He focused on five key principles:
- Looking for Christ in all aspects of the temple.
- Embracing rituals and symbols.
- Studying scriptures, doctrine and history.
- Taking questions to the temple.
- Attending the temple regularly.
Sweat noted how a person’s home says a lot about who they are. Similarly, the temple is the house of the Lord, and the more time a person spends there, the more they come to know Him — and the more they become comfortable in His home, even if it feels unfamiliar at first.
He also listed ways that symbols and ritual are part of everyday life, like caps and gowns at graduations or shaking someone’s hand upon meeting them. Similarly, temple symbols and rituals have purpose, he said; and like other types of symbols and rituals, they can have multiple meanings.
“This is why you can go to the house of the Lord and never cease learning,” Sweat said. “The temple is a gigantic parable. [And] if you go with a heart saying, ‘Teach me, I want more’ … the Lord can [teach you].”
Emotional wellness
Coping with depression
Social worker Stephanie Miner taught “Coping with the Burdens of Depression: A Christ-Centered Approach.”
Miner explained that while some worldly voices say pain and sadness should be avoided at all costs, the process of overcoming challenges can be just as important as the outcome.
She recounted the story of Nephi traveling in the wilderness. Rather than dwelling on his broken bow and difficult journey, Nephi focused on learning more about the Savior and becoming more like Him.
Supporting those with mental illness
Licensed clinical social worker Kris Hofeling taught “Supporting Loved Ones Living with Mental Illness.”
Hofeling asked the class what roadblocks they’ve been given related to struggles. The most popular answers were anxiety, isolation and comparison.
“It is normal to struggle and to have some grief and pain,” Hofeling said. “We have to start by taking care of ourselves.”
She shared three ways to support someone who is struggling: help them feel they belong, strengthen their sense of community, and genuinely care for and connect to them.
“That’s what we can do to help. … Help them come back and have some hope,” Hofeling said. “Hope is really what you have to offer.”
Personal development
Identifying values
Licensed clinical social worker Tyler Andrus taught “Creating More Fulfilling Relationships by Clarifying Your Personal Values.”
Andrus interacted with audience members, identifying values they felt were important to them. After determining which values were most important to them, Andrus asked the audience to rank those values on a scale of 0 to 10 for personal importance. Within relationships, values that had a score of more than 7 were considered vital to personal growth and happiness within relationships.
Getting unstuck
Therapist Jenni Turley taught “Changing Gears: What To Do When You Feel Stuck.”
Turley first introduced some common reasons people are stuck in life. Sometimes, people feel they aren’t good enough or that they don’t see results despite hard work; other times, they aren’t sure what steps to take or are unwilling to try something new.
With all of these barriers, Turley said, “It’s important to look at our thoughts and how they are impacting us. … We can learn how to take power back from these thoughts by either learning how to challenge them, or learning how to look at them differently so they don’t feel so heavy to us.”
One technique is called “unhooking,” where a person writes down a negative and unhelpful thought on paper and holds it directly in front of their face to read it. Then they set the paper down and notice all of the other things in the room that make that piece of paper feel small and less significant.
Temporal well-being
Anxiety to action
Kurt Olsson, who provides counseling and leader consultation at Family Services, taught “Embracing Tension: Transforming Anxiety Into Fuel for Success.” Emotion is a process, Olsson said; an event happens to cause the emotion, then that emotion drives a person to act.
However, human nature is to make emotions a result instead of a process. “We want them to be good emotions and not bad emotions,” Olsson said. “We want them to be the way we want them to be. And so, when they’re not that way, we think of it as a problem: ‘This is happening, and I don’t want this to happen.’”
Olsson explained that God doesn’t make His children suffer unnecessarily, so unwanted emotions will serve the purpose they’re supposed to have as young adults turn to Jesus Christ and His Atonement. ”Whatever I’m experiencing and going through, that has purpose. He knows it’s here, and it’s doing its job, and as soon as it’s done doing its job, it’ll be gone.”
Olsson testified: “Even the worst kinds of things that happen in people’s lives turn to their benefit when they turn to Christ.”
Sufficiency mindset
Shane Stewart, director of client services for Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators, taught “Investing and the Law of the Harvest.”
While serving a mission in Guam, Stewart said a friend sent him a postcard with a single sentence: “Don’t let what you don’t have spoil what you do have.”
Stewart developed a sufficiency mindset, allowing him to be content with what he had rather than focusing on what he lacked. He applied that concept to financial planning, encouraging listeners to develop a sufficiency mindset and set aside funds for the future instead of living paycheck to paycheck.
