Participants at the 2025 Utah Area Young Single Adult “Together in Christ” Conference had multiple opportunities to strengthen their faith during the “spiritual growth” breakout sessions.
Held Aug. 29 and 30 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake CIty, breakout sessions were available under seven different topics, including temporal well-being, emotional wellness and Church history.
The spiritual growth classes were designed to help people “draw closer to Christ, deepen your discipleship and gain clarity through personal revelation,” the conference’s website states.
Deepening temple worship
Anthony Sweat, department chair of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, invited young adults to deepen their understanding of the temple.
He explained that the first temple was the Garden of Eden, a sacred place where God could reveal Himself to Adam and Eve. From the tabernacle of Moses to modern-day temples, he said, God has always commanded His people to build holy houses. Looking ahead, he added, “The day might come where the most common calling will be temple worker. We’re here to make this earth heaven.”
He emphasized that the endowment is more than a ceremony. “The endowment is a gift of spiritual knowledge and power,” Sweat said, enabling disciples to receive revelation, overcome the adversary and prepare to enter God’s presence. Additionally, Christ teaches through ritual, parable and symbolism, making the temple an “eternal parable” rich in layers and meaning, Sweat said.
Shame-based wounds
Shame is one of the adversary’s strongest tools, said Kurt Francom.
“We all show up differently than who we are because … we don’t know how to reconcile the wounding, the hurt,” he said, adding: “It’s in this state [that] the adversary can take the year off. He doesn’t have to whisper temptation in your ears — you’ll do it yourself.”
Francom, founder of the nonprofit Leading Saints, taught a class that explored how cycles of shame are the root of sin and how the Savior can heal shame-based wounds.
Shame is often received in a relational context, Francom said, impacting how a person sees themself. And shame-based wounds can beat a person down to the point that they begin sinning to deal with their pain, he continued. So how does someone trapped in a shame and sin cycle connect with the Savior for healing?
“The curious paradox is that when Jesus Christ accepts me, which is immediately, just as I am, that I can change,” Francom said. “This is the path of discipleship, the gravity and grace that pulls us over to His full love.”
‘What are you choosing in the gaps?’
Everyone came to earth with all the Jenga pieces they needed, said author Ganel-Lyn Condie.
Jenga is a building-block game that requires players to pull pieces from the bottom of a tower and place them on top without destroying the entire structure. Condie used the game as an analogy for life, identifying things like relationships, careers and spirituality as some of the many pieces that people have to build with and balance.
However, “what you do when [your Jenga tower] falls down is the whole point,” Condie said, calling those times the “gaps” in life.
She continued: “It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect in the gaps, but what are you choosing in the gaps? Those choices are key, and they’re significant, and there will be no parade. But they are the most sacred.”
The most important “Jenga block” in life is Jesus Christ, Condie said, because it’s His Atonement that allows people to rebuild the pieces of their lives.
3 life lessons
Todd Linton, director of the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division, shared experiences from his personal and professional life during his presentation.
He gave young single adults three pieces of advice:
- Live life to live forever.
- Act well thy part.
- Love as He loves.
When a person truly believes they’ll live forever, it gives them the ability to look for the good during difficult times, Linton said. “Nothing in this life is for nought. It’s all for our good.”
“Act well thy part” refers to a saying that President David O. McKay once saw inscribed above a doorway: “Whatever thou art, act well thy part.” Each person is a unique individual, Linton said, with important roles to fill in their families, communities and relationships.
Finally, loving as the Savior loves is “the ultimate goal of spiritual growth,” Linton said. He encouraged young single adults to “get to the point where we can cast aside our prejudices.”
