PROVO, Utah — In his responsibilities as a General Authority Seventy, Elder James R. Rasband said he has had the privilege of participating in many mission tours. An activity he has frequently enacted with the missionaries is to ask them to share a favorite scripture to teach someone about the Savior’s Atonement.
Among the lessons he’s learned from this exercise is that “the simple act of focusing on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice causes the Spirit to fill the room,” Elder Rasband noted.
This has been true in missionary settings as well as in less auspicious settings, such as when he has been assigned to minister in prisons, jails or juvenile corrections facilities.
“Despite the somber setting and the serious crimes committed by many of those who were incarcerated, I felt over and over again the presence of the Holy Ghost,” he recalled.
One possible reason for this: “They were focused like a laser on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice,” said Elder Rasband. “When they spoke, it was about their need for His Atonement. When they testified, it was in gratitude — or sometimes just in hope — that He had suffered for them and that He would heal, comfort and bless those whom they had harmed. The Atonement, for them, was not theoretical or abstract. They hungered and thirsted for it. And that sincere hunger and thirst allowed the Holy Ghost to testify.”
The reminder to keep teaching focused on the Savior was one of several points of counsel offered by Elder Rasband, recently appointed as the Church commissioner of education, and other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the 2026 Church Educational System Religious Educators Conference on June 4-5.
About the religious educators conference
Within the entities that make up the Church Educational System — including Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, Brigham Young University, BYU–Idaho, BYU–Hawaii, Ensign College and BYU–Pathway Worldwide — are tens of thousands of teachers from around the globe dedicated to helping more than a million youth and young adults deepen faith in and conversion to Jesus Christ.
In a keynote address on Thursday, June 4, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson noted that these teachers meet that objective around the world in dedicated buildings as well as around kitchen tables, over Zoom as well as face to face.
“You patiently bear the shenanigans of teenagers and help them discover answers to life’s biggest questions,” President Johnson said.
Of teachers’ efforts to help grow faith in the rising generation, Elder Rasband told the Church News, “Their teaching and ministering to their students is a critical part of the mission of Church education to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities.”
In what could be considered a role reversal, once a year these educators are invited to become the student during the two-day conference as they listen to counsel and learn best practices from Church leaders and other veteran educators.
President Johnson kicked off this year’s Church Educational System Religious Educators Conference with a keynote address originating from Brigham Young University on Thursday evening.
The conference reconvened the next morning on Friday, June 5, with a keynote address by Elder Rasband as well as BYU President C. Shane Reese, followed by breakout sessions taught by various other religious educators and administrators.
Breakout sessions addressed a variety of topics and issues, such as teaching the symbols in Isaiah, teaching to large groups, designing experiences for neurodivergent students, addressing concerns in Church history and many more.
The keynote sessions were broadcast on ChurchofJesusChrist.org and will be added to the Gospel Library app and Media Library in coming days.
The importance of teachers
Using examples from the life of Church President Dallin H. Oaks, President Reese noted that teachers have the singular power to lift individuals to new heights or hamper their progress.
“Your teaching and mentoring shapes eternal souls. No pressure there,” President Reese said. “Thankfully, we are not left alone in these efforts. First and foremost, we have the example of the Master Teacher, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
From studying the life and ministry of Jesus, President Shane shared several things he’s learned from the Savior’s teaching method that is worthy of emulation.
First, Jesus teaches in ways that listeners can understand. “Christ speaks of seeds and salt, candles and camels, widows and weddings, fathers and sons, Samaritans and sheep. His lessons are layered and rich, enlightening the learned and unlearned alike,” said President Reese.
Next, Jesus Christ teaches the many while ministering to the one. For example, when kneeling before the woman caught in adultery, He teaches the Pharisees while simultaneously reaching out to the woman.
Third, Jesus lived true to His teachings. In other words, He was perfectly aligned with the will and words of His Father. “We read that He taught as one having authority. He was authentic — meaning He believed what He taught and lived it,” President Reese observed.
Within the Church Educational System, “we have the blessing of aligning more fully with the Father and the Son through the guidance and counsel of the Lord’s living prophets, seers, and revelators,” said President Reese.
