Editor’s note: To support personal and family gospel learning, the Church News is publishing articles on messages from April 2025 general conference. It is recommended to listen to or read the full address in addition to reviewing these resources.
About this talk
- “Our Heavenly Guidance System”
- Elder Sergio R. Vargas | General Authority Seventy
- Saturday evening session of April 2025 general conference.
- Theme: God’s children can return to their heavenly home by focusing their lives on Jesus Christ.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of Elder Vargas’ message here.
Outline
- Elder Vargas was baptized at 26 in Frutillar, Chile. After his baptism, his view of work and life changed, and he recognized that “all things denote there is a God” (Alma 30:44).
- Like salmon traveling from the river to the ocean and back, God’s children have their own map, or Light of Christ, that guides them to their heavenly home. When there are dangerous places, focus on Jesus Christ. He will allow all to find their way home.
Our divine nature and destiny
- Each person is a son or daughter of heavenly parents. Moses was freed from an attack of the adversary by remembering his divine nature (see Moses 1:4-13).
- Often-enticing dangers in mortality seek to pull believers out of the course of living waters that lead to the Father and eternal life. All are important to God and entitled to receive His help.
The need of nourishment
- Prayer, scripture study, temple worship and church attendance nourish God’s children spiritually. After being nourished by the gospel of Jesus Christ, one will become anxious to share it with everyone.
Return to our heavenly home
- God’s children desire to return to their heavenly home. Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice make it possible to make covenants, making this return possible. Jesus Christ is eager to share one’s burdens, and His Atonement allows sins to be forgiven and remembered no longer by Him.
- Though people who repent may not completely forget their sins, they will remember Jesus Christ in the sacrament ordinance and temple attendance. The temple brings comfort and great hope.
- Because of the plan of happiness, afflictions will last only a small moment. Covenants bring God’s children closer to Him and make the impossible possible, filling darkness and doubt with light and peace. Jesus Christ lives, and He knows and loves all. Centering one’s life on Jesus Christ and His teachings will allow one to stand holy, firm and constant; weather storms; and endure and rejoice to the end.
Reflection questions
How has the Light of Christ guided you toward your heavenly home?
Who can you express God’s love to this week?
How do you spiritually nourish yourself? How can you help others find spiritual nourishment?
When you feel hurt or offended, what can you do to recognize God’s feelings for you?
How can we more often “center our lives on Jesus Christ and His teachings”?
Speaker quotes
- “As we focus our lives on Jesus Christ, we will find our way home, enduring to the end and rejoicing to the end.”
- “Our divine nature and covenant relationship with God entitle us to receive divine help.”
- “Thanks to Jesus Christ, there are hope and well-founded reasons to continue loving, praying and supporting those we care about.”
References
- “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
- “Each [of us] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. ... In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”
- “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.”
Invitations and promises
- “Prayer, the scriptures, the temple and our regular attendance at Sunday meetings are vital in our spiritual menu.”
- “We also remember Him when we go to the temple — the house of the Lord. Temples give us a deeper knowledge of Jesus Christ as the center of the covenant that leads us to eternal life, ‘the greatest of ... the gifts of God’ (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7).”
- “I invite all of us today to center our lives on Jesus Christ and His teachings. Doing so will help us avoid biting the hooks of temptation, offense and self-pity. We will stand as temples — holy, firm and constant. We will weather the storms, and we will make it home, enduring to the end and rejoicing to the end.”
Stories
- Salmon are born in the source of rivers, yet they swim downriver to reach the ocean. Eventually, they will return upriver to the place they were born. Likewise, God’s children have their own “magnetic map, or Light of Christ,” to guide them to their heavenly home.
- While teaching a priesthood class as a new convert, Elder Vargas felt offended at an unsettling conversation that took place. Although he planned on leaving and not returning for a while, a concerned priesthood holder invited him to focus on Christ and not on the situation. He later recounted to Elder Vargas that he heard a voice say, “Go after him; he is important to me.” All of God’s children are important to Him.
- The first Latter-day Saint in Chile declared to his family and friends one day before he died that missionaries had invited him to be happy along with his family. He asked his family and friends to “tell everyone in Chile the gospel is happiness.” This member dedicated his entire life to serving God and his neighbor with love.
Additional resources
- Related image: “Couple Walking to Temple”
- Related video: “Migration: A Yearning for Home”
- Related hymn: No. 1027, “Welcome Home”
Recent conference talks on divine nature
- Elder Patrick Kearon: “Receive His Gift” (April 2025)
- Elder Rubén V. Alliaud: “Sons and Daughters of God” (October 2024)
- Elder Steven R. Bangerter: “Foreordained To Serve” (April 2024)
Who is Elder Vargas?
- Elder Sergio R. Vargas, born in Puerto Varas, Chile, was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 6, 2024. He earned a bachelor’s degree in marine resources from the University of Los Lagos in 1999. Elder Vargas worked as an engineer for more than 20 years developing aquaculture in Chile.
