But the number one word people used to describe AI?

“Scary.”

In recent months, AI chatbots that allow for increasingly human-like responses to questions have skyrocketed in popularity and use. ChatGPT, which stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a tool that responds to users’ questions with answers that can match a person’s desired length and level of detail.

Most attendees during the Wednesday, Aug. 23, class also answered a poll question about how much they’ve used ChatGPT — the majority stating they’d never used it and only 10% claiming they use it frequently.

ChatGPT can do a variety of tasks — writing songs or an entire novel, plan a travel itinerary, and even pass college entrance exams.

A question Franklin received was “Is there an LDS Church chatbot?” His response: “Kind of.”

“If you go to ldsbot.com you will find a chatbot that runs as an API off of Chat GPT-4 and is using a library of information expressly defined based on Church materials. But its definition of Church materials will not be the same as yours,” Franklin said. “It’s a bit broader.”

This chatbot is not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and “is experimental,” noted Franklin.

Josh Coates, one of the developers of ldsbot.com, said in an interview with Deseret News recently that “This experimental AI is primarily for people participating or interested in the Latter-day Saint faith tradition.”

People can ask it questions about scripture and doctrine, “but it struggles,” said Franklin. “It struggles with accurate quotations from Church leaders.”

For example, after showing how ChatGPT works by telling the bot to plan a travel itinerary for Provo, Utah, Franklin asked the bot to play the role of the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi in a conversation. He read some of the responses and emphasized his previous warning by noting that everything that the bot said in the role of Nephi was not completely true.

“Pitfalls of an AI chatbot: confident but wrong,” he said. This is where the concern over the chatbots comes from.

Although chatbots are improving, “Always check for accuracy,” Franklin advised.

Using AI in church

“Remember the Spirit,” said Franklin.

Quoting President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, Franklin said: “The Lord’s plan is to advance ever more rapidly His word and His works and the effects of His gospel throughout the world. … [The Lord] has revealed the technology that enables the Church to take full advantage of these advances. … Never forget that while we have computers, cameras, microphones, fiber-optic networks, clouds and satellites, we have failed if we do not rely on the Holy Ghost.”

Franklin continued by sharing a scripture from Mosiah 23:13, emphasizing the instruction to “stand fast in this liberty whereby ye have been made free and trust no man — or AI — to be king over you. And also trust no one to be your teacher, nor your minister, except he be a man of God. i.e. not a chatbot. A chatbot can’t be a thing or a person of God.”

Although there are pitfalls, there are also positives.

“Should we fear AI and shun it?” he asked. People shouldn’t be any more afraid of AI or chatbots than they are of the internet.

“Fear” was the initial response when the internet first came out, he explained.

Although a lot of bad has come from the internet, there has been so much good — “especially for the Lord’s work.” And chatbots have the same potential.

“So can ChatGPT write a Sunday School lesson?” asked Franklin. “Do you want to know my answer? The answer is no. No more than a lesson manual can teach it.”

ChatGPT is a resource similar to the static resources people have become accustomed to over the years, he stated. “It’s a resource, a tool.”

But, Franklin concluded, “Do not allow it to upend the dependence on God. Recognize, like with any other tool or resource, that this can be a powerful one if it’s used in conjunction with our reliance on the Spirit.”

Serving with other faiths in Singapore

This year, Latter-day Saints in Singapore served their Muslim brothers and sisters by participating in the annual 2023 Blessings to All Project hosted by the Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation during the holy month of Ramadan, the Church’s Singapore Newsroom reported. 

“Ramadan is a special time for our Muslim brothers and sisters and is an especially meaningful time to reach out,” said LaVon Lew, the Church’s local communications director. “Being part of this collaboration and working together with the mosques helps strengthen trust and relationships between the different faiths to build a strong community.”

The Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation aims to help vulnerable families regardless of faith, race or background.

During the month of April, members of the Church assisted nearly 100 families with grocery vouchers and other items. They were also invited to participate in Buka Puasa or breaking the fast during Ramadan. Members of both the Muslim faith and those in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints built friendships and connections with one another, the Church’s Singapore Newsroom reported.

“We are so thankful for this opportunity to interact with members of other faiths and to talk about their beliefs and practices,” said Joyce Chan, of the Compassvale Ward, Singapore Stake. “This is so important as mutual understanding brings about deeper respect and strengthens the fabric of our community.”

Festivals and food donations in Ecuador

Latter-day Saints gathered with other locals from Milagro, Ecuador, on May 6  for a food drive themed Helping Hands. The goal of the event was to bring in donations that could then be given to low-income families, reported the Church’s Ecuador Newsroom.

Prior to the drive, Anabella Solangic Argüello Loor, queen of Milagro 2022, got involved by coordinating a meeting with Canton Mayor Pedro Solines and Milagro Ecuador Stake President José Pezo Castro.

Part of the event included a festival where youth from local schools participated in folk dance, singing and mariachis. Loor and other dignitaries were present at the event.

Plans to assist those affected by Hurricane Lisa 

Striking Belize City, Belize, in November 2022, Hurricane Lisa, a Category 1 hurricane, caused damage estimated at $100 million. Forming before it reached land, the hurricane had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph. The rainfall reached across Belize and into northern Guatemala, reported the Church’s Belize Newsroom.

There were no casualties; however, hundreds of homes were destroyed and thousands severely damaged.

The Church, partnering with the United Nations World Food Program, plans to assist those in Belize city this year — specifically the farming community. The start of the donations will include vouchers to at least 800 smallholder farms found in the more affected regions — Cayo, Orange Walk and Stann Creek districts.

Feeding military families in Peru

Thamara Gutiérrez de Chávez, president of the Association of Virgin of Rosario Ladies of the Ministry of Defense, worked with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide food baskets to mothers of military service troop personnel and mothers of those who are civilian employees of the country’s army, air force and navy on June 2, the Church’s Peru Newsroom reported.

The donations were given to the Association of Volunteer Ladies of the Peruvian Army-South Branch and included evaporated milk, flour, oatmeal, canned fish, lentils, sugar, vegetable oil, noodles and rice.

Food for Honduras

Local Latter-day Saints provided food for 480 people in Honduras.

The donations went to the relatives of patients attending the El Progreso General Hospital and the Dialysis Clinic. Food donations were also given to medical and nursing personnel among many others who were in Parque Central Las Mercedes, in the city’s center, reported the Church’s Honduras Newsroom.

Pastry kits in Peru

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Church’s Presiding Bishopric, visited the Women’s House the San Juan de Lurigancho district in Lima, Peru, on June 7, to assist and help with the donation of 280 pastry kits.

The organization helps give women ages 15 and older resources and training for entrepreneurship and self-employment opportunities. Previous donations have included kits to assist women in textile manufacturing, amigurumi (a type of crochet work), Ayacucho embroidery and Andean handicrafts. 

These kits are used to help the women begin their businesses.

This year, 280 pastry kits were donated to women in need. Each kit included a kitchen with a gas oven, hand mixer, electronic scale, a set of metal bowls, 1-liter measuring jug, silicone roller, two assorted silicone cupcake molds, molds for alfajores, a half-kilo cake mold and a set of silicone spatulas. 

Months of food for Costa Rica

Beginning Jan. 8, the Church aided the Adventist Assistance Resources Agency in San José, Costa Rica, in a project to help give food to those in need. For six months, nearly 5,000 people benefited from the service. Seventy lunches, three times a week for six months, were offered to those in need, reported the Church’s Costa Rica Newsroom.

Odaly Mendoza, director of communications and human resources for the agency in Costa Rica, said of the experience: “This support allows us to focus on solving the immigration status of this population, especially from Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and Venezuela.”

Food for migrants in Peru

On June 15, the Church donated 800 food kits and other non-perishable food items to the Loyola Center’s soup kitchen in Tacna, Peru, to help migrants at the border with Chile, the Church’s Peru Newsroom reported.

The kits included cans of tuna, chocolate milk, cereal bars and bottles of water. Other food donated included canned fish, lentils, milk, noodles, oil, oats, rice and sugar.

Following are recent ways the Church has provided medical aid and services in several countries, including Ghana, the Philippines, Belize, Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala.

Sight-saving surgeries in Ghana

The Daybreak Vision Project is a nonprofit organization that assists individuals with sight-saving cataract surgeries. Since its beginnings it has provided care and surgeries to countless individuals in Ghana.

The Church collaborated with Daybreak on May 3 on an outreach event in Wa, Ghana, assisting over 500 Ghanaians, including children, with sight-restoring cataract surgeries, reported the Church’s Ghana Newsroom. The Church also provided funding to help increase public awareness about cataract blindness and the impact cataract surgeries can have for people.

Marian Esiape, welfare and self-reliance director for the Church’s Africa West Area, was present at the event.

“The Church is under divine mandate to care for the poor and the needy,” Esiape said. “Our focus is to collaborate with other humanitarian organizations to create a better life for the people of West Africa.”

Spreading happiness in the Philippines

Through an organized medical screening put on by the welfare and self-reliance group of the Malolos Philippines Stake, 361 people received free diagnostic services for conditions including cleft lip and lip palate, clubfoot, amputated limbs, eye and vision problems, reported the Philippines Newsroom.

These diagnostic services took place on May 11, at the Malolos Philippines Stake Center.

April Adao, the Malolos Stake’s welfare and self-reliance specialist, said, “We were inspired to organize it [the medical screening] because offering humanitarian services has always been a part of the [welfare and self-reliance] program of the Church of Jesus Christ intended to aid the community and provide relief to those who are in need.”

The Malolos Stake worked with other organizations, helping 361 individuals receive care, including the Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, Resources for the Blind Inc., The Alibata Project, Malolos City Vice Mayor’s Office and the Malolos City Health Office.

One recipient told Adao, “I did not know that I could be deserving of feeling such happiness.”

Wheelchairs in Belize and Peru

The Church collaborated with Red Cross personnel to donate wheelchairs and other mobility devices to 365 people in Belize, reported the Church Belize Newsroom.

The event began with a weeklong training for volunteers — from Monday, May 8, to Friday, May 12. The donations were given on May 17.

During the event, donations consisted of 349 wheelchairs of different models, repair kits and other mobility devices including adult walkers, crutches and canes.

A similar event took place in Lima, Peru, on June 10. Working with the National Institute of Rehabilitation, Church officials and institute personnel trained volunteers prior to the donation ceremony, reported the Church’s Peru Newsroom.

The donations included 89 standard wheelchairs, 99 cross-terrain wheelchairs, 60 neurological support wheelchairs, 33 pediatric wheelchairs and 30 stroller-type wheelchairs.

Improving life in Ecuador

On June 9, the Church donated supplies to the San José board of trustees in Carapungo, Ecuador. Donations included psychomotor kits, food and supplies for making chairs for its facilities, reported the Church’s Ecuador Newsroom.

The beneficiaries are people with disabilities who are living in poverty or abandonment, or who are at risk of dependency because of their disability.

Quito Ecuador Colón Stake President Juan G. Tenen Donoso said: “The donations that you see here are thanks to the faithful members, who through obedience to tithes and fast offerings make it possible to help those who need most in any part of the world.”

Also present at the donation event was María Victoria Orbe, representative of the disabilities program of the Metropolitan District of Quito.

“We gladly receive this donation from the Church,” she said. “Not all of us can carry out these types of actions that go beyond the human moral part, but from the heart since they allow us to improve the quality of life of other people who need it.”

Eye equipment donated in Guatemala

The Family Hospital Ophthalmology Center in Nuevo Progreso Department of San Marcos, Guatemala, assists more than 2,000 patients with visual difficulties, reported the Church’s Guatemala Newsroom.

On May 15, the Church donated an ophthalmic microscope and other instruments to the hospital. Although seemingly small, these donations will have an impact on the hospital’s ability to perform surgical procedures, treat injuries and perform retinal surgeries for many patients.

Andy Sorenson, leader of the ophthalmology team at the hospital, expressed gratitude for the donations.

He began by showing a video about BYU’s success. “My heart is beating right now,” Holmoe told the audience Wednesday, Aug. 23, after the video.

“We have what’s called the Big 12 era.”

He gave credit for the great work LaVell Edwards, head football coach from 1972 to 2000, did in training athletes and creating a culture at BYU.

And, maybe most importantly, what Edwards did in spreading the message that “BYU is something special.”

“[The Big 12] is an era that was able to come true, and a dream realized, because of many, many others from decades back” who helped make BYU what it is — including the incredible fan base, he added.

Attending Holmoe’s class were former BYU quarterbacks Royce Bybee (1980) and Terry McEwan (1977), whom Holmoe had stand and receive applause and cheers.

Holmoe expressed his surprise for how many fans had attended the BYU-Tennessee 2019 game in Tennessee. Holmoe asked who had gone, and quite a few hands raised in response.

“What was it like?” he asked. The response, “Unbelievable.”

So many BYU fans showed up that it surprised Tennessee locals. At their BYU tailgate party, people would pass and say with surprise — “All these people came from Utah?” The audience laughed in response.

‘A visible extension of the Church’

“You’ll love this edition of the Cougars,” said Holmoe. “These student-athletes — the men, the women — they are fighters, they are courageous, they’re strong, they’re very sharp and intelligent, they’re aligned.”

They understand what the covenant path is, he continued. The majority of BYU’s student-athletes are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A lot of people in the Big 12 — the athletic conference BYU began competing in this month — don’t understand BYU’s affiliation with the Church yet, said Holmoe. “But, in just a short amount of time that I’ve been in Big 12 meetings, people have been asking me questions all the time about the Church.”

Referencing the recent general conference address of Sister Bonnie H. Cordon, former Young Women general president, Holmoe said: “What an opportunity we have. … Never pass up an opportunity to bear your testimony.” Because of the influence BYU will now have being part of the Big 12, “People are going to come to Provo in flocks — way more than before.”

Holmoe also quoted Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who said, “BYU is the most visible extension of the Church.”

A study was done about the BYU brand to see what people around the world thought about the university; a lot of what people thought about the school was linked to its sports.

“We’re on TV a lot, we’re on social media a lot,” said Holmoe. And because of that exposure, “we have a great responsibility to do it right. It’s an incredible responsibility.”

He mentioned the impact Latter-day Saint missions have on the BYU athletes. When missions are brought up, Holmoe is asked how old the athletes are, and the conversation leads to how missions work. Holmoe then is able to talk to others in the Big 12 about missionary service in the Church.

This year’s football team has 65 returned missionaries who served in 29 countries and spoke 15 languages. The audience applauded as Holmoe asked, “How about that?”

“You’re going to see this team that has this love [for each other].” And although players come from all over the country, “they’re really close.”

Holmoe told the audience he hopes they will learn to see the people. “This life is about people,” he emphasized. “The student-athletes [are] why we do this.”

During a question-and-answer session, one of the last questions was, “Do you promise to not retire for a long time?”

The audience applauded, and Holmoe expressed his appreciation.

Bybee stood to add his sentiments about the BYU athletic director. “Tom builds up a lot of people,” Bybee continued. “He builds up the players, the coaches, the assistants, the families — everybody around him. … We’ve got a great guy — not just a good guy — this is a great guy.”

Holmoe ended class with: “End statement of the day: It’s all about the Cougars.”

The traditional route of the Christian pilgrimage begins in the Pyrenees town of Roncesvalles. Travelers cross northern Spain and end in Santiago de Compostela, covering nearly 500 miles in its 30-day duration.

The pilgrimage started in the ninth century to honor the apostle James for bringing Christianity to the Iberian Peninsula.

In 2019, over 347,000 people from 187 countries walked some or all of the Camino de Santiago.

Rosenberg, a BYU adjunct instructor of Church history and doctrine, related it to the way members of the Church celebrate their pioneer ancestors traveling west by participating in treks.

“People do this Christian pilgrimage to honor Christ or to seek His help in finding healing. People go for a wide variety of reasons,” but it all goes back to Jesus Christ.

Accepting God’s help

Hiking the Camino is like a decluttering process, Rosenberg told the BYU Education Week class held on Tuesday, Aug. 22.

“On this kind of pilgrimage, people walk to get rid of all the mental clutter, to be still, to feel the Spirit, to reconnect with God and to reconnect with one another.”

One woman Rosenberg met during the Camino told her she was walking the pilgrimage because it was her 80th birthday. “I had to tell God why I’m so happy — how He’s made me so happy,” the woman told Rosenberg. “He’s blessed me too much for me to not be happy.”

The professor noted, “There is an increase in young adults who doubt God and doubt themselves.” And in a recent book she wrote, she tried to discover why that is.

A Latin hymn, honoring James and reminding the pilgrims why they go on the trek, reads “Ultreia et suseia Deus adjuva nos,” meaning  “we go farther and higher with God’s help.”

So, regardless of what a person is going through, they can go farther with God.

It’s a beautiful reminder, Rosenberg said. “But we don’t have to trek across northern Spain for 500 miles on this pilgrimage to know and believe that we can go higher and farther with God’s help.”

All people can reach out and receive God’s help regardless of where they are in their lives, including getting help with self-doubt.

Focus on what’s right

Part of battling negative self-talk is deciding what to focus on.

“Whatever you focus on will increase,” was the advice a teacher of Rosenberg’s daughter gave during a parent-teacher conference.

“And it’s so true,” Rosenberg said. “In the world of psychology, there is a trend ... where they are moving away from trying to fix problems and spend time on enhancing strengths.”

The more you focus on problems, the more they will be present — and vice versa.

Sharing research from psychologist Martin Seligman, Rosenberg said that for people to flourish, positive emotions need to be present. And for positive emotions to be present, a person needs to focus on what’s right, rather than what’s wrong, in their life.

Identify strengths

“Sometimes people just think about their weaknesses all the time,” said Rosenberg. She then told attendees to consider their top five strengths.

“Fill up your reservoir of strengths so high that when you have a conflict ... it’s no big deal,” she said, quoting psychologist John Gottman.

Healing happens most powerfully with positive energy,” she said. It is better to focus on what a person can do rather than what they can’t.

Replacing negative thoughts

“Faith begins by how you talk to yourself,” said Craig Manning, a performance psychology consultant, in a short video clip of his Brigham Young University devotional in 2017.

“How do we talk to ourselves?” Rosenberg asked after the clip ended. “What do we say? Do we talk to ourselves implying that we believe there is a God in heaven who believes in us and in our potential to become as He is?”

How does someone cut out the negative mental self-chatter? “You need to have a 3-to-1 ratio,” Rosenberg explained. “In your brain you need to have three positive thoughts to counteract one negative thought.”

It is important for a person to tell their brain what to do rather than what not to do. Replace thoughts of self-doubt with power statements — “I can,” “I will,” “I am capable of.”

Believing Jesus Christ

It begins with asking: “Do we believe Christ? Do we believe we are who He says we are?”

“Sometimes we think God is impatient with us,” Rosenberg continued. People mistakenly believe that “He wishes [they] would hurry and be perfect already.”

Jesus Christ did not come to condemn people, but to save them.

“Sometimes we forget this incredible, loving, patient God that walks by our side and assists us.” And because He walks and assists every person, “[He] can help us change the way we think.”

“The gift of faith says ‘God answers prayers,’ the gift of hope says ‘God answers my prayers,’” Sweat said. “The gift of faith says that ‘God loves His children,’ the gift of hope says, ‘God loves me.’ The gift of faith says ‘Jesus is the Christ,’ the gift of hope says ‘Jesus is my Christ.’”

Sweat spoke Tuesday, Aug. 22, in a crowded Marriott Center on the first day of BYU Education Week.

When Sweat was a teenager, he couldn’t understand why he needed Jesus Christ “every hour” as the beloved hymn suggests. He knew he needed Christ during difficult moments or with sin, but didn’t understand the daily relevance of Jesus Christ.

Now that he’s older, he wishes he could change the hymn’s words to say: “I need thee every second.”

Christ’s first miracle wasn’t restoring sight or life, it was turning water into wine, Sweat described. From the start, Christ shows that He can change the nature of things — he can take a “common substance and make it great.”

He can also take common people and make them great, said Sweat.

“This forms the title of Christ,” he said. “‘Christ’ is not Jesus’s last name, it’s a title. It means ‘the Anointed One.’”

And what is He anointed to do? He is anointed to cleanse people, restore people, identify with people, and strengthen and restore people. “That is how He can bless us every hour of every day and become our personal Savior and Redeemer.”

Shorting comings and trusting Jesus Christ

Sweat mentioned how society has gone from one extreme to another — from believing that people are low and filthy to having a carefree attitude of “you are fine just as you are.”

Although there is some benefit in both of those ideas, “neither one is the complete truth.”

Sweat also paraphrased a point made by President Ezra Taft Benson who taught that “nobody will ever understand why they need the Savior if they don’t think they’re fallen.”

People need to understand their fallen nature, otherwise they approach life from an area of weakness.

Describing Luke 15:7, he asked the audience: “Why would God be happier with one sinner who repents than with 99 who never need a repentance?”

“In case we are missing the message,” he answered, “there aren’t 99 people who need no repentance. That doesn’t exist. There are only 99 people who don’t know they need to repent. And the one person who recognizes it is the one who is justified.”

However, Sweat warned, it is important to understand that thoughts of failure or feeling like one’s mistakes have let God down or made Him displeased are not of the Lord.

“Our Lord never approaches people that way in holy scripture. … He never diminishes the seriousness of sin and the need to repent and to grow; but He’s always encouraging, He’s always hopeful, He’s always forgiving for those that desire it.”

Christ freely forgives

In his current calling as a bishop, Sweat has learned of the forgiving nature of Heavenly Father. “The overwhelming feeling from the Spirit that has come to me time and time again is how much God loves a repentant person — how much hope He has for that person, how much He wants to help that person, and how much He is willing to forgive them.”

“Christ freely, frequently and fully forgives,” Sweat continued. “There are more than 20 occasions in the Doctrine and Covenants mentioning God forgiving the person’s sins regardless of what they petitioned Him for. “He forgives liberally and generously.”

Sometimes people have the mentality that if they fall below a certain mark, it will forever follow them. “There is no celestial CARFAX report that marks in 2008 that there was a spiritual fender bender,” said Sweat. “That doesn’t happen.”

Showing Isaiah 1:18 on a slide, he read it with a little twist: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be a shade of light pink forever.” It received a chuckle out of the audience.

Quoting S. Michael Wilcox, Sweat continued, “We have too many ‘pink’ Saints who don’t think they can be as white as snow through the Savior’s complete cleansing power.”

He concluded, “Because of Christ, there is no sin that cannot be everlastingly erased, fully forgiven and completely cleansed.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints served as the grand marshal of the Days of ‘47 Pioneer Day parade. In an interview with KSL Television, Elder Christofferson spoke of the rich history and lasting heritage of the Days of ‘47 parade.

“It is getting to be a long legacy, isn’t it?” he said. “Which I’m glad to see. It is important that we have some things that continue on through generations.”

He called celebrating that pioneer heritage important.

“It’s the stories that teach us,” said Elder Christofferson. “It’s the stories where we learn. … You learn a lot from the sacrifice, the persistence, the family support and community support in difficult times. That’s always an important lesson because there’s always difficult times.”

When people gather together they provide support and strength to one another, he said. Caring for others is a characteristic of being a pioneer and Salt Lake was a “refuge for people fleeing persecution.”

Elder Christofferson called the early pioneering efforts in the Salt Lake Valley “a visionary beginning. As you look at it now, one thing that strikes me is people didn’t just survive, they thrived — and they thrive here today.”

He continued, “It became and has become, according to that vision really, a wonderful gathering place for a wide variety of people.”

Latter-day Saints who participated in the parade by creating floats that celebrate their ancestors feel similarly to Elder Christofferson.

When asked what it means to be a pioneer, Cordie Weed, a volunteer and member of the Farmington Utah Oakridge Stake, said, “It means people who have traveled and have sacrificed a lot in their life to come here. And I am so grateful for my ancestor pioneers ... so I can have a good life now.”

One of the highlights of the parade for Weed was getting to help out with her stake float. “My friend, Catherine, had me feel the float — to feel the letters — so I could tell what it was saying. And that means a lot to me as a blind person,” she said.

Nicole Heder, of the West Jordan Utah Park Stake, talked about how their float’s theme was to focus on building on the rock of Jesus Christ. Their float incorporates a large molding of the Savior’s hand holding a re-creation of the Salt Lake Valley — including a large replica of the Salt Lake Temple.

The West Jordan Utah Park Stake representatives gathered 400 family history stories from members of their stake and transcribed them onto 400 paper flowers that now decorate their float.

And the rhinestones on the tips of their hand-crafted Salt Lake Temple also have a story. “We also asked the youth to be involved. So they participated in the rhinestones at the top of the temple,” Heder said. “Each rhinestone represents a person we did temple work for.”

The youth’s goal was to do enough work for 2,500 rhinestones for the temple. In the end, these Latter-day Saint youth from the West Jordan Utah Park Stake had been involved in enough temple work, such as indexing or attending the temple, to put 25,000 rhinestones on the hand-crafted temple.

The Salt Lake Utah West Stake (Tongan) also participated in the Days of ‘47 parade this year. Leaaetohi Halaufia, the float director, described the layers of meaning that went into creating their canoe-shaped float. The idea wasn’t meant to be just artistic, she said. The inspiration behind their float came from the desire to stay true to their Tongan culture.

The canoe has deep meaning for them and their gospel culture. “The gospel was brought to us in a canoe,” said Halaufia. “This is our story.”

Standing at the front of the canoe are two missionaries representing the gospel coming to their island. Also on their float is a design of the Book of Mormon as well as the Nuku’alofa Tonga Temple, first dedicated in 1983.

“My favorite part of this experience was the unifying of the stake members,” Halaufia said. When she thinks about pioneers she says that it “brings back memories of my ancestors and how they sacrificed to get the gospel to us.”

To her, being a pioneer “means everything.”

It was all part of the 2023 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference. Carly Clark, co-chair of the conference committee, said organizers initially pictured something small and local; but with the “ideas and enthusiasm” of young single adults, the event “exploded.”

The concept was then brought to the Church’s Utah Area presidency, which “welcomed and supported” it becoming something for all young single adults in Utah, Clark said.

Speaking during the closing devotional Aug. 20, Elder Christofferson commented on the conference’s theme, “Together in Christ.”

“To me, ‘Together in Christ’ suggests that our individual commitment and loyalty to Christ quite naturally draw us together,” he said.

Here’s a look at Church News’ coverage of the 2023 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference.

The concert

A concert with OneRepublic seemed to be the right choice in kicking off the monthlong Utah Area YSA conference.

Many young adults at the “Together in Christ” concert called the event “unprecedented.” The Aug. 5 concert sold out weeks in advance and was relocated from Provo to the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. 

Nearly 13,600 attended the event, including a 1,000-person choir of young adults from Salt Lake City, Provo, Heber Valley and Vernal, who performed with opening artists Jordan Smith and Jordin Sparks.

The concert started with a drone light show, and new videos from the Church were shown throughout the event, sparking a lot of cheering from the young adult audience. Before OneRepublic hit the stage, a private group of dancers — including dancers from the BYU Cougarettes — coordinated by Shaundee Bull performed with a drone light show above them.

One video during the concert talked about the loneliness felt among young adults — sharing that 61% of young adults suffer from it. A portion of the crowd’s bracelets began glowing orange, and the narrator of the video asked those whose bracelets were glowing to raise their hands. The glowing bracelets represented the percentage of the attendees who fall into the statistic.

However, the video ended with hope: “[Jesus Christ] suffered so no one has to be alone.”

The dance

Young single adults joined in the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah, to have fun and strengthen each others’ faith during the “Together In Christ” dance on Friday, Aug. 11.

DA Dent, a California-based DJ, provided music for the first half of the event. After DA Dent, music for the second half was provided by Kaskade, a songwriter, singer, producer and remixer who has received several Grammy nominations and two America’s Best DJ awards from DJ magazine.

The YSA participants danced and jumped in a large crowd inside the expo center among the loud music and bright stage lights.

In addition to the dance, the venue also housed several game rooms for the attendees to play board and video games together, or just hang out.

The fun run

Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, addressed hundreds of YSAs before they ran in the 5K sunset fun run on Aug. 12.

The run started and ended at the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple, which was dedicated the following morning, on Sunday, Aug. 13.

Volunteers handed out glow sticks and small flashlights as runners assembled beneath a blow-up arch that marked the starting line. A second blow-up arch nearby marked the finish line.

To avoid overcrowding on the route, runners were released in staggered groups. YSAs cheered for each other as each group went out, and some people even stood along the route with supportive signs.

As runners finished, they were greeted with snacks, shaved ice and more cheers. A DJ played music in a nearby parking lot for a dance that capped off the night.

Utah Area YSA Conference committee member Rachel Shaw said running in the dark toward the temple, carrying glow sticks and flashlights, symbolizes walking the gospel path in a fallen world. In real life, carrying the light means focusing on the Savior.

The Gather Together Conference

The 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Gather Together Conference was Saturday, Aug. 19, in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City.

The day’s lineup included:

• Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson as the keynote speaker.
• A tour of a replica Old Testament tabernacle (the same one that recently went through Utah).
• A service project focused on packaging a million meals for the Utah Food Bank.
• Life coaching from licensed therapists.
• An appearance by the Brigham Young University Dunk Team.
• A karaoke competition.
• An attempt to break the speed dating world record.

During her keynote address, President Johnson said she was riding the London “tube” recently when she heard a voice over a loudspeaker instructing passengers to “mind the gap.”

This phrase, she said, helped her realize that Jesus Christ “minds the gap” between her capacity and what He’s called her to do; between her dreams and her reality; and between the natural woman in her who sins and the version of herself that seeks a change of heart.

“Will you think about when and how the Savior minds the gap for you?” President Johnson asked. “Perhaps He minds the gap of uncertainty or loneliness. Maybe He minds the gap in a family relationship. Or He minds the gap when you find yourself standing alone, trying to do the right thing.

“What I know is that He minds the gaps for covenant keepers. And that is one of the many reasons I stay faithful to Him, to His gospel and to His Church.”

President Johnson said making and keeping covenants increases a person’s access to Jesus Christ — and therefore increases the ways in which He “minds the gap.”

She encouraged YSAs to not wait until marriage to receive their temple endowment, and said their desire for positive change is evidence of their willingness to make covenants. “It is a sign that you are ready to take His eyes upon you, to see like Him; to take His ears upon you, to listen like Him; to take His lips upon you, to speak like Him. And as you do that, you will come to know Him, become like Him and be blessed by His power,” she said.

The Gather Together Conference also featured 30-minute TED Talk-style messages called “Christ Daily,” given by Latter-day Saint leaders, professionals and public figures. Each addressed the theme, “Together In Christ.”

Following are summaries of some of the “Christ Daily” messages:

Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a General Authority Seventy and Utah Area president, testified to young single adults about staying faithful.

“Staying is an intentional choice,” he said. “I did not stay by accident, default or because it was easy. I stayed because I knew it was true.”

He shared that, after receiving a call to serve as mission president of the Washington Tacoma Mission, he explained to the senior executives of his company that he would need time off to serve a mission.

“They were incredulous as to why I would walk away from my career at that time, and asked when I had made the decision to do so,” he said. “It came powerfully to my mind that I actually made that decision when I was a 19-year-old boy in a temple 30 years earlier. Those covenants have shaped my life.”

He went on to encourage the young single adults to stay faithful to their covenants and keep an eternal perspective.

Elder Pearson ended his talk by testifying of the reasons why he stays, saying, “I stay because I know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind.”

Elder Brian K. Taylor

Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Utah Area presidency, showed the audience a rock coated with mud and dirt.

“As we pass through life, sometimes we’re soiled by the dirt and the mud of mortality,” he said. The dirt and mud could represent difficulties, trials, temptations, sins or addictions, he said.

He then cleaned the rock in a container of water to reveal that, under the layers of dirt and mud, the rock was, in fact, a replica of a diamond.

“Was this diamond worth anything less when it was caked in the mud and soil and dirt? ... Why would we think we’re worthless?” he asked.

Elder Taylor then read the sacrament prayer, reminding the young single adults that Jesus Christ’s Atonement is the water that can wash the dirt and mud of mortality away from them, revealing their true worth.

“You may often not feel like a jewel,” he said, “but just like this diamond was not worth one penny less when it was soiled, I witness to you that neither are we as children.”

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, a General Authority Seventy, taught how the Book of Mormon models faith in Jesus Christ “in a uniquely powerful way.”

Alma 5:15 asks two questions, Elder Corbitt said. The first is, “Do you exercise faith in the redemption of Him who created you?”

The second question is more complex. Elder Corbitt broke it into parts: “Do you look forward with an eye of faith and view this body raised in immortality, and this body raised with incorruption? Do you see yourself resurrected, standing before God to be judged according to the deeds you’ve done in your mortal body?”

In essence, Alma is asking each person to look and learn, Elder Corbitt said. That’s why it’s important to look forward and not get stuck looking in the wrong direction.

Even when looking forward, individuals can look “beyond the mark,” Elder Corbitt continued. For instance, someone might become casual about Church attendance or scripture study. Although they’re technically looking in the right direction, the Spirit isn’t fully sinking into their heart.

But every person on earth chose Heavenly Father’s plan in the premortal life, Elder Corbitt said, and he believes every person can choose Heavenly Father’s plan again.

“You trusted in our Heavenly Father and in Jehovah and in Their promises, and that is your heritage,” he said. “As you acquire faith in this life … you are awakening, activating, reengaging an immense power that you already used once successfully against our common adversary here on this earth. God bless you to be able to do that again.”

Sister Kristin M. Yee

When a person graduates college, they might hang up their degree or sell their textbooks, signaling the end of that period of their lives.

In contrast, after making temple covenants, “we are not done learning about covenants and priesthood power,” said Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. 

Sister Yee said when someone is bound to God through covenants, they will never exhaust His patience and He will never stop trying to help them.

No matter a person’s background or marital status, the Lord desires to partner with them, she said.

“As a sister who has not yet married, this loving and merciful covenant relationship with my Father in Heaven and the Savior has a powerful place in my life,” Sister Yee said. “It has been and is my greatest source of relief and peace. It brings me unspeakable comfort and a deep, abiding assurance that I am loved as His daughter and that I belong to His eternal family.”

Sister Yee also shared a story of hiking in southern Utah. While there, she noticed a dark and bumpy crust around the trails, which she later learned is called biological soil crust. It contains cyanobacteria that’s dormant when dry; but when wet, the bacteria leaves behind fibers that join soil particles together, making it resistant to erosion and storing water that allows organisms to grow.

Together, the bacteria and the organisms create a continuous living crust that supports desert life in a place where there should be no life, Sister Yee said.

“Just as this continuous living crust sustains life … our covenant relationship with God creates a personal, life-giving ecosystem that can nourish us and those around us in the dry deserts of our lives,” she said.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, gave an address titled “Leaning Into the Light of Jesus Christ.”

A few weeks earlier, in a cruise ship’s restaurant, her family enjoyed a pleasant hour of conversation. They finished their meal and were about to leave when a nearby couple told Sister Browning’s 17-year-old son they were proud of him for how he enjoyed talking and laughing with his family.

As they furthered their conversation and got to know one another, Sister Browning told the man that they were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The man then said, “Ah, that’s the reason why.”

“When Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives ... we become filled with Christ’s light through the companionship of the Holy Spirit,” Sister Browning said. “And that light can become so bright within us that it is perceptible to others.”

Keeping covenants can allow others to see the glow of Christ through His disciples, she said, even in seemingly ordinary moments of life.

Choosing righteousness “allows me to gather light enough to share, because that potential to draw someone near to the Savior, even for a moment, is worth my effort to strive to keep my covenants.”

Sister J. Anette Dennis

While serving as a mission leader with her husband in the Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission, Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said they felt it was important to prepare their missionaries for an earthquake.

Two years after beginning their preparation, an earthquake did strike the area of their mission. “Our entire mission was affected,” said Sister Dennis. “My husband and I were 300 miles away from the epicenter and it felt like the building we were in was going to collapse because the shaking was so strong.”

Roughly 80% of the city at the epicenter of the earthquake was destroyed. “And one-third of our missionaries were in areas of greatest destruction. Buildings collapsed around them and there was great chaos, death and devastation,” she explained.

“But, not one of our missionaries was hurt.”

Not only did their physical preparation for an earthquake bring them peace, the missionaries had felt peace and strength because of their spiritual preparation and connection to Jesus Christ, said Sister Dennis.

“When your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ you really do have no need to fear the earthquakes that will come into your life — whether they be physical earthquakes, emotional earthquakes or spiritual earthquakes.”

The devotional

The Utah Area YSA Conference ended Sunday, Aug. 20, with a devotional given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

He spoke on the topic of unity, including how young single adults can gather together in Christ by being armed with righteousness. His devotional was given in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University.

“Being ‘armed with righteousness’ (1 Nephi 14:14), we want to gather others likewise ‘armed with righteousness’ and invite everyone who will to come together with us in Christ,” Elder Christofferson said.

He drew on an example from the Book of Mormon. After natural destruction in the Western Hemisphere from the Savior’s death, He visited the Americas and told the survivors they were “spared because ye were more righteous than they” (3 Nephi 9:13), suggesting there are degrees of righteousness.

“It is a progression along a path of increasing faithfulness, uprightness and devotion to God,” Elder Christofferson said. “... We can be righteous and, by more completely turning to the Lord, progress to higher levels of righteousness.”

He invited his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson, to share how to pursue greater personal righteousness. She encouraged the congregation not to feel like they’re failures because of imperfection.

“If you’re moving forward on that [covenant] path, then you’re probably in really good shape,” said Sister Christofferson. She encouraged listeners to ask Heavenly Father in daily prayer what they can do to reach others. “As we try to follow those promptings and follow them with good haste, He knows that you’re serious about receiving direction from Him.”

Elder Christofferson encouraged listeners to “put on the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:11). “If you are to be ‘armed with righteousness,’” he said, “you cannot afford to lay down any of this armor, even for just a little while.”

Also, the Church is supporting a group in Peru that is helping women older than 50 to learn sewing skills to set up their own businesses. Here’s more about these and other donations.

Moving from the floor to desks

The Shifwankula Primary School in Lusaka, Zambia, provides education for roughly 4,600 students. However, they did not have adequate classroom space, desks and bathroom facilities for the students, forcing the school to have students come in one of three shifts throughout the day.

This only allows students to attend school for three hours, where they often have to sit on the floor.

In May, the Church provided the school with needed relief by funding the building of nine new classrooms and renovating 18 existing classrooms, the Church’s Africa Newsroom reported. Five hundred new school desks were also donated, and eight new toilets were installed in the bathrooms. 

Speaking of the deep impact the donations and funding the Church provided the school, Lusaka Zambia Stake President Blessings Mushala said, “What does this mean for our children? It means that 500 students who previously sat on the ground will now be able to learn comfortably at a school desk.

“It means that students who previously were only able to learn for three hours a day will now enjoy more contact time with their teachers and have a greater chance at academic success. It means the quality of education in Shifwankula will be elevated.”

Furnishing 8 schools in Cajamarca

On June 16, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated a total of 771 school furnishings, to eight schools in the Cajamarca area of northern Peru. The furniture included wooden tables and chairs for various classrooms, reported the Church’s Peru Newsroom.

The ceremony began with a student from one of schools singing the national anthem in Quechua, one of the indigenous language. Doris Elita Chuquiruna Alvarado, head of the Cajamarca Zonal Unit of the National Educational Infrastructure Program, thanked the Church for the donation.

Local government officials and Church leaders were in attendance at the event.

Fire protection donations for Tanay

The Church donated fire equipment to the Bureau of Fire Protection in Tanay, Rizal, Philippines, on June 15. The donations included safety gear, rescue and medical tools, computers, printers and projectors, according to the Church’s Philippines Newsroom.

Speaking of the Church’s donations, Argia J. Baniel, the Bureau of Fire Protection senior inspector, said, “The BFP has been empowered to fulfill its mission and make a lasting impact on the lives of countless individuals.

“Through your generosity, you have indirectly served our community by equipping us with these essential tools that enable us to do our job effectively.”

Present at the event were Elder Steven R. Bangerter, General Authority Seventy and the Church’s Philippines Area president, and Bishop L. Todd Budge of the Presiding Bishopric.

Improving schools in Sierra Leone

On Sept. 5, the Church donated a brand new, state-of-the-art washroom to the Kelly Urban Vocational Agricultural Secondary School in Hastings, Sierra Leone, reported the Church’s Sierra Leone Newsroom.

Prior to the donation, students described the situation as inadequate. “Thanks to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a modern [washroom] that is clean and safe to use. This will make our school life so much better,” said Fatmata Jalloh, one of the students.

This also allows female students to stay in school during menstruation, where previously they stayed home and missed school.

“Access to proper sanitation facilities is a basic necessity for every school,” said Reverend Claudius, the former principal of The Kelly Urban Vocational Agricultural Secondary School in Hastings and a community elder. “This facility will not only improve the student’s quality of life but also promote a healthy and conducive learning environment.” 

It was reported that the facility was more than just a washroom — it represented hope and a commitment to improving the education system in the area, reported the Church’s AFrica Leone Newsroom.

Renovating schools in Kinshasa

Leaders of the Technical Institute of Meteorology, Aviation, and Telecommunication, located in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, approached the Church earlier this year seeking help for their school. The Church agreed to aid in a construction project that would improve the school’s facilities, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.

The five-month construction project “included new structures, roofs, floors, blackboards, electric and water infrastructure, and toilet facilities.”

A total of 350 desks were provided to 25 newly repaired classrooms.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the renovated facilities was held on Sept. 8. Over 100 students gathered with local political, education and church leaders to witness the ceremony.

One student who was present at the event said, “Our school has really changed a lot. We are very stunned and very happy to see these changes to our school.”

The updated facilities will benefit 1,500 school students annually.

Sewing machines for Peru

On Sept. 8, the Church donated 20 semi-industrial sewing machines and other supplies to Horizonte de la Unión Venezolana in Peru. The recipients included 20 women over the age of 50, reported the Church’s Peru Newsroom.

Oscar Pérez, president of the Venezuelan Union, expressed his gratitude to the Church for the donation. Sharing their motto: “It is never too late to continue.” Pérez hoped that the donations the recipients received would allow them to maintain a sustainable lifestyle.

Others shared messages of being welcoming to others at Church meetings, the miracle of endless opportunities to seek forgiveness and repent and the importance of treating others with respect despite differences.

At the Joseph Smith Papers Conference, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, announced that the Church commissioned Richard E. Turley Jr., to author a new biography of the Prophet, titled “Joseph the Prophet.”

President Oaks also spoke of the completion of the Joseph Smith Papers project that has taken place over 22 years.

“In all of my reading and original research about Joseph Smith, I have never been dissuaded from my testimony of his prophetic calling and of the gospel and priesthood restoration the Lord initiated through him,” he said in a Facebook post, Sept. 15.

“Could we be better at the gathering in?” asked Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman in an instagram post on Sept. 13.

President Freeman noted that, “There’s a good chance someone new will walk through the doors of your chapel this Sunday” and it’s important to help them feel welcomed.

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“How wonderful that the gospel of Jesus Christ provides second, and third, and fourth, and endless opportunities to retain a remission of our sins,” said Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, on Sept. 10.

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While visiting a small village in Guatemala, Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, learned a powerful lesson about how much God’s children have in common.

And regardless of differences, Sister Wright said, “I pray that we may seek to follow the counsel of our beloved prophet and interact with one another in higher and holier ways.”

She continued, “Let us show that there is a peaceful, respectful way to resolve complex issues and an enlightened way to work out disagreements.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared how temples will be a “safety and protection for us in the times ahead.”

The Apostle and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, are headed to Brazil for the Brasília Brazil Temple dedication. Elder Andersen said that he looked forward to sharing more about the dedication later.

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Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video on Sept. 11, of him and his wife, Sister Lesa Stevenson, in front of the Preston England Temple.

The two are visiting Preston, England, and Reykjavik, Iceland, on assignments to the Europe North Area.

What surprised Elder and Sister Stevenson the most during their visits, were the diversity of the members in Iceland.

“There were longtime Icelandic people, but also there were members there that live in Iceland now that were from Venezuela, Guatemala and Ghana,” said Sister Stevenson.

Elder Stevenson shared a scripture from Alma 26:37. “I think this is what we witnessed,” the Apostle said. “The love that [God] has for these people. A diversity of nations that are centered now in Zion, which is Iceland for them.”

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On Sept. 13, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a story of their family’s ancestors who had been buried in unmarked paupers graves. He and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, had worked hard to find the grave and have a grave marker placed on it.

Elder Gong noted that “Each of us deserves to be remembered.”

Each story is more than just the surface-level problem at hand, explained President Kusch. Each story underscored humility and obedience — with the Ensign College leaders inviting students to apply the principles taught, including in following the college’s the honor code and dress and grooming standards.

Representing Jesus Christ

Beginning with a story from his mission service, President Kusch described one of his companions — Elder Jorge Arturo Solano, from San Jose, Costa Rica — as “a great teacher of the gospel.”

One particular situation with his companion taught President Kusch a valuable experience that not only changed his mission but also his life.

While both missionaries were preparing to go on a hike with their district, then-Elder Kusch dressed in hiking clothes while Elder Solano dressed in his missionary clothes.

They both explained their reasoning behind why they chose what to wear, but Elder Solano was unmoving about the importance of them wearing their missionary attire.

“I was at first neither humble nor obedient,” he said. “I lacked understanding. And initially, I was not meek or teachable.” 

Elder Solano then asked a “powerful, inspired question,” President Kusch said. “Elder Kusch, don’t you want to look like a representative and servant of Jesus Christ?”

With emotion, President Kusch then said, “I will never forget Elder Jorge Solano; and this one experience is forever etched deeply within my soul.” He added that he became a better missionary as a result of what he learned from his companion.

The college president quickly followed his mission story with an experience he had with Elder David A. Bednar during a family home evening.

When asked for advice about preparing for and serving a mission, Elder Bednar began by explaining the importance of becoming a missionary “long before entering the MTC,” President Kusch explained. 

Connecting to heaven through humility

Unable to attend due to a temporary medical situation, Sister Alynda Kusch provided her remarks through a pre-recorded message.

Sister Kusch spoke about a time when she and President Kusch served as mission leaders. She described an experience with a missionary who was reluctant to study English — the assigned language of his mission.

“They were not in trouble with me,” she said of this missionary and others. “But I was so disappointed because I knew from my own experience that their decision to not even try to follow was costing them spiritual knowledge and heavenly help.”

After speaking with and listening to the missionary, six weeks later, he came back to Sister Kusch with a changed heart. “My reluctant missionary, with a tear running down his face … could see the connection between an obedient attitude and receiving help from heaven.”

Part of the in honor code is being clean-shaven and wearing appropriate clothing to class. “These are outward symbols of an inward desire to do all that you can to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost in all areas of your life,” said Sister Kusch.

Sister Kusch promised, “There is a great connection between a willingness to be obedient and opening the windows of heaven on your behalf.”

Sharing a quote on a slide from President Russell M. Nelson, she read, “As you choose to let God prevail in your lives, you will experience for yourselves that our God is ‘a God of miracles’.”

Sister Kusch said that this was the difference for her reluctant missionary. When he was willing to try, he found “new connections to the help the Lord will give.” 

She added, “This is the difference between Ensign College students who are willing to live according to the honor code and dress and grooming standards, and in the process qualify themselves for the miracles President Nelson promised — and those who will not.”

Concluding, Sister Kusch said, “So my friends, give this a try. Show the Lord that you are willing to find Him by living what you have promised. 

“What do you have to lose in giving the Lord a chance to help and bless you? Nothing. But you have everything to gain.”

On Sept. 6, President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, wrote in a social post, “In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit.”

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“Some of the most beautiful of the Savior’s words that have helped me focus on Him during difficult times in my life come from the book of Isaiah,” said Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency.

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Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, posted a picture of him and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, on Sept. 3. He shared an experience they had recently with the death of one of the missionaries who taught Sister Uchtdorf.

“I’m not sure if our missionaries will ever truly know the profound impact their efforts have on the eternities of those whom they invite to come unto Christ,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “May our Father in Heaven bless our missionaries and their families for their selfless labors as they give of their time and resources to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, shared on Instagram on Sept. 5, what it was like finding her testimony as a teenager.

“I realized that if I was embarrassed, it was because I was thinking more about myself than about my friends,” Sister Spannaus said.

“Because Christ is salvation. Christ is peace. Christ is forgiveness. Christ is hope. Christ is love. ... If my task was to love my friends, wouldn’t I want the best for them?

“And the best? The best is always Christ.”

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“Repentance requires the Redeemer. Turning away from evil does not bring spiritual healing without turning to Him,” said Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Sept. 8.

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Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, asked on Sept. 6: “Have you ever considered what you can learn from experiences in your physical body?”

She then shared her experience overcoming stage 4 ovarian cancer. “Physical suffering, if endured well, can be ennobling and sanctifying,” said Sister Wright. “Our physical bodies can help our spirits learn compassion, humility, patience, long-suffering, gratitude, virtue, empathy, and so much more.

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Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared Sept. 2 a video of him interviewing two young adults from South Korea.

“Like our friends in Korea, you love Jesus Christ and are a light to those around you,” the Apostle said in post. He then encouraged readers to comment who they feel have been “valiant examples” to them.

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“Jesus Christ is our perfect example of charity,” said Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on Sept. 5.

Elder Soares described some of the humanitarian projects he has been involved with the past year.

“As we pursue and develop the attribute of charity, we will become more sensitive to the needs of our fellow beings,” he wrote. “We will experience joy, peace and spiritual growth. Our efforts will make us as individuals and society a better place.

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On Sept. 7, Brother Bradley R. Wilcox, first counselor in the Young Men general presidency, talked about his gratitude and excitement about being involved with the Utah Area YSA “Together in Christ” conference during August.

“What a GREAT experience it was to be part of the largest young single adult conference in the history of the Church,” said Brother Wilcox.

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On Aug. 27, President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, posted about the need to reclaim individuals from the mentality that Jesus Christ “was only a mortal.”

“The covenants provided in the plan of salvation give us access to His redeeming power. As we seek to know Jesus Christ and come to Him in that covenant relationship, He will give us the power and the guidance to make the right choices, for He is the way, the truth and the life,” said President Oaks.

The Primary general presidency posted a video together on Aug. 31, inviting everyone to join them for the next Friend to Friend episode on Saturday, Sept. 2.

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On Aug. 28, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, posted about his experience dedicating the rebuilt Joseph and Emma Smith Home in historic Kirtland.

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson posted on Aug. 30, “We find relief — from disappointment, heartache, and any challenge — as we align our hearts and minds with Jesus Christ.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles posted a video with Elder Youngjoon Kwon and his wife, Sister Yeonshin Lee, on Sept. 1.

Elder Kwon was recently appointed to the South Korean Supreme Court, and Elder Andersen applauded him and his wife for being “true disciples of the Savior and examples to all of our members around the world.”

“The Lord has a great work for each of us to do,” said Elder Andersen. “As we learn to support one another, keep God’s commandments and seek His guidance, we can become who He would have us become.”

Primary General President Susan S. Porter on video Aug. 28 shared a story of a friend who had served her.

“I have been richly blessed by those who have published the peace and love of the Savior as they have served on their beautiful feet,” said President Porter.

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In a post on Aug. 30, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared his gratitude for Latter-day Saints and friends across Southeast Asia during open-house tours of the Bangkok Thailand Temple.

Sister Kristen M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, shared a Church News video on Aug. 31, where she explained how she felt God’s hand in her life while living in San Francisco as an art student.

Young single adults matter, said Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, on Aug. 31.

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“You mean everything to [God],” said Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, on Aug. 29. “And just because you don’t remember your Heavenly Father doesn’t mean He’s forgotten you.”

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“What has inspired you from [Christ’s] life and His teachings?” asked Sunday School General President Mark L. Pace in a video Aug. 29.

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“When Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives, we become filled with Christ’s light through the companionship of the Holy Spirit,” said Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, on Aug. 29.

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To Braithwaite, “knowing how to relate to your emotions and knowing what to do when they show up” is emotional intelligence.

People often try to manage their stress through unhealthy coping mechanisms, but, “how you cope determines what comes next,” said Braithwaite.

Watching some TV or taking a break from an issue isn’t always a bad thing, the psychologist noted. It’s when people “stay avoiding” that the real issues start to arise.

He gave some tools that can help manage stress and other negative emotions.

Struggling against emotions

“If we struggle and strain and try not to feel our feelings … they’re going to come up in other ways, and sometimes we’re going to amplify them,” said Braithwaite.

He talked about an idea that might seem counterintuitive but is helpful in getting rid of negative emotions. And the idea?

“Sometimes the best way to not let negative emotions take over is, weirdly, to just let them be negative emotions — to actually let yourself feel the negative emotion for a minute,” he said. “Really intense emotions don’t last forever.”

He continued, “You’ll find that the emotion starts to change, and because we’re not struggling with it, it’s not getting amplified, it’s not getting exaggerated.”

By not struggling with emotions, people are able to have healthy relationships with the emotions they have. When emotions can come and go freely, people can free themselves from being stuck in the negative.

Notice the stories that the mind creates

“We almost always think of emotions as just having one [part]. We think of it as the feeling part,” said Braithwaite. However, emotions have four parts: feelings, sensations, urges and thoughts.

The “thought” part of the emotional experience is the story the brain tells when a situation arises.

“When something happens, your brain starts to try to make sense of it and it tells a story,” he described.

“Part of having a good relationship with our emotions is being able to catch the stories our brain is telling.”

Stepping away from the situation, and the story their brain is telling them, can help a person make better sense of the situation and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the negative emotion.

“It’s important to notice that your thoughts are not always true,” he added. He told the audience to think of their minds to be somewhat different from who they are.

Referring to a scripture from 2 Nephi 2:14, he said “We have two things in all of creation — things that act, and things that are acted upon.” 

He argued that the mind is something that is part of a person that can be acted upon, “It just responds reflexively to things. But there is a part of you that can actually observe your mind and notice ‘my mind is being a drama queen.’”

People can make choices about what to do with the stories their mind is creating.

Jesus Christ, forgiveness and relationships

Part of managing emotions is knowing how to solve problems with people in a healthy way.

Sometimes it’s nicer just to ignore problems, Braithwaite said. But avoiding problems in relationships only allows the issue to fester.

“We have to address these, but we want to do it in a way that is kind, and I think a great way to do that is something that Jesus taught,” he said showing a slide with Matthew 18:15: “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.”

Braithwaite said, “This is such practical advice from Jesus in the New Testament.”

He continued by describing how the Savior was teaching the importance of people talking to each other when problems arise.

“Having a specific conversation about an issue with only the person you have beef with will decrease difficulty and drama by 90%.” Braithwaite emphasized “only.”

Part of getting along with others is learning how to offer them grace, he added.

Sometimes it can be difficult to offer others grace and forgiveness because of hurt they have caused.

But, Braithwaite concluded, “We need that grace, [and] we also need to learn how to give it. It’s one of the most important things that we do.”

President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talked about the fear of moving forward in a Facebook video post, Aug. 23. “You might feel like you’re not on the “traditional” path that your peers are on,” he said.

Although it can be worrisome, President Ballard advised, “If you’re unsure of the next step in your path, act “as if” you were the person you would like to be. As you do that, you will grow into that kind of person. Ultimately your very actions, your attitude, will lead you toward being the kind of person you want to be.”

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Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson, said on Aug. 25, “We are responsible for our own conversion. Our effort must be constant and personal.”

On Aug. 22, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked about his experience speaking at BYU Education Week.

“During my BYU Education Week devotional address, I shared that sometimes we fall into a trap of believing in false dichotomies,” he said.

Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, posted a video on Aug. 18, about the 5K race during the Together In Christ conference. “Several analogies stood out to me that I wanted to share with you,” she said.

Among the analogies was a reminder that “we were meant to run at our own pace.”

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“Become a difference maker,” said Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman in a post on Aug. 22. “The Lord needs you.”

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Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, talked about her experience helping train at a seminar for new mission leaders in a post on Aug. 22.

In the seminar she shared a story about a group of children in Mexico who “embody Christlike attributes and joyfully share the light of the gospel.”

Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said in a post on Aug. 21, that one of the most important lessons from the story of Peter walking on the water is that when he began to sink, “he reached out to the Lord for help.”

“We are all going to have times when we feel like we are sinking. But as we reach out to the Savior, He will lift us up and walk with us through our storms, calming them in His own time and in His own way.”

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Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary General Presidency, posted on Aug. 23, a reminder about the Friend magazine’s special issue for August that focuses on Baptism and Confirmation.

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Chloe Myres, a young single adult from Holladay, Utah, said Saints can trust in the Lord to overcome questions about the past, “focusing on things that are really important ... with eyes of faith. ... Even if we don’t quite understand everything in the past, we can have faith in what we do, even in the uncertainty.”

Some participants in the conference — held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Aug. 19 — visited classes on various events in the restored Church, like the First Vision. Others seized the opportunity to ask questions at one of several Church history Q&As. Following are summaries of some Church history events held at the conference.

Better understanding Church history

In a Church history question-and-answer session, Emily Deason and Matt Godfrey answered concerns from audience members about the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and shared ways to better understand the past.

Many people think about history as “this objective collection of facts,” said Godfrey, a general editor of the Joseph Smith Papers. “And that’s not really what history is, because history is about people. Historians are people who write history. We all have biases, ... so much of what is history is the way that a historian is interpreting surviving sources that we have.”

He said that he wishes there were more documents that outlasted the test of time, but because many of them didn’t, “there are some things that we just don’t have the documents and resources to be able to answer.”

Godfrey and Deason both warned against “presentism,” or looking down on people in the past based on the current culture instead of the culture that they were in at the time.

“People in the past live in a different time and in a different country and speak a different language,” said Deason, a Church history consultant at the Church History Library. “... We have to break that down and come out of that comfort we have in what you know to be true and comfortable with and realize that may not have been the case for them.”

The duo answered questions about the early history of the Church and the Prophet Joseph Smith’s involvement in it, such as why there are multiple accounts of the First Vision.

“Memories mean different things to us at different periods in our life,” said Godfrey, “and the way that we talk about spiritual experiences, too, changes depending on who we’re talking to.” An account of how he got his testimony, for instance, would sound different to his elders quorum than it would to a Primary class.

Godfrey said, “I’m really grateful that we have these four different accounts, because when you put them together, I think you get a much more well-rounded view of what was on Joseph’s mind when he went into the Sacred Grove,” such as how he was seeking personal salvation, not just an answer of which church was true.

Saints Unscripted Podcast: When facing questions

In a live recording of a Saints Unscripted Podcast episode, when asked how studying Church history has strengthened her faith in Jesus Christ, Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, responded, “I love studying Church history. But one of the things that has helped me to have a stronger testimony is that Christ is so involved in this work — this is His work.”

“Because He can work through very imperfect people,” she continued, noting how grateful she was that God is willing to work with those that are imperfect because she herself has so many imperfections.

“If He’s there, there’s always hope,” Sister Dennis concluded.

President Mark L. Pace, Sunday School general president, added his thoughts by beginning with a scripture from Doctrine and Covenants 88:118. “It says to seek out of ‘the best books.’ … For me, that is very inspiring — seek out of the best books, not the worst. Seek out the best sources you can find.”

He also advised attendees to consider what they feel through the Spirit. “The Lord is reaching out to us, and He wants to see that the fact that we have questions is great.” 

“Sometimes we read things, and they cause doubt,” noted President Susan H. Porter, Primary general president. “We feel upset, we feel darkness, we feel confusion. That is a clear indication that the Spirit has left. It’s not an indication that the gospel is not true or that Joseph Smith is not a Prophet. ‘That which is of God [bringeth] light’ (Doctrine and Covenants 50:24),” she said. 

“So when we’re doing that study, and we’re feeling fear and confusion and darkness, that is a clear indication that our study has not brought us closer to God but has brought us confusion and darkness.”

Sister Dennis talked about how she doesn’t have all her questions answered, “but my faith is anchored in Him,” she said. “Faith is a choice. If you are walking by faith, you aren’t going to have hard evidence.”

She then invited the audience to “choose to believe” that God loves them and has a plan for them.

Joseph as a friend

If good friends lead each other to God, how has the Prophet Joseph Smith led others to God? Anthony R. Sweat, a professor of Church history and doctrine at BYU, asked the room so overflowing with attendees that some were even sitting on the floor.

Sweat stated that Joseph would not have been a good friend if he did not lead others to God.

He went through 10 ways that Joseph Smith showed others how to be a good friend. Some of those ways included loyalty, forgiveness and sacrifice.

“People love to talk about the fallibility of prophets,” Sweat commented. However, “where prophets are infallible is in their witness of Jesus Christ.” And that is what is most important. 

Sweat explained to the audience that Joseph Smith revealed the character of God to the world on a broader scale than was understood at the time. He also restored the everlasting covenant and taught that people have eternal value. 

“What knowledge would you be devoid of if you did not have the knowledge that you have that Joseph gave?” was a question posed to the audience. 

Sweat says that he shudders to think what that would be like for him.

He also talked about the idea that people don’t need to believe that Joseph was a perfect person in order to be a true Prophet: “That’s a false premise,” said Sweat. He invited the audience to consider, when hearing negative things about Joseph Smith, to ask themselves: “Is the premise you set up true?”

If the premise is that, in order for someone to be a Prophet of God, he has to be perfect, then your premise is wrong, Sweat noted.

“In spite of my imperfections, does the Lord work with me?” he asked. The answer is “yes,” because “the gospel isn’t about perfect people,” he stated.

“The gospel is a celebration of God extending His grace to work with imperfect people.” And that includes prophets.

Sweat then shared a quote by the Prophet Joseph, who said, “I never told you I was perfect; but there is no error in the revelations which I have taught.”

One attendee, Adelaide Cook, shared after the class that “the idea of having Joseph Smith be your friend is one that’s new to me; but it’s also so appealing because I can think of Joseph Smith as somebody that I can forgive, somebody that’s not on a pedestal, that’s not unreachable.”

Lessons from the First Vision

Steve Harper, a professor of Church history and doctrine at Brigham Young University, gave a class titled “Hear Him: How Anxious Joseph Smith Found Jesus Christ and How You Can Too.” He explained the process that the Prophet of the Restoration followed to receive the First Vision and how today’s young adults can also find strength in their Savior.

“He could find no church built on the gospel of Jesus Christ that redeemed people from their sins,” said Harper. “So, he cried out to the Lord for mercy. ... He recognized that he needed knowledge and power from God. Learning how to get it became his highest priority.”

After reading James 1:5, that “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God,” Joseph was determined to actively seek wisdom. Harper said, “He was not passive. ... He was going to act on the revelation he received.”

His response to the First Vision was to trust in the redeeming power of Christ and choose hope over despair. “I promise it will work for you,” said Harper. “... Your Redeemer and mine is not asking for perfection; He is asking for authenticity. If we give Him our heart and a willing mind, He will make us perfect.”

Harper shared two equations to his young adult audience. The first is “I = 0,” a scriptural offering from Moses, who said, “I know that man is nothing” (Moses 1:10). The second equation is “I + Jesus Christ = infinity.”

“You plus Jesus Christ equals infinite grace, infinite power to repent, infinite forgiveness, infinite opportunities to be redeemed, rescued and healed and helped and loved and saved,” said Harper. “You and I cannot exhaust the Son of God’s infinity of fullness. There is enough for all of us to have all of Him. ... But here’s the thing: That plus sign is up to you.”

“Because it is home,” wrote one young single adult. “Peace is only found here,” wrote another.

Many responses highlighted personal change through the gospel, like “The peace I receive from the forgiving grace of God” and “I have experienced a mighty change of heart,” or simply “Because it makes me happy :)”

Some highlighted the joy of gospel living and the strength from covenant keeping: “Because the only peace and joy I find in this world is through Jesus Christ and living His gospel,” one wrote. “through the pain and struggles, I was not alone,” said another.

Many other responses underscored an unbreakable connection to Christ that the conference revolved around: “Because no one believes in me the way He believes in me!” one wrote. Another said, “Because Christ never left me, so I’ll never leave Him.”

These faith-filled messages were amplified through faith- and testimony-building classes and activities at the Gather Together Conference in Salt Lake City, the second-to-last event in the Together in Christ Utah Area YSA Conference.

Austin Lamberth, a young single adult who traveled from Reno, Nevada, to attend the conference, said that the relatability of the classes made for faith-building experiences unlike any other.

“I feel like I’ve gained more from the content that I’ve gotten from here than where I would go anywhere else,” he said. “Here, ‘Together in Christ’ is an awesome experience. The content I received here, I take it with me to build on my faith personally.”

Church Leaders talk about ‘Preach My Gospel’ and serving after the mission

When asked what advice they would give to missionaries returning home, Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency, mentioned that sharing the gospel is going to look different.

She also noted that “people are looking for relief, people are looking for love, people are looking for a calm life.”

Other people don’t have the gospel and the knowledge that Latter-day Saints have that bring them peace during life’s difficulties, she explained. 

When members of the Church understand that they have extra help, they will want to help others, said Sister Spannaus.

Although it can be intimidating to continue sharing the gospel, “Trust God,” she advised. God can help guide members to those they can help. “Have the desire to continue helping others. Open your eyes and your ears to the promptings of the Holy Ghost in your everyday life. He will put the right people in your way.”

Sean Dixon — director of the Utah Valley Institute in Orem, Utah, and a host of the Preach My Gospel Mission Prep Podcast — asked the Church leaders present what the intent was behind changing the title to the new edition of “Preach My Gospel.”

Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor of Primary general presidency and a member of the Missionary Executive Counsel, spoke first. “That is a great question. I just wanted to begin by saying that it was such a sacred and holy and revelatory experience. And there was a small army that worked on that.”

In the early stages of re-creating “Preach My Gospel,” there were many things to consider because of technology and how much the world is changing. “The way we teach the gospel needs to change and adapt.”

She continued, saying that “the first thing that was determined was that ‘Jesus Christ’ needed to be in the title, because this is His work and His glory. ... Once that was established, revelation just started to flow.”

Wright explained that the change in the title allows ‘Preach my Gospel’ to be for every member of the Church — not just missionaries — and helps everyone to know how to help with gathering Israel, even if they are not full-time missionaries.

Facing Faith Questions

Jared Halverson, an associate professor of ancient scripture at Brigham Young University, taught a class called “Facing Faith Questions.” He addressed how those with questions or doubts about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can seek to overcome their uncertainty.

Halverson outlined a three-stage journey that everyone takes or retakes in many matters of their life, including in their faith: “Creation, Fall, Atonement.” Corresponding three supernal events in the world’s history, these stages are a process of the following:

• Creation: Life is great, and faith is untested.
• Fall: Faith is tested, and a faith crisis may occur.
• Atonement: The crisis is overcome through faith, effort and turning to the Lord.

When a crisis in life or faith occurs, some get stuck in the Fall stage, where actions like suicide, divorce and leaving the Church can reside. However, Saints can move forward with faith and action to make it to the Atonement stage. Here, tested faith is stronger than before.

“I would take your conviction over your assumption any day,” said Halverson, “even if you have to ask some questions in between.”

Young adults, he said, can seek God’s help to turn a faith crisis into a stronger testimony: “There’s something higher and holier that we need to be aiming for, but we have to fall ... to realize that we’re insufficient on our own, that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can progress.”

Colin Henderson, who visited the conference from La Mesa, California, said he wants to stay in the Atonement stage, “where I can move forward with faith and not let my doubts stop me.”

The Aug. 19 conference was held in the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah, with one of the rooms in the convention center dedicated to family history activities, including experience booths, cultural celebrations and speakers dedicated to gathering scattered Israel.

Learn more about these activities below.

Experience booths

Eight “Experience Booths” were set up across the room, some of which were dedicated to helping participants learn more about their genealogy while others focused more on connecting the user with their friends.

For instance, one booth featured multiple screens with QR codes that participants could scan to log in to their FamilySearch account, bringing up an interactive world map with icons for each of their ancestors that were stored in the FamilySearch database. Each of the icons could be expanded for further study on each particular ancestor.

The activities also featured photo booths with green screen backgrounds and opportunities to journal and ponder. There was also a booth with laptops and volunteers, who helped participants research their ancestry on FamilySearch.

Cultural dances

In addition to the experience booths, the family history room also featured cultural dance performances from the Ngoma y’African Cultural Center and the Malialole Dance Company ( which was joined by the South Jordan 11th YSA Ward). Both groups performed traditional and contemporary Polynesian dances.

James Johnson, a young single adult from Provo, Utah, attended both the African and Polynesian cultural dances, said the activities were helping to unite the children of God.

“Bringing more cultures from around the world together and sharing makes us more human and connected,” he said.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, spoke in the family history room about the importance of gathering scattered Israel — although in a way that not many young single adults have heard it before.

“Every time we hear those words, I think it can be complex — it feels complex. ‘Gathering of Israel’ feels like we’re talking about ancient Israel,” she said.

She quoted the 2021 “Friend to Friend” broadcast in which President Russell M. Nelson asked Primary children what they thought the gathering of scattered Israel is.

“He said the gathering of Israel is learning the teachings of Jesus Christ and abiding by them, ... keeping the commandments, helping someone in need, sharing what you know about the Savior and preparing now to go to the temple to be baptized for an ancestor,” she said.

She included that, for young single adults, it might also include performing additional sacred ordinances in the holy temple.

“What I love about this is it really does simplify, ‘what is the gathering of scattered Israel?’”

She said that taking intentional steps to fulfill those criteria outlined by President Nelson is part of everyone’s purpose as children of God, and doing so will bring “us connection in a special way.”

“We all have a purpose from God,” she said. “And in our purpose, we have to be quite intentional.”

Elder Corbitt: Running from gangs to running towards Christ

Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt, a General Authority Seventy, was asked how understanding his cultural identity has helped him connect with other people and share the gospel.

Elder Corbitt, who was sustained as a General Authority in April general conference after serving in the Young Men general presidency, shared his conversion story with the audience. “Believe it or not, my cultural identity is secondary in my mind and in my heart.”

He said his first identity is being a child of God. “Nothing about me goes above that.”

And he hoped the same for everyone in the audience. 

“I was born to parents who were affiliated with the nation of Islam. I was held by Malcom X as a baby, and we lived in communities that were … very dangerous. I ran for my life on 10 or 12 occasions — if I had been caught I wouldn’t be here.”

“How does a guy go from that type of intense racial identity to absolutely knowing that he is first and foremost a child of God?” Elder Corbitt asked.

“It takes time,” he said, answering his own question. “But it comes by living the gospel and embracing the gospel of Christ.”

He said the real question is how to keep our cultural identities secondary to being a child of God and disciple of Jesus Christ. “It may not happen all at once … but I testify if you work at it — if we work at it — over time, we become what the Lord sees as most important in us. 

Elder Corbitt said he wasn’t saying that cultural identity is not important; “cultural identity is important — it just needs to be in the context of eternity.”

When members put eternal identities first, Elder Corbitt says their cultural identity will “become richer.”

He said that this is because “you see why God sent you to the culture, the ethnicity, the race, the gender that He did. You see it in an eternal context.” 

He called it a “cultural mission.”

Elder Hugo E. Martinez

Elder Hugo E. Martinez, first counselor in the Utah Area Presidency, and his wife, Sister Nuria Alva de Martinez, spoke about the joy they’ve found through doing family history.

“It brought me to tears,” Elder Martinez said, especially as he and Sister Martinez began completing temple work for their ancestors. It was not until 2022, that there was a temple in their home of Puerto Rico.

Sister Martinez said before joining the Church, she believed that her unbaptized ancestors resided in a state of “limbo” after death.

But then she discovered that the Church cares about those who came before, she said.

“I think that this is the only Church in the world that goes back to look at those who have died, to bring them into the fold [and offer] ordinances,” Sister Martinez said. “.They have the same chance that I have … to go back to our heavenly home. I find that really exceptional and moving.”

The conference, held at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, was the main event of the 2023 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference, which featured different activities for young adults each weekend throughout the month of August.

Included in the Gather Together Conference were 30-minute TED Talk-style messages called “Christ Daily,” given by Latter-day Saint leaders, professionals and public figures. The messages — which followed the keynote address for the conference offered by Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson — each addressed the theme, “Together In Christ.”

Following are summaries of some of the “Christ Daily” messages:

Elder Kevin W. Pearson

Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a General Authority Seventy and Utah Area president, testified to young single adults about staying faithful.

In his talk, titled “Why I Stay,” Elder Pearson shared lessons he has learned throughout his life that have helped him to stay as a member of the Church and stay true to his covenants.

“Staying is an intentional choice,” he said. “I did not stay by accident, default, or because it was easy. I stayed because I knew it was true.”

He shared that after receiving a call to serve as mission president of the Washington Tacoma Mission, he explained to the senior executives of his company that he would need time off to serve a mission.

“They were incredulous as to why I would walk away from my career at that time and asked when I had made the decision to do so,” he said. “It came powerfully to my mind that I actually made that decision when I was a 19-year-old boy in a temple 30 years earlier. Those covenants have shaped my life.”

He encouraged the young single adults to stay faithful to their covenants and keep an eternal perspective.

“An eternal perspective teaches us to take the long view on life and helps us to avoid sacrificing things of eternal worth and a fullness of joy for some other kind of short-term, selfish pleasure or pursuit,” he said. 

Elder Pearson ended his talk by testifying of the reasons why he stays, saying, “I stay because I know Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He is the Savior and Redeemer of mankind.”

“I did not stay by accident, default, or because it was easy. I stayed because I knew it was true.”

He also said his identity as a son of God helps him to stay, and continued to testify of heavenly relationships.

“Each of us is infinitely more capable than we believe,” he said. “We are sons and daughters of the almighty God. We may share the physical attributes of our earthly parents, but we also share the divine spiritual attributes of heavenly parents.”

Katie Henrie, a YSA from Lehi, Utah, said that hearing Elder Pearson speak was special for her. When Katie was serving a full-time mission in Australia, she heard Elder Pearson, who was then the president of the Pacific Area, testify to Australian Latter-day Saints about the importance for parents to show good examples of marriage to their children, which Henrie said has helped her in her dating life.

“I still remember it to this day, and that stake conference was a long time ago,” she said. “He’s been a really special person to me ever since.”

Elder Brian K. Taylor

Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Utah Area presidency, showed the audience a rock coated with mud and dirt.

“As we pass through life, sometimes we’re soiled by the dirt and the mud of mortality,” he said. The dirt and mud could represent difficulties, trials, temptations, sins, or addictions, he said.

“How many of us sometimes feel like just a big old rock that’s been soiled in the mud?” he asked.

He then cleaned the rock in a container of water to reveal that, under the layers of dirt and mud, the rock was, in fact, a replica of a diamond.

“Was this diamond worth anything less when it was caked in the mud and soil and dirt? ... Why would we think we’re worthless?” he asked.

Elder Taylor then read one of the sacrament prayers, reminding the young single adults that Jesus Christ’s Atonement is the water that can wash the dirt and mud of mortality away from them, revealing their true worth.

“You may often not feel like a jewel,” he said, “but just like this diamond was not worth one penny less when it was soiled, I witness to you that neither are we as children.”

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt

Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, a General Authority Seventy, taught how the Book of Mormon models faith in Jesus Christ “in a uniquely powerful way.”

Alma 5:15 asks two questions, Elder Corbitt said. The first is, “Do you exercise faith in the redemption of Him who created you?”

The second question is more complex. Elder Corbitt broke it into parts: “Do you look forward with an eye of faith and view this body raised in immortality, and this body raised with incorruption? Do you see yourself resurrected, standing before God to be judged according to the deeds you’ve done in your mortal body?”

In essence, Alma is asking each person to look and learn, Elder Corbitt said. That’s why it’s important to look forward and not get stuck looking in the wrong direction.

Even when looking forward, individuals can look “beyond the mark,” Elder Corbitt continued. For instance, someone might become casual about Church attendance or scripture study. Although they’re technically looking in the right direction, the Spirit isn’t fully sinking into their heart.

But every person on earth chose Heavenly Father’s plan in the premortal life, Elder Corbitt said, and he believes that every person can choose Heavenly Father’s plan again.

“You trusted in our Heavenly Father and in Jehovah and in Their promises, and that is your heritage,” he said. “As you acquire faith in this life … you are awakening, activating, reengaging an immense power that you already used once successfully against our common adversary here on this earth. God bless you to be able to do that again.”

Sister Kristin M. Yee

When a person graduates college, they might hang up their degree or sell their textbooks, signaling the end of that period of their life.

In contrast, after making temple covenants, “we are not done learning about covenants and priesthood power,” said Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. 

Sister Yee said when someone is bound to God through covenants, they will never exhaust His patience, and He will never stop trying to help them.

No matter a person’s background or marital status, the Lord desires to partner with them, she said.

“As a sister who has not yet married, this loving and merciful covenant relationship with my Father in Heaven and the Savior has a powerful place in my life,” Sister Yee said. “It has been and is my greatest source of relief and peace. It brings me unspeakable comfort and a deep, abiding assurance that I am loved as His daughter and that I belong to His eternal family.”

Sister Yee also shared a story of hiking in southern Utah. While there, she noticed a dark and bumpy crust around the trails, which she later learned is called biological soil crust. It contains cyanobacteria that’s dormant when dry; but when wet, the bacteria leaves behind fibers that join soil particles together, making it resistant to erosion and storing water that allows organisms to grow.

Together, the bacteria and the organisms create a continuous living crust that supports desert life in a place where there should be no life, Sister Yee said.

“Just as this continuous living crust sustains life … our covenant relationship with God creates a personal, life-giving ecosystem that can nourish us and those around us in the dry deserts of our lives,” she said.

Sister Tracy Y. Browning

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, gave an address titled “Leaning Into the Light of Jesus Christ.”

A few weeks ago, at a cruise ship’s restaurant, her family enjoyed a pleasant hour of conversation. They finished their meal and were about to leave when a nearby couple told Sister Browning’s 17-year-old son they were proud of him for how he enjoyed talking and laughing with his family.

As they furthered their conversation and got to know one another, Sister Browning told the man that they were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The man then said, “Ah, that’s the reason why.”

“When Jesus Christ is at the center of our lives,” Sister Browning said to the audience of young single adults, “... we become filled with Christ’s light through the companionship of the Holy Spirit. And that light can become so bright within us that it is perceptible to others.”

Keeping covenants can allow others to see the glow of Christ through His disciples, she said, even in seemingly ordinary moments of life.

Choosing righteousness “allows me to gather light enough to share, because that potential to draw someone near to the Savior, even for a moment, is worth my effort to strive to keep my covenants,” she said.

Emma Ward from Blanding, Utah, loved Sister Browning’s insight about sharing the Savior’s light even through seemingly insignificant ways: “You don’t know what kind of a difference you’re making in other people’s lives. Just as long as you’re trying to be good, you still have the Light of Christ.”

Zach Pace from Farmington, Utah, agrees that sharing the Light of Christ starts in small and simple steps: “It doesn’t have to be anything big. ... It just has to be those little things that you keep treasured in your heart.”

Sister J. Anette Dennis

While serving as a mission leader with her husband in the Ecuador Guayaquil West Mission, Sister J. Anette Dennis said they felt it was important to prepare their missionaries for an earthquake.

They prepared their missionaries for two years, she said. 

Two years after beginning their preparation, an earthquake did strike the area of their mission. “Our entire mission was affected,” said Sister Dennis. “My husband and I were 300 miles away from the epicenter and it felt like the building we were in was going to collapse because the shaking was so strong.”

Roughly 80% of the city where the epicenter of the earthquake was had been destroyed. “And one third of our missionaries were in areas of greatest destruction. Buildings collapsed around them and there was great chaos, death and devastation,” she explained.

“But not one of our missionaries was hurt.”

Not only did their physical preparation for an earthquake bring them peace, but the missionaries also felt peace and strength because of their spiritual preparation and connection to Jesus Christ, said Sister Dennis.

“When your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you really do have no need to fear the earthquakes that will come into your life — whether they be physical earthquakes, emotional earthquakes or spiritual earthquakes.”

Brad Pelo

Brad Pelo is a producer for “The Chosen,” a streaming series portraying the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He’s also a Latter-day Saint whose faith has helped him navigate everything from challenging conversations about the Church with other Christians to receiving a terminal cancer prognosis.

Pelo told the story of how, 20 years ago, his wife had just given birth to their 11th child when he underwent surgery to treat a cancerous tumor in his abdomen. Despite doctors’ efforts, Pelo was told he had only 12 to 18 months to live.

But six months later, Pelo’s doctors miraculously found no sign of cancer. The good news left him considering what God was trying to tell him with such a difficult “wake up call.”

Pelo said he resolved to treat people more like children of God and less like assets or detriments to his career. He also stopped believing that he couldn’t trust people — a lie he’d been telling himself since his youth.

Pelo said he’d been treating the Savior like “a stained glass Jesus;” he believed in the Savior but didn’t have a relationship with Him. So Pelo began considering what it meant to truly know Jesus Christ.

“I don’t want to earn salvation, I want to celebrate salvation,” he said. “I’m going to take upon myself the name of Jesus Christ. And I’m going to recognize that he pursues me. … It’s a love story.”

Mia Love

Former Utah congresswoman Mia Love also faced a terminal cancer diagnosis. A year and a half ago, after experiencing extreme head pain during a vacation, doctors discovered a brain tumor and gave her 10 to 15 months to live.

The prognosis was terrifying not only for Love, but for her husband, who had already lost his mother to brain cancer and a mother figure to Alzheimer’s disease. 

After surgery and chemotherapy, Love put faith in her patriarchal blessing, which promised she would have a long, prosperous life.

“I had a promise in my hand,” Love said. “I said, ‘I choose my patriarchal blessing. I choose the promises that were made to me. I will remain faithful. I will do everything I can to put everything in the hands of Jesus Christ.’”

Through a series of miracles, Love became involved in a clinical trial at Duke University. Since beginning treatments in January, her tumor has shrunk and doctors believe they can eradicate her cancer. 

“I testify that our God is a God of miracles,” Love said. “And if we do not see the Red Sea part, it is because we are not asking. There is nothing in your life that is too big for our Lord and Savior.”

Bennett and Becky Borden

Like many Latter-day Saint couples, Bennett and Becky Borden were married in the temple and value their covenants.

But unlike many Latter-day Saint couples, Bennett Borden is gay, Becky Borden is lesbian and they both spent 20 years in same-sex relationships.

The Bordens shared factors that influenced not only their return to Church, but their decision to enter a heterosexual marriage.

Key among those factors was the genuine love received from their families during the years they weren’t part of the Church, the Bordens said.

That’s why, instead of “love the sinner, hate the sin,” Becky Borden prefers to say, “Love the sinner, invite them to dinner.”

“To me, we’re all sinners and we all need to be in a place where the Spirit is present in order ... to be loved and included,” she said. “That’s how I got to the point of saying, ‘I will sacrifice everything that I have to be in a covenant relationship with my Father.’”

The Bordens emphasized that their journey is unique to them, and it’s not necessarily productive to hold them up as examples to LGBTQ+ friends and family members.

But they hope their experiences can help others be better “fellow journeyers” along life’s path.

“We are here to help everyone else on their journey, because that’s what our Heavenly Parents do,” Bennett Borden said.

Becky Borden added that the Savior has turned all of her choices into something beneficial.

“I want to bear you my testimony of ... the immeasurable and eternal and infinite Atonement that He performed for us,” she said. “I have a testimony that He did it for me and that He did it for you.”

Liz Darger

Liz Darger, the senior associate athletic director at Brigham Young University, spoke at the Utah YSA conference about being bold.

“We can come boldly to God, not because we have it all figured out, but because of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice,” she testified. “We can come boldly even when we don’t feel so bold. Why? Because all that He asks is that we come with faith.”

She testified that with faith and hope, Christ will help us to obtain mercy and grace in times of need. Darger went on to share a personal story about when she was in college and struggling with a non-existent dating life while all her friends were getting married and starting families.

“I felt like a failure. I didn’t understand how the plan of salvation, the great plan of happiness, applied to me,” she said. “I was hurting and I felt alone.”

Darger explained that she distanced herself from her friends, family and gospel habits. Then, one day she realized that she needed peace after hearing the hymn “Where Can I Turn For Peace?”

“I was seeking comfort to calm my anguish,” she said. “I pleaded to understand what God’s plan was for me.”

This bold attempt to find God’s will for her helped Darger to understand that she “needed a greater focus on the covenants that [she had] already made,” rather than focus on the covenant of marriage that she had yet to make.

“When I did this, when I recommitted to my covenants, when I decided that I wanted more than anything else to seal my heart and my will to God — and I would do anything that he asked me and I would do it with full purpose of heart — that is when everything changed for me,” she said.

“There has been no looking back and looking forward with sadness because of what I don’t yet have. Instead, I focus on the present, on coming unto Christ and assisting God in His work of salvation and exaltation.”

Kate Lee

While she kept the details of the trial private, Kate Lee, popular Latter-day Saint painter, described the spiritual struggles her and her husband endured during a difficult experience. 

She said that the hardship gave them an “opportunity to solidify [their] relationships with [their] Heavenly Father and [their] Savior.”

But, before the solidifying came, “It was a roller coaster of emotions for us,” she explained.

“It was a wrestle with our testimonies, it was a wrestle with God, it was a wrestle with the Savior. The pain that we felt caused feelings of unworthiness and doubt and whether or not God was aware of the pain we were feeling.”

Lee and her husband had a choice — they could have given up during the difficulty, blamed God, and turned their back on Him; however, they knew they couldn’t do it on their own. “We knew we needed to seek their guidance.” 

And through deep and earnest prayer they found their strength to continue moving forward. “We started to find peace in our pain.”

“We learned that with our Heavenly Father and with our Savior, Jesus Christ — His Atonement, our covenants, the gospel that they give to us — we can be stronger than the heartbreak and the pain that we’re feeling at that time. We learned that we can be made more because of this experience.”

She explained that the difficulty allowed them to more purely connect with God.

“Instead of turning your back on Him, turn to Him, and take His hand, and trust His lead,” Lee told the audience. “I promise that as you do that, you will come out better and brighter than you were before.”

Sharon Eubank

Sister Sharon Eubank spoke about what she learned about God after her friend’s daughter passed away. 

Although God doesn’t prevent heartache, sin or injustices in the world, “He promises two things,” she said. “He promises He will never leave us alone.” And He promises that Jesus understands the pain and “will comfort us.”

“He will hold us while we suffer, and suffer with us.” Sister Eubank continued. 

Sister Eubank promised the audience that the Lord would one day make right all the unfairness of life and injustices experienced. But until then, she asked them to trust that Christ is “kind, He’s patient and He will bring us the peace that we seek.”

God will never turn away somebody when they call on Him, she said. “That’s what faith in Jesus Christ means. You can call and He will answer.”

Stephen Sharp Nelson

“I want to talk about how God can turn messes into miracles,” Stephen Sharp Nelson said after playing a song on the cello and sharing a picture of his family. 

He told a story of his performance with the Piano Guys at Carnegie Hall in New York City. It was a sold out event and Nelson described how they felt “so much pressure” to do well.

“Everything went wrong at Carnegie Hall — even though we had said a prayer,” said Nelson. “The electric cello went out, the microphones went out, the lighting went out — everything was so bad.”

They had just signed a contract with Sony and they were worried about what the company would say about the performance after the concert ended.

And the head of Sony’s response to their failure?

“Stephen, that is the best concert I have ever been to. I have never felt more respect for any artist in my life,” he told Nelson. “I have seen artists walk — storm — off the stage for far less problems. I am feeling like we did the best thing signing a contract with you. We are in this with you to the end,”

With a laugh, Nelson said that is not how he would have set a miracle up. “I am so glad God is in charge,” he concluded.

“I want you to seek and expect miracles like this in your life, no matter where you are or what you are up to, because they will happen and they will come.”

John and Michelle Schmidt

John and Michelle Schmidt had not always considered having John pursue a career in music. But after he made his first cassette tape and received direction from his mission president to continue to use his musical talent, John Schmidt began considering what he could do with the piano.

Michelle Schmidt said that they got better at relying on the Lord. “And, once we felt like we were giving our lives to God, we could trust that He would help us.”

The Schmidts told the audience to trust that God would help each of them, too.

Once they got into the music business, money and finances were difficult. As the Schmidts continued to seek God for help and assurance, they found miracles that helped move them forward and the blessings they needed to care for their family.

John Schmidt said he learned that no one can bother God too much. “It’s another opportunity to bond with Him,” he said.

So when the opportunity to work with Stephen Sharp Nelson and others in the Piano Guys came, they wanted to dedicate everything they did to God. 

“None of us are perfect, but that is something that we share. And we decided to give our business to God, and to dedicate it to God.”

He challenged attendees to seek their personal, divine destiny. “Because everyone  — everyone — comes to earth with specific missions to perform.”

Turning one’s life over to God looks different for everyone, Michelle Schmidt said.

She told the audience to continue to ask, pray and desire God’s help.

“We needed [God] to make a lot more out of our lives than we could,” she said.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video on Aug. 18 of highlights from what a day of an Apostle at Church Headquarters looks like.

“We have an endless series of assignments,” he explained during the video. One of the assignments he shared in the video was him assigning 201 prospective elders and sisters to missions.

Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson expressed heartfelt concern for community of Lahaina, Maui, on Aug. 16.

“To our brothers and sisters in Lahaina, Kula, and Kihei who have lost loved ones, homes, livelihoods, schools, and so much more, please know that I’ve wept for you and I am praying for you.”

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Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talks about his experience visiting the Nairobi Kenya Temple in an Instagram post on Aug. 18, calling it one of his “favorite moments” while ministering in central Africa.

“I believe having a temple in Kenya and in other locations in Africa is an eternally significant way in which our Heavenly Father is preparing His children to receive the blessings of eternity with Him,” said Elder Rasband.

“I am learning that everything starts with a fervent desire,” said Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, second counselor in the Young Women general presidency on Aug. 17.

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“We all have limitations, but what matters is how we learn and grow from the obstacles that might otherwise set us back,” said Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after sharing a story of Marcos Rossi on social media Aug. 14.

“Despite his struggles, Marcos’ faith is strong. He understands his trials are temporary. His gratitude for Heavenly Father’s eternal plan keeps him happy and motivated each day.”

“Children may be small in stature, but they’re not small in spirit,” said Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, on Aug. 11.

“As we invite them to use their discipleship, look at them as disciples, and treat them as disciples, they will rise to whatever bar we set for them.”

In a joint post on Aug. 11, Young Men General President Steven J. Lund and his second counselor, Brother Michael T. Nelson, posted a video together reminding youth about the 2023 Youth Music and Arts Festival was coming up on Aug. 15.

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Riding life’s waves means “trusting in God and being faithfully vulnerable to His timing, love, and wisdom day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment,” said Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, on Aug. 15.

“He knows what is before you,” Sister Yee continued. “He knows how to help you, and He will not forsake you. He will give you what you need in the moment you need it. He will show you how to pass through the impossible with His power and provide you with the peace that you so desperately need.”

In a video posted on Aug. 16, Brother Bradley R. Wilcox, second counselor in the Young Men’s general presidency, talked about why he chooses to use the words “I know” when referring to his testimony of Jesus Christ.

“I know through my own experience,” he said.

Continuing, Brother Wilcox touched on the importance of his own scripture study verses relying on others. “I know through my personal study. I don’t settle for soundbites on social media or on the internet — I read deeply. I write about what I am learning, and that gives me the right to say I know through my study.”

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Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, posted on Aug. 14, “Change has brought so many blessings in my life and those blessings have come in the form of people.”

Although change can be uncomfortable, change can bring opportunity, Sister Wright said.

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