Two Sunday’s ago I taught the Relief Society lesson. I have never had a calling in Relief Society and this would be my first time doing it. I was pretty nervous, but God knew to keep me busy the weeks leading up to the lesson so I wouldn’t have time to dwell on it too much. Instead of having time to be nervous and think about how unqualified I was, I focused on the message He wanted me to share. I now want to share this message with you, as if you were in the class with us.
Before I began the lesson, I changed all of the chairs around so that we were sitting in a circle and we could all see each other. I shared the scripture Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
I testified of how I have felt His Spirit in when two, three, or more have gathered in His name. I have experienced this several times in Sacrament Meeting, in Relief Society, and in Primary when the kids are singing songs like Gethsemane or Miracle. I have experienced this in lessons with the missionaries. There is a room in the church that the missionaries like to use to teach lessons. When I have been with them and the Spirit is strong in that room, it is hard to leave. The feeling of love and peace is so tangible. Yet, when I go to that room at other times, it is just an empty room. Christ is truly with us when we are gathered together in His name.
I explained why the chairs had been rearranged in a circle and I said, “Sisters you are beautiful, and it is not because you are in your Sunday best. Sisters, I see you, the Lord sees you and you are beautiful.”
Then we started with the lesson. We use talks from the latest General Conference (April 5th & 6th of 2025) to teach the Relief Society lessons and when I was asked to teach, all of these amazing talks poured through my mind. As I was trying to decide which one to teach on, it wasn’t until I looked through my notes from Conference that I knew without a doubt I was to teach from the General Conference talk that President Eyring shared on April 5th titled, “Draw Near unto Me”. You can watch his talk here and then I will add what I taught below.
In the beginning of the talk, President Eyring mentions how we are gathered in buildings and houses all over the world in the name of Jesus Christ. He talks about how we take His name when we enter His kingdom by covenant. I took a moment to ask how do we enter His kingdom by covenant.
John 3:5 says “…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Mosiah 18:8-10 “…As ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—
Now I saw unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with Him, that ye will serve Him and keep His commandments, that He may pour out His Spirit more abundantly upon you?”
We enter His kingdom by covenant when we are baptized by someone who holds His priesthood authority (you can read about this authority here). This is the first covenant that we make with our Heavenly Father. We covenant to do the things mentioned in Mosiah 18:8-9 and He covenants with us the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, which sanctifies, comforts, guides, warns and teaches us. We are spiritually reborn as sons and daughters of Christ and begin a new life in His name. We become part of His covenant people. And lastly, if we endure to the end in faithfulness, we are promised eternal life.
I have come to strongly believe and understand that it doesn’t matter when you are baptized; whether as an adult or as a child turning 8 years old (In the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you don’t get baptized until the age of understanding and accountability. Which has been decided is as young as 8 years old. There is no requirement to be baptized at 8, and it is strongly suggested to be the child’s choice as they are the ones making the covenant of baptism with the Lord). We ALL have to be converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not just those that are hearing the Gospel for the first time. Those that have been born into families that have the Gospel of Jesus Christ also need to be converted in their own hearts. This conversion can and most likely will happen again and again as we grow, learn, and progress in this life. There will be things that challenge that testimony and it can weaken and become stronger. Just as a camp fire needs to be fed to keep the flame going, our testimonies need to be fed to keep the light burning bright.
Converted definition: v: cause to change form, character, or function. Adj: Having been adapted to be suitable for a new purpose.
I shared about one of my favorite stories in the Book of Mormon, of Alma the Younger. I shared about my personal connection to this story, which you can read here. In Alma, chapter 36 Alma (the younger who is now old) is talking with one of his sons, Helaman. In verse 3 he says, “And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.” Vs. 5: “Now, behold, I say unto you, If I had not been born of God I should not have known these things; but God has, by the mouth of his holy angel, made these things known unto me, not of any worthiness of myself…” He then goes on to tell the story of his conversion to Helaman.
Alma comes to understand for himself the truth of these things and then becomes a prophet of the Lord and teaches what he comes to know to others. I personally know that when you understand the truthfulness to such a degree as this, there is no going back to where you were; you are driven to do the will of God and to bring others to Him. Alma became changed and suitable for a new purpose; a purpose he did with his whole heart and soul.
Back to the talk, President Eyring shares scripture from the Doctrine and Covenants in section 88:63. “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
By seeking and obtaining our own conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we can come to learn to Abide in Him and He in us.
This last season of the Chosen, Jesus says to His disciples, “You said yes to the world’s no”. When we say yes to Jesus, He always makes a way.
We learn this in 1 Nephi 3:7 when Nephi is asked to go do something very challenging. He says, “…I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the things which he commanded them.”
In the Primary Song Book, there is a song called Nephi’s Courage. Here is a link for you to listen. I have sung this song to myself many times in the last decade to help me to remember that whenever something seems impossible that God has asked me to do, He will make a way for me to accomplish that task/goal and I just need to act in faith.
In this talk, President Eyring shares some ideas on how to draw nearer to our Savior. These things are not difficult to do, we just need to be intentional in our day so that we make room in our busy schedules to do them. He tells us to draw near Him by always remembering Him. Seek Him diligently through scripture study. Ask through heartfelt prayer to Heavenly Father to feel closer to His Beloved Son.
I’d like to break this down even more. When President Eyring says to draw near by always remembering Him, I immediately thought of the sacrament prayer. It is from Moroni 4:3. “…that they are willing to take upon them the name of, thy Son, and always remember Him, and keep His commandments which He hath given them, that they may always have His Spirit to be with them. Amen”
I suggested to the women in the class that we take the Sacrament with intention. Look as the Priests cover the sacrament trays with the white cloth, which represents His body. When the tray comes to you, take the bread and water as if it is Jesus Christ offering it to you. Ponder on a name of Christ that week. What does it mean? Research it. It will come to your mind throughout the week. Try your best to emulate this name.
Next is seeking diligently through scripture study. Read the Scriptures with intention. Make the scriptures come alive to you. Watch The Chosen and imagine what it would have been like to be there with Jesus. To be a part of it all. To leave everything behind and follow Him when you aren’t quite sure why. To have so many questions but to just want to see and hear more. Ask yourself, what did it look like to be a disciple of Christ? How can I do this in my own life?
Here are some other videos you can watch that were made by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (New Testament videos. Book of Mormon Videos). Make the scriptures come alive to you. Replace names of those you read about with your own. Research a topic each week. Through the winter, some friends and I researched a topic each week and shared what we learned with each other over the Marco Polo app. It truly helped me to learn so much more.
Finally, He talks about asking Heavenly Father in heartfelt prayer to feel closer to Jesus Christ. Pray with Purpose. Imagine what Christ and Heavenly Father look like before you pray. Feel Them near you. Have a conversation. Even though you know that They know everything that is going on in your life, They want to hear from you. Pray out loud when you can.
I had an experience when I decided to be all in with God. I went to my closet. I knelt and closed my eyes and just imagined what They might look like. I waited until it felt right. Then I imagined Them there with me. I gathered my thoughts and just began to pray. I felt such love. It is hard to describe, but it was the most beautiful feeling and I a lot to atone for. I was crying and not the sweet tender tears, the snot dripping down my face puffy cheeked ugly crying. I will never forget this experience. This is when I learned that Jesus and Heavenly Father are always there, just waiting for us to reach to Them.
I mentioned in a previous post about receiving a priesthood blessings from my husband (who holds the priesthood). One day, I was thinking about a blessing that I had received recently and this image came into my mind: As I sat in a chair, my husband had his hands on my head to give me the blessing, and Christ was standing close by with one hand on me and the other hand on my husband. The tears came immediately as this powerful and loving image came into my mind. He really is there close by and eager to participate in our lives.
President Eyring goes on to talk about how if you were separated for a time from dear friends, you would find a way to communicate with them. As time passes without communication, the bond weakens. As I was reading this part of the talk, a memory came to my mind of having my little babies.
Three of my girls came into our lives as babies. They needed to feel safe and secure. I knew that I needed to hold them close to my body so that my smell, voice, and heartbeat felt safe to them. I was thinking about how babies and children bond with their caregiver. Through swaddling for comfort, rocking, holding them close, talking and singing to them, and through feeding. We can do all of these things with Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. We can learn to trust that He is there close by, just like an infant learns to trust that we are close. The Holy Ghost can swaddle us in His comfort. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do talk to us. How do we hear them? Finally, feeding. When you cannot feed yourself, you very much depend on your caregiver. Christ is our caregiver. Are we letting Him feed us?
My first little girl was failure to thrive when she came to us. She had to have special formula and she did not always love to eat. She had a nutritionist that we saw and it very much mattered to get her formula into her tiny body. It was not easy; she fought feeding time a lot. As I reflected on this, I wonder, are we fighting Him and preventing Him from giving us the sustenance that is truly vital to our lives? To be Spiritually fed is to bond with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
I had another experience that I shared with the women in class that day. I love to listen to people that share the gospel on social media through their own experiences, art, music, and testimonies. One day I was listening to one of my favorite artists being interviewed on a Podcast who is also a Ninja Warrior, Jenedy Paige (here is the link). She was sharing about how when she was younger her mother taught them PJ’s: prayer, journal, scriptures.
I loved this episode and I hope you listen. Jenedy has a very powerful story. A few mornings after listening to this podcast, I woke up one morning to the note I wrote in my phone in the middle of the night:
Math Equations for Eternal Happiness: Prayer + Journaling + Scripture Study = Connection with Christ. Over the next few days, I realized it was more than just those things. Prayer + Repentance + Journaling + Scripture Study = Connection with Christ.
I’m becoming a little obsessed with Repentance. The more I’ve leaned into the discomfort of what I thought I knew about repentance, the more I began to understand that I didn’t really understand it. It is so beautiful! Satan wants us to over complicate repentance to keep us from understanding and using it. Using repentance brings us ever closer to Jesus Christ. It brings His power more fully into our lives.
President Eyring goes on to share a time when he was younger and they went out in the coldness of winter to attend Sacrament Meeting. They sang a Hymn called Abide with Me; ‘Tis Eventide. This song is so beautiful and it speaks of abiding. What does Abide mean? Hebrew Yashav = Stay, sojourn, pause, tarry, linger. I asked myself, where do I Abide with the Lord? These are the places that came to my mind:
In the Temple, taking the sacrament, in missionary lessons, through serving His children, studying Come Follow Me with the Family, early morning scripture study when the house is quiet, blogging, journaling, in nature, through meditation, priesthood blessings, reading and studying my patriarchal blessing, driving in the car, getting ready in my bathroom, in the middle of the night when I am impressed to write in my notes app on my phone, Christian, and Instrumental music that talks of Christ, podcasts that talk about the Gospel, and bearing testimony of Him.
President Eyring went on to talk about how he wanted to rekindle the same feeling he felt that night at church a few years later by searching his scriptures. He talks about the disciples that were traveling on the road to Emmaus. He appears and joins them and they do not recognize Him. They invite him to Abide with them for the evening. As they sit with Him to eat, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened and they knew Him. I know that when we make the effort to Abide with Him, He will show Himself to us in ways that we are ready to comprehend. I have experienced this time and time again as I have made the effort.
I told the sisters that Sunday, “If you are still struggling with how you can Abide with the Lord, I want to help you in a more Celestial Thinking kind of way. I woke up one morning understanding that there was a story I needed to write. This poured into my mind as I typed. I want you all to close your eyes and go on a journey with me.” I then read this to them. I would love for you to read it out loud to yourself as you read it today.
I closed with this statement: Sisters, our Heavnely Parents are real. There is a Plan. We are experiencing it now in real time. Jesus did His part. I know we rejoiced when He finished His work on the earth and returned to the Spirit world. The Atonement is real. It is the most important part of the Plan. He accomplished that. Now, your most important part of the Plan is to accept His Atonement, turn to Him, and Trust. Learn to Abide.
After this, I told the sisters in the room that on their chair was a small notebook with a beautiful sticker with the scripture from John 15:4 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
I invited them to journal as I played a beautiful song called Abide by Aaron Williams. This song is just under 7 minutes long and I only got to play about a minute and a half, so please listen. I love this song and the first time I heard it I was brought to tears. So beautiful. When the song was over, I said, “Sisters, I know that as we learn how to abide with Jesus Christ, it will help us to prepare to become confident in the presence of God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”
Friends, I know this was a long post. Please come back and finish it when you have more time. I kept trying to make it short, but everything felt so important to include. I hope this helped to feed the flame of your testimony today.
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