A Temple-Centered Look at April 2026 General Conference with Brad Farr

In this powerful General Conference review episode of Temple Bound, host Will Humphreys sits down with returning guest Brad Farr to break down the April 2026 General Conference through the lens of temples and covenants.

Brad brings statistical analysis, personal stories, and four remarkable thematic threads, what Will calls "The Bradford Flow"  that connect the entire conference into one unified, temple-centered message.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

The Bradford Flow: 4 Themes Connecting Temple & Covenant Teachings:

1. The Atonement and Resurrection Make Eternal Families Possible Talks by Elder Anderson, Elder Cook, and Elder McCulloch all pointed to the sealing power restored through Elijah and how Christ's resurrection is the foundation of eternal family doctrine. Brad shares a moving story from his workplace that illustrates how this teaching resonates even outside the faith.
2. Temple Covenants Give Us Access to Divine Power From Elder Holmes' blind marathon runner tethered to his guide, to Sister Freeman's quote from For the Strength of Youth, this section unpacks the real, tangible spiritual power available to those who make and keep temple covenants.
3. The Temple Strengthens Our Personal Relationship with God Elder Mutombo's deeply moving account of losing multiple children while being pressured by family to leave his wife, and finding peace through his temple sealing covenant, anchors this theme in real human experience.
4. Temple Covenants Transform Us to Become Christlike Elder Bednar's message on becoming new creatures in Christ, and Elder Tay's humble testimony of incremental change, remind us that transformation is a process, not an event.

Scriptures & Sources Referenced

• Doctrine & Covenants 49:16 — The purpose of marriage and the earth
• Matthew 5 — Love your enemies (Sermon on the Mount)
• Mosiah — The mighty change of heart
• For the Strength of Youth — Sister Freeman's quote on temple ordinances
• The Chosen series — Passover scene parallel to President Hinckley's quote

If this episode blessed you, share it with someone preparing for the temple, navigating a hard season of marriage, or curious about what Latter-day Saints believe about eternal families. 

Transcript

First Impressions From Easter Conference

SPEAKER_00 0:05

If you've been with Temple Bound for a while, you already know what time it is. Brad Farr is back, and every six months we sit down and walk through a general conference together with the temple as our lens. This was the Easter Conference, the first full conference under President Oakes, and Brad noticed some shifts in what's being taught, what's being emphasized, and what the Lord seems to be preparing us for. We taught Christ, Covenants, the Resurrection, Ministry, and one absolutely beautiful idea that tragedies become triumphs when we choose to believe. Enjoy the show. Before we start the episode, I have a small favor to ask. If Temple Bound has meant something to you, would you take a moment right now and follow the podcast and leave a comment on the app that you're listening to? When you follow and leave a comment, it helps the podcast show up for more people who are trying to learn, grow, and come closer to the teachings of the temple. It's free and it's simple, but it really makes a big difference. Thank you so much for being here. Hey Brad, I am so excited about this general conference review. I look forward to this every six months with you. Um and so I I have all these things I want to say, but let's just kick it off. What are your first impressions of this last general conference?

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Oh, first impressions. Uh well, one, I was grateful to have the opportunity to know that I was going to be doing this so that I could sit down and focus on conference. And uh and knowing that we're gonna be talking about the temple and about covenants, that was obviously where my focus was. And I just I didn't hear it as much as I thought I was going to. And um, but it was I did hear a lot of the Easter message, of course, you know, Jesus Christ and He's resurrected, He's the answer, is kind of the thought that I had. Um definitely heard a lot of love God, love your neighbor, serve the way Christ would serve. And um, so those are some of the top things that came to mind. Um, but also I felt like it was kind of back to basics almost on just keep the commandments and uh things are gonna work out. And in fact, there's that one talk by uh Elder Bacera, I think it was, that it was talked about tithing. And I thought that that was that hasn't been a talk specifically on tithing has not happened for a few conferences. And so um the we've done this, this is our third conference review. Yes, and and uh the last two, there was no talk about tithing. So so I thought that that was really cool. And I, you know, tithing's something that's near and dear to my heart because I know that it's a true principle, so it's cool to hear that.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, it's interesting too, because if you know, we're as we're getting closer to the return of Christ, tithing gets mentioned frequently in the preparation for his return, just like the temples are. And I I think to your point back to basics is a great way to put it because you noticed that shift last time, six months ago, with the passing of President Nelson with uh President Oaks. We we don't feel like that's him as much as the revelation that he is supposed to bring.

SPEAKER_03 3:01

Yeah.

Temple Mentions Drop And Why

SPEAKER_00 3:01

And it seems like it's it's a little bit more about the peacemakers, which started with President Nelson, but really focus this one on being good to your neighbors, loving your neighbors, being a peacemaker, what that looks like, and then resurrection, which I mean, you know, res we always look at it from the lens of the temple on this show, but isn't it? I mean, there's there's probably no other topic that's probably more on on the on alignment with temples than resurrection. Absolutely. That was so they do kind of feed together. But yeah, what were some of the numbers you saw around that? You did some statistical analysis of this, which I love. Yeah. All of our math people were gonna go, all right. So yeah, what what did you see?

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Yeah, so I just uh just because I was interested in it, I decided to look into like what are the trends of like mentions of the temple and mentions of covenants, and and then also some of the other things that I just thought about were um we heard about during this last conference. And um just for the the the number nerds out there, so last April of 25, Temple was mentioned 86 times and then 53 times in October, and then it's down to 39 times in April. This this most recent conference.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

So more than 50 percent. We had a 50 percent uh decrease. And this and we're not trying to extrapolate meaning from this, it's just these are interesting points to make. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 4:19

Yep, interesting points. And then also like House of God or House of the Lord, that that's down like basically 50 percent or maybe a little bit more as well. Um, and again, it's like I think um, you know, we need to we need to follow the prophet, and and President Oakes is our prophet, and and even though it's not as much of a a focus, he did mention last conference, President Nelson loved to talk temples, he loved to announce temples, he loved to all of that stuff, and so obviously you're gonna hear about it more. And President Oaks has now made that a different he's created a different system for that, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:01

Well, you hit this on the head last time we met and had a show that six months ago, you noticed that that sharp turn in the number in that like discussion point just because you were paying attention for it for the show. Yep. You're like, well, that was a major shift. And then you did some thought about it and you presented for people who didn't watch that last episode, go listen to the first third of it because you go through the impact of all this rapid temple building and how we were getting to this point objectively where you had personal relationship with people who were finding that as these temples were being built all over quickly, that now there's a time to like staff them and to train the people and to get the members active and engaged in the temples because um there's a there's some delay between the time a temple gets announced, the time that it's fully operational, and the members are using it. And we were we have such so many dozens of temples across the world that we're still needing to be breaking breaking ground.

SPEAKER_03 5:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

And I think it was interesting that you know the Lord knew he was taking President Nelson home. That was gonna be how it was gonna be before that conference was even established. Yeah. So it was interesting timing that it stopped literally the the first time President Oak stood up as the the soon-to-be prophet.

SPEAKER_03 6:08

Yeah.

Ministering Surges In A Divided World

SPEAKER_00 6:09

So very interesting. So as we hear those things, it's interesting. So, what did you see that that ramped up? What was the topic that may have stood out above all else in terms of frequency?

SPEAKER_02 6:18

I heard it, I'm sure other people did too, but it just really seemed like it they talked a lot about ministering and getting uh, you know, loving others like Christ would love them and help them the way that Christ would help them and minister to them the way that He would. And so I I was like, hmm, I wonder how much that was mentioned in previous conference talks versus this one. And it went from 11 times and uh 11 times of April of last year to 34 times of April this year.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

Yeah, 11 and then 12 in October. So like 11 in April, 12 in October, and then double or almost almost triple, two shy of triple, yeah. And definitely triple from April. Yeah. So that's a huge focus. Yeah. What were your thoughts on that? Like, you know, do you think that was just coincidental? Do you think there's a an intention behind that? Like, why is ministering being so focused now on now?

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Well, I uh I did think about that, and it just seems like again, it was I felt that they were trying to get us to be like Christ. And how do you do that other than do the things that he would do, and that's all he did is minister to other people. And so, and I'm not gonna pretend I'm really good at that, um, but I just heard that as a pattern, and I thought that that was definitely uh appropriate, right? As Christ comes, we're gonna need to be more like him, and to be more like him, we need to minister like him, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yeah, I love that. And you know, one observation that I'm making in my head as you're talking is this idea that we are definitely in a more contentious world than we've ever been. And when you talk to anyone who is a mediator of any kind, whether it's uh someone who mediates partnerships and business or marriage or whatever, communication and and getting on the same page and having a shared reality is what usually offsets that contention because when I see the human in you, right, it's hard to be angry at you. But when you're cutting me off in traffic, it's so easy to objectify you and have that negative perspective. So I'm kind of going over analytical. Here's the here's what I'm trying to get to is that it's it's harder and harder in our world to connect. And so even I now, not out of being a bad neighbor, I honestly usually pull out and leave and hardly ever talk to my neighbors. So it's a calling because if it wasn't coming from the Lord, I think if it was organic, it wouldn't happen. It's like we have these assignments and we need we need to be like Christ and we need the connection on both ends of that so that when we are at least as a church, we can be one body under Christ.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

And so if we can be united and bring that peace, then we can serve and help the world. So it's interesting just because in a weird gutter like my gut, it's the ministering that makes sense. We need we need that service opportunity now more than ever to not just heal ourselves and the world, but but the world, I mean the world at large, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

And I and I also I didn't dive into were they talking about ministering as um a calling, or were they just talking about ministering as we as we just have our daily interactions? But my sense is that it's more of that. It's more of just to the world, to the world, as we have our daily interactions with whoever it is that we're interacting with, uh approaching that with a ministering kind of like love that Christ would. And um, I didn't dive into that, but I but I did re-listen to many of these talks over and over um over the last few weeks just in preparation for this, and so and that's the kind of sense that I got.

SPEAKER_03 9:49

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Because that it was it's yes, ministering as a calling is important, but also just ministering to all of those around us, anybody who we come in contact with seems to be an important thing to the Lord.

Four Conference Themes Through Temples

SPEAKER_00 10:01

So and we all know that like the basic level of training when it comes to ministering, yeah, you know, being the friend and actually loving. So when I hear that, I hear that as yeah, maybe not, you know, pull out and just wave at my neighbor, maybe check in on them, see how they're actually doing. And yeah, I think sometimes that feels a little bit like work at first, but like anything else, when it's from God, eventually it just softens the heart and helps us do it organically. Yeah. So I love these, I love that your overview. Let's get into some of the main topics. You found four really, and just for the people who are listening, I thought I love how Brad organizes this. He found four overarching concepts that tie to the Temple and Covenants that were presented throughout General Conference. And so um, we're gonna go through those and share some quotes that that verify that concept and that theme. And then there's some real just highlights at the end we're gonna punch. So make sure you stick to the end because my favorite quote of all of General Conference is coming at that special highlights section. So, what was that first topic uh or theme that you heard?

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Yeah, just to kind of present to the listeners how I came up with these is I I first I teased out all the mentions of temple and house of house of God and house of the Lord, and then I just kind of from there went through those mentions and to figure out like what topics are they talking about, what themes are they talking about with regards to the temple or house of the Lord. Did the same thing with covenants, and then I just kind of meshed the two because there was so much overlap that I just meshed the two to say, you know, these are the themes with regards to Temple and Covenants that were that I felt were talked about during this conference. And so they're not in these four are not the only ones, and they're not in this order. It's just this is what I came up with.

SPEAKER_00 11:45

And so I will say, even though you didn't put them in a specific order, I felt a flow between the four. I when I read through it, but guys, you I really wish you had the opportunity to read these documents, and maybe with your permission, we might put those on um the show notes. But it was just so insightful to see this as it pertains to the temple, how John Conference created this flow. So, what's what's that first theme that you saw?

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Jesus Christ's resurrection and atonement make it possible for families for families to be sealed in the temples. Um, and so there was you know full talks about this, like Elder Anderson has basically his entire talk was starting out with the resurrection of Christ and and then just talking about eternal families. Um Elder Cook's talk about um Elijah returning and restoring the sealing um keys to Joseph Smith, and that was pretty much all about you know sealing families, um, but to even just mentions. And Elder Gong uh is one of the mentions, but he said that um Jesus Christ's atonement changes everything, it brings literal resurrection, it can enable our return to the presence of God and the eternal uniting of families. And so, with regards to that, um I recently had an experience at work where uh we were talking about marriage uh in general, kind of like in the world, and then the dentist that I was working with, who's not a member of our faith, she uh, but we've had conversations in the past, and so she asked me if um she's basically said, it seems to me that members of your church don't uh get divorced as much as kind of the general world, general population, and so we had an opportunity to kind of talk about that. And I I brought up these very things that you know the fact that Jesus Christ resurrected, we get to live forever, and that is something that we believe and we hold on to that that belief. And then uh in tandem with that, we believe that when we are sealed in the temple, that we can literally be an eternal unit, resurrected, live forever together as families. And as I explained this concept to her, um I do I do anesthesia for dentistry, um, and so many of our conversations are interrupted by different things, and so it got interrupted. I I had to do something else, but while I was doing something else, I overheard the dentist talk to her assistant while she was working, and she was she just said, Isn't that a beautiful teaching that they have? Wow, and you know, I was just kind of listening to them talk about that, and it really is. It's a beautiful thing that we we believe that you know, literally we are gonna be resurrected, and then this uh relationship continue, can continue forever, and it's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

It it for me the power I love that story, and one of the powerful things that I got out of out of that quote from Elder Kong is is the idea that it was the it was the atonement that created that resurrection. I just there was so much on the line during the atonement, and I I wonder what it was like for us as we were aware of that as intelligences and spirits to be mindful of what was writing on that. Because we probably had more of a sense then than we do now.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

And so it's powerful. I I loved your quote um from Elder Anderson. You mentioned his talk. Yep. And uh, if you don't mind, I'd like to share that. Um you you talked about he says, after testifying of Christ's atonement and resurrection, he said, Jesus Christ brought over immeasurable blessings. He said to his apostles, Pete to his apostle Peter, whatsoever that shall bind on earth that shall be bound in heaven, the sacred sealing power has been restored to the earth and is found today in his dedicated temples. And then he quotes President Gordon B. Hinckley, and I circled this because I miss him. I miss President Hinckley. He says, If nothing else came out of all the sorrow and tri uh travail, is that travail and pain of the restoration, then the sealing power of the Holy Priesthood to bind together families forever, it would have been worth all that it has cost. And I just think about how difficult that was for the early saints and all the the suffering and all the things they had to endure. It was so that they could bring just this, it would all have been worth it.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Very powerful to think about.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

It's super powerful and and great. Uh whenever I read that uh by President Hinckley, I think about the Chosen series, yeah, and they often do the uh Passover meal, the kind of like portray a scene of the Passover meal. And in the Passover meal they used they would say things like, you know, if if if Jehovah would have only provided manna, that would have been enough, or if he would have only done uh certain of the miracles, uh bringing of bringing us out of Egypt, that would have been enough. And then um and then there's this beautiful uh scene as Christ is about to be crucified that the women talk about that and they but they talk about him, um how he has influenced their lives. And it's a it's a powerful scene, and I would recommend anyone to go watch it because it's it's incredible. But you know, if if uh if the sealing power of the priesthood was the only thing that uh was restored binding families, that would have been enough, you know, and that would have been amazing. So that's a really cool that's a really cool line from Elder Anderson. His entire talk is about um about eternal marriages. You know, he had talks about a family that really struggles, but they get through it because of their knowledge of this eternal nature of their marriage covenant.

SPEAKER_00 17:33

And so I think that that's I I think it's by the way, just as a side note, I think it's really interesting how often I realize that when we struggle, we think something's off plan. Like we're married in the temple and it's not easy. And we think, you know, some of us blame God, but some of us, uh I have a good friend who left the church over that and he got divorced, and he's like, Well, I I did the things I was supposed to do and it didn't work for me. And then there's other people who blame themselves. Well, surely it's my fault then, or I didn't understand the spirit, and I jumped into that marriage. And I just think we we tend to forget that like uh when we're doing our best, which is imperfect to begin with, and we believe what we believe, that there's there's purpose in all things, that the atonement rectifies all these things, and it's in the struggle that we're supposed to find him. So the struggle is usually evident, evidence of that we're doing what we should be doing, of course, with the exception of times where we're we're doing those things out of sin. But when we struggle by by doing these things that we're supposed to, it's that's kind of part of this journey.

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

And it's and so we're reminded that in the end it's the atonement that equalizes all that.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Absolutely. And Elder Anderson does say in his talk, he says that uh, you know, he asked the question are there times when divorce is necessary kind of thing. Yeah. And he did. And he says that he'll add some notes to his talk with regards to that. And he did add those notes. And so if some, you know, if someone's struggling with that or whatever, then that's a that's a resource. Love that. So um Elder Cook, he has a great talk about the uh I mentioned how you know Elijah came because he spoke on Sunday, which was the anniversary of when Elijah came and restored those keys to Joseph Smith. It was on a it was on a Easter Sunday in uh whatever it was, 1800s, whenever that was. So um so you know, that's why Elder Cook kind of like took that and ran with it. And um but he he testifies powerfully the about how Elijah committed to Joseph Smith the keys, the priesthood keys pertaining to the sealing power to bind sacred ordinances and covenants on earth and in heaven. And without these keys, there are no eternal families. And then he meant and then he says, and the whole earth would be utterly destroyed. And I I kind of like, as I read that, I I thought that that was interesting, and I was reminded of um a podcast that I had listened to, the Follow Him podcast that that talks about like one of the purposes of the earth. And I'm and I and so it made me think about that, and so I went and I looked up um some scriptures with regards to that. But yeah, section 49 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 16, which um I I wouldn't have known this off the top of my head, but I looked it up. This is when the sh when the Lord is responding to some of the beliefs of the Shakers. Yeah, one of their beliefs is uh celibacy. And so the Lord is responding to some of these uh beliefs of the shakers, and so he says, the Lord in response says, Wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

That's that's that's a that's why the earth is here.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

That's why we're on the earth, is that we can have marriages, have families, and you know, and and uh progress. Everyone has that opportunity and return to live with Heavenly Father as a family. That's powerful scripture and powerful teaching from Elder Cook.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

I never had considered that, that the purpose of the earth. And it's so interesting, right? Because like there's all these things, it's beautified, it's it's meant for us to enjoy and why are men uh in existence so that they might have joy. But when you look at the earth's main purpose is to help men and women come together and to be married and create families. There's there's nothing more beautiful, you know, than to think about something so celestial and eternal and hard to comprehend, like the earth being created in its orbit. Yeah, loving Heavenly Father did that for each one of us that are listening, and they did it for them.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Yeah, that's awesome. And it makes it just that's so good. And and then he ends with this promise and he says, I promise to you on this Easter day that as you adhere to his ordinances, covenants, and commandments, you'll go closer in your relationship. With your savior as well as your appreciation and gratitude for the ceiling keys that have been restored in this dispensation. So great.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

That's so great. I love this one. So Elder Cook crushed it. It was so great. And then you mentioned Elder Wakolo.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Elder Wakolo is a uh he's a member of the 70, and I really enjoyed his talk. Um you might remember he he's his talk is about uh sealing uh families, like eternal families, basically. Um he's the one that talks about like uh there are certain signs that are clear, like a stop sign. And then in the Philippines they say, you know, uh full stop or something, and then and then in Chicago, it's like no, you really gotta stop. So these clear signs, he's he he uh talks about eight, these clear signs are clear teachings of prophets, and then goes into eternal marriage as being kind of this this uh clear teaching from the prophets.

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Got it.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

And um, and then he ends up telling a story about how his wife faithfully went to church for eight years in Fiji, waiting for him to become converted and them to be able to be sealed in the temple, and he ultimately, uh 24 you know, missionaries later and eight years later, does you know finally get baptized and they do get sealed and and and what a great thing. And so that's where this quote comes from. That's kind of the background behind this quote. But he says the temple stands as a symbol of hope and not pressure. And so the gospel of Jesus Christ isn't a wedge to divide families, but it's to bridge them and unite them eternally. We must ensure that our discipleship reflects the Savior's patience, his gentleness, his perfect love. Temple ceilings invite us into the divine order of God. Is it any wonder that the temple ceiling is often described as the crowning ordinance, which is a beautiful way to end that?

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Yeah, I I will tell you on our social media channels for temple bound, the number one, you know, honest comment, you know, we get all sorts of comments, but like one of the comments that I feel is like sincere from people who are not members of our faith or used to be, is they they'll they'll talk about the temple. One guy sincerely reached out and goes, I really, really believe that you believe in what you're saying. And he said to me on in this message on Instagram, I really struggle with temples. You talk about them being a place of love, but I've only experienced them as a place of separating my family, you know, whether it was a wedding I couldn't attend or whatever it was. And he said, Can you please help me understand that? And I I sent some, I don't remember what I said back to him. It was more like, yeah, let's let's talk about it, you and I. And it never went anywhere. But it was, it was one of those things where I think this was a great reminder that, you know, in the short term, they're for what's required, it is something that can create some challenges for people. And those are very real. And as we acknowledge those, we still recognize that the the eternal picture is still what it is, is that this is the thing that will ultimately bring even those families together, which we'll talk about later.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:08

But just this idea of like it's it's the long-term plan. Yeah, it's a long-term plan. And I love this thing about pressure. It's not pressure, yeah, it's just hope.

SPEAKER_02 25:16

Yeah, and so Yeah, in his in his talk, he does share some stories that don't end in, hey, and they all got married in the temple, is that happily ever after. There is some where it's just right now, a seed is planted and we'll see what happens, you know. And yeah, and but there's love that persists, and so that's good.

SPEAKER_00 25:35

Yeah, it's always it always seems like other people um are on plan, so to speak, and and things are great and easy. It's always our world that feels like something's wrong, and what's wrong with me for not having that. But this this is the plan. It is we just don't see what everyone else is going through. So that was a great first theme. What a powerful first one. I loved it. What was what yes?

Covenants Unlock Spiritual Power

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Well, it kind of like that that theme, uh what we were just talking about about just kind of it's the long game, yeah, kind of spills over into this next topic here. That covenants in temple, uh, sorry, covenants made in sacred temples give us access to divine spiritual power from our Savior Jesus Christ. And some of that comes from that divine power, I think, comes from just a knowledge and understanding that Christ's plan is um is is not for here and now. It's give us access to power to understand things now, but really the long game is what we're after.

SPEAKER_00 26:34

Yeah, the there's power in perspective. It's interesting because we talk about the power we get in the temple, and there's beautiful YouTube videos that people need to research that the church has put out just on the blessings that type in temple blemple blessings of the Church of Jesus Christ, Latter-day Saints, and you'll get there's two five-minute videos where they just list them. It's like splices, and they're amazing. And and a big chunk of them is power. Power for this, power for that. There's power in perspective, an eternal perspective. And and for anyone who wonders what that looks like, and if you and you have a teenager, think about how they experience life without that perspective, how in how negatively impactful it is for some, some, and I'm not minimizing their trials. We went through that. Without that perspective, some of the challenges we face can feel so uh much bigger, so much more heavier, so much um harder to bear than when we have the right elevated perspective. And it's, you know, as a parent, we don't want to minimize that. We want to meet them where they are the way the savior would with us. Yeah. But that's why the Lord wants us to go to the temple. Yeah. There in the temple, we get this elevated experience. And so there's some really cool quotes that you found on this that really back that concept of the power.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yes, there was uh this one doesn't directly tie exactly to the temple, but I heard the temple when I read this, and it's from Elder Bacera's talk about the ty about tithing. But he says, I witness that a spiritual power and direction, hereto for unknown, will come into your lives as we keep the law of obedience and sacrifice. Well, that's and when I heard that's pretty temple direct. Yep, exactly. When I heard that, I was like, Well, that's that's not temple, I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

So spiritual power and direction. Yeah. Man, love that for all of us, but especially for the youth.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Yeah, absolutely. Elder Holmes has a great talk. Um, Elder Holmes was recently um called to the 70. It was during last last uh general conference that he was called to the 70. And he's from Arizona, and uh he spoke in general conference, and he gave a great talk um about him and his wife running a marathon. I can't I can't remember where it is though. I know it's over in Europe and it's up a straight up a mountain. Oh, it was I think it was Switzerland. Switzerland.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Or France, or it's like on that it was in those at it was in those mountains there on the border of those two. That's right. It was the most elevated yes, I love this story.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

And it's and they gained 6,000 feet during this marathon run, which is the first time. It's the hardest marathon in the world, if not one of the hardest. Yeah, that's crazy to me. But then they find out that a blind man did it. And and during, you know, in uh at a certain point in their in the marathon, you you're literally uh in a single file line going up of steep mountains. Steep mountain cliffs and stuff like that. So, you know, they find out that this blind man did it, and they were uh amazed and wondered how they how they did that. And of course, he was tethered to a guide the whole time who walked with him the whole time, ran with him, walked with him, hiked with him, everything with him. And um, and so that was kind of uh what it was about. But um, in in his talk, he mentions just as the band tethered the blind runner to his guide, covenants bind us to our guide, Jesus Christ. Elder David A. Bednar taught the covenant connection we have with our Heavenly Father and his and his resurrected and living Son is the supernal source of perspective, hope, power, peace, and enduring joy.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Wow, that's a heavy quote right there. It is the what's the word he uses. So the the ultimate, the quintessential perspective, hope, power, peace, and enduring. So that connection to the savior. Interesting that he used that analogy, you know, because uh the thing that I heard in that story was the fact that the guide was also running the marathon.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Like, you know, the story's about the blind guy, the blind man, but the guide is also running the marathon, and he's doing it being tethered in a way that's maybe a little bit resistive, like you know, and I think that's something that we all can feel is that when it's hard and we can't see where we're going, that loving connection to the savior, he's the only one who's capable of not just one of us, but all of us, and essentially, you know, tethering us up the hill as he climbs and has climbed through the atonement. That's a beautiful quote.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

It is, it's very cool.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

I'm really excited to see how you're gonna uh pronounce our next uh quote quote name because I was actually practicing it before we hit record.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

Uh yeah, I I don't know, Matsuaga Thada is I think you crushed it.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

It's not gonna get better than that. Yeah, but it's I love that his talk was about his name.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

Yeah. It was awesome. And uh and his name is getting out of a difficult situation or maybe able to do hard things or something along those lines, which is a what a great name. And he talks about how it it did give him strength. Knowing that that was his name helped him to like just meet challenges in a different way, which I think is really cool.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

That is amazing. Yeah, that that his whole talk was so entertaining because it was so authentic and tied to him.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Um he's the one I think who who was just praying, he was praying for guidance and direction and just didn't feel like things were going well. He's a stake president, he's the one who's the boy, the boy. The naughty boy. Yeah, naughty boy.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

The little boy's like, you've been a naughty boy. What are you gonna learn? My dad's been praying, my family's been praying for you.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Yeah, and that's where he felt seen and and heard and understood, and and which is which is so good. I I love that.

SPEAKER_00 32:05

Yeah, I love that story.

SPEAKER_02 32:07

The quote that I wanted to share was uh was this getting out of a difficult situation or his last name is more than a family name to me. It is a witness of an eternal reality that through faith in Jesus Christ and taking upon us his name through covenants made at baptism during the sacrament and in his holy house, we gain access to his enabling power, power that can and will change our change our lives. And so um I I just really appreciated his talk and his perspective on that.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Yeah, I mean, getting out of a difficult situation is so such an interesting way to describe everyone in some part of their life. It can be a difficult situation, a worry that you have for a child, it can be a legitimate challenge, a financial challenge. These are difficult situations. Yeah. And so getting, again, tethered to the savior is the way. And it's interesting because I think this has becomes like almost like, well, you just tether tether to the savior. It's like, no, I think it's in the learning to connect to the savior where all the growth happens. Yeah. You know, for us historically, when we've gone to the temple, when we've really like needed a miracle, not like we needed some help or support, but like desperate for for something to shift that wouldn't make sense for it to do so. It's in those moments where we find Christ most of all. Yeah. Yeah. And I love that next you have Sister Freeman. Um, yeah, I thought hers was was also really neat. And she drew upon the the temple as well. So, what did you find from her talk that you loved?

SPEAKER_02 33:29

Um, she was the one who talked about the best days and worst days, you know, Peter having best days and worst days and all that stuff. Um, well, her getting ready for her daughter's wedding, but then hearing about her husband's cancer had uh having returned and that being a best day and worst day kind of situation and how Christ can help us through that. And then I love that, of course, um, you know, she's the young women's general president, and so um I love that she tied it back to the follow uh the um the strength for youth guide. Yes. And so she went to that for for guidance, for help, for like direction, and and she she pulled this out and I thought it was great. She said, uh, temple ordinances and covenants give you greater access to God's blessings, help you navigate your life with divine guidance, increase your companionship with the spirit and with angels, and enable you to live up to your privilege and draw upon the power of God. And so that was another way that I saw that temples and covenants help us draw upon the power of God or help us gain his power in our lives. Um, as we keep those covenants, we can, you know, have the spirit with us, we can um have that perspective again, we can have divine guidance, and then and then that's gonna give us more power in our lives.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

It's interesting um how in her trial she's supporting so many people by sharing this message at this time in her life. I think there's something different when you hear a message delivered by someone who's in in the thick of it.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

You know, you have someone like her who's her husband's battling cancer, and she's very vocal about that on her uh Inklings podcast, and our hearts and and prayers go to go to her and him.

unknown 35:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

As she's going through that, she'll say something similar to somebody else, but when she frames it in that way, you pay closer attention. Um, I was recently talking to um someone who had recently been released from prison. He was uh convicted of murder uh when he was a young man, and so he was sentenced to life in prison. And his story is just phenomenal. Um, I'm actually talking about possibly being a guest on the show, but his life turned around and then they revoked the law changed to where people that weren't lawfully represented and were convicted to life in prison at a very young age were being reconsidered, and his he went up for parole and got out. And the same, the same prosecute crew prosecuting attorney that put him in jail was the one that was fighting for him to come out. Oh wow. And it was really interesting. The reason I say all this is because he was talking to me about uh freedom and hearing it from him, he said he didn't say anything different than what I would have heard from someone else who's just a believer of like, hey, this is what I love about being free, being a free person, but hearing it from someone who's been in jail for over 30 years and then talk about freedoms and talk about how he can use even his tragic past and things that he's done that he's super guilty of, right? But but still he's using it for good. You just can't it just it's amazing how the context of these things are framing it. So I'm so grateful for Emily Bell Freeman for her ability to not just like share it, but be so articulate. I feel like there's a connection between her and Elder Holland in a way, yeah, in terms of how I received that message. Yeah. And so I was so grateful for her her talk. I thought that was powerful.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

It was a very powerful talk. I loved it. I think that she uh again just uh shared it in such a beautiful way. It was it was powerful. Um so lastly, the the talk that kind of talks about this was Elder Walker. And Elder Walker, he's uh from Argentina, but talked about uh you know going out and finding treasures with his brothers out um and trying to like break open rocks and find treasures, and and I thought that that was really cool. But then he he ties that to um uh the people of in Moses' time that were gonna that the Lord called a peculiar treasure. And and then and really that's all about making a covenant with God, and that's how you become a peculiar treasure. And so so um so that obviously ties to our covenant relationship with our with our Father in Heaven. So um and this pattern, the pattern of establishing a covenant with with the Lord, that pattern includes two simple but prof powerful conditions to obey his voice and to keep our covenants with him, then we will be a peculiar or special treasure. And such as such, we will be blessed, strengthened, and favored through the Savior's atoning sacrifice. Um and then he goes on to add um a quote by um let's see, Elder or from President Oaks. Um as we honor those covenants um by keeping their commandments and following their plan of redemption, their promised blessings enable us to soar to celestial heights.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 38:25

Which is cool to to think of. Um and and also to have faith in, right? To have faith, because sometimes it's hard uh when you're in the thick of something to believe in that, but to have faith in that um that we can with his help soar to celestial heights.

Strengthening A Real Relationship With God

SPEAKER_00 38:44

Yeah, a couple of um, I think it was last month we had Tanya Kimball on the show who had lost her husband and her two children in a in a year. And so she was talking about this very concept. Uh the way she worded it was, yeah, you when you're that lost in terms of the trial, when you're that in the middle of the thick of the trial, you have to really decide, okay, what do I believe? You know, that we think about faith in that way. And and I think where she and her husband drew, they lost their son, and then it was almost less than a year later that he and and her and the other son passed away. Um they she talked about how the temple was this key thing, and it wasn't like it was a a nice thing that helped, it was it was oxygen. And for them, that was the single most grounding thing that helped them make that choice of what they're gonna believe. Because we we it's easy to believe these things when we're raised in it in particular. And um most trials are are not the the the big ones that are gonna rock all of us at some point. But when those big trials come, it's hard to feel like God's close. Yeah, I think. And so it takes it takes a choice to to believe. But when we believe, those tragedies become triumphs um because of our perspective again, the power of that perspective. So I love that quote. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you for sharing that.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

The third theme that I was able to kind of tease out of this for Temple and Covenants is the temple is where we strengthen our personal relationship with God. And uh, and of course that'll strengthen us in our trials. Um so um again, Elder Holmes, he's uh he's the one that talked about being tethered, uh the blind uh man that that did the marathon. Yes. He said, Once we bind ourselves to our Savior through covenant, only we can sever the tie. Jesus never will. As we remain tightly bound to him, he's bound to us, and we can expect his power to bless us with strength and joy, even when we are experiencing a steep stretch in our life. And so these, you know, these uh where we go to the temple and and where we're learning about him, we can learn about these things, we can learn about these truths, and then that that can strengthen our relationship with him, and we can feel more bound to him, we can feel like he's showing up for us in our lives, and and I think that that's an important part of the temple of attendance.

SPEAKER_00 41:08

Absolutely. Um, Brad, what does it look like for you? In, you know, people who maybe are new to this faith, people who are like exploring God's existence and like trying to decide what they think about it, when we talk about developing a relationship with the creator of the universe who we don't see. Like we're not in terms of how we would normally expect to see someone, of course, there's all these other ways, but like how do you how do you in your world, what does it look like to develop a relationship with Savior? And how do you get to know him when you he's not physically present telling you what to do or talking to you?

SPEAKER_02 41:45

It's such a great question. Um, and I think it's it comes down to a simple thing of one of the one of the things that I kept hearing in this last conference was choosing to believe and choosing to exercise faith. A part of of a relationship with with him, I think, is choosing to try to have a relationship with him. And then from there try uh choosing to believe when we do see um his hand in our lives. Because I think often we will we will something good will happen or something coincidental will happen. Is that even a word? Coincidental will happen. But but and we can write that off, you know, we can write that off as oh, that was something bad, you know, I got lucky or something. Um but when we actually take a step back and and choose to see his hand in our lives and choose to see that he is working with us, I think that that helps us build our relationship with him as well. Um that's not the only key.

SPEAKER_00 42:57

But I love that answer though, because I think um, man, there's so many ways that hit me hard, Brad, the way you said that. I think um I think of very specific discussions I've had with some of my sons recently. I think of my second son, Alex, who you were a big part of as a young man's leader for him, who's now on a mission, who's very left-brained. You know, he he feels very deeply, but when it comes to the gospel, he's very like logical and left-brained, which I love. We've had a few guests here who think the same way. Um he told me once in in one of our discussions that you know, at a certain point, the number of coincidences are so frequent and so tied to your your righteous actions that it's it's becomes uh more logical to believe there's something bigger going on than just coincidence. And and I have a one of my closest friends on the earth is uh an atheist, and he is so respectful to our my belief structure and all these different things as I am to his. And what's interesting is I don't I'm always looking for God's hand because that's how I feel close to the savior, and honestly, it gives me a perspective that serves me. And that's faith, right? I don't, but here's what I've learned is I don't think my atheist friend is blessed any less than I am.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

I think there are certain actions that I'll take because of the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ, like being able to go to the temple. Like that's an actual blessing that I get. But I see, I see his life, and he's a good man, and he makes good choices. One of the big differences, though, is that he thinks these things are just happening and that he has the ultimate control over those things, or that they're coincidental. And as a result of that, I think there's a unique perspective that we get to have called a relationship. Yeah. When we choose so when you said that, that really landed hard for me.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

Yeah. Yeah. I really love this next story from Elder uh Mutombo. Is that Mutombo? I don't know if I'm saying that right, but you got the other name.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

So that is Mutumbo, I'm pretty sure. The other name you nailed, and it was 10 times harder. So anyway, I just want to point that out. Is it Mutumbo? I'm like, yeah, that's exactly what it is. And you just crushed the other name funny.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Yeah, so he tells this story about uh just a tough time in his life where tragic. Yeah, he's losing they ended up with having 10 children. I think they have six that are living, but four of them passed away, and I think maybe in a row, like all at the beginning of their marriage. And um and so I think and then in and then it's yeah, I think he's from the um the Congo, Dominican uh Republic of the Congo or whatever. And apparently it's somewhat of a tradition there that if the things like that are happening, the that marriage or something's not right cursed.

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:40

And so that you should split up and you know, try again some other time, I guess. Um I kind of looked up, looked that up a little bit. And yeah, apparently it's something that is uh is is a belief system over there. And so not that everyone believes it or whatever, but it is in his world, it was real.

SPEAKER_00 45:58

Yeah, his family's believed it, which is kind of the more important thing.

SPEAKER_02 46:00

And they ba and so after losing an another child, his family was basically go into your house and get all of your wife's stuff and get and and get it out, you know. And he goes in and he needs strength and he needs and he needs some help at this point in his life. He's I mean he's buried his son, he's for the I think it's his third one at this time.

SPEAKER_00 46:23

And his family's convinced it's the marriage. Yeah. So which, you know, regardless of how much he believed it, that still caused an influence.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Yes, absolutely. And then he goes in and he prays, and he's um uh he s he says, I went to the house and prayed, asking for strength to face this adversity, which I think is just probably heartbreaking. Um even the words of the song Where Can I Turn for Peace came to his mind, and then he remembered the words of his temple ceiling and the promises we m that he and his wife had made to God and to each other. And then he felt great peace and reassurance. And then he was able to go out and face his family who were like, Hey, where's all of her stuff? You didn't bring it out. What were you doing? And he's like, and he says, sorry, but we are she is my eternal companion, and we are striving together to build an eternal family, and the savior is helping us to achieve it. And that's just that has to take a lot of faith and a lot of strength, a lot of power, and and he found that in the covenant that he made with her and with God in the temple.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

I you know, I'm when I heard that story, I was so grateful for the same concept in my life as it pertains to my spouse. I think um it's very easy in marriage to become critical of your spouse. I think it's normal to some degree to have some sort of frustrations and fights are absolutely normal. Yeah, but like that that thing about always being around someone who has so much leverage in your world. Yeah. Both what they choose to do each day down to like who they are when they're around you. And I was so grateful because with with my many faults and weaknesses and challenges, that I I have someone who believes this. There's a reason, there's a reason, whether it's a rumor from a societal thing that your family believes and you don't, or whether it's just the fact that like sometimes life might be easier for my wife Heather if I was a little bit different, right? Yeah. Um, and she's I I think she's incredibly patient, and I think it's powerful that this is a part of it, is because she knows and she believes that like in the end it's gonna work out and that we're connected and we're committed. Um, I feel that through her, through her her covenants and the way she chooses to uh to worship our savior. So it's it's powerful to think about how um that belief of what marriage is versus just like a partnership, yeah, more of an eternal crowning event that was mentioned earlier, yeah, changes the way that we experience the challenges of marriage.

SPEAKER_01 48:52

Yeah.

Becoming Christlike Through Temple Living

SPEAKER_00 48:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:53

That was uh that's so good. That the last kind of uh theme that I teased out of this was uh the temple and covenants are not just about ordinances, it's about transforming us to become Christ-like. And um I think that that's ultimately kind of our what we're meant to do. I mean, Elder Bednar kind of talked about that, you know, he talked about how running is he's he's done it a lot, but you know, he's g kind of the drudgery of running and being upset about that too. Uh he but he compared that to us enduring in our lives, and it doesn't have to be like that, that we can be faithfully striving and have joy along the way and all those things, but um and ultimately that we are changed beings at the end of of all this. And so um he said as we strive to put off the natural man and become saints through the Savior's atonement, we are to come unto him and be born again, bind ourselves to the Father and the Son through sacred covenants and ordinances, pledge our willingness to take upon us the Savior's name, receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost, experience a mighty change of heart and serve the Lord with all our height, heart, might, mind, and strength. We be we are to become new treat new creatures in Christ. And just on as uh I don't know, on a personal level, I I wonder, am I as I'm serving and as I'm going to the temple, am I really becoming this new creature? Am I any different than I was, you know, ten years ago or whatever? But he does point out that it is a process and it's not, you know, like the Book of Mormon and Mosiah, you know, where they kind of overnight um have this no more disposition to do evil and they're changed beings. Um he is he does point out it's the enduring, it's the continuing, the uh the trying, the striving. And eventually, uh I love that he points out as is the end result is the same. Eventually, one day we will be changed people and we will um uh uh in the end become new creatures in Christ through him, of course.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

Yeah, I don't I think that's the hard thing about the change perspective is when you're in it, it's like uh waiting for a pot of water to boil because it's so gradual and that we don't notice it until it's later.

SPEAKER_03 51:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 51:17

Um, as a result of committing to do the show, you know, obviously I've been trying to increase my temple worship quality and in and quantity. And so I made some commitments as a way of trying to channel that connection to the spirit so that I can be here doing this, right? And um when you were talking about the change, I had an experience recently, I'll just share briefly, which is that I don't I didn't think I felt any different. Like I definitely have learned a lot more, Brad. I definitely have a greater love for the savior. Like that's very obvious though. But like, am I a different person? So when you talk about a new creature, I I think what I've learned is that we hold on, we get to keep those qualities that define us as individuals. We don't lose the individual, the individuality of who we are. What we're talking about is refinement in a way that was experienced recently when um I was this was before Alex left for his mission. He was telling me, he's like, Yeah, I just what happened to your temper. He's like, whatever went, whatever happened to your temper. And it was so confusing to me because I'm like, yeah, I'm I feel angry all the time. Like frustration and anger are still in my world in a way that doesn't feel like I've shifted. But in retrospect, it has completely shifted my outward effect in a way that I wasn't even present to. And I am by no means saying that I have been perfected in this process. What I'm recognizing is that as we go through these these points of obedience, this is a promise that will hit us when we need it the most, in a way that like will surprise us. Because I was like, oh yeah, that's that's true. I'm I am changing. And it's in a way that still keeps me as an individual, but it allows me to become just a little bit more Christ-like in a way that matters to people I love. And that's what it's all about at the end of the day. Is it it's it's not about us, it's about how we show up for others. And so as we're going through these very gradual processes, we do become new creatures, but these new creatures take the best of who we've been and adds the savior's love and perfection in small, gradual ways that help us become who we're supposed to be.

SPEAKER_02 53:15

That's so I've never heard it explained better. I love that explanation. That helps me a lot personally, because you know, it helps you keep who you are, yet become something better, a better version of yourself, I guess, but still keeping those things.

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Like an upgraded version versus a corrected, because like the old version, almost like if we think about it the way that Satan would want us to, is like we're bad and then we have to become good. Yeah. Versus like, no, we're imperfect. We're like uh little molds of clay that have all the great elements in it, and some of the shapes are are great with a little bit of contouring. We can start to take a totally different look that holds on to the same form that we had, but just better. Same as before, just better.

SPEAKER_02 53:58

That's awesome. Yeah, I really like that a lot. Um well, it's there's a couple other quotes um out here, but I guess we'll just kind of end with President Oakes. Um, he did not say this in this past general conference, but Elder Tay um quoted him as saying this as the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges challenges us to change. Repent is is its most frequent message, and repenting means giving up all of our practice, practices, personal, family, ethnic, and national, that are contrary to the commandments of God. The purpose of the gospel is to transform common creatures into celestial citizens, and that requires change.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

And so that's a bold statement. I felt like that was bolder than people may have heard the first time.

SPEAKER_02 54:50

Yeah. Yeah. I I loved Elder Tay's um message. He uh comes from the Philippines, and his message is about how his family accepted the gospel, made covenants, but they still had all of these traditions that aren't weren't in line with this new life that they had uh taken on. And so it the simplicity of his testimony was just so beautiful. I loved it because he basically just admitted that um, you know, we're still working on this, but we see improvement and we are doing it because we have faith in God and we're following his prophet, and and it's just it was just so beautiful. I really loved his message, and um and and that can be true for all of us. We can make these small incremental changes that are gonna make us better and and prepare us to to be ready for the savior at his return or our return to him, whichever one comes first.

SPEAKER_00 55:51

Love that. That's so great. And it's such a big thing to think about that, like although we respect traditions from our family or ethnic or national background, that at the end of the day we have to give up anything that's contrary to the commandments, so that we can become celestial citizens. I love that phrase, celestial citizens. It paints this image of a group of people who are imperfectly just loving and trying their best, which in today's world with what's going on, I just think could you imagine a more beautiful scene? It doesn't even have to be perfect, just people trying really hard to be kind.

SPEAKER_02 56:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 56:23

How cool would that be?

SPEAKER_02 56:24

Very cool.

Beautiful Quotes And A Peacemaker Charge

SPEAKER_00 56:25

I I okay, so you're going into the comf the the beautiful truths section. This is one of my favorite sections. This is where the very so you, by the way, before you move on, I have to acknowledge the beautiful way that you put those four themes together because the connection that I saw, and I mentioned this to you, was that you start off by immediately talking about how Jesus Christ's resurrection and atonement made it possible for families to be sealed. So the possibility is created through the atonement. And the next theme that you found was that covenants then are made in sacred temples. So now that it's possible, we make those covenants. One of them is marriage, and that gives us divine spiritual power. So the atonement makes it possible. Then we make covenants so that we get access to power, which then enables us to have strength within our personal relationship with God so that we overcome our trials. So it's like this flow, and it ended with this last thing of how the temple covenants aren't about just the ordinances, about so that we become like Christ. So that was that path that you said was in no particular order that I found a very specific flow to, and I thought was beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 57:26

That's awesome. I didn't even notice that.

SPEAKER_00 57:28

I'm calling it the breadfire flow of our lecture conference because it's the temple perspective of what was mentioned there and what a what what a wonderful way to think about things are connected. So here what you have here are some outline thoughts that didn't really pertain to these flows that just were highly worth mentioning.

SPEAKER_02 57:43

I just loved them. And so when I heard them, I I wanted to talk about them. So anyway, but I know you love this one, so I'm gonna let you.

SPEAKER_00 58:17

The way he took this like eternal concept, this eternal sacrifice, and was able to to artistically and poetically scale it down to me and my little existence relatively, was it made me feel connected to all of it. Yeah. And I just thought I will never forget that.

SPEAKER_02 58:39

Yeah. It was so powerful when he said it. I just had to bring that up. Um I think that we can all uh El Elder Crusade also kind of talked about that. He talked about God loves all, but he loves each. Yeah. That kind of concept. It's it's kind of in line with this, but I think we just um it's easy to believe that Christ, you know, died for everyone and you know, and and it's uh did the atonement for everyone. And it's just so powerful to personalize it. He did it for me. He did it for me, and he felt my pains and my sorrows, and and he can strengthen me and personally, and this quote just takes it from all to me in a couple phrases. In a logical way, too.

SPEAKER_00 59:25

It's like, well, if it is for because it's easier to believe, I think it is easier to believe that the atonement was was eternal and for everyone. Yeah, but in my trial, because of my lack of faith or lack of clarity of the of the end in mind, it's hard to see that I would be worthy or or or significant enough to be qualified in that way. Yeah, but this way of like, if all, then any, if any, then you. It's like it's like that whole concept of like, yeah, that's true. It's almost logical and poetic at the same time. So love that quote.

SPEAKER_02 59:54

I love that quote as well. Um I guess I I did want to mention too that Elder Anderson uh mentioned something, and when he said this too, I just felt the truth of it. Yeah, and I felt so grateful for prophets and apostles that teach clear truths. And so um he said, every true disciple of Jesus Christ, if it is his or her desire, will be eternally sealed to a righteous companion of his or her choosing throughout eternity, whether in this life or the next. And there's so many scenarios that are in this life and in this world that we can run into with regards to marriage and families and and ceilings and you know, all the all the things that go along with that, that I l I just love the simple truth. It's gonna be fine and it's gonna be of our choosing, and it's gonna be beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:49

Yeah, I think when we talked earlier about the purpose of the earth's existence and the idea came that the purpose, the primary, was to provide a space for us to receive bodies to be married and have families. There were probably people here listening to this going, yeah, that's true. And where's mine?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

And this is where the atonement comes in full effect.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:08

And um, I don't think that takes the trial away, but that's where the power and perspective again. Yeah, the power we often receive in these uh work temple experiences and worshiping the temple is the perspective of like it will be if we choose to believe.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:22

Yeah, absolutely. Really a beautiful truth. Um, let's see here. Oh, this one with Elder Cook. Elder Cook kind of. Oh, this was touching. Yeah, reflects on his flex. Reflex. He does a great flex here. Yeah. Spiritual flex. He he uh reflects on his good friend Elder Holland, who was a previous mission companion, a his previous quorum president. They've been serving in the as apostles for a long time. They get to sit outside the tomb and read scriptures together with their wives about about the resurrection and just you know being there, all of those wonderful things and how miraculous that would have been. And then he closes that kind of reflection with let me assure you that you do not need to physically visit Jerusalem to feel the same things that we felt that day and have many times since. And so that's just a a nice message for us to remember that um it is through the Holy Ghost that we can learn the truth of all things. And um, and so just like Elder Cook teaches us, we don't need to be there. We can we can seek out and we can have those similar experiences through the Holy Ghost uh wherever we are and whenever it needs to be.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:44

I realized this in a deeply powerful way in 2019 when I my family went. My Heather and I took our four boys. Uh Ethan at the time was a priest, our oldest of our four. And so we went to Jerusalem, and I was so looking forward to the spiritual like mind blow that was gonna be the Garden of Gethsemane. I just had built that up to be I'm gonna walk in where the Savior paid the ultimate price and just not see angels, but feel like I could. And it was okay. It was nice. I'm not trying to rip on it, but I was I was underwhelmed by to the point where I questioned myself, well, maybe I'm not worthy. Again, I that's where I go. Some people go external, I internalize. And so I was kind of just sad. Now we did go to the garden tomb, and that was different. I did feel something very specific there, but I was that I went to bed that night saddened. I think there was something about in my mission, I envisioned that place, and I had a certain expectation. So the next day was Saturday. We went to church at the BYU Jerusalem Center, and it was cool just to go to church on Saturday, and as they do there. And we're we're sitting there, and you have this beautiful glass pane overlooking the city of Jerusalem. But everything else just feels like a church building, like any given church building across the United States or the world at large. You know, there's there's a tray for the sacrament, and there's people administering it. And it was during the sacrament. We the we were just my my two sons were were passing the sacrament, and Ethan was blessing the sacrament for the first time in Jerusalem. And so I was just really taking in the spirit of watching my boys officiate uh in that way. And all of a sudden, the spirit hit me. It was one of those very few moments where it was hard to not cry. Just head to, I mean, again, like it surprised me. I wasn't expecting it, and it hit me so hard that I had one of those moments where I just knew that this is true. Everything we're doing is real, and in such a way that couldn't be denied. And the thought came to mind clear as day, this is the living church. And it my mind reflected on all those scenes I had seen yet the day before, which were sacred and important. I don't want to minimize those, but the the truth, the God, the spirit was alive where the living church was, and that was where the sacrament was being blessed and passed, and that's anywhere in the world. And that to me was one of the most special reminders of what this concept is is that we can have experiences of our savior right at home. It's if anything, there's something extra special about doing it that way.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:11

Yeah, absolutely. Oh, that's such an awesome experience, and um so cool. Thanks for sharing that. That was awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:19

Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. So where so Elder Cook goes through that, and then you have President Oaks?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:24

Yeah, President Oaks. I I just love this teaching um so much. He was he's he is um helping us focus on Christ, I think. I mean, when he was first interviewed as the as the prophet, he's like, hey, what message do you want to send? What image do you want to create? Whatever, and he said, Jesus Christ is the way. Such a simple statement, but that's his focus. And and so he teaches this um uh about uh he teaches this in this in this most previous conference. He says that. But uh you know, Jesus Christ taught us how to relate with one each other, uh one to uh relate to one another, sorry. Um and then he was asked, Jesus Christ was, you know, what is the great commandment in the law and uh they're to love God and your neighbor. And then you know, he uh he somebody pushed back on that. Well, who's the neighbor, you know, and he goes into the whole Samaritan story and and all of that. And then I love what Elder Oak or President Oak says. He says, um Jesus' teachings about the circle of love went far beyond Samaritans. In the Sermon on the Mount, he still he taught you have heard it that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you. And then he ties that up as saying, What a revolutionary teaching for personal relationships. And I love that. He's teaching us to be peacemakers, teaching us that Jesus Christ is the way, and Jesus Christ taught us to love our enemies as he's hanging from the cross, worried about um his mom and forgiving the people that are doing it to doing that thing to him and the people that put him in the situation in the first place. He's just forgiving everybody doing it lovingly, somehow, some way, doing that. And it's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:27

It is incredible. I I think about today's world, if there's something positive about the contention that is so evident in all the different, you know, political shows you watch or any of those things, is that you can identify where this exists and where it doesn't, and what it looks like for us. And so it's interesting because I think for all the world, I always remember the prophet is the prophet of the world. This isn't just for people who are baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is for every man, woman, child on the earth to hear, and that's where the pivot's going. Like to me, I think it's like, oh yeah, we can talk about ministering in these elements, but then when I think about the worldview, not just the church, yes, we need to minister, we need to serve, we need to love each other. And um, yeah, it's I I think it this includes those obvious enemies, but I I just feel inspired to say, who are those people in your life that you're listening as you listen to this? That maybe you don't see as an enemy, but you also have an opportunity to minister. Maybe that's someone in your family. Yeah, maybe that's an in-law. Maybe it's that difficult person in your family that you're really struggling with, who frankly may even deserve some of your animosity and frustration. But what does the Savior want us to do?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:38

Yeah.

Rapid Fire Takeaways And Farewell

SPEAKER_00 1:08:39

Because it's not about them, it's about our hearts and becoming like him. So, yeah, Brad, this has been um a phenomenal summary of all these different things. Let's do some rapid fire questions. Okay. Okay. You ready to wrap it up? Yeah. Okay. Um all right, favorite apostle, just kidding. Let's what was um, you know, you talked about all these takeaways. If there was one thing that landed for you personally that was the most significant or one of the most significant things, what would it be from this this last general conference?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:06

Um the most significant thing is is maybe something that I've already said is just that um Jesus Christ is the way. He they his resurrection was literal. Um that is in question in some uh belief systems. Uh even though they believe in Christ, they might not believe that he actually did resurrect. That it that is real. It it was testified of again and again and again throughout this conference. And of course, it was an Easter conference, and so that that makes sense, but but it was testified in a very real way that Jesus Christ did resurrect and he and in that completed the atonement. And that because of him, all of these things are possible. And so um the the covenants, the the temple, the power, the perspective, the the eternal families, all of it is is real and it's available to us because of him. And I think that that's my biggest takeaway.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:07

Love it. You know, we talked a lot about celestial marriage. Yeah. What's something that Chanel's taught you about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:13

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:15

I love rapid fire, by the way. I just say whatever comes to mind. So, what's something about yourself that your your eternal companion has taught you about you?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:25

Um she has taught me that I'm um pretty steady. Um that I I I guess that's the word I would use um because she points that out to me. Um, that I that I that I'm steady in in my in my faith and in my in my belief. And so I'm grateful for her for pointing that out to me. I don't know if I would have noticed that on myself, uh, on my own.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:54

So you have someone who loves you and believes in you who points out a great quality that maybe you're you can't see the forest from the trees. Right. Yeah. And that reinforces things. That must be incredibly validating to have a spouse believe in you like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:05

Yeah, uh, I love her obvious uh obviously very much and grateful for her support.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:10

She is amazing in every way. All right. Um, you know, we do this last question every time, you know, and you get to do this every six months, but what's uh what's a message you'd like to leave to your let's go to your great grandkids, people who'll never well, maybe you'll be around with science and AI. Yeah. But let's go like let's go great, great, great grandkids. What's something that you'd want them to know about um temples as it pertains to no, no, let's not go temples, about the savior's atonement and how it pertains to the to the resurrection.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:41

Um I'd want them to know that that it is real, that because of the atonement and resurrection, like Elder Anderson testified of, that families can be eternal. And I am tied to them because of him. And and I hope that there's some way that I will be able to influence their lives uh, you know, down the down the road. Uh you say that it's going to be generations um divided, but I feel like I've received strength through those that have gone before me, and I hope that I can influence them as well. But but because of the resurrection, families can be eternal. And I hope that they will learn that and they will seek that and that they will strive for that in their own lives, that they will strive to be worthy to um to be bound to someone eternally. Um and and uh what I mean by that is not just to Christ, but to their spouse, whoever that is, and then to Christ, and and that they can seek for and and want an eternal marriage of their own.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:48

Brad, can't thank you enough for the wonderful preparation you did for this. I know our listeners get so much out of this every six months, so thank you for being on the show.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:56

So grateful to have the opportunity. Thanks a lot, Will. I wouldn't uh be as comfortable doing this. I've said it before, if it wasn't with you, because it's been such a great conversation. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:06

Yeah, thank you. And thank you, all of you, for tuning into Temple Bound. Please remember, no matter what you're going through in life, that you always belong to the savior. Until next time. Temple Bound is brought to you by the Light on a Hill Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at building and strengthening families across the globe. Produced by Heather Humphreys, edited by Seth Patubo, with show notes and social media managed by Isabel Dizon and Kimberly Simbahan. Wardrobe by Anne Collar. These views and opinions expressed by the host and guests are on their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thank you for joining us today as we continue learning, growing, and striving to bind our lives closer to Savior. Until next time.