WEBVTT 00:00:07.279 --> 00:00:09.500 Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference, 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:11.900 where two friends who love Jesus share our own 00:00:11.900 --> 00:00:13.800 approach to studying the most recent General 00:00:13.800 --> 00:00:16.719 Conference talks. This is Abby and Amy. Let's 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:26.179 jump into it. Today's talk is called Faith, a 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:28.839 Bond of Trust and Loyalty by Elder Sandino Roman 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:31.469 of the Seventy. He begins his talk by telling 00:00:31.469 --> 00:00:33.929 a story about promising to teach a friend how 00:00:33.929 --> 00:00:36.789 to swim. This story ends with both of them almost 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:39.630 drowning. In his own words, he said, Now we were 00:00:39.630 --> 00:00:42.009 both drowning. Trying my best to reach the surface, 00:00:42.170 --> 00:00:44.369 I prayed with all my might for a miracle from 00:00:44.369 --> 00:00:47.149 God. Then, slowly but steadily, the power of 00:00:47.149 --> 00:00:49.689 God was manifest as I felt a hand propelling 00:00:49.689 --> 00:00:51.990 me towards the shallow end of the pool, bringing 00:00:51.990 --> 00:00:55.049 us to safety. When he shared the quote from President 00:00:55.049 --> 00:00:57.390 Nelson that said, when you reach out for the 00:00:57.390 --> 00:00:59.850 Lord's power in your life with the same intensity 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:02.649 that a drowning person has when grasping and 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:05.370 gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will 00:01:05.370 --> 00:01:07.650 be yours. And I felt like he feels that more 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:11.349 than anybody from that personal story. When he 00:01:11.349 --> 00:01:14.719 addresses his talk. He's kind of speaking to 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.579 children and the youth. I was surprised. I was 00:01:16.579 --> 00:01:19.540 like, I looked back to see if he was from a general 00:01:19.540 --> 00:01:22.540 presidency or something. Nope, from the 70. And 00:01:22.540 --> 00:01:24.120 he said, this is for the children and the youth. 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:26.200 So I thought that was interesting. So let's start 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:28.519 with the question. What does it mean to have 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:32.019 faith in Jesus Christ? And how does believing 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:39.959 in him or having a testimony of him help us to 00:01:39.959 --> 00:01:43.489 see him more as a real person? I love that, Abby. 00:01:43.750 --> 00:01:46.150 Both of them are true because childlike faith 00:01:46.150 --> 00:01:48.269 begins with having a testimony that he's real. 00:01:48.450 --> 00:01:50.890 And then I feel like as we have experiences and 00:01:50.890 --> 00:01:53.109 act on that faith, we're blessed with deeper 00:01:53.109 --> 00:01:55.829 understanding and trust in him and his character 00:01:55.829 --> 00:01:58.150 and his goodness. And Elder Roman asked, he kind 00:01:58.150 --> 00:02:00.590 of answers his question that he had before by 00:02:00.590 --> 00:02:02.549 asking another one. He said, have you ever thought 00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:06.590 of faith as trust? When we believe, when we have 00:02:06.590 --> 00:02:09.469 faith in Christ, we recognize his blessings and 00:02:09.469 --> 00:02:12.900 develop a relationship of trust with him. That 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:15.699 being said, how can we increase trust in Christ? 00:02:16.539 --> 00:02:20.520 If you look in the notes, the footnotes, he has 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.520 a ton of them. And he goes through and actually 00:02:24.520 --> 00:02:27.860 he talks about youth. You've been asked to look 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.159 through and ponder your experiences. He, in the 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:34.319 footnotes, there is lights and rays. Or is it 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:37.439 rays and lights? Yeah. With the pillars and rays. 00:02:38.379 --> 00:02:42.520 Pillars and rays. There is the 2025 very beginning 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:46.360 devotional that they had. And then there's also... 00:02:46.360 --> 00:02:49.080 The youth theme for the year. Look unto me. Yeah. 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:54.939 And then he also has in here, he also has in 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.479 here a guiding principle. We'll get to that. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.180 But there are a lot of talks in here. And this 00:02:59.180 --> 00:03:01.620 is, I love it because Abby, he like takes all 00:03:01.620 --> 00:03:03.680 these small little pieces and puts them together. 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:06.250 And he brings together like... I don't know, 00:03:06.289 --> 00:03:09.409 five different talks. And with that, he has these 00:03:09.409 --> 00:03:13.430 four suggestions for how to do what they were 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:16.849 asked to do. I'll do the first two. He were asked 00:03:16.849 --> 00:03:19.469 to meditate or ponder and meditate on Christ 00:03:19.469 --> 00:03:21.750 and the happiness that his atonement and gospel 00:03:21.750 --> 00:03:24.569 bring to our lives. And then the second one is 00:03:24.569 --> 00:03:26.729 make a record of spiritually defining memories. 00:03:26.789 --> 00:03:29.150 That's what it is. The second one was the talk 00:03:29.150 --> 00:03:31.069 of spiritually defining memories that he ties 00:03:31.069 --> 00:03:34.520 in here. He says it's for you. for your loved 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:36.900 ones, and also for those in the scriptures. And 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:39.520 then he gives a tip. He says, now, these testimonies 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:42.539 will not bring power to your life until the Spirit 00:03:42.539 --> 00:03:45.099 etches them in the fleshy tables of your heart, 00:03:45.159 --> 00:03:47.699 which brings us to number three. Before I pop 00:03:47.699 --> 00:03:49.520 to number three, I'll just say that pairs really 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:51.039 well with what we're studying in Come Follow 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.180 Me. Just the power, they reiterate time and time 00:03:55.180 --> 00:03:58.120 again. The power that comes when you record testimony, 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:01.000 it's like bearing testimony of it. And, you know, 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:02.939 it may bless you in your own life, you know, 00:04:02.939 --> 00:04:07.180 years later when... You're having a time of struggle. 00:04:07.340 --> 00:04:09.280 You can look back on your own words, but there's 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:10.979 a great possibility your children or grandchildren 00:04:10.979 --> 00:04:12.780 are going to benefit from those words that you've 00:04:12.780 --> 00:04:15.280 taken the time to record, which would have otherwise 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:18.860 been lost. Point number three, or suggestion 00:04:18.860 --> 00:04:21.079 number three, was to ponder and record all that 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.319 God set in motion for these miracles to happen 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:26.160 at just the right time. So the beauty of looking 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:28.740 back. When a miracle happens, you identify that 00:04:28.740 --> 00:04:32.019 you saw it as a miracle, but that, well, if I'm... 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:33.819 on the other side of it and i'm looking back 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:35.720 what little things happen that got me to this 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:38.220 point there there's a lot of power in that for 00:04:38.220 --> 00:04:41.839 sure and then the last one to use this exercise 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.720 an opportunity to get closer to god pray to your 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:46.540 heavenly father as if it were the first time 00:04:46.540 --> 00:04:48.720 express your love and gratitude for his blessings 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:51.300 even ask him how he feels about you and about 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:55.040 the direction your life is taking love that faith 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.579 flourishes with loyalty We notice that faith 00:04:57.579 --> 00:04:59.819 sprouts as we trust in Jesus Christ and blooms 00:04:59.819 --> 00:05:02.379 as we are faithful and loyal to him. If you want 00:05:02.379 --> 00:05:04.819 a true relationship with Christ, show him by 00:05:04.819 --> 00:05:07.040 making covenants and honoring them with faithfulness 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:09.579 and loyalty. Making covenants with Jesus Christ 00:05:09.579 --> 00:05:12.800 builds hope. Honoring them builds faith. I feel 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:14.560 like he talks about that over and over again 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:17.399 and really gives good examples of it. Just a 00:05:17.399 --> 00:05:19.399 thought that came to my mind is like, you know 00:05:19.399 --> 00:05:21.800 you're in the world physical tangible people 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:24.040 if i want a relationship with amy am i going 00:05:24.040 --> 00:05:26.300 to have that by saying man if she wants to have 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:27.660 a friendship with me she's going to come and 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.000 talk to me or do i put some initiative into it 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:32.040 and i i come up and i reach out to you and i 00:05:32.040 --> 00:05:34.779 get to know you and i guess that's the same thing 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:38.220 i'm thinking um with all of the intensity of 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:41.939 a drowning uh person that you know you're reaching 00:05:41.939 --> 00:05:44.120 out for these relationships you're gonna it's 00:05:44.120 --> 00:05:47.079 talking about the extreme effort the effort to 00:05:47.079 --> 00:05:49.879 the best of our abilities the With the most energy 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:52.220 and gusto that we can have, we're trying to say 00:05:52.220 --> 00:05:54.600 we want that relationship because he's always 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.060 willing and prepared to have that relationship 00:05:57.060 --> 00:06:00.379 with us. He's waiting for us to use our agency 00:06:00.379 --> 00:06:03.100 to demonstrate we want that relationship. That's 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:07.759 very good. Faith in the face of adversity. He 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:09.540 talks about how should you respond to adverse 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:12.699 situations that require. christ's miracles while 00:06:12.699 --> 00:06:14.779 challenges are inevitable and sometimes frightening 00:06:14.779 --> 00:06:17.120 and then again he talks about it simply walk 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.639 undaunted toward him just as the 2025 fsy conference 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:24.339 theme invites look unto me in every thought doubt 00:06:24.339 --> 00:06:28.680 not fear not so you might ask yourself how can 00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.899 i walk undaunted towards him so the suggestion 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:34.500 is to imagine you're an explorer in an uncharted 00:06:34.500 --> 00:06:37.170 territory To overcome the obstacles ahead, you 00:06:37.170 --> 00:06:39.930 need a source of light. Your faithfulness to 00:06:39.930 --> 00:06:42.069 God and your constant interactions with Him are 00:06:42.069 --> 00:06:44.610 the fuel for your lantern. So when you encounter 00:06:44.610 --> 00:06:47.069 dark and perilous situations, instead of walking 00:06:47.069 --> 00:06:50.470 towards them blindly, you would instead turn 00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:52.149 on your lamp filled with the oil of faith in 00:06:52.149 --> 00:06:54.709 Christ to shed glimmers of hope on that uncertain 00:06:54.709 --> 00:07:01.060 path. How far will your faith go? How far will 00:07:01.060 --> 00:07:03.579 you go with your hope and faith in Christ? And 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:05.939 I felt like another way to ask this is, do we 00:07:05.939 --> 00:07:08.139 always get to choose the miracle and the timing? 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.279 And then Elder Roman answers it this way. Remember 00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.819 my story at the pool? In that moment of despair, 00:07:14.120 --> 00:07:17.600 the miracle came in the way I had expected. And 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.639 then he says this, but God does not guarantee 00:07:21.639 --> 00:07:24.860 that it will always be according to our will. 00:07:25.629 --> 00:07:28.209 Our faith must be centered in Christ and our 00:07:28.209 --> 00:07:31.050 hope in His blessings as He chooses to send them. 00:07:31.470 --> 00:07:34.680 Expect miracles. but let God prevail in our lives. 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:37.180 So I do love that he, I feel like this teaching 00:07:37.180 --> 00:07:38.980 is important because it can take a lifetime to 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:41.620 achieve. Sometimes it feels like Heavenly Father's 00:07:41.620 --> 00:07:43.360 not answering prayers or even listening when 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:45.540 the miracles don't come, either how we expect 00:07:45.540 --> 00:07:49.060 them or on our own timeline. And that comes with 00:07:49.060 --> 00:07:50.720 like a more developed relationship with him. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:52.920 Absolutely. Sometimes like our first encounters 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:55.160 with him, we were asking for a stuffed animal 00:07:55.160 --> 00:07:57.439 and it shows up in the next 30 seconds. And we 00:07:57.439 --> 00:07:59.339 were like, man, he's good to us. He just did 00:07:59.339 --> 00:08:01.459 the most important thing. Sometimes the miracles 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:03.160 that we're asking for, they're bigger. They're 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.620 going to take a little bit more time. We don't 00:08:05.620 --> 00:08:07.540 have the resources. We don't have the question 00:08:07.540 --> 00:08:09.660 to ask, or it's just not the right timing for 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.819 it. So he's asking us to build the faith at these 00:08:13.819 --> 00:08:15.879 young ages and continue with that relationship 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:17.980 and trust him enough to know when these harder 00:08:17.980 --> 00:08:20.079 things come along, that when we ask for that 00:08:20.079 --> 00:08:23.500 miracle, that we know with perfect faith and 00:08:23.500 --> 00:08:27.560 trust that he is going to give us what we need. 00:08:27.620 --> 00:08:29.459 It could be way better than we even imagined. 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:32.740 But that it will come and that in the wait that 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:35.159 we're just like, you know, I don't feel it yet. 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:38.080 Give me eyes to see what I'm being blessed with. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:42.159 Or let me know, you know, let me know as the 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:45.519 miracle is right before my eyes. And then the 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:47.419 suggestion from above, when you get to the other 00:08:47.419 --> 00:08:49.419 side of it, the resolve has come. It's better 00:08:49.419 --> 00:08:51.480 than you could have even imagined. Totally. And 00:08:51.480 --> 00:08:55.340 you say, oh, now I see A, B, and C. What happened 00:08:55.340 --> 00:08:57.889 along the way to get me there? I love that. You're 00:08:57.889 --> 00:08:59.210 experiencing that. Like, you're right in the 00:08:59.210 --> 00:09:02.509 middle of the miracles. And it is so, like, it 00:09:02.509 --> 00:09:05.970 is so important to, like you said, just remember 00:09:05.970 --> 00:09:09.610 that you're maintaining that relationship. On 00:09:09.610 --> 00:09:13.750 our end, it's having faith and trust in his character 00:09:13.750 --> 00:09:17.220 and in his timing. Because I'll say it again, 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:19.399 my timing is always, right now it'd be great. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:22.980 That's always my timing. It's not his. He's like, 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:24.980 no, this is going to take some time. I asked 00:09:24.980 --> 00:09:27.080 you for it today. That's because I need it today. 00:09:27.700 --> 00:09:30.059 I think you've got more new. And I mean, for 00:09:30.059 --> 00:09:32.759 sure, we can all agree that Elder Roman needed 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:35.200 to breathe in that moment, right? A little bit 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.320 different than something that may take a while 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:42.480 to foster more faith, more character on our part, 00:09:42.539 --> 00:09:47.230 and a more well -rounded. Disciple of God. You 00:09:47.230 --> 00:09:48.889 know what I mean? Disciple of Christ. And somebody 00:09:48.889 --> 00:09:50.610 that's preparing to be a priest or priestess 00:09:50.610 --> 00:09:53.789 or a god or goddess. You see like in the world, 00:09:53.809 --> 00:09:55.870 they'll do these studies all the time and they'll 00:09:55.870 --> 00:09:58.009 present a treat to a kid and they say, if you 00:09:58.009 --> 00:10:00.350 wait, then I'll give you two or whatever. And 00:10:00.350 --> 00:10:02.889 they track these kids over a lifetime. And you 00:10:02.889 --> 00:10:07.250 see like in these studies, you see that people 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:09.230 that are more inclined to needing immediate. 00:10:10.449 --> 00:10:12.250 What do you call it? Gratification. Yeah, the 00:10:12.250 --> 00:10:15.450 immediate gratification. Tend to suffer with 00:10:15.450 --> 00:10:18.149 other things in life way more than the kids that 00:10:18.149 --> 00:10:21.289 are willing to wait. There's just more mental 00:10:21.289 --> 00:10:24.169 fortitude. Their lives kind of have a better 00:10:24.169 --> 00:10:26.230 trajectory, you know, as far as outcomes that 00:10:26.230 --> 00:10:29.470 we're looking for. So, of course, that's God's 00:10:29.470 --> 00:10:34.289 pattern. Waiting for the waiting for. waiting 00:10:34.289 --> 00:10:36.429 past the thing you think that you need in the 00:10:36.429 --> 00:10:39.029 moment for something so much better in the end 00:10:39.029 --> 00:10:41.250 yes and also you know what's interesting too 00:10:41.250 --> 00:10:43.590 when you're talking about that abby it's the 00:10:43.590 --> 00:10:46.769 because we're maintaining that relationship because 00:10:46.769 --> 00:10:49.289 we continue to trust even when the end goal hasn't 00:10:49.289 --> 00:10:51.690 happened yet an end goal meaning like the the 00:10:51.690 --> 00:10:53.990 healing that we're praying for or the you know 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:56.330 the relationship or whatever it is that we are 00:10:56.330 --> 00:11:00.570 still looking to him and looking for, he says 00:11:00.570 --> 00:11:03.429 it in the very beginning of his talk. He said, 00:11:03.610 --> 00:11:08.210 then slowly but steadily, the power of God was 00:11:08.210 --> 00:11:11.389 manifest as I felt, you know? So that's what 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:12.870 it is. I feel like we're looking for the hand 00:11:12.870 --> 00:11:14.629 of God to be manifest, even if it's not in the 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:16.990 ways that we're hoping to see it in the end, 00:11:17.029 --> 00:11:19.149 because he's sort of saying, I'm here with you 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:22.690 in the waiting, if we look for that. Yep. If 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:25.870 we have eyes, we're waiting to see the big finish. 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.519 we miss the opportunity to see the slow and steady 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:32.240 progress we're making towards the big finish. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:37.539 I agree. God promises to his faithful people. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:41.419 He said this in a couple of ways. I'm going to 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:43.539 read them. He says, My young friends, how much 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:46.159 we love and trust you. You belong to the family 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.559 of God and are children of the covenant. Believe 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:51.179 and trust in Jesus Christ. He will enable you 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:54.340 to truly become his disciples. i invite you to 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:56.700 begin today to nurture your relationship with 00:11:56.700 --> 00:11:59.059 jesus christ make a commitment to never forsake 00:11:59.059 --> 00:12:02.679 him and last he says your loyalty love and trust 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:04.840 in christ will shape your character and identity 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:08.019 after his You will gain confidence and strength 00:12:08.019 --> 00:12:10.340 to overcome Satan's attacks. And when you make 00:12:10.340 --> 00:12:12.259 mistakes, you will yearn for his forgiveness. 00:12:12.659 --> 00:12:15.000 Finally, your hope for the future will be bright. 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:17.759 He will trust you with his power to accomplish 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:21.080 anything he expects of you, even the power to 00:12:21.080 --> 00:12:23.220 return to his presence. Love that.