October 2026 General Conference Recap—Saturday Morning Session

The Saturday morning session of the 196th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opened at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, with President Henry B. Eyring conducting and President Dallin H. Oaks presiding. Members around the world joined the broadcast for a weekend of worship and instruction centered on Jesus Christ.

Music for the session was provided by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square under the direction of Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy, with Brian Mathias and Richard Elliott at the organ. The choir also included guest members who traveled from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Chile, England, Finland, Germany, Honduras, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Africa, South Korea, and Sweden.

President D. Todd Christofferson then led the sustaining of the general authorities, Area Seventies, and general officers of the Church.

Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Temple worship and faithful covenant keeping help us return to Heavenly Father united as eternal families.

Key Quotes

• “As we become new creatures in Jesus Christ, we sweeten our relationships.”
• “Please do not deliberately delay the spiritual peace and joyful freedom Jesus Christ wants you to have now.”
• “Please, dear brothers and sisters, wherever we live, let us always be grateful for the gifts of eternity.”

Key Teachings

Elder Gerrit W. Gong taught that Heavenly Father’s plan is for His children to return to Him united as families, with temple marriages sustained through covenant commitment, sacrifice, and consecration. Prayer, scripture study, church attendance, and service nourish and sanctify those relationships.

Agency remains essential to eternal relationships, and God will not require anyone to accept a sealing relationship he or she does not choose. Through repentance and Jesus Christ’s Atonement, relationships can change, and performing temple ordinances for family members with whom we have struggled can soften hearts and help us forgive.

Elder Gong explained that the Holy Spirit of Promise confirms the efficacy of ordinances and covenants, making them binding in time and eternity as we honor our covenants. Turning to personal temple culture, he described dedication as a beginning and encouraged members to treasure spiritual blessings, attend more often as circumstances allow, bring family names, and serve in the Lord’s house.

Everything in each temple testifies of Jesus Christ, and temple worship calls for gratitude rather than entitlement or comparisons about a building’s size or ornamentation. Elder Gong encouraged converts who feel alone to recognize their place in Heavenly Father’s family and urged members of every generation to “be a strong link” in their eternal family.

Where possible, Elder Gong encouraged members to save for and purchase their own ceremonial temple clothing, allowing children and grandchildren to see their love for the Lord and their covenants. He described a family who purchased clothing for their widowed mother, which she used for years and requested for her burial, before concluding with counsel to worship and rejoice in the house of the Lord.

More from Elder Gerrit W. Gong

• “Please Share the Sweet”: Elder Gong Dedicates the Harare Zimbabwe Temple

Sister Tamara W. Runia

Faith in Jesus Christ helps us trust God’s shaping work through suffering we cannot fix or fully understand.

Key Quotes

• “The gospel isn’t the umbrella; it’s the solid rock we’re standing on during the storm.”
• “God is shaping us into something only He knows we can be.”
• “Let’s choose Christ, who can heal the wounds of this world while carving out room for joy.”

Key Teachings

Sister Tamara W. Runia described losing her oldest son, Ryan, to an undetected heart condition and realizing, as his daughter searched for him during her birthday celebration, that she could not fix this loss. Reflecting on the Lord’s words to Joseph Smith in jail, she explained, “God’s answer implies that experience is valuable,” and described mortality as the place where we live the lessons we previously learned.

Obedience does not prevent every painful experience, even though God’s promises remain true. Sister Runia explained, “The gospel isn’t the umbrella; it’s the solid rock we’re standing on during the storm,” describing faith as a foundation through hardship rather than protection from all suffering.

Like Nephi, we can know God loves His children without understanding everything He allows them to experience. “God is shaping us into something only He knows we can be,” Sister Runia taught, explaining that this growth may look and feel like life is falling apart.

Sister Runia described each person’s story as personal and purposeful, sharing how her grandson’s Primary talk about following Lego instructions illustrated trust in a designer whose finished work we cannot yet see. When life requires surrendering the story we expected, she counseled, “Let’s choose Christ, who can heal the wounds of this world while carving out room for joy.”

Her brother’s experience struggling to sculpt his own likeness illustrated the need to humbly seek the Savior’s help, even when His shaping work feels unexpectedly deep. Looking toward the end of suffering, Sister Runia testified, “We will thank Him for all of it—the molding, the shaping, the pain in adversity.”

Elder Gérald Caussé

Bearing witness of Jesus Christ is a covenant responsibility that every disciple can fulfill through sincere testimony and Christlike love.

Key Quotes

• “Our testimony is not a talent to be hidden. It is a gift to be shared with grateful hearts and in a spirit of humility and love.”
• “Whenever we express Christlike love to those around us, we bear witness of Him.”
• “I invite you to look each day for opportunities, as prompted by the Holy Ghost, to bear witness of Jesus Christ.”

Key Teachings

Elder Gérald Caussé recalled finding reassurance in the Lord’s promise to stand beside him after his call as a General Authority Seventy, then remembering that promise when invited to testify as a newly ordained Apostle. Although Apostles bear a special witness of Christ, he emphasized that testimony belongs to every disciple: “Sharing our witness of God and His Son is an essential way to keep that sacred covenant.”

A testimony develops through a personal relationship with God and experiences that differ from those of family members or fellow Saints. Rather than keeping that gift to ourselves, Elder Caussé taught, “It is a gift to be shared with grateful hearts and in a spirit of humility and love.”

Bearing testimony and expressing Christlike love reinforce each other because love motivates us to share the precious gifts we have received. As Elder Caussé explained, “Whenever we express Christlike love to those around us, we bear witness of Him.”

His niece once felt discouraged because her testimony at a Young Women camp consisted of only two simple statements, but her mother helped her recognize that sincerely believing those words was what mattered. Elder Caussé affirmed, “There is great power in a sincere, humble, and heartfelt testimony.”

Remembering how his father’s witness helped Alma turn toward repentance, Elder Caussé encouraged disciples to recognize the difference their own testimony can make. He offered a daily invitation applicable at home, during ministering, online, and in ordinary conversations: “I invite you to look each day for opportunities, as prompted by the Holy Ghost, to bear witness of Jesus Christ.”

More from Elder Gérald Caussé

• Elder Caussé’s Charge in First Speaking Engagement as Apostle

Elder Vaiangina Sikahema

Living prophets and apostles speak for the Lord, and their counsel deserves our attention even when hearing them requires sacrifice.

Key Quotes

• “Even in their despair and mourning the tragic loss of their only son, their handsome, cheerful little boy, they solemnly buried him and made the Herculean effort to sail just to listen to an apostle of the Lord.”
• “Joseph helped restore the Savior’s Church with prophets, seers, and revelators who held priesthood keys that would one day bind them together as a family forever.”
• “As we begin this opening session of the 196th semiannual general conference of the church, let us not be guilty of holding the oracles of God as a light thing.”

Key Teachings

Elder Vaiangina Sikahema recounted how his grandparents traveled through a severe storm to hear Elder Matthew Cowley in Tonga in 1947, losing their infant son after the difficult voyage. Their decision to continue reflected their faith in eternal families: “Joseph helped restore the Savior’s Church with prophets, seers, and revelators who held priesthood keys that would one day bind them together as a family forever.”

Their journey also had a purpose beyond their own grief and longing for comfort. Elder Sikahema explained, “They sailed to sit at the feet of an apostle who would teach them their duty, so they could bless others on their island with the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Elder Sikahema contrasted the absence of prophetic revelation after the deaths of ancient apostles with the opening of the heavens to Joseph Smith. Drawing on Amos’s description of a famine of hearing the Lord’s words and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s testimony of continuing revelation, he explained why access to living prophets is a blessing.

His grandparents’ costly journey challenged listeners to consider how they receive prophetic counsel when technology makes it readily available. He urged, “As we begin this opening session of the 196th semiannual general conference of the church, let us not be guilty of holding the oracles of God as a light thing.”

Elder Kevin J. Hathaway

Jesus Christ will deliver the righteous from affliction in His own time and way, strengthening them as they seek Him and wait.

Key Quotes

• “His deliverance is certain. The question for most righteous followers is not if he will deliver, but how and when he will do so.”
• “Opposition comes to all, even the righteous. It can stir heartrending questions and deep emotions, like Joseph Smith’s cry from Liberty Jail, ‘O God, where art thou?’ or the grief and fear felt by Helaman’s stripling warriors. Such questions and emotions are not sin or weakness.”
• “To all who continue to face the pain, fear, and loneliness of life, I echo the Savior’s words: ‘Be not afraid.’ In His time and way, Jesus Christ will deliver you.”

Key Teachings

Elder Kevin J. Hathaway taught that Jesus Christ understands human suffering because He descended below all things and experienced pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind. Because of the Savior’s perfect understanding and infinite power, “The question for most righteous followers is not if he will deliver, but how and when he will do so.”

As his family traveled to begin serving as mission leaders, tires that came loose from a semitruck struck and destroyed both of their cars, leaving them stranded and questioning why this had happened. “We were not immediately delivered from the trial, but that assurance gave us hope in the deliverance that would come,” Elder Hathaway explained, describing the peace they received before help enabled them to arrive on time without serious injury.

Drawing on scriptural examples, Elder Hathaway explained that opposition can bring painful questions that lead people to choose whether to turn toward Christ. “As we humbly and patiently keep our covenants, the Savior will visit us in our afflictions and bring assurances of deliverance,” he taught, identifying heartfelt prayer, purposeful fasting, and scripture study as ways to seek Him.

Sister Kenzie Brinkerhoff’s father died in a vehicle accident shortly before she was to return home from her mission, leaving her grieving the reunion she had anticipated. Elder Hathaway described how prayer, obedience, and covenant keeping helped her endure, teaching, “It is an enabling power that allows us, after all we can do, to receive divine strength beyond our own and lay hold on eternal promises through Jesus Christ.”

The Savior’s deliverance of Jairus’s daughter from death illustrated that no mortal timeline can place someone beyond His power to deliver. Elder Hathaway offered reassurance to those still facing pain, fear, and loneliness: “In His time and way, Jesus Christ will deliver you.”

Elder Ulisses Soares

Observing the law of the fast with sincere prayer and generosity draws us nearer to Jesus Christ and strengthens our ability to follow Him.

Key Quotes

• “Even when answers do not come in the way we expect, fasting and prayer help us develop greater confidence in the Lord.”
• “Though our fast offerings may seem small and simple, they become consecrated expressions of compassion, concern, and service.”
• “I have personally witnessed how the blessings of fasting often enter people’s lives quietly and tenderly, softening hearts, strengthening testimonies, sanctifying souls, and transforming lives.”

Key Teachings

Elder Ulisses Soares taught that the law of the fast is an act of worship that refines discipleship, drawing on Isaiah’s description of healing, divine guidance, and the Lord’s willingness to answer His people. Explaining the importance of earnest, intentional prayer, he said, “As we lift our hearts to the Lord in humility, fasting becomes an expression of our desire to draw near to Him.”

Jesus Christ exemplified this pattern as He prepared for His earthly ministry, seeking alignment with His Father’s will and overcoming the adversary’s temptations. Elder Soares explained that fasting goes beyond physical restraint or asking for particular blessings: “It is an elevating expression of faith and trust in the Lord, through which our hearts can be filled with rejoicing as we commune with Him more deeply.”

Fasting also turns our attention toward people who need help, with generous fast offerings expressing our willingness to follow the Savior’s example of compassion. Elder Soares taught, “Though our fast offerings may seem small and simple, they become consecrated expressions of compassion, concern, and service.”

Having witnessed fasting soften hearts, strengthen testimonies, and transform lives, Elder Soares invited listeners to prayerfully ponder Isaiah’s teachings. He concluded by affirming that the Lord will fulfill Isaiah’s promises as we sincerely honor the law of the fast, including the assurance that when we call, He will answer.

More from Elder Ulisses Soares

• Guideposts: A Year of Wisdom from Elder Ulisses Soares

Bishop Sean Douglas

Serving a mission places Jesus Christ at the center of a young person’s life and advances His work of bringing God’s children to Him.

Key Quotes

• “Make no mistake, you are doing the most important work you could be doing.”
• “To all the rising generation of the Church, I invite you to place serving a full-time mission high on your list.”
• “You have a testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement that can bless a world suffering without knowledge of His divine mission.”

Key Teachings

Elder Sean Douglas expressed his love for missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, describing their divine commission to help God’s children come unto Christ. Addressing missionaries directly, he said, “You’re not only messengers but also living examples of the message.”

His two great-nephews’ enthusiasm before leaving for missions illustrated a desire to serve the Lord above other ambitions. He emphasized the preparation behind that calling: “You were taught and prepared before you were born to invite God’s children to come unto Christ.”

Elder Merlin Sanchez, a convert who had stopped participating in the Church of Jesus Christ for a time, returned with help from friends and leaders and developed a desire to serve. His mission strengthened his conversion and led into continued service and family life, illustrating Elder Douglas’s teaching that “serving missions are just one of many significant steps on the path of lifelong discipleship.”

Elder Douglas urged converts and the rising generation of the Church to make missionary service a priority, reaffirming the responsibility of worthy, able young men to prepare and serve. For young, able women, he described missions as a powerful but optional opportunity and counseled, “Pray to know if the Lord would have you serve a mission.”

He encouraged listeners to make the Savior’s commission their own, emphasizing the testimony they could share with a world needing Christ. He concluded with the Lord’s words to Thomas B. Marsh about missionary service, inviting listeners to substitute their own names and hear the call to rejoice and declare the gospel.

President D. Todd Christofferson

Gambling conflicts with love for our neighbors and diverts time and resources from productive work and doing good.

Key Quotes

• “Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing. Its structure requires that any gain comes at others’ expense. Hard to reconcile that with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.”
• “But the central risk of gambling is not merely that customers lose money on individual wagers. The larger concern is that continuous mobile access can transform occasional entertainment into repeated behavior that displaces saving, increases debt, and creates far-reaching family and social costs.”
• “God has granted life and agency to each of us, and each of us is accountable to Him for how we live that life.”

Key Teachings

President D. Todd Christofferson warned that smartphones have made gambling continuously accessible, fueling growth in sports betting, online casino games, and prediction markets. Explaining the financial foundation behind that expansion, he said, “Of course, the industry’s revenue is the gambler’s loss.”

Young people face particular risks from impulsivity, peer influence, and easy online access, while gambling can consume attention needed for education, relationships, and career development. President Christofferson observed, “Sports betting is especially rampant among teenagers and young adults.”

Drawing on President Dallin H. Oaks’s counsel about opportunity cost, President Christofferson asked listeners to consider what gambling displaces and how their example influences others. He warned, “A little gambling that seemingly has only a minor impact in your life may be more costly to them if they take license from your example.”

The moral concern extends beyond personal losses because gambling seeks gain at another person’s expense, conflicting with the commandment to love our neighbors. President Christofferson explained, “Gambling is built on the desire to obtain something for nothing.”

He urged listeners to refrain from gambling and devote their time and resources to doing good, supporting work and contributing to others’ well-being. His concluding counsel included the direct appeal, “I pray that you will not treat gambling lightly.”

More from President D. Todd Christofferson

• 10 Inspiring Quotes from D. Todd Christofferson

Which of today’s addresses impacted you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Holly Wallace

Holly Wallace is a writer and storyteller drawn to meaningful questions and overlooked details. Her work explores Latter-day Saint life and culture through faithful inquiry, inviting readers to pause, consider, and engage more deeply with what matters most.