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When Jesus Christ taught the multitudes, He often used parables—simple stories with eternal weight. A mustard seed, a lost coin, a prodigal son: each story invited His listeners to see themselves in the narrative, feel the truth, and then live it.
General Conference continues that tradition, reaching us most deeply when lived experience becomes teaching. Here are five memorable, true stories from April 2025 General Conference that work like modern parables, letting us learn and gain inspiration from the experiences of others.
As a Little Child
President Jeffrey R. Holland spoke tenderly of Easton Darrin Jolley, a boy with a particularly rare and severe form of muscular dystrophy—a disease that gradually weakens muscles and robs mobility. Doctors once said Easton might never walk, yet his determination carried him through countless obstacles. His greatest desire at age twelve was to pass the sacrament, especially to his father, who was serving as bishop.
Ordained a deacon on January 5, 2025, Easton came to church the following Sunday ready to serve. The three steps up to the stand stood like a mountain before him. He stretched to set the tray above the rail, sat and lifted each leg one by one, then pulled himself upright using a post.
His father, watching with tears, let him do it unassisted. Easton’s broad, triumphant smile as he handed over the tray was more than joy—his purity of heart became a sermon in itself, echoing the Savior’s call to childlike faith.
President Holland’s story reminds us that discipleship often looks like quiet perseverance in small but eternally significant acts. Easton’s triumph was not just personal. It was a witness to everyone watching that the Savior strengthens the weak and magnifies their offering.
And We Talk of Christ
After a long international assignment, Elder and Sister Stevenson returned to the U.S., tired from travel and facing the indifferent shuffle of customs. The officer glanced at Elder Stevenson’s passport, stamped it without a word, and set it aside. The moment was impersonal, another traveler among thousands.
But when she opened Sister Lesa Stevenson’s passport, something caught her eye: a small image of the Savior tucked inside. Her whole demeanor shifted. What had been routine became personal.
Elder Stevenson described the sweetness of that moment—the light that softened a stranger’s face because of one picture of Christ. For him, it showed that even in the mundane shuffle of strangers in an airport, the Light of Christ can pierce through and remind us of eternal connection.
This moment demonstrated how something as ordinary as a passport line can become sacred when Christ enters it. Elder Stevenson invited us to recognize that discipleship doesn’t wait for grand arenas—it begins in the unnoticed places of life where His image can still shine.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ Provides the Ultimate Rescue
Elder Quentin L. Cook anchored his message in the history surrounding the Casper Wyoming Temple and the nearby tragedies of the Willie and Martin handcart companies. Both groups had been delayed in their journey west, and winter storms bore down as they climbed and crossed the plains.
The Willie company faced a freezing blizzard on Rocky Ridge, arriving at camp as late as 5:00 a.m., with thirteen dying that night. Farther behind, the Martin company struggled at the Sweetwater River, desperate for shelter at what we now call Martin’s Cove. Seventeen-year-old David Patten Kimball and other rescuers spent hours in the icy water, carrying Saints across until their bodies nearly gave out.
Among those Saints was John Linford, near death, who whispered to his wife Maria that he was glad they had come. He told her she and the boys would reach Zion and raise families there. Elder Cook let their voices echo across the years, showing how their refiner’s fire became faith made bright.
By remembering the voices of these determined pioneers, Elder Cook showed that faith is forged in adversity and remembered in covenant places. Their courage was not only their own but a legacy to us, teaching that sacrifice in the service of God will always echo into eternity.
Reverence for Sacred Things
Elder Soares shared one of the most personal experiences of his life—the loss of his infant son. He described that period as “one of the most difficult times of our lives.” Yet in the middle of his grief, he testified, “we received the comforting assurance that our little son was safe in the arms of our Heavenly Father.”
That witness turned anguish into reverence. “From this experience,” Elder Soares said, “I learned to revere the sacred things of God with even greater devotion.” His sorrow became a schoolmaster, teaching him that covenants are not theory but eternal reality. “The covenants we have made with the Lord bind us eternally to those we love most.”
For Elder Soares, the reverence he feels for holy things is inseparable from that sacred moment of loss and assurance. His story testified that grief can refine rather than destroy faith, and that in Christ, even the deepest pain can become a channel of divine peace.
Cherishing Life
Elder Neil L. Andersen read from the letter of a woman who became pregnant at seventeen. Alone and ashamed, she nevertheless turned to her bishop for help. Week by week, she prayed, studied, and sought God’s will.
Her answer came unmistakably: she should place her baby for adoption. Though heartbroken, she prayed for courage and felt the Savior’s love carry her through. Her daughter was raised in the gospel, married, and began a family of her own. Her story stood as living evidence of revelation and sacrifice, a reminder that God strengthens His children when they turn to Him in faith.
God’s answers often ask for courage, but always bring peace. Elder Andersen let this sister’s witness remind us that revelation still guides God’s children, and the Savior walks beside those who choose Him in their hardest hours.
The Power of Stories
Placed side-by-side, these accounts form an arc: a deacon with fragile muscles climbing step by step, a stranger softened by Christ’s image, pioneers borne across frozen rivers, a sister radiating joy in poverty, and a young mother finding revelation despite pain and fear—all bear witness of the same Savior.
Like the Lord’s parables, these stories endure not because they are perfect but because they show eternal truths in action. Together they call us to remember that discipleship takes many forms, but always points back to Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Was there a story in the last conference that was especially touching to you? Share with us in the comments!
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.
Reading those stories (almost like hearing them again) really touched my heart – Thank you for sharing them again with us. I am excited for the upcoming General Conference!
TAMARA
RUNIA….
I was touched by Sister Camille N. Johnson’s talk “Spiritually Whole in Him”
I was encouraged that although we may not be healed physically or emotionally in this life, we can be spiritually whole in Christ.This kind of wholeness is “born of faith in and conversion to Jesus Christ, and in letting the light of that conversion shine.” I believe that we should do what we are inspired to do with physical and emotional challenges, not knowing if that healing will come here. But, we can with assurance know that when we truly strive to have faith in Christ and follow His Plan, we can we whole in Him. That is a promise that I can place full trust in as long as I am faithful to the covenants that I have made.