In the wake of tragedy this week, Latter-day Saints gathered for the October 2025 General Conference. Our staff and friends listened, here are the major takeaways they took from the conference. 

Amanda Freebairn

There has been much discussion in the Christian world in recent weeks about Latter-day Saint Doctrine. This weekend, the two most senior apostles, President Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, made our core doctrines clear: We are children of loving Heavenly Parents who sent Their Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world. He “is our ultimate role model [and] we will be blessed if we model our lives after His teachings and self-sacrifice.” The Book of Mormon testifies of Him. Families are central to Their Plan of Salvation. We come to know the Savior “much more personally” through sacred ordinances, administered by priesthood authority that traces back in an “unbroken sequence back to Jesus Christ” Himself. How needed these simple and powerful truths are in our hurting world. 

Carol Rice

This conference impressed upon me the power of conviction and the principle that sustains it.

Both Sister Tracy Y. Browning’s and Elder Kevin G. Brown’s closing testimonies were unforgettable. She repeated “I know” again and again, more than six times, with a strength that was both unashamed and refreshing. Elder Brown used similar language when he closed with a fervent appeal:

“If you know, you know. I know that I know. We need more sure witnesses of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Get there! Seek it! It is urgent! This is the final dispensation—the dispensation of the fullness of times.”

In a world where faith is often whispered, their witness reminded me that knowledge born of testimony can and must be spoken.

Elder Soares then gave me a principle to learn better: serenity alongside conviction. He taught of temperance, explaining that it is a meaningful way to protect our souls against constant spiritual erosion. He promised that as we weave temperance into our actions and words, “a serene strength arises” in us. In recent days, I’ve observed this in those I admire, those “capable of restraining anger, nurturing patience, and treating others with tolerance, respect, and dignity, even (especially) when the winds of adversity blow fiercely.” I now have a focus for my aspirations.

Two other talks reminded us of one place where such conviction, alongside temperance, is especially needed. Elder Rasband and President Oaks testified of our family-centered gospel. Both affirmed that the doctrine of the family is not cultural but eternal. President Oaks reminded us gently that what our “children really want for dinner is time with us.” He shared tender stories of his own childhood and family life, where those realities were forged.

Conference as a whole was both a balm and a motivation. We heard bold testimonies, learned how to live them through principles like temperance, and were reminded to be ever hopeful in repentance and in the promises of eternal life made possible through our Savior.

CD Cunningham

In the shadow of the Michigan meetinghouse attack, the Saturday morning session turned resolutely to peacemaking—not as naïveté, but as covenant work that begins within. Elder Gary E. Stevenson opened by acknowledging those “mourning loss,” including the “hallowed chapel in Michigan,” and taught that real peace starts “in the most basic place—in our hearts,” then moves to homes and communities, inviting a one-week practice of contention-free homes, digital bridge-building, and repairing strained relationships. Elder Ronald M. Barcellos focused that lens even tighter: the Lord “looketh on the heart” and asks for a “broken heart and a contrite spirit,” offering, through Christ, to make “weak things become strong” as we turn to Him with real intent. He suggested spiritual “heart tests”—our focus, obedience, scripture-fed desire for revelation, and the words we speak—and prescribed daily discipleship that yields a “new heart.” Then, Elder Ulisses Soares supplied the stabilizing virtue that makes such peace durable: temperance—the Spirit-governed self-mastery that restrains anger and contention, harmonizes humility, faith, hope, and charity, and, like the reinforced foundations of the Salt Lake Temple, shores up our covenants against erosion.  Together, these messages answer violence with conversion: change your heart, then your home, and peace will ripple outward. In a week of grief, the call was not to harden, but to be healed—and to heal.

Danny Frost

Elder Uchtdorf provided a beautiful reminder of how gospel truth can be taught and learned. Part of his talk focused on how many of us feel less than others, imagining that “in the premortal existence on the day of the great gift and talent smorgasbord, [our] plate seemed awfully sparse especially compared to the stacked and overflowing plates of others.” He then went on to say this:

 “Oh, how I wish I could embrace you and help you understand this great truth. You are a blessed being of light, the spirit child of an infinite God. And you bear within you a potential beyond beyond your own capacity to imagine.”

 Elder Uchtdorf exudes love in a way that makes it easy to recognize and understand God’s love for us. Brent Top, former Dean of Religious Education at BYU, has written about how a hug from Elder Uchtdorf was a turning point in his service as a mission president: “Elder Uchtdorf’s expression of love at that moment was a monumentally transforming event for me, and I wanted my missionaries to feel something akin to what I felt from him.” A few years ago, my son also received a hug from Elder Uchtdorf, and watching that happen was one of the sweetest moments of my life. I was overwhelmed with a sense of Heavenly Father’s love for my son. What Elder Uchtdorf offered in this moment was not a statement of fact about God’s love, but instead an embodiment of what that love might look like in practice.

Gale Boyd

During Saturday’s sessions, I especially felt a call to repentance as a gentle, healing balm in our lives—as in a call from Elder Kearon to a new beginning that will bless our lives in many ways. In these supplications, we always hear that we can never drift too far or sink too low for Christ’s love to lift and redeem us. Elder Uchtdorf’s talk clarified that Christ has already done the hardest part in this journey, although we must act on faith to build the confidence to continue and endure. 

From Elder Kearon: “All of us can have a new beginning through, and because of, Jesus Christ. Even you. … This is the church of new beginnings! This is the church of fresh starts! … You can actually change things about yourself that have been wearing you down for years. You can start again through the might of the Master of new beginnings.” And, “We don’t have just one chance. These new beginnings can happen every day!”

From Elder Uchtdorf: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a gift, but receiving it is a conscious choice that requires a commitment of ‘might, mind, and strength’” (Moroni 10:32). … Simply put, discipleship takes self-discipline. And, “I urge and bless every member of the Church and all who desire to be part of it to trust the Savior enough to engage, patiently and diligently, in doing your part with all your heart — that your joy may be full and that, one day, you will receive all the Father has.”

Matthew Hildebrandt

In this conference, belonging was about genuine connection—feeling seen, supported, and spiritually rooted. Elder Gerrit W. Gong described the Savior’s Church as an “inn” where “no one sits alone,” urging us to create spaces of warmth and love that let people breathe and feel safe enough to grow.  Elder Peter M. Johnson shared how simple acts of presence can heal: a missionary companion who said nightly, “Elder Johnson, I love you,” helped him feel the Spirit again. Ministering “to the one,” he taught, lifts hearts and leads people back to the house of the Lord.  Elder William K. Jackson grounded that love in structure—leaders who “know names,” “count and account,” and make it “difficult to forget a soul.” Together, their messages remind us that belonging isn’t an abstract feeling; it’s practiced connection—seeing and naming one another, showing up with love, and walking each other toward Christ.

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