like a reset button

Prayer has become like a reset button. “Every morning, I can step out of my time-bound world and see the big picture, becoming a faith-filled person again. It helps the universe fall back into place for me, especially when life seems so random and full of suffering.”

And sometimes, when there is no reprieve from her pain, the only answer has been the words “I know,” Sister Runia said, “which isn’t so much an answer as it is a guarantee from a loving God that I am not alone.”

When heaven feels silent, ‘keep praying,’ Sister Runia tells BYU–Pathway students: Sister Tamara W. Runia of the Young Women general presidency shares 3 truths she’s learned about prayer. Church News. April 7, 2026. 

a collection of individuals

After bearing witness of who He was and of His mission, Jesus invited the multitude—all twenty-five hundred of them—to come unto Him “one by one.”(3 Nephi 11:15) That same day He healed the sick and afflicted one by one. (3 Nephi 17:9) He later “took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed . . . for them.” (3 Nephi 17:21) He ministered to and ordained the twelve disciples one by one. (3 Nephi 18:36)

No matter the size or composition of your organization, it will always be a collection of individuals. Regardless of the quorum, class, team, or organization—church or otherwise—focusing on the progress of individuals will lead to greater achievement and more joy. This principle applies in every setting. In church, we can think of it as looking at each individual and determining the next ordinance that they need to continue their progression on the covenant path toward eternal life with a loving Heavenly Father. Outside of church, it can mean helping others achieve their potential. It always requires a caring focus on the one.

Mark A. Bragg

"A Master Class in Leadership: One Day with the Savior," BYU Speeches. February 7, 2023

an experience in profound trust

This life is an experience in profound trust—trust in Jesus Christ, trust in His teachings, trust in our capacity as led by the Holy Spirit to obey those teachings for happiness now and for a purposeful, supremely happy eternal existence. To trust means to obey willingly without knowing the end from the beginning (see Prov. 3:5–7). To produce fruit, your trust in the Lord must be more powerful and enduring than your confidence in your own personal feelings and experience.

To exercise faith is to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing with you and that He can accomplish it for your eternal good even though you cannot understand how He can possibly do it. We are like infants in our understanding of eternal matters and their impact on us here in mortality. Yet at times we act as if we knew it all. When you pass through trials for His purposes, as you trust Him, exercise faith in Him, He will help you. That support will generally come step by step, a portion at a time. While you are passing through each phase, the pain and difficulty that come from being enlarged will continue. If all matters were immediately resolved at your first petition, you could not grow. Your Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son love you perfectly. They would not require you to experience a moment more of difficulty than is absolutely needed for your personal benefit or for that of those you love.

Richard G. Scott

"Trust in the Lord" General Conference October 1995

See also, Tracy Y. Browning "Seeking Answers to Spiritual Questions" General Conference October 2024

his hopeful approach

I went through a rough patch my senior year in high school when I wasn’t making great choices. I remember seeing my mom crying, and I wondered if I’d disappointed her. At the time, I worried that her tears meant she’d lost hope for me, and if she didn’t feel hope for me, maybe there wasn’t a way back.

But my dad was more practiced at zooming out and taking the long view. He’d learned from experience that worry feels a lot like love, but it’s not the same. He used the eye of faith to see that everything would work out, and his hopeful approach changed me.

When I graduated from high school and went to BYU, my dad sent letters reminding me of who I was. He became my cheerleader, and everybody needs a cheerleader—someone who isn’t telling you, “You’re not running fast enough”; they’re lovingly reminding you that you can.

Tamara W. Runia

"Seeing God’s Family through the Overview Lens," General Conference October 2023

professor of happiness

While on a business flight several years ago, I found myself seated next to a man from the Netherlands. I was eager to visit with him since I had served in Belgium and the Netherlands as a young missionary.

As we became acquainted, he gave me his business card with the unique job title of “professor of happiness.” I commented on his amazing profession and asked him what a professor of happiness did. He said he taught people how to have a happy life by establishing meaningful relationships and goals. I replied, “That’s wonderful, but what if you could also teach how those relationships can continue beyond the grave and answer other questions of the soul, such as what is the purpose of life, how can we overcome our weaknesses, and where do we go after we die?” He admitted that it would be amazing if we had the answers to those questions, and I was pleased to share with him that we do.

Gary B. Sabin

"Hallmarks of Happiness," General Conference October 2023

challenges us to become something

The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and commandments were given that we may all attain “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13 That process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough to be convinced of the gospel; we must act so that we are converted by it. In contrast to other preaching, which teaches us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.

From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is based on the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. We qualify for eternal life through a process of conversion. As used here, this word of many meanings signifies a profound change of nature. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. 

Dallin H. Oaks

"Kingdoms of Glory," General Conference October 2023

walking into the middle of a three-act play

Our Father’s plan of happiness for His children includes not only a premortal and mortal life but also a potential for eternal life, including a great and glorious reunion with those we have lost. All wrongs will be righted, and we will see with perfect clarity and faultless perspective and understanding.

Church leaders have compared this perspective with someone walking into the middle of a three-act play. Those without knowledge of the Father’s plan do not understand what happened in the first act (or the premortal existence) and the purposes established there; nor do they understand the clarification and resolution that come in the third act, which is the glorious fulfillment of the Father’s plan.

Quentin L. Cook

"Be Peaceable Followers of Christ," General Conference October 2023

See Boyd K. Packer, “The Play and the Plan” (Church Educational System fireside for young adults, May 7, 1995 [printed 1997]), 2: “In mortality, we are like actors who enter a theater just as the curtain goes up on the second act. We have missed act 1. … ‘And they all lived happily ever after’ is never written into the second act. That line belongs in the third act, when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right.” See also Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience (1979), 37: “[God] sees the beginning from the end. … The arithmetic … is something we mortals cannot comprehend. We cannot do the sums because we do not have all the numbers. We are locked in the dimension of time and are contained within the tight perspectives of this second estate.”

think celestial

To assist you to qualify for the rich blessings Heavenly Father has for you, I invite you to adopt the practice of “thinking celestial”! (see Alma 34:32-35) Thinking celestial means being spiritually minded. We learn from the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob that “to be spiritually-minded is life eternal.” (2 Nephi 9:39)...

When you are confronted with a dilemma, think celestial! When tested by temptation, think celestial! When life or loved ones let you down, think celestial! When someone dies prematurely, think celestial. When someone lingers with a devastating illness, think celestial. When the pressures of life crowd in upon you, think celestial! As you recover from an accident or injury, as I am doing now, think celestial!

President Russell M. Nelson

"Think Celestial" October 2023 General Conference

the great news of God’s plan

Here is the great news of God’s plan: the very things that will make your mortal life the best it can be are exactly the same things that will make your life throughout all eternity the best it can be!

President Russell M. Nelson

"Think Celestial" October 2023 General Conference

experiential learning is etched deeply into our souls

God seeks to give us tutoring experiences so that, if we are submissive, we will have our own first-hand experiences to refer to in the eternities to come. We ill have authentic, personal knowledge upon which to rely, not merely accurate abstractions. Since experiential learning is etched deeply into our souls, it is not easily forgotten. 

Neal A. Maxwell

Not My Will, but Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. 2008. Deseret Book. p. 105

children of God

If we know "who" we are, esteeming ourselves as children of God, then we know the true identify of others, esteeming them. If ignorant, we are more likely to use them, abuse them, lie to them, or be blinded to their poverty. 

Neal A. Maxwell

Not My Will, but Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. 2008. Deseret Book. p. 90

this mortal micro-dot

By developing faith enough to know "who" we are and "why" we are here, we can better resist the tempting taunt, "Why not?" and the devilishly democratic, "Everybody does it!" If we know the realities of "things as they really are," we will view daily life differently. Deciding and acting out of eternal considerations, we can keep this mortal micro-dot in perspective. Jesus' disciples are not like everybody else.

Neal A. Maxwell

Not My Will, but Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. 2008. Deseret Book. p. 82

this precious micro-dot on the canvas of eternity

Mortality, this precious micro-dot on the canvas of eternity, is such a brief moment. While in it, we are to prepare ourselves for the time when there will be no time.

Neal A. Maxwell

Not My Will, but Thine by Neal A. Maxwell. 2008. Deseret Book. p. 12

the thing least like eternity

In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time – for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. Hence the encouragement we have given to all those schemes of thought such as Creative Evolution, Scientific Humanism, or Communism, which fix men’s affections on the Future, on the very core of temporality. Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the future. Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. 

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. 1942. p.76,77

the point at which time touches eternity

The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call Present. For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present – either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.

The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. 1942. p.75,76

renewal of faith has waned

Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed [the September 11 attacks]. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well. 

Thomas S. Monson, "9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild." On Faith: The Washington Post. Posted at 11:38 AM ET, 09/08/2011

a marvelous process that pierces the veil

Prayer is a marvelous process that pierces the veil, and, therefore, requires much faith and persistence on our part; this is so precisely because prayer is that point where the agency of man meets the omniscience of God, and it is where time melts as it touches eternity—scarcely a process we who now live in time can be expected to fathom fully!


Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience. Deseret Book, 1979.

a clear goal in life?

Do we have a clear goal in life?… Without a clear goal, we will always be distracted and spend our energy on secondary things. “Keep your eye on the prize,” Martin Luther King said to his people. What is our prize? It is the divine life, the eternal life, the life with and in God. Jesus proclaimed to us that goal, that heavenly prize. To Nicodemus he said: “This is how God loved the world: he gave his Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16).

It is not easy to keep our eyes fixed on the eternal life, especially not in a world that keeps telling us that there are more immediate and urgent things on which to focus…. How then do we keep our goal clear, how then do we fix our eyes on the prize? By the discipline of prayer and the discipline that helps us to bring God back again and again to the center of our life. We will always remain distracted, constantly busy with many urgent demands, but when there is a time and place set apart to return to our God who offers us eternal life, we gradually can come to realize that the many things we have to do, to say, or to think no longer distract us but are, instead, all leading us closer to our goal. Most important, however, is that our goal remains clear. Prayer keeps our goal clear, and when our goal has become vague, prayer makes it clear again.


Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing: Living A Prayerful Life, Compiled & Edited by Wendy Wilson Greer. 1999. p. 184. Originally quoted in Here and Now. 1994.

naked mountain of rock

One hardly knows just how to think of it. Never before has such a naked mountain of rock entered into our minds! Without a shred of disguise its transcendent form rises preeminent. There is almost nothing to compare to it. Niagra has the beauty of energy; the Grand Canyon, of immensity; the Yellowstone, of singularity; the Yosemite, of altitude; the ocean, of power; this Great Temple, of eternity.

Frederick S. Dellenbaugh, Scribner's. 1904. As quoted in A Century of Sanctuary: The Art of Zion National Park By Robert Redford, Peter H. Hassrick, Lyman Hafen, Deborah Reeder, Leslie Courtright, Roland Lee, Erica Cottam. University of Utah Press, 2008. p.34

adversities are temporary

Like the mortal life of which they are a part, adversities are temporary. What is permanent is what we become by the way we react to them.


Dallin H. Oaks, “Adversity,” Ensign, Jul 1998, 7