Church Releases Video Series of Apostolic Insights From General Conference

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The Savior, Jesus Christ, is “our treasure,” said Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in a video released by the Church on December 5, 2024. Screenshot from YouTube, courtesy of Church News.2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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By Joel Randall, Church News

For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, general conference messages are much-needed reassurances in difficult times and invitations to more boldly follow the Savior.

Extending the reach of these apostolic messages, the Church has released a series of videos providing “Divine Insights From Living Prophets and Apostles.”

These videos, based on general conference talks given in the past few years, give prophetic perspectives on how Latter-day Saints can live the gospel of Jesus Christ, care for one another and invite others to come unto Him.

Here are messages from nine of these recent videos, available on the Church’s YouTube channel.

How to Show Christlike Kindness to Others

Church President Russell M. Nelson declared in April 2023, “Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice.”

The video “How To Show Christlike Kindness to Others,” released September 19, 2024, uses excerpts from the Prophet’s conference message “Peacemakers Needed” to show how charity defines a peacemaker.

He recounted that during his surgical internship, a surgeon erupted in anger and threw a scalpel tainted with highly infectious gangrene across the room — landing in President Nelson’s forearm.

“Decades later, I find myself wondering if the contaminated scalpel that landed in my arm was any more toxic than the venomous contention that infects our civic dialogue and too many personal relationships today.”

Christ’s true disciples “build, lift, encourage, persuade and inspire,” said President Nelson, and heed the Savior’s charge to “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44).

“We can literally change the world — one person and one interaction at a time,” he said, ending with a prophetic invitation: “I urge you to be a peacemaker, now and always.”

The Kingdoms of Glory

President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, said in October 2023 that “the ultimate destiny of all who live on the earth is not the inadequate idea of heaven for the righteous and the eternal sufferings of hell for the rest.”

Instead, all children of God “will ultimately inherit one of three kingdoms of glory, even the least of which ‘surpasses all understanding’ (Doctrine and Covenants 76:89),” said President Oaks in the November 21, 2024, video “The Kingdoms of Glory,” based on his talk “Kingdoms of Glory.”

These three kingdoms are the celestial, terrestrial and telestial, comparable to the glories of the sun, moon and stars, respectively.

President Oaks said, “The purpose of this restored Church is to prepare God’s children for salvation in the celestial glory and for exaltation in its highest degree.”

Heavenly Father’s plan, he said, honors one’s agency. “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.’”

Overcoming Life’s Storms With Faith in Christ

President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, acknowledged in April 2022 that “we live in increasingly perilous times.” However, he testified, “There is hope in the promise God has made of a place of safety in the storms ahead.”

The video “Overcoming Life’s Storms With Faith in Christ,” released September 26, 2024, gives this and other encouragement from President Eyring’s conference message “Steady in the Storms.”

He said: “When the storms in life come, you can be steady because you are standing on the rock of your faith in Jesus Christ. That faith will lead you to daily repentance and consistent covenant-keeping. Then you will always remember Him.”

This faith in Jesus Christ, he said, leads to greater hope and feelings of charity toward others.

“He invites you, out of love for you and for those you love, to come to Him for peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. He knows perfectly the storms you will face in your test as part of the plan of happiness.”

Drawing Closer to the Savior

In October 2022, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained Jesus’ teaching that the “wheat,” or “the children of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:38), would grow alongside the “tares,” or those who don’t keep God’s commandments.

“With the wheat growing amidst the tares in the world, how can we deepen and strengthen our commitment to the Savior in the days ahead?” he asked in the November 14 video “Now Is the Time to Draw Closer to the Savior.”

In the video, quoting from his talk “Drawing Closer to the Savior,” Elder Andersen gives three ways to strengthen commitment to the Savior.

First, believers can immerse themselves more completely into Jesus’ life, teachings and power. Next, they can promise allegiance to the Savior through repentance and keeping covenants. Last, they can treasure and safeguard the gift of the Holy Ghost.

“As you allow your love for the Savior and His love for you to sink deep into your heart,” said Elder Andersen, “I promise you added confidence, peace and joy in meeting the challenges of your life.”

Another Testament of Jesus Christ

At the start of “The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ,” a video released October 10, Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles holds up his 1970 vintage edition of the Book of Mormon.

“No other book is as important to my life and my testimony as this one,” he said in the video, based on his conference message “This Day” from October 2022.

“Reading it, I gained a witness by the Spirit that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He is my Savior, that these scriptures are the word of God and that the gospel is restored.”

Elder Rasband recounted experiences sharing and testifying of this precious book with leaders around the world, including the president of Mozambique and India’s ambassador to the United Nations.

“I testify that by divine design the Book of Mormon was prepared in ancient America to come forth to declare God’s word, to bring souls to the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel ‘this day’ (Jacob 2:2-3),” he said.

Love God and One’s Neighbor

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles observed in April 2024 that California’s Golden Gate Bridge is supported by bookend towers functioning together in complete harmony.

“Likewise,” he said, “our ability to follow Jesus Christ depends upon our strength and power to live the first and second commandments with balance and equal devotion to both.”

He gives this analogy in the October 17 video “The Heart of the Gospel: Love God and Neighbor,” drawing from his conference talk “Bridging the Two Great Commandments.”

Latter-day Saints must both “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart” (Matthew 22:37) and “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:39) as their two pillars. An imbalance of the two can cause one’s spiritual bridge to tip or even fall.

“We build our personal spiritual bridge with hearts and minds devoted to Heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son as well as to our brothers and sisters.”

The Greatest Treasure

“Jesus Christ is our treasure,” declared Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2023.

In the video “Seek Jesus Christ: Our Greatest Treasure” — released December 5, 2024, and based on his conference message “Jesus Christ Is the Treasure” — Elder Renlund told the story of two men leading the search for King Tutankhamun’s tomb.

They spent five years excavating without success. Only after they dug beneath their base camp did they find the tomb. Just as the men “had overlooked what was literally under their feet, ... we too can be prone to look beyond the mark.”

Those who search for something beyond what Christ offers deny or diminish the power He can have in their lives, said Elder Renlund.

“I encourage you to remember and always focus on Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer, the ‘mark’ to whom we should look, and our greatest treasure.”

The Source of Love in Our Lives

Quoting a Primary song, Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in October 2023 that “love is spoken here” in the Lord’s restored Church, which “can be an incubator for a Zion community.”

In the December 19, 2024, video “Jesus Christ: The Source of Love in Our Lives,” he explains the connection that comes from service and ministering, using excerpts from his conference talk “Love Is Spoken Here.”

“When we serve and sacrifice in the gospel together, we find fewer faults and greater peace,” said Elder Gong. “When we let Him, Jesus Christ helps us speak His love here.”

Love is spoken as Latter-day Saints “answer yes to serve the Lord in His Church by His Spirit.”

Although no individual or family is perfect, “the more compassionate, faithful and selfless our service and sacrifice are in Him, the more we may begin to fathom Jesus Christ’s atoning compassion and grace for us,” he said.

God Is in Relentless Pursuit

Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles testified in April 2024 that “Everything about the Father’s plan for His beloved children is designed to bring everyone home.”

The video “God Is in Relentless Pursuit of You,” released December 12, draws on Elder Kearon’s conference message “God’s Intent Is To Bring You Home” to explain that “He employs every possible measure to bring you back.”

Heavenly Father sent His Beloved Son to the earth to provide an example, to atone and to redeem. The loving reach of Christ’s infinite Atonement, he said, “removes every roadblock of physical and spiritual death that would separate us from our eternal home.”

Elder Kearon added: “The Savior, the Good Shepherd, goes in search of His lost sheep until He finds them. He is ‘not willing that any should perish’ (2 Peter 3:9).”

The Father’s “beautiful plan” offers “the chance to use our God-given moral agency to choose Him, to learn and grow, to make mistakes, to repent, to love God and our neighbor, and to one day return home to Him.”