Scriptures Contain ‘Powerful Patterns for Our Lives,’ Elder Bednar Tells YSAs

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By Joel Randall, Church News

For Sister Grace Oborn of Pleasant Grove, Utah, what stuck with her wasn’t just what Elder David A. Bednar said in a Sunday, September 13, devotional; it was what the Spirit taught her through his words.

“When they were talking about doing your best, I had this sentence strongly impressed in my mind of, ‘Do your best, but include the Lord, because we cannot save ourselves,’” said Sister Oborn, a Utah Orem Mission service missionary, after the evening devotional.

In this concluding event of the 2026 Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference, Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed several “patterns” in the scriptures that YSAs can apply “individually and personally.”

“The scriptures contain numerous, endless patterns that we can use as we strive to become devoted, lifelong disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. “In the scriptures, seemingly ordinary events can help us see powerful patterns for our lives.”

Elder Bednar and his wife, Susan, hosted a panel discussion with Elder Brian K. Taylor and his wife, Jill, along with four young adults: Avalon Marker from Ogden, Utah; Junni Tau from American Fork, Utah; Elijah Tolbert from Salt Lake City; and Breanne Cook from Brigham City, Utah.

The group spoke to nearly 20,000 young adults in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, with remarks also livestreamed to YSA gatherings around the state.

Faith Is a Principle of Action

Elder Bednar read Doctrine and Covenants 80:1-3, which in part says, “Go ye and preach my gospel,” but where to go “it mattereth not, for ye cannot go amiss” (verse 3).

Marker said that when looking for a life purpose, “if we just get going and we have the Lord in mind, whatever we do, God’s going to be happy.”

Tau added that “He leaves the invitation up to us, and He wants us to choose.”

Elder Bednar said that “faith is a principle of action and of trust and of power. We learn, we hear the word of God, then we do it. That is faith.”

Although young adults may not have a perfect knowledge on where to go, Tolbert said, “trust that He’s going to guide you to the right place or do the right thing.”

Sister Bednar said: “Sometimes we hesitate to share the gospel because we are afraid or we think we do not know enough.” Yet she acknowledged that for those who know the gospel to be true, “it is important to share it wherever we can.”

God Gives Agency to Choose

In Doctrine and Covenants 62:4-9, the Lord tells the early Saints through revelation to “declare glad tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth,” adding the charge “to do according to judgment and the directions of the Spirit.”

“He trusts us to: ‘Go forward. I’ll be with you,’” said Elder Taylor. “These words of His confidence in us are actually thrilling to me.”

Sister Taylor mentioned the brother of Jared building barges in Ether 2. While the Lord answered some of his concerns, He left the concern of lighting the barges to the brother of Jared (see verse 25). “I love that sometimes He gives us what He needs, and other times He lets us decide.”

Marker added that more power comes as young adults work together. “When we are unified in a goal, that’s when the miracles take place.”

Tau explained: “If we do not know what to do, all we can do is try our best. And when we are faithful on our end, He will be more than faithful on His end.”

Seeking Divine Strength Helps Overcome Trials

When Nephi was bound with cords in the Book of Mormon, he didn’t pray for the trial to be taken away; he prayed for strength to burst through the bands (see 1 Nephi 7:17).

“He understood the Savior’s Atonement and that he did not have to rely uniquely and alone on his own power,” said Elder Bednar. “I think it is remarkable that he could have divine assistance, through his faithfulness, to do what he otherwise could never do.”

Cook said she always prays for burdens to be taken away. But Sunday’s panel helped her find “a mindset shift of, ‘If they can’t be taken away, help me be able to endure them.’”

Quoting Philippians 4:13, Sister Bednar said that young adults “can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth” them. She acknowledged that God loves His children, and “why we experience difficulties and hardships, we do not always know the reason. It is just part of His plan to make us fit to live with Him again someday.”

In Mosiah 24:13-15, the Lord strengthened Alma and his people to bear up their burdens with ease. Elder Taylor noted that this strengthening gave a witness of God’s love and power (see verse 14).

YSAs can share this witness with others, he said. “It can give others courage to make it through trials and troubles and afflictions that they’re going through, and those witnesses really matter.”