Church Leaders Encourage Young Adults to Build Friendship and Discipleship in Jesus Christ

For the fourth year in a row, thousands of young single adults (YSAs) converged on downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, for the Utah Area Young Single Adult Conference on Friday and Saturday, August 14–15, 2026.

The young adults, ranging in age from 18 to 35, came to the Salt Palace Convention Center to learn from leaders from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other speakers, attend classes, participate in service projects and build friendships with others.

Friendship and Personal Spiritual Experiences

“I love my friends, and friendship has marked my life since I was a teenager,” said Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, who spoke on Friday morning.

Sister Spannaus said her parents quit attending church when she was about 16 years old.

“I couldn’t understand how my parents could suddenly turn away from everything they had taught me about Jesus Christ,” Sister Spannaus said. “Indulging my rebellious teenage side, I decided to attend by myself.”

She told attendees that her bishop, who was also her seminary teacher, and her friends supported her.

“They kept inviting me to the activities, even if I didn’t want to participate,” said Sister Spannaus. “I could feel the genuine love they had for me; they were real friends. And that made a vital difference at that particular time in my life.”

Sister Spannaus said that Jesus Christ talked about friendship in the scriptures.

“[The Savior] gave His life for His friends because of how much He loves us,” she said. “He calls us His friends — we reciprocate that friendship because we love Him, and we do His will for the same reason.” 

“Having good friends helped me stay active in the Church. But that was not enough. I also decided to honor the personal spiritual experiences I had up to that point in my life. And that helped me stay active in my faith and grow my relationship with God. The memory of those spiritual experiences kept me moving forward.” 

She encouraged the audience to remember the personal spiritual experiences in their lives and challenged the young adults to write them down. “You can also identify them by categories if you want: experiences with prayer, with scriptures, at the temple, with tithing and fast offerings, priesthood blessings and miracles.” 

Sister Spannaus continued, “Being grateful for what we receive shows our desire for more and increases our intentionality in our learning and progress. On the path of discipleship, there is always more to experience and more to learn. Only we can put a limit or a stop to what we can learn because our Heavenly Father is willing to give us all.” 

“I promise you that if you are grateful for what you have received, remain faithful to your covenants, and love God above all things, you will be an instrument for advancing His work in these last days,” she said. “And, best of all, you will have joy in doing that.” 

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She concluded her remarks by saying, “I express my love and admiration for you, the remarkable rising generation. I express my gratitude for all the amazing good you did, you are doing, and you will do. Wonderful things are coming.”

Discipleship and Belonging in the Lord’s Restored Church

“I’m grateful to have this time with you to talk of Christ,” said Sister Kristin M. Yee, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, who provided the closing keynote address for the young single adults on Saturday.

“I know the Lord has a great interest in you and your life, the decisions you are making and the soul-stretching challenges you are facing,” Sister Yee said.

“I can think of no greater comfort than to know that we can partner with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through our covenants,” she said. “As a sister who is not yet married, I’ve learned [that] I am forever grateful my Heavenly Father and Savior are with me and will never leave me.”

She explained that the term YSA is a demographic term. “It is not who you are, not by a long shot.”

Sister Yee continued, “Let us anchor ourselves to those identifiers which have the power to lead us to eternal life. Along with being a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are also members of Relief Society or members of an elder’s quorum, who minister and bring relief in the Savior’s name.”

She acknowledged that young adults sometimes find it difficult to feel a sense of belonging in their congregations, whether because of age or geographic location.

“Go and keep going to church with the primary purpose of worshipping your Heavenly Father and Savior and receiving the sacred ordinance of the sacrament,” Sister Yee said. 

“Come each week looking for someone who needs a friend. As you minister and offer belonging to others, you will find it yourself,” she suggested.

“We’re all sisters and brothers, and we care for one another, whether we’re 18 or 108,” Sister Yee said.

Sister Yee, a General Officer who helps to oversee the Church’s 8 million women, also discussed the profound blessings of engaging in family history and worshipping in the temple.

“Family history is the precursor to temple work,” she said. “The powerful blessings that come from family history have been on my mind, as I recently embarked on a most unexpected trip to Hong Kong and China to learn about my ancestors and to walk in the places they walked.”

Sister Yee shared a story about how the Lord helped her connect with a 102-year-old living relative in China who donated her family’s genealogy to a Chinese museum just five months before he passed away.

“We miraculously have 93 generations of the Yee family and thousands of names added to my family tree,” she said.

“Through the grace of God, I have found that the Savior’s power and love that flows through temple and family history work is the sweet balm that has helped heal and fill the voids in my heart,” Sister Yee said.

“Family history is one of those unexpectedly powerful and unsuspecting potent channels through which we can access the healing power of the Savior’s Atonement for ourselves and our families, if we will but offer our best efforts in faith, small as they may be," she said. 

The Utah YSA conference is considered the Church’s largest annual gathering of young single adults. This year’s theme was “Together in Christ,” continuing the theme from previous conferences.

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