5 Quotes Plus Discussion-Promoting Questions

See also Teaching Helps

Elder Kearon illustrates the profound spiritual concept of receiving divine gifts, particularly the truth of being God’s child. He invites us to pray and internalize this truth. He also encourages personal reflection to help gain a deeper connection with the divine.

You can find his full talk here. Unless you opt to spend a lot of time on a particular quote, try to pick around 2 questions per quote. Choose the questions that resonate the most with you and make a meaningful discussion for your group of personalities. These highlights and questions fit with Lesson Template 1 or Template 2. You can also check out several other General Conference Talks with 5 Highlights.

All blue quotes by Patrick Kearon, April 2025 General Conference talk (unless otherwise noted).

Lesson Prep

• You can arrange the quotes in any order that makes sense to you. I suggest starting with the most important ones and working your way down. Don’t worry about covering all the quotes.
• If you want the discussion to be more meaningful, hand out reading assignments ahead of time and ask the reader to answer one question about them (pick one of the questions below and give it to them, along with the assigned quote). The sooner you do this, the better, but if possible, at least show it to them before the Sacrament meeting. You can also text or email it.
• Ask various people to read and participate – especially those who aren’t asked as much.

Lesson Delivery

• Ensure every class member has the conference talk and scriptures in front of them or on their phone. Always invite the class to read along—hearing and seeing the words together increases comprehension and engagement.
• Avoid videos – they shut down discussion. Save them for personal study.
• If the discussion gets too non-spiritual, pull it back by going to the next quote or question.
• Make sure you assign others to read the quotes. You’re talking enough already, and letting others read allows more people to participate.
• Encourage discussion by accepting all reasonable answers. Validate people for participating, and be thankful they spoke up. Engage with the answer in a conversational way whenever it feels natural. Never say, “That’s not the right answer,” or “We haven’t got to that part of the lesson yet.”
• Remember, spiritual discussion is golden. We want people to talk about the gospel together.
• If the discussion takes a different turn than your planned lesson, roll with it. The Spirit intends for you to be successful.

Quote #1 (lights)

Possible engagement tool: This quote is rich in imagery. Have your class note what keywords stand out to them.

Our Heavenly Father has innumerable gifts of light and truth prepared to shower down on each of us, His treasured children. They flow from our Bounteous Giver like a wellspring in the wilderness from His benevolent heart. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.” In our covenant bond with the Father, He is ever the Giver and we the humble recipient.

Possible activity: pull out phrases and keywords that stand out to you by writing them on the board and then discuss what they mean one by one.

Possible highlighted keywords: gifts of light, shower down, Bounteous Giver, wellspring in the wilderness, Father of lights, humble recipient.

Possible discussion questions: What keywords stood out to you, and what image do they create in your mind? What message did you get from that phrase? If you were to explain this quote to a friend, how would you summarize it? What gifts of light have blessed your life? If you were to name one gift of light in your life, what would it be?

For printable copies of this lesson – click here.

Quote #2 (gethsemane)

Elder Kearon continues to be almost poetic with his cadence and word choices. Matching this up with a moving, musical moment.

But we could receive nothing without the greatest of all the Father’s gifts, His beloved Lamb, His Son, Jesus Christ. All of our Father’s gifts flow from and are activated by the Saviour’s willing offering in Gethsemane and on the cross and His triumphant Resurrection. Jesus Christ, our merciful Redeemer, is the supreme gift from our Father of lights. “In the gift of his Son hath God prepared [for us] a more excellent way.”

Possible activity: Sing. Sing together or have someone do a solo/quartet, etc.. Any favorite hymn about Christ’s sacrifice will work —OR— have someone perform “Gethsemane” and ensure everyone has the words.

Gethsemane

Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still.
His steps were heavy and slow.
Love and a prayer took Him there
To the place only He could go.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,
So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad,
All the pain we would ever know.
While His friends were asleep, He fought to keep
His promise made long ago.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,
So He went willingly to Gethsemane.

The hardest thing that ever was done,
The greatest pain that ever was known,
The biggest battle that ever was won—
This was done by Jesus!
The fight was won by Jesus!

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,
So He gave His gift to me in Gethsemane.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me,
So He gives His gift to me from Gethsemane.

Possible discussion questions: Please share how you feel about Jesus Christ. What endears Him to you?

Quote #3 (child)

President Kearon extends a powerful invitation.

I invite you to receive, either for the first time or to a greater extent than ever before, the magnificent realisation that you truly are God’s beloved child. You must undo the bow, tear off the wrapping paper, open the box, and actively receive with grateful humility a true, pure understanding of this foundational truth. The Holy Spirit can bear witness to your heart that you are indeed a child of the Most High.

When you welcome this majestic reality into your very soul and feel both the comfort and the thrill of it, your entire paradigm shifts! You can feel His love, hear His voice, and recognise His hand, no matter what is happening, or not happening, in your life. You can redefine how you see yourself and others. Your covenant bond with your Saviour becomes even stronger, and through the lens of this sweet gift, life takes on new brilliance, beauty, and hope.

Possible discussion question: Elder Kearon invites us to ponder and meditate on being a “child of the Most High.” Why is this one of the most essential modern revelations of our time? When you have “grateful humility,” how does that feel? When we have the Spirit, we can see things with new eyes—have you ever experienced revisiting an old truth but with renewed amazement?

Quote #4 (grow)

Possible intro: Elder Kearon lists some tools that helped him grow from a new convert to an apostle.

Since finding my faith in my mid-20s, I have awakened to the realisation that I truly am a son of God. The more fully I internalise this gift, the more keenly I know who I am and how completely I am loved. Some things that have helped me grow in understanding are the words of scripture, my patriarchal blessing, temple worship, serving others, expressing gratitude, and sacred prayer with my Father. I marvel at how earlier sorrow, pain, and grief in my life would have been reframed, soothed, and much of it overcome had I known this beautiful truth.

Possible activity: Have your class help you pull out the list of tools Elder Kearon names and write them on the board.

• scripture study
• patriarchal blessing
• temple worship
• serving others
• expressing gratitude
• sacred prayer

Possible discussion questions: Which is one of your favorite ways to grow spiritually? What happens to you when you study scriptures faithfully? How has your patriarchal blessing affected your life? What do you like best about going to the temple? How does serving others uplift us? Expressing gratitude is an essential part of our spiritual growth. What is one thing you are grateful for today? How does a good, heartfelt prayer affect your outlook?

Quote #5 (closing)

Possible engagement tool: This quote summarizes the whole lesson and makes an excellent closing quote if you have time. It is classic Elder Kearon.

Moroni exhorts us to “deny not the gifts of God” but to “come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift.” You can come to Christ with confidence in His loving-kindness and receive all His gifts of joy, peace, hope, light, truth, revelation, knowledge, and wisdom—with your head held high, your arms outstretched, and your hands open, ready to receive. And you can receive these gifts because you are secure and grounded in the knowledge that you are a beloved daughter of God, you are a cherished son of God, and He has gifted you His perfect, holy Son to redeem you, justify you, and sanctify you.

Summary

Summarize class discussion highlights and/or share your testimony and feelings about Elder Kearon’s talk. Thank your class for their excellent contributions and insights.

Final Comment

Please teach the quotes in any order that makes sense to you.

Teach with confidence, and if you would like some tips on how to feel more confident while teaching – try “9 Tips for More Class Participation.” May the Spirit bless and guide your efforts.