5 Quotes Plus Discussion-Promoting Questions

See also Teaching Helps

President Camille N. Johnson’s message is inspiring because it invites deep reflection, encourages sharing Christ’s light, and offers hope and joy through faith, making it relatable and transformative. This makes a great lesson!

You can find her 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 Camille N. Johnson, 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 (whole)

Possible engagement tool: Sister Johnson outlines how to be whole even with significant difficulties in our lives.

The Master Healer will heal all our afflictions—physical and emotional—in His time. But in the waiting to be healed, can one be whole?

What might it mean to be spiritually whole?

We are whole in Jesus Christ when we exercise our agency to follow Him in faith, submit our hearts to Him so He can change them, keep His commandments, and enter a covenant relationship with Him, meekly enduring and learning from the challenges of this earthly estate until we return to His presence and are healed in every way. I can be whole while I wait for healing if I am wholehearted in my relationship with Him.

Possible discussion questions: What personal experiences have helped you feel spiritually whole, even when facing physical or emotional challenges? How can we align our will with Jesus Christ when faced with difficulties? What does it mean to “enter a covenant relationship” with Jesus Christ? How does that contribute to being spiritually whole? What is one way you’ve felt your heart transformed through your relationship with Him?

For printable copies of this lesson – click here.

Quote #2 (hope)

Hope is an essential power in our lives.

Faith in Jesus Christ begets hope. I find hope in striving to be whole—a wholeness born of faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Him increases my hope for healing, and that hope reinforces my faith in Jesus Christ. It is a powerful cycle…

…Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we can seek to be spiritually whole while we wait and hope for physical and emotional healing.

Possible discussion questions: Have you ever noticed the faith to hope to faith cycle in your life? How does faith in Jesus Christ serve as the foundation for hope? What daily practices or choices help you feel closer to this sense of wholeness? How do you maintain hope and faith during moments when healing seems distant?

Quote #3 (lamp)

We cannot share our oil, but we can burn bright for others.

We are commanded to share His light. So keep your lamp full of the oil of conversion to Jesus Christ and be prepared to keep your lamp trimmed and burning bright. Then let that light shine. When we share our light, we bring the relief of Jesus Christ to others, our conversion to Him is deepened, and we can be whole even while we wait for healing. And as we let our light shine brightly, we can be joyful even while we wait.

Possible discussion questions: What does it mean to you personally to “keep your lamp full”? What does the imagery of a “trimmed and burning bright” lamp symbolize? Reflect on a time when sharing your testimony or Christ’s light with someone else deepened your own conversion. How did that experience impact you? How have you found joy through serving or uplifting others during your own challenges?

Quote #4 (thorn)

Physical and emotional ailments are a difficult topic, but President Johnson has a great message.

The Apostle Paul had some kind of affliction—what he described as a “thorn in the flesh,” which three times he had asked the Lord to remove. And the Lord said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” To which Paul declared:

“Most gladly therefore will I … glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, … in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

Paul’s example suggests that even in our weakness, our strength in Jesus Christ can be made perfect—that is, complete and whole. Those who wrestle with mortal struggles and turn to God in faith like Paul can receive the blessings of becoming acquainted with God.

But He may not provide healing from illness and disease—chronic pain, autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, cancer, anxiety, depression, and the like. That kind of healing is on the Lord’s time. And in the meantime, we can choose to be made whole by exercising our faith in Him!

Possible discussion question: This is a powerful quote: “Those who wrestle with mortal struggles and turn to God in faith like Paul can receive the blessings of becoming acquainted with God.” How would you explain this to a friend? Paul, a faithful and hard-working apostle, struggled with physical ailments – what might we learn from that example? Should we look at ailments, physical hardships, and disease as our being less favored? What counsel might you give a friend suffering and feeling forgotten by God?

Quote #5 (choose)

This is a great ending quote!

“Many are called, but few [choose to be] chosen.”

All will be physically and emotionally healed in the Resurrection. But will you choose now to be whole in Him?

I declare with joy that I am converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am striving to be whole in Him. I am sure that all things will be restored and healing will come, in His time, because He lives.

Summary

Summarize class discussion highlights and/or share your testimony and feelings about President Johnson’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.