[GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC PLAYING]

♪ When the stars burn out and the strong winds come, ♪

♪ I will lift my eyes to the rising sun. ♪

♪ He is the Prince of Peace; He steadies my soul. ♪

♪ I am His hands and feet. The whole world will know. ♪

♪ I’m a disciple of Christ; I will never leave Him. ♪ ♪ He is the truth and the life; He’s the strength in my weakness. ♪

♪ I will shine ’til the whole world sees He’s the light that will set us free. ♪ ♪ I’m a disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ Out of all the paths that I could take, ♪

♪ Giving Him my life was the only way. - the only way. ♪

♪ He is my fire by night, The air in each breath. ♪

♪ So I’ll stand and testify ♪

♪ Again and again. ♪

♪ I’m a disciple of Christ; I will never leave Him. ♪ ♪ He is the truth and the life; He’s the strength in my weakness. ♪

♪ I will shine ’til the whole world sees ♪

♪ He’s the light that will set us free. ♪

♪ I’m a disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ A disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ A disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ I’m a disciple of Christ; I will never leave Him. ♪ ♪ He is the truth and the life; He’s the strength in my weakness. ♪

♪ I will shine ’til the whole world sees ♪

♪ He’s the light that will set us free. ♪ ♪ Oh, I’m a disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ A disciple of Christ. ♪

♪ A disciple of Christ. ♪

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I am a daughter of Heavenly Parents with a divine nature and eternal destiny.

I am a beloved son of God and He has a work for me to do.

He knows me.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I have been called by Him to declare His word among His people.

- I am a disciple - I am a disciple I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Hello, our good friends from around the world. My name is Steven J. Lund, the Young Men General President, and I’m here on this blustery day with Emily Belle Freeman, the Young Women General President, and with Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who’s presiding over these activities today.

We're here to introduce to you the 2024 youth theme, which comes from 3 Nephi 5:13:

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are so excited about this event. This is going to be a little bit different than any other event you've witnessed with us before, because this is a worldwide discussion on discipleship, and we chose to start this discussion right here at the Salt Lake Temple renovation site. We want you to look around for a minute, look at the work that is going on. Do you see the scaffolding?

Do you see that foundation below? There, you might see tractors. You might see cranes. This is a site for the building up of something holy.

And we wondered if maybe this site would help you think a little bit about your own life. We're here today just in the thick of it. It's raining on us. We've got our umbrellas, we've got mud on our boots, we've got work going on behind us. And sometimes this is what building looks like. Sometimes this is what renovation looks like. And maybe it's true in your own life. Maybe you are aspiring to become something, but you feel like you are right in the process of building. Well, thank you, President Lund and President Freeman.

And let me also express the love of President Nelson and the First Presidency for each one of you.

Now, can you believe those powerful

“I am” statements that we just saw by video, and those dramatic images of refining and molding and shaping?

I've noticed that spiritual progress and refining and building

and shaping often occur simultaneously.

And it helps us also remember that discipleship is a work in progress, just like this beautiful temple behind us.

That's really true, isn't it? It seems that there's probably a lot of people out there, including maybe people who are standing right near you,

who sometimes feel like they're at the very beginning of this process of discipleship and learning to be a good disciple. That's so true. And there might be some of us here who are looking for a second chance, that we’re looking at our life and thinking, I need a renovation right now. I need a rebuilding. I actually want to change some things about my life. And that happens as we go through the process of becoming holy.

And so as I hear what you just said and think about this, it's really encouraging for us to realize that we can always rebuild and refine. I think that suggests that we can always have hope.

And our hope is in Jesus Christ. And as disciples of Jesus Christ, we can always strive to deepen our conversion. This is what we want to talk about today, this rebuilding and this process of discipleship. Exactly. I’m really struck that when they started this...

Would you hold my umbrella— our umbrella—for a moment? When they started remodeling this temple, they started with the foundation. Can we get a shot, maybe of this foundation here? You can see that the original foundation was way up by where that scaffolding ends. They excavated down about six meters, 20-something feet, in order to put a sophisticated, powerful foundation under it that would sustain this building deep into the future. Because a strong foundation makes a strong building. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the building.

And I love that thought about, what does building a foundation look like for us in our life right now?

Okay. Well, for our dear young friends, let's have this discussion together. Let's talk about this building process and patterns of discipleship. Some of these that we've talked about previously are standing in holy places,

standing with holy people, testifying of holy truths,

and listening to the Holy Spirit.

And as we do this, we each become disciples of the Holy One of Israel.

I'm so excited for this conversation today, because we're going to do something a little bit different than we've done before. When we all got together and met in Elder Stevenson’s office, we talked about not just wanting to have a devotional or a fireside, but we actually want to have a worldwide discussion on discipleship. That feels like such a fun idea to me. And we're imagining you in all of your places, having conversations in your backyards or in your Church buildings, or maybe in someone’s home with your people and your faith community as you talk about what it actually looks like to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ. So here is how this is going to work. We're going to talk about three different conversation topics. And as we do, we'll introduce those to you by story. And then we're going to ask you a question. And when we ask you the question we'll put it up on a screen. And we want you to actually pause this video for a minute

and spend time discussing that conversation piece together with your own group, wherever you are.

You'll stop the video, and maybe you'll discuss that truth for 5 or 10 minutes. And then once you're done, you'll start the video again.

We hope that during that little pause that you'll talk about what discipleship looks like in your life and in your area where you're living.

We believe that as you have these conversations now and for the next year, that it will bring strength to you as you go about building a stronger foundation of discipleship.

Well, I'm really excited about the worldwide discussion and we get to start. Lisa and I were recently in Japan in Okinawa, Japan for the temple dedication there.

While we were there, we had a chance to meet with some of the wonderful youth there. And so right now we're traveling to Japan, to Okinawa. Let's take a look.

Lisa, maybe you could start us out with a question that you might have for each of them.

Okay, my first question for you would be, How has your attendance in the temple helped helped you stay on the covenant path?

So for me, whenever I come to seminary,

I go to seminary right here at the Church building. And so whenever I see the temple, I think of heaven and I think of the plan of salvation. And so for me, it’s a symbol of eternity, and to keep my perspective towards eternity.

Can we talk about standing in holy places?

Sometimes this is kind of difficult, and we might not really understand or know where these holy places are, but other than the temple,

where are some places that are holy that you could stand? When I think of holy places, two things come to my mind. The first is our home, where we live the gospel and where we learn the gospel. And that's a very special holy place for all of us.

The second thought I had is that our bodies are a temple. And so as long as we are living the gospel and keeping our covenants, then wherever we stand can be a holy place if we allow the Spirit to be with us.

So when we think about what you’ve just said, a holy place might be when you’re with holy people, and I really like that thought. And I like your thought that even when you're alone, if you're worthy, wherever you’re standing can be standing in a holy place. I can’t imagine something that we could say

that would be more beautiful and more pleasing to the Lord than to be able to say, I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. And so it's an honor and a privilege for me to stand with you together, to be able to to declare together that we are disciples of Jesus Christ.

Wow, weren't those youth impressive, Lisa?

They really were. I loved being with them and feeling of their strength and their spirit and the light that they had about them. You know, when they talked about standing in holy places, they mentioned things that I had never thought about. Yeah. It's incredible. Very impressive. And so now here we are at Church headquarters, in my office. This is where I spend my time when we're not traveling.

And as you can see, it's filled with books and pictures and mementos that are all really important to us from our various assignments and travels around the world.

But today, we want to share with you one of our favorite treasures. Lisa, why don't you talk about what we have here on the credenza? Okay, I would love to. Well, we served our mission in the Japan Nagoya mission, and of course, we fell in love with Japan, the Japanese people, the culture, and especially the food. Mhm.

We loved being in Japan, but one of our favorite places to visit as a couple, as a family, and with visitors that would come to visit was to Kyoto.

There was one particular temple we loved to visit, which was the Kiyomizudera, the Temple of Pure Water.

As you walk up to the temple, at the very base, there’s a little shop, and in this shop, something in the window caught my husband's eye. And this is what caught his eye, were these figures. And this is representing the temple priest and his disciples.

The shop owner explained that these young disciples were in training.

And so, first of all, this time in Japan that we spent as mission leaders, well, it made Japan a holy place for us.

We talk about standing in holy places; for us, Japan is one of those holy places. And this, through the eyes of a mission president, had remarkable meaning for us. Well, let me describe. Missionaries are all the same in one way. When you see the elders, they’ve got a white shirt, they’ve got a tie. The sisters in their dresses, skirts and blouses, all with the name badge on. All very same, but all very different. And I think the same is with you as disciples in training. You're all the same. You're children of heavenly parents. You share the same eternal identity. But you're also very different. Think of just all of you who are gathered here tonight from different countries and cultures and ethnicities. Your personalities are so different. The challenges that you have are different as well, but at the same time,

we are all striving to be disciples of Jesus Christ,

constantly being tutored by the Lord. And so think about this: What does it mean to you to be a disciple in training? Lisa, what do you think that means to be disciples in training?

Well, when I first think about that, about being a disciple in training and being a disciple of Jesus Christ,

it really is a privilege to be able to do this and and strive for this. We're always striving to be the best example we can be, and having our heart centered to Jesus Christ, always striving to be like Him. That's perfect, isn't it?

We’re all striving to be like Jesus Christ, to receive His invitation to us, to come unto Him now. As we discussed with the youth in Japan,

standing in holy places helps us become better disciples of Jesus Christ,

just like we see with the figurines that we just described.

Drawing closer to the temple is one way that we can live as His disciples.

So let’s think about, as disciples in Jesus Christ, as disciples in training, we strive to stand in holy places.

We want you now to think about this and discuss this.

We'll give you this question now, Where are your holy places and how do you find them?

This has been the best week. We’re here in Fiji. It’s kind of a historic week. This is the first time FSY has ever happened in Fiji.

What's remarkable about that is the youth came from all the islands. Have you ever been with this many Latter-day Saint youth in your life? Nope. Nope. Not at all. This is a lot. There’s too much. It’s a good dose.

I can’t count how many there is.

Yes. It's so fun that there are so many. And I have learned in my life that there is a strength that comes when we gather together with righteous people. And have you felt that this week?

Yeah, many times. Have you met people that you have never met before? Yeah, yeah, a lot.

A lot of people, in fact, this is so fun, but one of the traditions in Fiji, I learned yesterday, is to sign people’s shirts and look at the back of the shirt. You guys, this is how many friends he just made. So many friends.

And why does gathering with holy people like this make you stronger? I mean, for me personally, like, when all of us get together and we all have the same religion,

it's like it gives me a boost of faith in a way that we all have the same religion. And when we get together and share our testimonies and thoughts with each other, it also builds others’ faith up. And it’s really amazing how that works. And I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be here at FSY and to, you know, learn more about Christ, and with others. Oh, I love that. How about for you two? How has being with holy people strengthened you this week? I guess being with people I don’t really know, it was really amazing because their testimony helped me grow my testimony, and I have learned that testimonies can also help people gain their own testimony and their faith, as testimonies are shared.

That’s so true. How about for you? For me? I was able to meet, um, because we were with the girls most of the time, and I was able to learn from the experiences that they shared, knowing that despite the many challenges that they came to us, they were able to overcome it as they chose to look towards the Savior. And that's how I was able to build my testimony in the Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh, that's so good. And I love what you said, that hearing people share experiences like that makes your faith stronger.

I want to bear my testimony of how important it is to gather together with holy people. Just like you said, we will have friends and we will have other people that we know. But there is a strength that comes when righteous people gather together, and we have felt Jesus Christ with us this week while we have been together. We have felt His strength,

and that is one of the greatest blessings that come when holy people gather. That conversation with those youth in Fiji helped me to remember how important it is to surround ourselves with holy people, especially when we are in the process of building a foundation on Christ and becoming a lifelong disciple. So here's the question we want you to consider with your group that you are gathered with. How does gathering with holy people strengthen you as a disciple of Christ? When has that been true for you, a time when you gathered together with holy people, and how did it make you stronger?

We're here at this amazing studio where stained glass is made to be placed in sacred temples to learn what we can here in this interesting place about discipleship.

If you believe that you are an artist, you are halfway there.

We are children of a Creator, and because of that, we all have the right to be able to create.

As you share any type of creativity in your life with other people, you are reflecting what God created first. In the end, like you’ll have a beautiful piece of glass. Today we've learned that there are many stages involved in creating a beautiful piece of art. What are those stages? First, you have to pick out the pieces. You'll be picking these big sheets of glass for this piece right there. Go ahead and pick up the glass. It looks different in the sunlight. Choose your desired color and shape and shade of each piece. Yeah, I think I like that one.

You got all your colors? Yes. Good job. Everyone put on a pair of gloves. Don't we have to scrub first?

That’s if you’re a doctor. Oh. And right now you’re an artist. Now that you guys have your pieces together, we're going to be cutting a small piece of them. I like to have a picture in mind of where you're starting and where you're ending. Some glass is trickier to cut than others.

Does it have to be perfect? It doesn't.

This part is one of the simpler ones, but it can kind of be time consuming.

Then you wrap it in the copper foil.

And then you put the metal on it.

And I saw you in there soldering the pieces together. Did anybody make any mistakes?

I think we all did.

Know that you can make a mistake and you won’t ruin it.

How would you fix a mistake in your life? By repentance. You're saying you're sorry to Heavenly Father, and it’s like He’s accepting it and making you new and clean.

Remember, it's your very first piece of stained glass. Everyone came out with an amazing piece.

How does light work with stained glass? When the glass is laid down, at first it can look like a specific color, but when you put it towards the light, it’s a different color. What does that suggest to you about discipleship?

When you have like a dark piece of glass, when you put it up there in the light, then it really shines and it really shows a vibrant color. That can be like us. We aren't necessarily vibrant by ourselves, but with the light of Christ shining through us, we can be more than just us. How does that speak to testimony building? Like the stained glass, it takes a lot of pieces, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of effort, and eventually you'll have something that you feel is worth holding on to. I think it shows that when we're a disciple, that we have lots of steps we need to take, and everything fits perfectly, and it takes a lot of practice. We're standing here in front of a magnificent piece of art. How does that make you feel about the Savior? It makes me feel in peace. He has His open arms.

The light’s coming from the back, so it kind of looks like it’s coming from within the picture.

What would happen if we turned out the lights? Would it still be beautiful? It wouldn't be its full potential, as if it was lit up. Without the Savior, there is no light, and you need to stay close and realize that again, light is everything. It’s only through Jesus Christ that we can truly become what He wants us to become and what we need to become. I'm so impressed at these beautiful images that you created that represent our theme, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. We’ve learned that that as we let His light shine through us, that we can bring real beauty into the world, that His light is what we hope that the whole world will see.

You know, as we watched that video, I was reminded of the importance of shining our light so that the whole world can see. The theme scripture talks about this, that disciples are called to declare His word among His people.

It's important to testify of important truths as we're prompted by the Holy Spirit. And so the question for you is, When have you had a chance to testify as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Can you think of times when that happened? Or, when has somebody else’s testimony strengthened yours?

This has been a powerful learning experience for me. I hope it has been for you also. I have loved what we have learned about being disciples in training, and I've loved the reminder that this is a lifelong pursuit and that refining and building will be part of the process all along the way. In fact, I am so excited to be able to watch this renovation come in place and all of us will get to watch it. And maybe it will be a reminder to us of what we've learned.

A reminder that we're just trying to be a little better every day. That we're endeavoring to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.

You know, it's nice during this program to remember that as we make a commitment to deepen our discipleship to the Savior, that doesn't mean that everything's going to go perfectly. Sometimes the rain is still going to fall and the wind is still going to blow. But our promise to you is that the Savior will see you through those times, and that there are things we can do to go through those times in a happy state, standing in holy places with holy people that will sustain us, speaking truth and living those truths and obeying the promptings of the Spirit when we feel them will get us through anything in this life.

Well, we have learned that becoming a disciple is a work in progress for every one of us. And when we talk about deep conversion in our walk to be disciples, every one of us is a disciple in training.

Can a testimony be deeper? Well, of course, we can always go a little bit deeper than where we currently are. We can always deepen our witness of Jesus Christ.

This year, we're going to have the opportunity to live as disciples in training.

The theme, the 2024 theme that comes from 3 Nephi 5:13,

will be an inspiration to us. It reads, Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life.

If you'll study this verse throughout the year, it will strengthen your desire to stand as a disciple and stand with Him.

I love this scripture so much. It's one of my very, most favorite scriptures, and I love the reminder as we read through that discipleship is a work in process. In fact, I can see it in my own life. I look at where we are again, I look at this rebuilding process. I think about this rain just pouring down on us. I think about the mud on our boots. And I love this thought that this is just a work that we are engaged in, and I can see it in my own life. It doesn't happen overnight. This is going to be a lifelong pursuit.

In fact, standing here reminds me of those figurines that we saw in your

office. Yeah, those disciples in training, and each of them at a different place in their life, but all of them working together to become lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. And as I think about that, Elder Stevenson, I think about you and I think about your experience as a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is a real privilege for us to be able to stand here with you today and to learn from you. And I think about the youth all over the world. What a great privilege is ours to actually learn from an Apostle of God, from someone who has been called as a special witness of Jesus Christ. And I'm grateful for your example,

and I'm grateful for what you are teaching us about holiness and holy places and holy people and holy truths. And I'm wondering if you would mind taking an opportunity to share with us what your lifelong pursuit of discipleship has been, and what it means to you to stand as a sacred, special witness of Jesus Christ as His disciple. Thank you so much. President Freeman and President Lund,

maybe my first thought is just an emotion of gratitude to each one of you who are here. Just your presence here in this discussion is an indication of your discipleship.

And, you know, it doesn't seem like it was that long ago that I was one of the rising generation. And as I think back on that, as I reflect on that, I'm grateful for leaders and friends and family who were with me on rainy days and were with me on sunny days,

and that helped me understand how powerful it is to be in the right place,

holy places to be with the right friends, holy friends, and to learn how to express my testimony

and to learn how to listen to promptings of the Holy Spirit, and when we receive those promptings, to act on them with urgency. And so

I'd like to invite each one of you, each one of you, to know the theme,

be familiar with it, to read it over and over again, to apply the attributes of discipleship over and over again.

And if you do that, I promise the Spirit will strengthen you over and over again. These are things that shape me, and these are things that will shape you as well.

So,

don’t forget. You’re going to stand in front of the mirror every morning, you're going to say, I am awesome. I'm a child of God. He knows me. He loves me. I am gifted with the Holy Ghost as my constant companion.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. And as I close, I bear my testimony to each one of you. I bear my witness of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that He lives and that He loves you. And I offer that testimony and witness to each one of you in the holy name of Jesus Christ, amen. Amen.

♪ I’ve heard the stories all my life. ♪

♪ The Prince of Peace. The Son of God. the Source of Endless Light. ♪ ♪ He healed the sick, ♪ ♪ and calmed the sea. ♪

♪ He puts to rest the thundering waves inside of me. ♪

♪ He rescued me. ♪

♪ He set me free. ♪

♪ Beautiful Savior. The Way, the Truth, divine King and Deliverer. ♪

♪ Redeemer of mankind. ♪ ♪ All of His many names show His power and grace. ♪ ♪ He’s the Light, the Healer, my God, the Savior of my soul. ♪

♪ Broken people, perfect love. ♪

♪ He paves the way and paid the price so we could rise above ♪ ♪ The bands of death and find relief. ♪

♪ With selfless pain, He bore His cross on Calvary. ♪

♪ He rescued me. ♪

♪ He set me free. ♪

♪ Beautiful Savior. The Way, ♪ ♪ the Truth, divine King and Deliverer. ♪

♪ Redeemer of mankind. ♪ ♪ All of His many names show His power and grace. ♪ ♪ He’s the Light, my Healer, my God, ♪ ♪ The Savior of my soul. ♪

♪ I will spend this life giving all my time ♪ ♪ Living line by line ♪

♪ Until I see ♪ ♪ How He’d trade His throne For a crown of thorns. ♪ ♪ And He did it all for me. ♪ ♪ Beautiful Savior. The Way, the Truth, divine King and Deliverer, ♪

♪ Redeemer of mankind. ♪ ♪ All of His many names show His power and grace. ♪ ♪ He’s the Light, my Healer, my God. ♪ ♪ The Savior of my soul. ♪