Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
President D. Todd Christofferson · Second Counselor in the First Presidency · Saturday Morning Session
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This class in one line
This class explores what it truly means to sustain Church leaders, not as a formality, but as a personal, active covenant made before God.
Skip a lengthy history of solemn assemblies. One principle, what sustaining actually commits us to, taught well is plenty for 25 minutes.
Before Sunday
Sunday: What does it mean when we raise our hand?
This past general conference included a solemn assembly, one of the most sacred events in the Church, in which members worldwide voted to sustain President Dallin H. Oaks as prophet and the other leaders of the Church. President Christofferson described it as each person choosing, by uplifted hand, to sustain. Re-read his short remarks at ChurchofJesusChrist.org before Sunday. Ponder: When you raised your hand, what were you actually committing to do?
Pick one opening
Think back to the solemn assembly during general conference. When the invitation came to stand and raise your hand, wherever you were in the world, what did you feel in that moment? What went through your mind? Take a minute and share with someone near you.
Think back to the solemn assembly during general conference. When the invitation came to stand and raise your hand, wherever you were in the world, what did you feel in that moment? What went through your mind? Take a minute and share with someone near you.
Imagine being in the Conference Center, or in your living room, and hearing President Christofferson say: 'Please express your support in the usual way with the uplifted hand.' Then, group by group, quorum by quorum, millions of people around the world stood and lifted their hands. At the end, he said simply: 'Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your sustaining vote. We are grateful for your faith and prayers in our behalf.' That final line stayed with me. Our leaders were genuinely grateful. Why?
Teach this first
President Christofferson's exact words were that we 'choose to sustain', the uplifted hand is an active, personal declaration. It is not a rubber stamp or a formality. The solemn assembly was called a 'sacred event,' suggesting that what we vote with our hands, we are covenanting with our lives.
President Christofferson invited each group to stand and express 'by your uplifted hand that you choose to sustain those whose names will be presented.'
Ask the class
If time remains
The solemn assembly moved through quorums and groups in a specific, deliberate order, First Presidency, Twelve, Seventies, Patriarchs, High Priests, Elders, Relief Society, Aaronic Priesthood, Young Women, and finally all members together. That order is not procedural bureaucracy; it reflects how the Lord organizes His covenant people.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
Before next Sunday, do one concrete thing that reflects your sustaining vote: pray specifically for President Oaks or another General Authority by name, or follow through on something you've been prompted to do that you've been putting off.
President Christofferson expressed that the leaders are 'grateful for your faith and prayers in our behalf', implying that our sustaining is a form of faith that blesses both the leaders and those who offer it.
Your witness: Share what the solemn assembly meant to you personally, not what you think it should mean, but what it actually stirred in you when you watched it or participated in it.