Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Brother David J. Wunderli · First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency · Saturday Afternoon Session
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This class in one line
Jesus Christ is not the source of our burdens, He is the relief from them, and keeping Him close through daily, intentional worship is how we carry the weight of life.
Skip the full list of five 'You keep Him with you' practices; name just one or two and let the class add the others so discussion stays alive.
Before Sunday
Come ready to talk about what actually lightens a heavy load
This Sunday we're discussing a talk by Brother David J. Wunderli from the most recent general conference called 'Jesus Christ Is Not Our Burden; He Is Our Relief.' Before you come, you might read or listen to it at churchofjesuschrist.org. As you do, notice the moment in the talk that lands hardest for you personally. Ponder: When life has felt heaviest, what has kept you from setting Jesus aside to lighten the load?
Pick one opening
Think of a time when something you were carrying, a responsibility, a habit, a relationship, a worry, felt like dead weight. What was your first instinct about how to get relief? Take thirty seconds to think, then share with someone near you if you're willing.
Think of a time when something you were carrying, a responsibility, a habit, a relationship, a worry, felt like dead weight. What was your first instinct about how to get relief? Take thirty seconds to think, then share with someone near you if you're willing.
Brother Wunderli's six-year-old son packed only one thing for a family hike: a small picture of Jesus Christ his Primary teacher had given him. Along the trail he filled his backpack with rocks he wanted to keep. The pack got so heavy he fell over. His dad jokingly suggested removing the picture of Jesus to lighten the load. The look on that boy's face stopped him cold.
Teach this first
When life grows heavy, the enemy's lie is that removing Jesus Christ from our daily lives will make the road easier. But Brother Wunderli teaches the opposite: Christ has taken our pains and sicknesses upon Himself so He knows exactly how to help us. Abiding with Him does not add to our burden, it is the very thing that makes the burden bearable.
Brother Wunderli, quoting Joshua, a sixteen-year-old new member in West Africa, asked what the gospel had done for his family. His single word answer: 'Relief.'
Ask the class
If time remains
The talk is specific: we keep Christ with us through daily prayer, daily scripture study, daily repentance, and weekly covenant renewal. Abiding with Him is not passive, it is a repeated, morning-by-morning decision.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, pick one morning practice from the talk, prayer, scripture study, repentance, or covenant renewal, and do it with deliberate intent for seven days, treating it as the thing you pack first, before anything else goes in the bag.
Brother Wunderli teaches that walking with Christ shapes our character, deepens our capacity to love and forgive, and brings real and lasting joy, not because life becomes easy, but because He has overcome the world and knows how to succor us.
Your witness: Share, in your own words, what it has meant to you personally to keep Christ in your pack rather than leave Him behind, and what you know about who He actually is to you.