Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Brian J. Holmes · Of the Seventy · Saturday Afternoon Session
Recommended path
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Because Jesus Christ is not just our guide but the path itself, binding ourselves to Him through covenant is the only way to navigate life's steepest stretches and return home.
Skip the secondary principle on prophets if discussion runs long, one rich conversation on covenants is worth more than two rushed ones.
Before Sunday
Sunday we're discussing a talk about what keeps us on the path when it gets steep.
Elder Brian J. Holmes of the Seventy shared the story of a blind marathon runner who finished one of the world's hardest races tethered to a guide. Elder Holmes connects that image to how Jesus Christ guides us through covenants. Read or listen to 'Jesus Christ Is the Way' from the October 2025 general conference before Sunday if you can.
Pick one opening
Think of a time in your life when you genuinely didn't know which way to go, spiritually, practically, or both. Without sharing anything too personal, what did it feel like to be in that fog? What finally helped you find your footing?
Think of a time in your life when you genuinely didn't know which way to go, spiritually, practically, or both. Without sharing anything too personal, what did it feel like to be in that fog? What finally helped you find your footing?
Elder Holmes and his wife ran the Jungfrau-Marathon in Switzerland, one of the most difficult marathons in the world, climbing over 6,400 feet through the Alps. Near the end, the path turns steep and narrow and runners go single file. Then Elder Holmes learned that one of the finishers was blind. He ran the whole race tethered to a guide. On the hardest sections, the guide moved ahead and called out every obstacle, every step. The blind runner finished because he stayed bound to his guide.
Teach this first
Elder Holmes teaches that Jesus Christ is not merely a guide pointing us toward a path, He is the path. We walk that path by making and keeping covenants: faith, repentance, ordinances, and enduring to the end. The covenants are the tether. They bind us to Him, and as long as we hold on, He is bound to us. The blessings flow from continued faithfulness, not just from having once participated.
Elder David A. Bednar, quoted in the talk: 'The covenant connection we have with our Heavenly Father and His resurrected and living Son is the supernal source of perspective, hope, power, peace, and enduring joy.'
Ask the class
If time remains
Elder Holmes argues that accepting Jesus while rejecting His chosen prophets is a contradiction on Christ's own terms, Jesus said, 'He that heareth you heareth me.' Apostles and prophets exist not to control us but to keep us established, anchored against shifting doctrine and cultural drift.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
Choose one covenant practice this week, a prayer, scripture study, temple attendance, or simply renewing your commitment at the sacrament, and treat it consciously as tightening your tether to Christ.
Elder Holmes, drawing on scripture quoted in the talk, promises that those who hearken to the Lord's voice and the voice of His servants 'shall not be moved out of their place.'
Your witness: Share briefly what it has meant to you personally that Christ is not just pointing at the path but is the path, and what difference that makes on your hardest days.