Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
Elder Quentin L. Cook · Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles · Sunday Afternoon Session
Recommended path
Mix and match to create one 25-minute interactive lesson. Swap any activity for an option below.
This class in one line
Because Elijah restored the sealing keys to Joseph Smith, families can be bound together eternally, and that gift is inseparable from the Atonement and Resurrection we celebrate at Easter.
Skip rehearsing the full Church-history timeline of Moroni's visits and the Kirtland Temple dedication; trust that members can read those details in the talk. Use that time for discussion instead.
Before Sunday
Sunday's lesson: What Elijah's return means for your family
This Sunday we'll discuss Elder Quentin L. Cook's April 2026 general conference talk, 'Keys, Covenants, and Easter.' He connects the Resurrection of Jesus Christ with the restoration of the sealing keys, the power Elijah brought back that makes eternal families possible. If you have a moment before Sunday, you might read Doctrine and Covenants 2:1–3, which records what the angel Moroni told 17-year-old Joseph Smith about Elijah. Ponder: What does it mean to you personally that priesthood keys have been restored so families can be sealed?
Pick one opening
Think about a family relationship that matters deeply to you, a spouse, a parent, a child, someone you've lost. What would it mean to you to know that relationship didn't have to end at death? Take just a moment, you don't have to share, and then let's talk about what Elder Cook taught that speaks directly to that feeling.
Think about a family relationship that matters deeply to you, a spouse, a parent, a child, someone you've lost. What would it mean to you to know that relationship didn't have to end at death? Take just a moment, you don't have to share, and then let's talk about what Elder Cook taught that speaks directly to that feeling.
Elder Cook describes a moment in a temple sealing room during a tour for Jewish leaders. Elder Holland, tears in his eyes, felt compelled to tell them that Elijah had indeed come, that the keys foretold in their own scriptures had been restored, and that the room where they were standing is where those keys are exercised today. Some of their Jewish guests were visibly moved. That moment is where our lesson begins.
Teach this first
When Elijah appeared in the Kirtland Temple in 1836, he committed priesthood keys to Joseph Smith, the same power he had exercised anciently and conferred on Peter, James, and John at the Transfiguration. Those keys authorize the ordinances performed in temples today that seal husbands and wives, parents and children, across generations and beyond death. Without them, Elder Cook teaches, the whole earth would be 'utterly wasted', there would be no eternal families.
Elder Cook: 'Elijah committed to Joseph Smith the priesthood keys pertaining to the sealing power to bind sacred ordinances and covenants on earth and in heaven… to seal husbands and wives, parents and children.'
Ask the class
If time remains
Elder Cook ties the Resurrection directly to the sealing keys: the Atonement breaks the bands of death, and the sealing power means we return to the Father and Son together as families. Neither gift stands alone.
Ask the class
Counsel together
Last 3–5 minutes
This week, do one thing that connects you to a family member, living or deceased. It might be beginning or continuing family history work, writing a letter, having a conversation you've been putting off, or simply reading the sealing covenant you've made and reflecting on what it promises.
Elder Cook promised: 'As you adhere to His ordinances, covenants, and commandments, you will grow closer in your relationship with our Savior as well as your appreciation and gratitude for the sealing keys that have been restored in this dispensation.'
Your witness: Share what the sealing power, or the Resurrection, has meant in your own family, and close with your witness of Jesus Christ as the reason any of this is possible.