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Let's dive into the invitations from Elder Kevin G. Brown's October 2025 General Conference address, "The Eternal Gift of Testimony."

Invitations

1 - "We are agents, and agents are responsible for something. In this case, we are responsible for the choices we make based on the knowledge we have and the gifts we are given. We cannot make a choice without being responsible for the consequences. Why do we have agency? To choose good. To choose Christ. To choose eternal life—again and again."

  • Application Idea: Learn more about agency from this long list of general conference talks tagged with that topic.

2 - "Brothers and sisters, a testimony is not given for temporary use. This gift from our loving Heavenly Father is meant to be eternal because the giver is eternal. A testimony should not have an expiration date. It should not weaken or diminish because something in my life has changed or something in the world has changed. It should get stronger because, like the servant's talents in the parable of the talents, my personal testimony is a gift to be multiplied—not buried.
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I cannot see a better way to use my agency than in defense of my testimony. President Nelson taught: 'I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth.' To me, the words take charge, work, care, own, nurture, and feed sound like an agent given stewardship for something precious and important."

  • Application Idea: Review the parable of the talents. Due to the English word association of talent with skill, it's easy to forget that the talents were literally a large sum of money, but can represent anything the Master has given us, including our testimonies. Ponder this parable with the idea of the talents representing testimony. What specific efforts could you make to double whatever light and knowledge the Lord has given you, as did the good and faithful servants?

3 - "I commend you for making your own way by asking questions, studying, praying, fasting, and pondering. Please don't stop. It is worth every effort to pursue this path to testimony. Who or what will you allow to take that away? 'What greater witness can you have than from God?'"

4 - "Every son or daughter of God can gain a deeper, firmer, and surer knowledge for themselves. Like Joseph Smith, who affirmed his testimony despite opposition, we can boldly say, 'I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it.'"

  • Application Idea: Check out Joseph Smith History 1:20–25 and/or Saints Volume 1 chapter 2 for more context.

    Too often, we hear these powerful words of Joseph Smith truncated to cut the phrase, "neither dared I do it." Without it, we miss a crucial element of something Joseph learned at a young age, that the scriptures teach us to fear God (aka, respect and reverence Him). In fact there's yet more after that phrase that further enhances the warning against denying God. Joseph said, "I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation." Our primary reason to never turn our backs on God and the testimonies He's given us should be our deep love for Him, but there should also be part of us that recoils at how brazen and eternally risky it would be to do so.

5 - "My dear brothers and sisters, let the small seedling of testimony work in you until it springs up to an everlastingly glorious sure knowledge. If you are a baptized and confirmed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but still struggle with 'I am not sure if I know,' please remember this promise in the sacrament prayer: 'That they may always have his Spirit to be with them.' Because of this promise, each of us can pursue the path to testimony and a sure knowledge."

  • Application Idea: Consider trying this: start your week by doing your best to prepare for and worthily partake of the sacrament. Then start your personal prayers by mentioning the sacrament blessing of always having his Spirit to be with you. Reason with Heavenly Father about this. Ask Him to help you retain the Spirit throughout that week and to strengthen your testimony.

6 - "Now here is a grand truth: In whatever way a testimony is given—whether it is distilled like the sunrise or comes in a glorious vision—it still requires a choice to receive this precious gift. Saying 'I choose to believe' makes it easier to receive a witness from God. If we find our testimony weakening, remember that it is the choices we make that diminish the power of the testimony. But the testimony has not gone anywhere. We just need to choose to reconnect with it. Choosing to believe is a wise and powerful way to use our agency.
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I invite you to think about your path to a sure witness of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Take charge of your testimony; use your agency wisely and acknowledge the giver and all His glorious attributes. I bear witness that the power is within you. No one can choose for you. No one can take this gift away. You can choose to believe."

  • Application Idea: Check out University of Utah jazz professor, Josiah Boornazian's amazing story he shared in our episode on Elder Cook's talk. Choosing to suspend his skepticism long enough to allow room to consider what it'd mean if the church were actually true changed everything for him. He received the witness he'd sought, but only after he chose to try the word. He chose to believe. GCA S6 E14 – Sunday, November 2, 2025 – Jazz Professor LDS Convert Becomes Seminary Teacher, Bishopric Counselor, & Does 2000+ Temple Ordinances Within 1st 3 Years! – "The Lord is Hastening His Work" by Elder Quentin L. Cook – Oct 2025 – Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube.

7 - "We need more sure witnesses of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Get there! Seek it! It is urgent! This is the final dispensation—the dispensation of the fulness of times."

  • Application Idea: Listen to then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks' 2002 BYU devotional, Timing. He discusses proper goal setting should focus on things within our control, not things subject to other people's agency or the timing of God's blessings. However, he pointed out that our spiritual commitments to God are squarely within our control. That makes them something we can act with urgency to improve, as Elder Brown directed.

Additional Resources

Download a copy of these invitations: Google Sheets | PDF. If you use these resources as a handout in Church, use the PDF (it prints prettier) and please invite the members of your ward to subscribe to the General Conference Applied newsletter and podcast!

General Conference Applied S6 E48. Temporary Testimonies? Bathrooms, Basketball, and a Sure Witness w/David Snell—Elder Kevin G. Brown, "The Eternal Gift of Testimony" - Amazon Music | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Social Media Preview. Clay and Mitch were joined by David Snell, the face of Keystone, whose goal is "to fortify Latter-day Saint faith and combat misinformation through good old-fashioned research, presented in an engaging, respectful, and easily-understandable way." David has become a widely-recognized LDS influencer with around 160k followers, cross-platform. Like us, David loves Elder Brown's message. We chat about how to avoid treating a testimony like it's for temporary use only, what basketball and dirt mounds have to do with defending our faith, and how a little competition with a sister missionary in Jamaica led Elder Brown to find his own sacred grove... in his bathroom!

External Resources Shared In This Episode:

Take Action

Clay's Application: It's become something of an accidental annual tradition for me to read Elder Richard G. Scott's short book, 21 Principles: Divine Truths to Help You Live By the Spirit. I say accidental, because I inevitably receive a spiritual reminder about it at some point during the year. This year, this talk brought it to mind, so I'll reread it. It's barely 100 small pages.

Mitch's Application: I will follow the example of Tad R. and Kathryn S. Callister of recording and organizing spiritual impressions. In chapter five of Teaching With Power: Drawing Your Family and Others to Christ, the Callisters wrote:

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Before we left to supervise the Canada Toronto Mission, Elder Richard G. Scott invited us, as he had done many others, to take the time to record every spiritual impression we received. He taught: 'Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. ... [That] practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light.' ...

[W]e ought to record the spiritual impressions that do come—however small they may be and however inconvenient the time. We do this for at least four reasons: (1) it allows us to preserve the knowledge exactly as given; (2) it allows us to preserve the spiritual feelings of the moment; (3) like small acorns, those thoughts may grow into spiritual oak trees as we nurture and ponder them; and (4) if we show the Lord we truly treasure and savor His word, we are likely to receive many more revelations. ...

We have personally found it helpful to create files with titles such as Faith, Baptism, Love, Families, and the Savior's Atonement. As we receive impressions, recognize inspired thoughts at church or while reading the scriptures or other books, or discover a good idea from a newspaper article, we record the impression or copy the source. This may be done either physically or electronically. These files have been an immense resource and help to us in writing books, giving talks, teaching lessons, and preparing for family scriptural discussions and for our general edification. We should preserve and treasure a constant flow of ideas and revelation.

Tad R. and Kathryn S. Callister, Teaching With Power: Drawing Your Family and Others to Christ

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