October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Gérald Caussé › Adults
Many Heartfelt I Knows
From “The Gift of Testimony,” by Elder Gérald Caussé · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
A testimony of Jesus Christ is a personal gift from God, and He gives it to us to be shared, simply and with love.
Objective
Learners will put their own witness of the Savior into one or two simple, true sentences and choose a person and a setting in which to share it this week.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Caussé’s talk, especially paragraphs T03.13–T03.22 and T03.26–T03.31.
- Bring a slip of paper and a pen for each person.
- Write on the board before class: Why me? and, beneath it, a blank line.
- Pray for one or two class members by name who may feel their testimony is too small to share.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
A better question
- Begin with prayer. Point to the board and explain that Elder Caussé said he often wondered why he was so privileged to receive a testimony, and never found a fully satisfying answer.
- Tell the class that over time he came to ask a better question. Write it on the blank line: “What does the Lord expect me to do with this gift?”
- Give everyone thirty seconds of silence with that question before anyone speaks.
- How does the second question change what you feel responsible for?
A gift that is uniquely yours
- Ask someone to read paragraph T03.13 aloud while the class listens for how a testimony is received and how it grows. List what they heard on the board (faith, earnest seeking, gospel living, the quiet influence of the Holy Ghost).
- Have the class turn to Doctrine and Covenants 46:13 and read it silently, then name the gift described there.
- Read the invitation in T03.14: “Please trust it, nurture it, and bear it, because it is uniquely yours.” Circle the three verbs on the board: trust, nurture, bear.
- Pair-share for two minutes using the questions below.
- Which of the three is hardest for you right now: to trust your testimony, to nurture it, or to bear it? Why?
- When have you been tempted to measure your testimony against someone else’s?
I know and I love you
- Divide into groups of three or four. Ask each group to read paragraphs T03.17–T03.20 together and mark every connection Elder Caussé makes between testimony and love.
- Ask each group to report one connection. Make sure both directions come out: saying “I know” is an expression of love, and saying “I love you” sincerely is a way of bearing witness of the Savior.
- Read the aligned quote from Elder Gilbert and ask how it fits what the groups found.
- Point out the promise in T03.20: when these expressions of faith and love come together, they help create an environment where the Spirit of the Lord can dwell and bring joy.
- Whose simple “I know” has stayed with you for years? What made it reach you?
- In your home or among your friends, which is said less often: I know or I love you? What would change if both were heard more?
The Almas around us
- Read Alma 36:17 together. Ask what Alma remembered in his moment of anguish, and from whom he had heard it.
- Read paragraphs T03.28–T03.29. Note that Elder Caussé calls that remembered witness a spark of hope.
- Invite everyone to think silently of one person who may be waiting to discover, or rediscover, hope in Jesus Christ. Ask them to write that person’s first name or initials on their slip of paper. No one will be asked to share the name.
- Read the first aligned quote, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s statement that Elder Caussé cites, and then T03.10. Ask how the witness of apostles and the witness of every member work together.
- Alma’s father could not have known when his words would be remembered. What does that suggest about a testimony we share that seems to go unheard?
Short, sincere and true
- Briefly retell the story of Elder Caussé’s niece in T03.21: at a Young Women camp she was so nervous she managed only two simple sentences, felt discouraged afterward, and her mother asked, “Do you believe what you said?”
- Read T03.22 aloud. Ask the class for the three things a testimony need not be and the one thing it needs to be.
- Silent writing, two minutes: on the back of the slip, each person writes one or two sentences of witness they truly believe, in words they would naturally use. Elder Caussé’s examples in T03.31 can serve as models.
- Invite everyone to turn to a neighbor and say their sentences aloud once. Anyone who prefers may simply read them silently. This is the check for understanding: every person leaves having put a witness into words.
Look each day
- Read the invitation from T03.31 in the invitations list, and then the promise in T03.27: as we share our testimony freely it will grow stronger, we will draw closer to the Lord, and we will become instruments in His hands.
- Ask each person to write on the slip one setting from Elder Caussé’s list (home, testimony meeting, a ministering visit, social media, an everyday conversation) where they will share their sentences this week with the person they named.
- Tell the class that next week you will begin by asking two or three people what happened when they looked for an opportunity. Close with your own brief witness of the Savior.
Key passages from the talk
“Our testimony is not a talent to be hidden. It is a gift to be shared—with grateful hearts and in a spirit of humility and love.”
“To say ‘I know’ is a tender expression of love toward our neighbor.”
“It need not be long, eloquent, or dramatic—it only needs to be true.”
“How many ‘Almas’ are there around you waiting to hear your witness and discover, or rediscover, the hope that is found in Jesus Christ?”
The speaker’s direct invitations
“I invite you to look each day for opportunities, as prompted by the Holy Ghost, to bear witness of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel”
“Please trust it, nurture it, and bear it, because it is uniquely yours.”
Scriptures
- D&C 46:13 Read silently in the second segment; ask the class to name the gift described and connect it to Elder Caussé’s phrase about a precious gift from God.
- Alma 36:17 Read aloud in the fourth segment; ask what Alma remembered in his anguish and who had borne that witness to him.
- Mosiah 18:9 For home study or if time allows: read and ask how sharing our witness helps us keep the covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Christ (see T03.12).
Other voices that agree
“The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ.”
“For disciples of Jesus Christ, truth and love always walk together.”
Three things to remember
- My testimony is a personal gift from God, and it is uniquely mine.
- A testimony does not need to be long or eloquent; it only needs to be true.
- Sharing what I know is a way of loving people, and loving people is a way of bearing witness of Christ.
Ways to act this week
- Each morning this week, pray to notice one opportunity to bear witness of the Savior, even for a minute or two.
- Share the one or two sentences you wrote with the person whose name is on your slip, in the setting you chose.
- At home, pair one sincere I know with one sincere I love you in the same conversation.
- Write down what happened and how you felt, and come ready to tell the class next week.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Adapting the lesson
- At home with two or three adults: skip the groups, read T03.17–T03.20 aloud together, and let each person finish the sentence I know… and the sentence I love… for the others in the room.
- Large class: keep the pair-shares and take only two reports from each discussion so that the writing segment is not cut.
- Only fifteen minutes: teach the first, fifth and sixth segments.
This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.