Two True Sentences
From “The Gift of Testimony,” by Elder Gérald Caussé · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
You do not need a perfect or impressive testimony to share it; a short, sincere witness of Jesus Christ carries power because the Holy Ghost confirms it.
Objective
Youth will write a testimony of two true sentences in their own words and choose one real moment this week to share it.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Caussé’s talk, especially T03.14, T03.21–T03.23 and T03.30–T03.31.
- Bring an index card or slip of paper and a pen for each person.
- Ask youth to bring scriptures or have the Gospel Library app open to Doctrine and Covenants 100.
- Write on the board: Long. Eloquent. Dramatic. True.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Sixty seconds
- As soon as the prayer ends, hand out the cards and say: You have sixty seconds. Write two things you honestly believe about God or Jesus Christ. Two sentences only. No one will collect these.
- When time is up, ask them to turn the cards face down and keep them.
- Ask for a show of hands on the questions below. Be honest about your own answer.
- Who found that harder than expected?
- Who has ever stayed in their seat in a testimony meeting because they thought what they had to say was not enough?
The girl at camp
- Ask a confident reader to read T03.21, the experience Elder Caussé’s niece shared from her youth.
- Ask the group to retell it in order: where she was, how many sentences she managed, how she felt in the days afterward, and what her mother asked her.
- Write her mother’s question on the board: “Do you believe what you said?”
- Point to the four words on the board. Read T03.22 and ask a youth to cross out the three words a testimony does not need to be and circle the one it does.
- Why do we compare our testimonies with other people’s? What does comparing do to us?
- If a friend told you they felt the way she did after camp, what would you say?
Where the power comes from
- Divide into two teams. Team one reads Doctrine and Covenants 100:5–8. Team two reads T03.23–T03.25. Each team has two minutes to find the answer to this question: If my words are simple, why would they matter to anyone?
- Each team sends one person to the board to write its answer in ten words or fewer. Let the group decide which answer says it most clearly, then read T03.23 to confirm that it is the Spirit, not words, that testifies of the truth.
- Read the aligned quote from Elder Stevenson and ask which of his three words is the easiest starting point for them.
- Answer the honest question many youth carry. Read T03.30 and point out the phrase about a testimony that is only the beginning of one, and T03.14, where Elder Caussé says our testimonies may differ from those of family members or fellow Saints.
- What can you honestly say right now, even if you would not yet say I know about everything?
I know and I love you
- Ask a youth to read T03.18–T03.19. Ask what Elder Caussé says the words “I know” express, and what a sincere “I love you” does.
- In pairs, give two minutes to list as many real places as they can where a youth could share a one-line belief naturally. Start them with Elder Caussé’s own list in T03.31: home, testimony meeting, ministering, social media, everyday interactions. The pair with the longest realistic list reads it aloud.
- Role play, two minutes: in the same pairs, one person plays a friend who asks, Why do you go to church every week? The other answers in one or two honest sentences. Switch.
- Briefly tell how Alma, at his lowest moment, remembered his father’s witness of Jesus Christ (Alma 36:17). Ask them to think silently of one person their age who might need a spark of hope like that.
- What makes sharing a belief feel natural instead of awkward or preachy?
Write it for real
- Ask everyone to turn their card over and reread their two sentences from the start of class. Ask the niece’s mother’s question: Do you believe what you wrote?
- Give three minutes of quiet to rewrite the two sentences on the other side, in the words they would actually use. Show Elder Caussé’s two examples from T03.31 as models of how simple it can be.
- Invite them to take out their phones and type their sentences into a note, or into a draft message to one person they thought of. They decide later whether and when to send it; no one should feel pushed to post anything.
- Invite two or three volunteers to read their sentences aloud. Thank each one without commenting on wording. This is your check for understanding.
The one-week challenge
- Read the invitation from T03.31 in the invitations list. Stress the words each day and prompted by the Holy Ghost.
- Read the promise in T03.27: as they share freely, their own testimony will grow stronger and they will draw closer to the Lord.
- Challenge: share your two sentences with one person this week, out loud or in writing, and say one sincere I love you at home. Ask them to write the person’s initials on the card and keep it in their scriptures or phone case.
- Tell them you will start next week by asking who did it and what happened, and that you will report on your own attempt first. Close with your two sentences.
Key passages from the talk
“It need not be long, eloquent, or dramatic—it only needs to be true.”
“Your testimony may be different from mine or that of other family members or fellow Saints. Please trust it, nurture it, and bear it, because it is uniquely yours.”
“If you have received the gift of a testimony—even if it is only the beginning of one—it is your duty and privilege to share it.”
“do you realize that your testimony can literally change lives—your own and the lives of others?”
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 100:5–8 Team one reads it in the third segment and reports, in ten words or fewer, what the Lord promises to do when we speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.
- Alma 36:17 Refer to it in the fourth segment; a youth may read it aloud. Ask whose witness Alma remembered and what it led him to do.
- D&C 68:6 Optional closing: read it as the promise that brought Elder Caussé peace when he was called (T03.02). Ask which phrase would help a nervous person stand up.
Other voices that agree
“I invite you to do something that is as simple as gospel fruit is delicious: love, share, and invite.”
Three things to remember
- My testimony does not have to sound like anyone else’s; it only needs to be true.
- The Holy Ghost, not my wording, carries a testimony to another person’s heart.
- Even the beginning of a testimony is a gift worth sharing.
Ways to act this week
- Share your two sentences with one person this week, out loud, in a note or in a message.
- Pray each morning to notice one moment when the Holy Ghost prompts you to say what you believe.
- Say one sincere I love you to someone at home and notice how it changes the feeling there.
- Keep your card where you will see it and add a third sentence when you find you believe one more thing.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- I Know That My Redeemer Lives
Adapting the lesson
- At home with one or two youth: do the sixty-second card together with a parent writing too, read T03.21–T03.22, and share your sentences with each other at the end.
- Large class: run the team activity in four teams, two on each reading, and take only one volunteer per team in the writing segment.
- Short on time: keep the first, second, 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.