Be a Strong Link
From “Come to the Lord in His Holy House,” by Elder Gerrit W. Gong · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
In the house of the Lord, Jesus Christ unites families on both sides of the veil, and I can be a strong link in my eternal family.
Objective
Youth will explain in their own words why the temple matters to them now and choose one specific way to be a strong link this week.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Gong's talk. Mark paragraphs 2-4, 12, 25-28 and 32.
- Cut about 30 strips of paper (roughly 3 by 20 cm) and bring two rolls of tape or two staplers, plus pens.
- Write on the board: Why did the temple workers cross the road?
- Ask youth to have scriptures or Gospel Library ready. Phones will be used in segment 5; plan to pair up anyone without one.
- Remember that some youth are the only members in their family, or have family situations that are complicated. Elder Gong's own parents were the only members in either of their families. Let that be good news in your class.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Riddle and chain race
- As youth arrive, point to the riddle on the board and take guesses. Give Elder Gong's first answer: to help the people on the other side. Say that he gave a second answer at the end, and you will come back to it.
- Split into two teams. Give each team strips, tape and one pen. They have 90 seconds to build the longest paper chain they can, with a different name written on each link (their own names first, then family members or people they love).
- Call time. Measure the chains. Have each team gently pull its chain until it breaks, and notice that one link giving way was enough. Keep it light; the point is the chain, not whose name was on the link.
- What decided how strong the whole chain was?
A strong link
- Read paragraph 28 aloud together. Ask youth to listen for what Elder Gong says about his own father and mother.
- Pair-share for two minutes on the first question below. Then take a few answers from the whole class.
- Read Elder Morgan's sentence (aligned quote, T13.18). Ask the second question.
- Say plainly: wherever you are in your family's story, first link or fifth generation, Elder Gong's invitation is the same (invitation, T01.28).
- Elder Gong says some new converts feel alone. What does he tell them, and how could that help someone your age who feels like the only one in their family or school trying to follow the Savior?
- If covenants bless more than the person who makes them, who could be blessed by the covenants you keep?
Six-word headlines
- Ask: Honestly, why does the temple matter to someone who is 13 or 17? Take one or two quick answers without correcting them.
- Form three groups. Group 1 reads paragraphs 3-4. Group 2 reads paragraph 6 and Moses 1:39. Group 3 reads paragraphs 11-12.
- Each group has three minutes to write a headline of six words or fewer that captures what the Lord does for us in His house, and to choose the one phrase from the paragraph that proves it.
- Groups read their headline and their phrase. Let the class vote for the headline they would most want to remember (no voting for your own).
- Check for understanding: ask one volunteer to answer the opening question again, using something they just read.
- Which of these blessings do you want most right now: safety, family, or healing and forgiveness? Why?
Big or small?
- Tell the story from paragraphs 25-26 in your own words: someone told Elder Gong they were happy to have a temple but sorry it was small. Read his answer (key quote 2).
- Role play in pairs, two minutes. One person plays a friend who says their temple is not as impressive as one in another city, or complains about a long wait at the baptistry. The other answers kindly, using Elder Gong's idea in their own words. Then switch.
- Ask one pair to show the class. Then ask the question below.
- Elder Gong says attending the temple is a sacred privilege and not an entitlement. What does gratitude look and sound like when you are actually there?
Find a link
- Read paragraph 22 and ask youth to pick out the three things Elder Gong says we can do now that temples are closer.
- Phones out, with a purpose. Each youth (or pair) opens the Family Tree app or FamilySearch and has four minutes to find one ancestor they did not know about and one fact about that person. Anyone without an account or a tree writes two questions they will ask an older relative this week.
- Ask two or three youth to introduce the person they found in one sentence.
- Read the promise in paragraph 28: when you take family names to the temple, your eternal family extends on both sides of the veil.
Choose your link
- Return to the riddle. Read Elder Gong's second answer (key quote 3).
- Hand each youth one blank strip. They write one thing they will do this week to be a strong link (see Act this week), then take it home or tape it inside their scriptures.
- Bear a short testimony that Jesus Christ is the one who unites families. Follow up: tell them you will add a link to the class chain next week for every person who reports back, and do it.
Key passages from the talk
“Whatever generation you are in the Church, in the chain of your eternal family, please be a strong link.”
“ordinances are not big or small. Covenants are not big or small. Please let us never speak of a temple as big or small, elaborate or plain. Let us always only speak with love and gratitude for ‘Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.’”
“So God and temple ordinances can protect, bless, and inspire; bring forgiveness, healing, and peace; and unite loved ones here and away.”
“In a world of commotion, contention, and cares, the Lord invites us to a place of spiritual safety, harmony, and holiness—the house of the Lord.”
The speaker’s direct invitations
“in the chain of your eternal family, please be a strong link”
“Please let us never speak of a temple as big or small, elaborate or plain.”
“let us always be grateful for the gifts of eternity sacred temples bring”
Scriptures
- Moses 1:39 Group 2 reads it with paragraph 6 and tells the class how Elder Gong connects Heavenly Father's work and glory to families.
- Doctrine and Covenants 128:9 Optional in segment 2: read it in pairs and look for the power the Prophet Joseph Smith describes. Ask how that power makes the links in a family chain hold.
- Alma 34:33 Use in segment 6 if time allows: read it with paragraph 13 and ask what Elder Gong says the Savior wants us to have now.
Other voices that agree
“They do not bless just the maker of the covenant but are generational in their impact.”
“It is often through families, despite all their imperfections, that our Father teaches us about His love.”
Three things to remember
- The house of the Lord is a place of safety and holiness in a noisy world, and it is for me.
- Jesus Christ unites families on both sides of the veil, and I can be a strong link in mine.
- Ordinances and covenants are not big or small, so I speak of every temple with love and gratitude.
Ways to act this week
- Find one family name this week and make a plan with a parent or leader to take it to the temple.
- Ask an older relative two questions about someone in your family you never met, and write down the answers.
- If you hold a temple recommend, set a date to go. If you do not yet, talk with your bishop or a parent about one step toward it.
- For one week, say only grateful things about your temple and the people who serve there, and say thank you to a temple worker the next time you go.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Families Can Be Together Forever
- I Love to See the Temple
Adapting the lesson
- At home: make one family chain together, read paragraph 28, and spend the phone time on your own family tree with a parent telling one story about a name you find.
- Small class (two or three youth): skip the teams and the vote. Build one chain together and let each youth write a headline for a different paragraph.
- Short on time: keep segments 1, 2 and 6, and give segment 5 as the challenge for the week.
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.