October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan › Youth

30-minute lesson · Youth · Ages 11–18: classes, quorums, or home

The Pull You Cannot See

From “The Infinite Power of God in Our Covenants,” by Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

The power of God in covenants reaches across generations to find us, and He leaves us free to answer.

Objective

Youth will be able to explain in their own words how covenants made by others can bless them, and will choose one thing to do this week with the testimony they already have.

Before you teach

  • Read Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan's talk, The Infinite Power of God in Our Covenants.
  • Bring a soft ball, paper, and pens. Ask youth to have scriptures or phones ready.
  • Write on the board: What is pulling on you that you cannot see?
  • Write the three honest questions from segment four on separate papers.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

3 min0–3

Drop it

  1. As soon as class starts, ask everyone to hold a pen at arm's length and drop it on the count of three. Toss the ball up and catch it. Ask if anyone's pen floated.
  2. Ask: You cannot see gravity. How do you know it is there? Does it ever skip a day?
  3. Point to the question on the board and say that Elder Morgan compared something in the gospel to gravity. Their job is to work out what and why.
6 min3–9

Fourteen, behind the accordion doors

  1. Tell the story in about two minutes: Elder Morgan grew up in a different church that also believes in the Book of Mormon. His mother read the Book of Mormon aloud to him every morning before school, whether he was listening or not. He remembers only two phrases from it, but he knew she knew it was true.
  2. Continue: at 14 he began to question and to seek sincerely. For two months he went to his family's congregation and also, secretly, to a congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, hiding between the accordion doors of the overflow. He came to know this is the Lord's Church. It was some time before he could join, and he faced questions and disappointment from his family.
  3. Ask partners to discuss the questions, then hear from a few.
Ask
  • He knew some things and was confused about others at the same time. Where are you like that right now?
  • What would it take for you to seek an answer the way he did?
7 min9–16

Covenant hunt

  1. Explain that later Elder Morgan wondered why a boy his age cared about religion at all. His wife said, “It was covenants.” His third-great-grandparents had made covenants in the temple in Nauvoo.
  2. Form two or three teams. Race: find Enos 1:15–18 and be the first team to say what Enos asked for and what the Lord covenanted. Then ask teams to guess how long that covenant took to be fulfilled. Give Elder Morgan's answer: more than 2,000 years.
  3. Have every team read Doctrine and Covenants 2:2 and say what gets planted, and where.
  4. Read the gravity key quote (paragraph 18). Each team writes a headline of eight words or fewer that captures it. Read the headlines aloud and let the class vote for the one they would remember.
6 min16–22

Three honest questions

  1. Lay out the three question papers. Let each trio pick one and prepare a 30-second answer using the paragraph listed.
  2. Question one: Does my family's faith decide mine? (Paragraph 14: covenants do not alter agency, yet they have a discernible impact.)
  3. Question two: What if I feel I have gone too far, or a friend has? (Paragraph 19, with President Holland's words. Add President Oaks's words from this conference, the aligned quote.)
  4. Question three: What if I am the first in my family, or my family does not believe as I do? (Paragraph 18: we are all intended beneficiaries of countless covenants, and covenants bless more than the one who makes them. Elder Morgan himself faced questions and disappointment from his family when he came to know this is the Lord's Church.)
  5. Hear each trio. Be honest that the pull is real and the choice is still theirs.
4 min22–26

What I know

  1. Have everyone read Joseph Smith—History 1:25 silently. Tell them Elder Morgan used Joseph's words to describe his own testimony at their age.
  2. Give two minutes of silent writing on paper or in phone notes: one thing I know, and one thing I am still seeking.
  3. Check for understanding: ask two volunteers to answer the board question in one sentence each. Listen for the covenants of others and God's love reaching toward them.
4 min26–30

This week

  1. Elder Morgan gave no formal invitation, so offer the challenges listed under Act and ask each person to choose one and tell a partner which.
  2. Read the lesson Elder Morgan said he learned: “No time or effort is ever wasted in reading the Book of Mormon.”
  3. Read the key quote from paragraph 22 and bear a brief testimony that the Savior reaches for each of them.
  4. Tell them you will start next week with a two-minute report. Next week, ask: What did you try, and what did you notice?

Key passages from the talk

“No time or effort is ever wasted in reading the Book of Mormon.”

Elder Morgan’s talk, paragraph 6

“Like the great binding power of gravity that stretches across the universe, covenants with God stretch over all time and all space.”

Elder Morgan’s talk, paragraph 18

“Don’t ever give up. Your story, your family’s story, is not all written.”

Elder Morgan’s talk, paragraph 22

Scriptures

  • Enos 1:15–18 Team race: find what Enos asked and what the Lord covenanted, then compare guesses with Elder Morgan's statement that it took more than 2,000 years to be fulfilled.
  • D&C 2:2 Teams read it and name what is planted in the hearts of the children; connect it to Elder Morgan's interest in religion at 14.
  • Joseph Smith—History 1:25 Read silently before the writing time; ask what Joseph was sure of even when others pushed back, and what each youth is sure of.

Other voices that agree

“He is relentless in His loving pursuit of each of you.”

President Oaks · The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is for All, paragraph 7

“He employs every possible measure to bring [us] back.”

Elder Patrick Kearon, quoted in this talk (paragraph 15)

Three things to remember

  • God's power in covenants is real even when I cannot see it.
  • Covenants others have kept can bless me, and the choice to follow the Savior is still mine.
  • Neither I nor anyone I care about is beyond the reach of God's love.

Ways to act this week

  • Read the Book of Mormon every day for seven days, even for five minutes, and note one thing you feel rather than one thing you remember.
  • Ask a parent, grandparent, or leader to tell you about someone whose faith came before yours, and write down one detail.
  • Take the question you wrote under still seeking to Heavenly Father in prayer each day this week.
  • Send an encouraging message to a friend who feels far from God, without preaching; just let them know they matter.

Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.

Music

  • As I Search the Holy Scriptures

Adapting the lesson

  • At home or with two or three youth: skip the teams. Do the pen drop, tell the story, read Enos 1:15–18 together, and let each person choose one honest question to talk through.
  • Large class: give each question paper to several trios and hear one answer per question.
  • Short on time: keep the pen drop, the story, the gravity quote, and the weekly challenge.

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.