October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder Matthew J. Eyring › Children

30-minute lesson · Children · Ages 3–11: Primary or home

The Holy Ghost Comforts Me

From “Comfort from the Holy Ghost,” by Elder Matthew J. Eyring · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

When I am sad or scared, Jesus sends the Holy Ghost to comfort me.

Objective

Children will be able to say that the Holy Ghost comforts them and will name one thing they can do when they feel sad or scared: pray to Heavenly Father.

Before you teach

  • Read Elder Matthew J. Eyring's talk, Comfort from the Holy Ghost, especially the last two paragraphs.
  • Bring a soft blanket, a bag or backpack filled with a few heavy books, paper, and crayons.
  • Mark John 14:18 in your scriptures.
  • Be ready to sing The Holy Ghost. Children who do not know it can hum or listen.

Lesson plan

Thirty minutes in 7 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.

3 min0–3

Welcome and song

  1. Greet each child by name. Invite a child to pray.
  2. Sing The Holy Ghost together, or A Child's Prayer if the children know it better.
  3. Teach the sentence for today and have the children say it with you three times, first in a whisper, then in a speaking voice, then with a hand over the heart: The Holy Ghost comforts me.
4 min3–7

Too heavy for one

  1. Set the heavy bag on the floor. Let one or two children try to lift it with one hand. Keep it light enough that no one can be hurt.
  2. Ask a second child to help, and lift it together. Then help them yourself.
  3. Say: Elder Eyring taught that everyone, even grown-ups, will have things that are too heavy to carry alone. He did not mean bags. He meant feelings like being very sad, scared, or lonely.
  4. Ask the question below, and thank each child who answers.
Ask
  • What does it feel like when someone helps you with something that is too heavy?
5 min7–12

The Comforter

  1. Hold up the blanket. Ask what a blanket does for us when we are cold or tired.
  2. Explain that Jesus promised His friends He would send a Comforter to stay with them. The Comforter is the Holy Ghost. We cannot see Him, but He can help us feel peaceful and loved inside.
  3. Pass the blanket around the circle. Each child wraps it around their shoulders for a moment and says: The Holy Ghost comforts me.
  4. Say: A blanket warms the outside of us. The Holy Ghost comforts the inside of us.
5 min12–17

A story from the talk

  1. Tell the story simply. Elder Eyring and his wife went to dinner with a young husband and wife who were very sad because something very hard had happened in their family. Elder Eyring and his wife had once felt that same kind of sadness, so they understood. They sat at the table, listened, and talked about hope.
  2. Continue: After dinner Elder Eyring gave the father a priesthood blessing. In the blessing the Holy Ghost whispered that the father would have peace. When the couple went home, their faces were shining with the light of Jesus.
  3. Act it out. Choose children to sit at a pretend table and listen kindly to one another. Have everyone show a sad face, then a peaceful face.
  4. Ask the questions below.
Ask
  • Who helped the mother and father feel peace?
  • How can we help someone who is sad?
4 min17–21

Draw near

  1. Stand at one side of the room and have the children line up at the other.
  2. Tell them Jesus made a promise: when we come closer to Him, He comes closer to us.
  3. Name ways we draw near to Jesus, one at a time: I pray. I sing a Primary song. I listen to the scriptures. I am kind. Each time, the children take one step toward you and you take one step toward them.
  4. When you meet in the middle, say together: The Holy Ghost comforts me.
6 min21–27

Draw and tell

  1. Give each child paper and crayons.
  2. Invite them to draw themselves praying at a time when they feel sad or scared. They may draw the blanket around their shoulders to remind them of the Comforter.
  3. As they draw, move from child to child and ask each one to tell you about the picture.
  4. Help each child write or trace at the top: The Holy Ghost comforts me.
3 min27–30

Jesus's promise

  1. Gather the children close. Open your scriptures to John 14:18 and read the promise Elder Eyring shared at the end of his talk: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”
  2. Check for understanding: ask, Who comforts us? What can we do when we are sad or scared? Listen for the Holy Ghost and for praying.
  3. Have the children repeat after you the words Elder Fale said at this conference (see the aligned quote). Bear a short witness that Jesus Christ lives.
  4. Invite them to pray this week whenever they feel sad or scared, and to show their picture to someone at home. Tell them you will ask about it next week. Close with prayer.

Key passages from the talk

“There is hope in Jesus Christ.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 10

“I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 18

“The Savior’s peace is made manifest through the comforting power of the Holy Ghost.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 17

Scriptures

  • John 14:18 Read aloud from your scriptures in the closing segment as Jesus's promise to each child.
  • John 14:16–17 Use in the blanket activity: tell the children in your own words that Jesus promised to send a Comforter to stay with us.
  • D&C 88:63 The idea behind the stepping game. Older children can read it aloud before the game begins.

Other voices that agree

“I am a child of God and He loves me.”

Elder Fale · I Am a Child of God, paragraph 1

Three things to remember

  • The Holy Ghost comforts me.
  • When I am sad or scared, I can pray to Heavenly Father.
  • Jesus promised He will not leave me without comfort.

Ways to act this week

  • Pray to Heavenly Father when you feel sad or scared this week.
  • Put your picture where you will see it at bedtime.
  • When you see someone who is sad, sit by them and be kind.

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

Music

  • The Holy Ghost
  • A Child's Prayer

Adapting the lesson

  • Ages 3–7. Shorten the story to three sentences and let the children hold the blanket while you tell it. Repeat the stepping game twice, since they will ask for it. Use helpers to lift the bag and to pass the blanket. Say the sentence The Holy Ghost comforts me after every activity.
  • Ages 8–11. Have one child read John 14:18 and another read Doctrine and Covenants 88:63 aloud. Let an older child lead the stepping game and choose the ways we draw near. Ask a harder question: How can the Holy Ghost comfort us even when the hard thing does not go away? Invite them to write one sentence under their drawing about a time they felt peace.

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.