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

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

Not Everything Can Be Fixed. Everything Can Be Comforted.

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

Some problems are too big for us to fix, and the Savior sends the Holy Ghost to comfort us and give us hope while we go through them.

Objective

Youth will be able to explain in their own words how the Savior comforts us through the Holy Ghost, and will choose one way to invite the Spirit and one way to comfort a friend this week.

Before you teach

  • Read Elder Matthew J. Eyring's talk, Comfort from the Holy Ghost, especially paragraphs 1–2, 6 and 17.
  • Write eight problems on separate slips of paper: a cracked phone screen, a failed test, a messy room, a friend who is moving away, a grandparent who is very sick, feeling lonely at school, an argument with a brother or sister, a habit I keep going back to.
  • On the board make two columns: I can fix this. I can't fix this alone.
  • Bring paper and pens. Ask youth to have their scriptures or the Gospel Library app ready.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Fix it or not

  1. As youth walk in, hand each one a slip and have them stick or set it under one of the two columns on the board. No explanation yet.
  2. Once the slips are up, invite an opening prayer.
  3. Ask the group to challenge any slip they think is in the wrong column. Let them argue briefly; several slips belong in both.
  4. Ask the question below, and take two or three quick answers.
Ask
  • What is different about the problems in the second column?
5 min3–8

A phone call

  1. Tell how the talk begins. A friend of Elder Eyring got a call from his wife: their young married son had unexpectedly passed away the night before. He said one thought came to his mind: “I can’t fix this.”
  2. Have a youth read the first key quote, from paragraph 2.
  3. Ask the questions below. Be gentle; some in the room may be living in the second column right now. No one has to share anything personal.
Ask
  • We are taught to solve problems and be strong. Why might Elder Eyring say that is not the whole picture?
  • What do people your age usually do with a problem they cannot fix? What helps, and what only hides it for a while?
7 min8–15

Promise hunt

  1. Make three teams. Assign one passage to each: Doctrine and Covenants 88:63, John 14:16–18, and Philippians 4:7.
  2. Each team has three minutes to read its verses and write the Lord's promise in six words or fewer, in their own words, on a sheet of paper.
  3. Teams hold up their sheets and read them. Let everyone vote, with eyes closed and a raised hand, for the clearest one that is not their own.
  4. Read the second key quote, from paragraph 6, and ask which team's promise it matches best.
  5. Ask the question below.
Ask
  • John 14 calls the Holy Ghost a Comforter. Why do you think the Savior chose that name for Him?
6 min15–21

What if I don't feel anything?

  1. Say that this is an honest question and that many faithful people ask it.
  2. Have youth scan paragraph 6 of the talk on their phones and find what Elder Eyring says about when and how comfort and answers come. They should find that the Lord answers on His timetable, and that answers sometimes come as tools, resources, and help from other people.
  3. Read Elder Kearon's words in the aligned quotes, then Elder Dunn's.
  4. In pairs, have youth answer the first question below. Then ask the second question to the whole group and share an experience of your own if it is fitting.
Ask
  • If comfort from the Spirit is not always words, what else can it be like?
  • When has peace or help come to you through another person, a scripture, or a quiet feeling, even though the problem was still there?
5 min21–26

Be someone's comfort

  1. Briefly tell about the dinner. Elder Eyring and his wife ate with a young couple whose baby, one of twins, had died right before birth. The Eyrings had been through a similar loss many years before. They did not fix anything. They listened, talked about loss and hope, and Elder Eyring gave the father a priesthood blessing that promised him peace.
  2. Have someone read Mosiah 18:9 and find the two things we promise at baptism that the Eyrings did that night.
  3. Role play in pairs. One person is a friend whose week has fallen apart (keep it made up and general). The other has one minute to respond without giving advice and without trying to fix it. Then switch.
  4. Ask the question below.
Ask
  • What did your partner say or do that actually helped? What would you leave out next time?
4 min26–30

Make it a priority

  1. Read the third key quote, from paragraph 17. Point out that Elder Eyring calls living worthy of the Spirit one of our highest priorities.
  2. Silent writing, on paper or in a phone note: one thing this week that pushes the Spirit out of my day, one thing I will do to invite Him, and one person I will check on.
  3. Check for understanding: ask two volunteers to explain in one sentence how the Savior comforts us when we cannot fix something.
  4. Share the promise Elder Eyring quoted: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.” Testify that there is hope in Jesus Christ. Tell the youth you will ask next week what they noticed, and then ask.

Key passages from the talk

“All of us, regardless of experience, talent, or willpower, will sooner or later encounter burdens we cannot possibly carry ourselves.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 2

“He knows exactly how we feel, especially in our darkest and most trying times.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 6

“That comfort will help us when we go through the inevitable hardships of life and times when we can’t fix things on our own. Living worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost should be one of our highest priorities.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 17

“There is hope in Jesus Christ.”

Elder Matthew J. Eyring’s talk, paragraph 10

Scriptures

  • D&C 88:63 Team one reads it and writes the Lord's promise in six words or fewer.
  • John 14:16–18 Team two reads it and writes the promise in six words or fewer; then discuss why the Holy Ghost is called a Comforter.
  • Philippians 4:7 Team three reads it and writes the promise in six words or fewer.
  • Mosiah 18:9 Read before the role play. Find the two things we promise to do for people who are hurting.

Other voices that agree

“The language of the Spirit of God is not a language of words.”

Elder Kearon · Jesus Lives to Lift, paragraph 23

“Peace will come even when hoped-for outcomes do not.”

Elder Dunn · The Ninety and Ten, paragraph 21

Three things to remember

  • Some things I cannot fix, and that is not a failure of faith.
  • The Savior knows exactly how I feel, and He sends the Holy Ghost to comfort me.
  • I can be part of the Lord's comfort for a friend by showing up and listening.

Ways to act this week

  • Pick one second-column problem in your life. Pray about it by name every day this week and tell the Lord you cannot fix it alone.
  • For seven days, trade ten minutes of scrolling for ten quiet minutes with the scriptures or a conference talk, and notice how you feel.
  • Message or sit with one person who is having a hard time. Do not give advice. Just be there.
  • At the end of each day, write one line in your phone about any moment of peace you noticed.

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

Music

  • Where Can I Turn for Peace?
  • Let the Holy Spirit Guide

Adapting the lesson

  • At home or with one or two youth: do the sorting slips together on a table, give each person one promise passage, and do the role play as a family.
  • Large class: make six teams for the promise hunt, two per passage, and compare the two versions of each promise.
  • Short on time: do segments 1, 3 and 6. If someone in the group is grieving, skip the role play and spend that time on Mosiah 18:9.

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.