Brave Enough to Believe
From “Courage Born of Our Faith in Jesus Christ,” by Elder Neil L. Andersen · Sunday morning session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
When we choose faith in Jesus Christ, He gives us courage to choose the right, and using that courage makes our faith stronger.
Objective
Youth will explain in their own words how faith and courage strengthen each other and will commit to one specific act of spiritual courage and one time of stillness this week.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Andersen's talk and have it open on your phone; ask youth to bring scriptures or phones.
- Write on the board: Spiritual courage is the triumph over ____, ____, and ____ in choosing the right.
- Bring paper strips or sticky notes and pens.
- Have a timer ready (a phone works).
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Which takes more courage?
- As soon as the prayer ends, have everyone stand. Name one side of the room A and the other B.
- Read each pair and have youth walk to the side they think takes more courage. Ask one person on each side why. Keep it quick. Pair 1: A, getting up before sunrise for seminary, or B, saying you believe in Jesus Christ when a friend asks. Pair 2: A, admitting you were wrong and repenting, or B, saying yes to a calling when you feel inadequate. Pair 3: A, praying alone when no one would know if you skipped it, or B, keeping a standard when everyone around you is not.
- Tell them every one of these comes from a talk Elder Andersen gave at general conference about courage born of faith in Jesus Christ.
Fill in the blanks
- Have youth open the talk on their phones and race to find the three missing words on the board (T21.05: obstacles, doubt, fear). The first to find them fills in the blanks.
- Give each person three paper strips. Ask them to write, without names, one obstacle, one doubt and one fear that can make it hard for someone their age to follow the Savior. Collect them and read several aloud without comment.
- Say that these are real, and that Elder Andersen said being the Savior's true disciple is not a casual pursuit.
- Why do you think choosing the right takes courage and not just knowing what is right?
Three stories, six words
- Form three groups. Group 1: Rosemary in Zimbabwe (T21.01–T21.02). Group 2: Moroni (T21.06–T21.07 with Moroni 1:3). Group 3: Peter and John (T21.26–T21.27 with Acts 4:8–10).
- Give three minutes on the timer. Each group reads its story and prepares two things: an answer to the questions below and a headline for the story of exactly six words.
- Each group reports in under a minute. Let the class vote for the best headline other than their own.
- Point out what the stories share: a seventeen-year-old, a man with no friends left, and two Apostles facing rulers all acted from faith in Jesus Christ.
- What was standing against this person?
- Where did the courage come from?
The loop
- Have someone read T21.11 aloud (see key quotes). Ask a volunteer to draw it on the board as a loop: faith in Christ, courage, choosing the right, stronger faith.
- Tell the account of President Oaks as a young attorney working evenings and Saturdays when his stake president called him to serve in the stake mission presidency, which would take three to four evenings a week. Read what he said (see aligned quotes). Ask where his decision fits on the loop.
- In pairs, have youth answer the question below, then hear from two pairs.
- When have you done something right that was hard, and noticed afterward that you believed more, not less?
Just me and the cows
- Retell Elder Andersen's summers on the dairy farm: after milking he saddled his horse and guided three dozen cows to a high meadow, and spent the whole day with no cell phone, no earbuds, no music and no texting, alone with his thoughts. Read his words about stillness from T21.10 (see key quotes).
- Try it. Ask everyone to silence phones and place them face down under their chairs. Set the timer for two minutes of complete quiet. Ask them to think about one battle they are facing and to say a silent prayer about it.
- After the silence, read President McKay's words (see aligned quotes). Read from T21.13 that when we speak with Heavenly Father privately we are given increased courage to choose the right.
- Ask the question below and take a few honest answers.
- What was that two minutes like? What makes stillness hard to find, and what could you change to get some every day?
One brave thing
- Read Elder Andersen's promise in T21.24 (see key quotes). Have youth name the three things he promised.
- Check understanding: ask two volunteers to explain the loop on the board in one sentence each, as if to a younger brother or sister.
- Give each person a fresh strip. Have them write one brave thing they will do this week because they believe in Jesus Christ, and one daily time they will be still, with the phone away. They keep the strip in their scriptures or phone case.
- Share your witness that the Savior lives and gives courage. Tell them that next week you will start by asking who did their brave thing and what happened to their faith.
Key passages from the talk
“Spiritual courage is the triumph over obstacles, doubt, and fear in choosing the right.”
“As we choose faith in Christ, He blesses us with the courage, sometimes in very difficult situations, to choose the right, and as we manifest our courage to choose the right, our faith in Christ strengthens.”
“Times have changed, but our spirits have not changed. We need stillness to nourish our faith in Christ.”
“I promise you that as you strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ by believing and following Him and keeping His commandments, your answers will come, your spiritual power will increase, and your courage in following Christ will define your eternal soul.”
Scriptures
- Moroni 1:3 Group 2 reads it with T21.06–T21.07 and reports what stood against Moroni and where his courage came from.
- Acts 4:8–10 Group 3 reads it with T21.26–T21.27 and reports how Peter and John answered the rulers and in whose name.
- Ephesians 6:12 Optional in the second segment: read it and ask how Paul's description matches the doubts, distractions and deceptions of our day.
Other voices that agree
“Gathering all my faith, I accepted the call.”
“The greatest battle of life is fought within the silent chambers of your own soul.”
Three things to remember
- Faith in Jesus Christ is where spiritual courage comes from.
- Every time I choose the right when it is hard, my faith gets stronger.
- I need stillness and private prayer to hear the Lord and find courage.
Ways to act this week
- Do the one brave thing you wrote on your strip, and notice what happens to your faith.
- Take ten minutes of stillness each day with your phone in another room, and use part of it to kneel and pray alone.
- If a friend asks what you believe this week, answer honestly in one sentence about the Savior.
- During the sacrament on Sunday, think about one promise you will need courage to keep at school.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Choose the Right
Adapting the lesson
- Fewer than six youth: do the three stories as a whole class, one at a time, and write the six-word headlines together.
- At home: do the room-sides game at the kitchen table with thumbs left or right, then go straight to the two minutes of stillness and the brave-thing strip.
- Short on time: keep the opening game, the loop and the two minutes of stillness; drop the headline vote.
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.