October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › President Dieter F. Uchtdorf › Youth

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

Bridges, Not Walls

From “Christ-Centered Unity,” by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference

Watch the talkRead the full talk

The big idea

Jesus Christ reaches across every boundary to unite Heavenly Father’s family, and the closer we come to Him, the closer we come to each other.

Objective

Youth will describe how the Savior treated people others shut out and commit to one specific bridge they will build this week at school, at home, online, or at church.

Before you teach

  • Read President Uchtdorf’s talk, “Christ-Centered Unity.”
  • Bring a picture of the Savior and tape, or something to stand it on.
  • Ask youth to have their scriptures or the Gospel Library app open.
  • Bring a small card or slip of paper and a pencil for each person.
  • Write the three situations for segment 4 on the board, covered until you need them.

Lesson plan

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

3 min0–3

Pick a side

  1. As soon as the prayer ends, have everyone stand. Call out four quick choices and have them move to one side of the room or the other: mornings or nights, mountains or beach, cats or dogs, and one favorite local team against its rival.
  2. While they are still standing in two groups, point out how fast we sorted ourselves. President Uchtdorf said people unite around causes, heritage, hobbies, even a favorite soccer team, and often with very strong feelings.
  3. Ask the question below, then have them sit anywhere except by the person they came in with.
Ask
  • What could unite every person in this room, no matter which side you just stood on?
6 min3–9

Whom did Jesus reach?

  1. Explain that in the world Jesus Christ was born into, Jews and Samaritans avoided each other and Gentiles were considered unclean. President Uchtdorf said it wasn’t so different from our world today.
  2. Put youth in pairs and give each pair one passage: Matthew 8:2–3; Matthew 8:5–10; or Luke 10:30–37. Friendly race: the first pair for each passage to stand and say who the outsider was and what the Savior did or taught earns the right to choose the closing song.
  3. After the three reports, read the first key quote (“He consistently reached out…”).
Ask
  • Who are the outsiders in the places you spend your days? You do not need to name anyone; describe the kind of person.
  • Why is it honestly hard to reach out to them?
6 min9–15

Closer to Him, closer to each other

  1. Ask someone to read 4 Nephi 1:15, 17 aloud while everyone else looks for what was missing among the people and what they were called.
  2. Explain that President Uchtdorf described the Nephites and Lamanites as having one of the longest-running sibling rivalries in the world, and that everything changed when Jesus Christ appeared, taught His gospel and established His Church.
  3. Demonstration: place the picture of the Savior at the front. Send two volunteers to opposite back corners. Each time the class names something that brings a person closer to Christ (prayer, repentance, the sacrament, serving, forgiving), both take a step toward the picture. Stop when they are shoulder to shoulder.
  4. Ask the class what they saw. Then read the second key quote (“The closer we come to Him…”).
  5. Be honest that President Uchtdorf also named the opposite pull: Satan seeks to divide us and isolate us from each other by making our differences feel like impassable barriers.
Ask
  • Where do you see people being pushed apart or isolated right now?
  • Why would coming closer to the Savior change how two people feel about each other?
6 min15–21

What would a bridge look like?

  1. Read the third key quote (“When we try to be a little more patient…”). Say that President Uchtdorf’s picture of unity is made of small things like these.
  2. Uncover the three situations and form three groups, one for each. (1) Someone new comes to an activity and stands alone by the door. (2) A group chat starts making fun of a person who is not in it. (3) Two friends in the same class or quorum disagree strongly and stop talking.
  3. Give groups three minutes to plan a short role play, 30 seconds at most, that shows one realistic thing a disciple of Jesus Christ could say or do. Realistic means something they would actually do on a Tuesday.
  4. Watch each role play. After each, ask the class what made it a bridge and not a wall.
  5. Share two helps from this conference. President Chibota: “Often, helping others feel seen as children of God begins with something as simple as learning their name.” Elder Kyungu: “Let us use the language that uplifts, edifies, comforts, and brings people together.”
Ask
  • Does being united mean we have to agree on everything or like all the same things? What did President Uchtdorf say unites us?
4 min21–25

The ordinance with no names

  1. Ask everyone to open Moroni 4:3 and find whose names are used in the prayer. Ask who helps with the sacrament and what they have noticed.
  2. Share what President Uchtdorf pointed out: the sacrament is the only ordinance we receive in which we are not addressed by name. We partake individually but also as a group.
  3. Read the fourth key quote (“We have the Savior, and we have each other.”) and his invitation: “let us not miss the unifying power of the sacrament.”
Ask
  • What could you think about during the sacrament this Sunday that would help you feel part of a covenant people and not just an individual in a row?
5 min25–30

Build one bridge

  1. Hand out the cards. Give 90 seconds of silent writing: one person or group, one place (school, home, online, church), and one bridge they will build before next Sunday. It stays private.
  2. Read President Uchtdorf’s invitation: “Please, come and see, come and help, and come and belong.” Add his words to anyone who wonders whether they are needed: “It would be incomplete without you.”
  3. Share his promise in your own words: the more united in Christ we are and the more we desire to build bridges instead of walls, the more we, our families and our communities will experience God’s presence and blessings.
  4. Check for understanding: ask each youth to finish this sentence aloud in a few words — What unites us is…
  5. Follow up next week: start class by asking for bridge reports. Share your own first. Close with the song the winning pair chose and a prayer.

Key passages from the talk

“He consistently reached out to those who would otherwise be shunned as outsiders.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 13

“The closer we come to Him, the closer we will come to each other—and the closer we will come to the unity He wants for us.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 21

“When we try to be a little more patient, a little kinder, more forgiving, more helpful, more neighborly, there will be less room for pride or judgmental attitudes or contention.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 23

“We have the Savior, and we have each other.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 28

The speaker’s direct invitations

“Please, come and see, come and help, and come and belong.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 29

“let us not miss the unifying power of the sacrament”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 26

“I invite you to join the Christ-centered unity we are trying to build.”

President Uchtdorf’s talk, paragraph 29

Scriptures

  • Luke 10:30–37 One of three pair passages in segment 2 (with Matthew 8:2–3 and Matthew 8:5–10): find the outsider and what the Savior did or taught.
  • 4 Nephi 1:15, 17 Read aloud in segment 3; look for what was missing among the people and what they were called.
  • Moroni 4:3 Open in segment 5; find whose names are used in the sacrament prayer.
  • Matthew 18:20 Optional: read before the promise in segment 6 and ask when they have felt the Savior near in a group gathered in His name.

Other voices that agree

“Often, helping others feel seen as children of God begins with something as simple as learning their name.”

President Chibota · A Child of God, paragraph 4

“Let us use the language that uplifts, edifies, comforts, and brings people together.”

Elder Kyungu · Using the Language of Peacemakers, paragraph 16

Three things to remember

  • The Savior reached out to people others shut out, and He invites all to come unto Him.
  • Unity does not come from agreeing on everything; it comes from each of us moving closer to Jesus Christ.
  • Small steps count: a name learned, a seat offered, a kind word in a chat.

Ways to act this week

  • Build the one bridge you wrote on your card before next Sunday.
  • Learn the name of one person at school or church you do not know yet, and use it the next time you see them.
  • When a conversation or group chat turns against someone, say one thing that brings people together, or message that person something kind.
  • During the sacrament on Sunday, look down your row and think: we are doing this together.

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

Music

  • Lord, I Would Follow Thee
  • Love One Another

Adapting the lesson

  • At home or with two or three youth: skip the race and read Luke 10:30–37 together; talk through one of the three situations and act it out as a family.
  • Large class: run the role plays in six groups, two for each situation, and watch only one for each.
  • Short on time: drop segment 5 and read the fourth key quote during segment 6.

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.