The Person in Front of You
From “Divine Appointments,” by President Timothy L. Farnes · Saturday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
We keep the covenant we renew at the sacrament by ministering with compassion to whomever God places in our path.
Objective
Learners will connect their sacrament covenant to everyday ministering and choose one way to pray for, notice and act on a divine appointment this week.
Before you teach
- Read President Farnes’s talk, “Divine Appointments,” especially paragraphs T10.10–T10.23 and T10.38–T10.39.
- Bring a slip of paper and a pen for each person.
- Write three words on the board before class: SEE, FEEL, ACT.
- Ask one person ahead of time to be ready to read the Elder Oaks story aloud (T10.06–T10.16).
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 5 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Someone who noticed
- After the prayer, ask everyone to think silently for 30 seconds about a time when someone noticed them on a hard day, perhaps with only a question or a few kind words.
- Invite them to turn to a neighbor and share for one minute each. Ask them to listen for what the other person actually did.
- Take two or three short responses to the question below. Write the small actions on the board (asked, waited, listened, sat with me).
- What did that person do that made the difference? How big was it, really?
It’s what we do
- Explain that President Farnes, Young Men General President, told of a discouraging Saturday almost 20 years ago when he was serving as a bishop and had just been called into a stake presidency. He went to a ward temple night without the best attitude.
- Have your reader read T10.06–T10.16 aloud. In the story, President Oaks was then Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
- Ask the class to name everything Elder Oaks did. List it under the words on the board: he asked, he waited, he asked again, he listened, he thanked, he encouraged, he embraced.
- Point out that five years later Elder Oaks did not remember the conversation. Read his reply once more: “But it’s what we do. Isn’t it?”
- Discuss the questions. Let several people answer before you add anything.
- Brother Farnes first answered that everything was great. What helped him open up the second time?
- What does it tell you that Elder Oaks did not remember a moment that changed another man’s life?
A covenant of compassion
- Invite everyone to open to Moroni 4:3 and read it silently, looking for what we tell Heavenly Father we are willing to do and what He promises in return.
- Read aloud the key quote from T10.17 about what it means to take His name upon us. Then read T10.19, the paragraph where President Farnes names these moments “divine appointments.”
- Give two minutes of silent writing on the slip of paper: When someone encounters me on an ordinary Tuesday, what of Jesus Christ do they experience? Which of the five (kindness, patience, hope, love, compassion) do I most want to grow in?
- Invite one or two people to share a thought, only if they wish. Do not ask anyone to read what they wrote.
- How does it change ministering to think of it as a way we keep the sacrament covenant, every day, and not only as an assignment?
Eyes to see
- Divide into groups of three or four. Ask each group to read Luke 10:30–35 and mark where the Samaritan sees, where he feels and where he acts. Give three minutes.
- Bring the class back. Read T10.20–T10.21 and point to the three words on the board.
- Briefly retell the airport story (T10.24–T10.38): President Farnes had earbuds in and a book open when he noticed a frightened young missionary in tears. He went back to his book. The Spirit prompted him to look again. He and his wife, Linsey, helped the elder board, the only empty seat turned out to be next to President Farnes, and at the baggage claim the elder hugged them before he greeted his mission leaders.
- Read the aligned quote from President Spencer W. Kimball, which President Eyring shared at this conference. Then ask the questions.
- President Farnes said he was embarrassed by how slow he had been to help. What are the earbuds and the book in your life, the ordinary things that keep you from looking up?
- When has someone who first looked like an interruption turned out to be the reason you were there?
Pray, see, act
- Read both invitations from T10.39 aloud. Point out the promise that goes with them: the Lord promises that we can always have His Spirit with us, and with that gift we can minister as the Savior would (T10.18). President Farnes also taught that when we use the eyes God has given us, we begin to recognize divine appointments all around us (T10.22).
- Ask each person to turn the slip of paper over and finish two lines: This week I will pray for eyes to see at this time of day. One place I will look up is here (the hallway at church, the break room, the school pickup line, my own kitchen).
- Check for understanding: ask one person to say the pattern in their own words, from sacrament covenant to the person in front of them.
- Tell the class that next week you will begin by asking who had a divine appointment, and whether they were the one who helped or the one who was helped.
- Close with your own short testimony that the Savior sees each person in the room, and that He will help them see.
Key passages from the talk
“As covenant followers of Jesus Christ, we minister with compassion to whomever God places in our path.”
“It means that when someone encounters us, they should experience something of Jesus Christ—His kindness, His patience, His hope, His love, His compassion.”
“To Jesus, these people were not interrupting His mission. They were His mission.”
“All we had to do was see the person God had placed in our path, look with compassion rather than judgment, and then act.”
The speaker’s direct invitations
“let us pray every day for eyes to see the divine appointments God places before us!”
“Let us put compassion into action and minister to the person in front of us.”
Scriptures
- Moroni 4:3 Read silently in segment 3. Look for what we witness we are willing to do and what the Lord promises in return.
- Luke 10:30–35 Read in groups of three or four in segment 4. Mark where the Samaritan sees, feels and acts.
- Matthew 25:34–40 Offer as home study for the week: read it after praying for eyes to see, and ask whom the Savior counts our small acts as done for.
Other voices that agree
“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs.”
“a true disciple of Jesus Christ is quick to help and slow to judge”
Three things to remember
- At the sacrament I promise to take the Savior’s name upon me; I keep that promise with the people I meet every day.
- People are not interruptions to my discipleship. They are my discipleship.
- I can pray for eyes to see, look with compassion rather than judgment, and then act.
Ways to act this week
- Each morning this week, pray by name for eyes to see the person God places in your path that day.
- Choose one place where you usually look down (a waiting room, a hallway, the foyer) and look up there on purpose.
- When someone answers that they are fine, and you sense they are not, ask a second time, gently, and listen.
- During the sacrament next Sunday, think of one person you met this week and ask what the Savior would have you do next.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Lord, I Would Follow Thee
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with two or three people: skip the groups. Read Luke 10:30–35 together, then let each person tell about someone who noticed them.
- Large class: do every discussion in pairs first, then take only two responses from the whole room so the timing holds.
- Short on time: keep segments 2, 3 and 5. Retell the airport story in three sentences during the closing.
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.