October 2026 General Conference › Talks › Sister Tamara W. Runia
Sister Tamara W. Runia
The Sculpting of Our Souls
Young Women General Presidency
In brief
Sister Runia shares the sudden death of her son Ryan and the lesson she drew from Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail: hard experiences can be for our good. She retires the idea that the gospel is an umbrella that keeps the rain off, describing it instead as the solid rock we stand on in the storm, and teaches that not understanding is not the same as not believing. Her brother's sculpting class illustrates how the Savior, once invited, shapes us into what we could not become alone.
Themes in this talk
Number of coded passages from this talk in each theme.
Direct invitations
Sentences where the speaker directly invited, urged, asked or pleaded with us to act, in the exact words.
“Let’s choose Christ, who can heal the wounds of this world while carving out room for joy!”
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Three short quizzes on what Sister Runia taught: easy for families and first-time listeners, medium for understanding, hard for careful study.
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Key passages
“The gospel isn’t the umbrella; it’s the solid rock we’re standing on during the storm”
“Not understanding is not the same as not believing.”
Scripture referenced
- D&C 122:7
- Galatians 3:27
- Helaman 5:12
- 1 Nephi 11:16, 17
- 1 John 3:2
From the talk's official footnotes and in-text citations.