Trust the One Who Designed It
From “The Sculpting of Our Souls,” by Sister Tamara W. Runia · Saturday morning session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
Hard things do not mean God has forgotten me; He loves me, He has a plan, and He is shaping me into someone only He knows I can become.
Objective
Youth will be able to turn a why question into a trusting question that starts from God's love, and will choose one hard thing to invite the Savior into this week.
Before you teach
- Read Sister Runia's talk, especially paragraphs 10–14, 25–27 and 36–46.
- Bring paper and a pen for each person.
- Ask the youth to have their scriptures or the Gospel Library app ready.
- Draw an umbrella and a rock on the board.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Draw without the picture
- As soon as youth sit down, hand out paper and pens. Say you will give instructions and they may not ask what they are drawing.
- Give these steps quickly: Draw a square in the middle of the page. Put a triangle on top that touches it. Add a small rectangle at the bottom of the square. Draw a circle in a top corner of the page with short lines coming out of it.
- Have them hold up their pages. Ask the question below and take two quick answers.
- What was it like to follow the steps without knowing what the picture would be?
Only the instructions
- Tell the story honestly and gently: Sister Runia's oldest son, Ryan, died suddenly one Monday when his heart stopped. He had a wife, Cari, and four young children. At the funeral his seven-year-old son, Jaac, shared a Primary talk he and his dad had written two weeks earlier. Jaac said he loves Lego bricks and follows the instructions, and that Heavenly Father's plan is like that: if we follow it, “we can build hard things.”
- Then Cari asked Jaac what he would do if he did not have the picture on the box, only the instructions. Have a youth read his answer (first key quote).
- Discuss in pairs for one minute, then as a class.
- Why is it harder to trust a designer than to trust a picture on the box?
- What helps you trust Heavenly Father when you cannot see how something will turn out?
Umbrella or rock
- Ask the honest question out loud: If I keep the commandments, why do hard things still happen to me? Tell them Sister Runia asked the same thing. She grew up hearing true promises about blessings, so the gospel felt like a big umbrella to keep the rain off. Then she learned that everyone gets rained on.
- Friendly race: split into two teams. Each team opens Helaman 5:12 and lists every kind of storm the verse names and the one thing it promises. First team with a complete list reads it aloud.
- Read the second key quote (paragraph 12) and point to the umbrella and the rock on the board.
- Discuss the questions.
- According to the verse, is the storm a matter of if or when? What difference does that make?
- What does standing on the rock look like for someone your age during a bad week?
Change the question
- Set the scene Sister Runia described: Joseph Smith in a jail cell, pleading with God for a break. Have a youth read D&C 122:7 and say what answer he received instead.
- Read the third key quote (paragraph 14). Write on the board her new question: “I know that God loves me, so what is supposed to be happening here?”
- In pairs, give each pair one made-up situation: you trained all summer and did not make the team; your closest friend moved away; you have prayed about something for months and nothing seems to change. Each pair writes the why question a person would ask, then rewrites it starting from God's love.
- Have each pair read both versions. Ask the class which version leaves more room for God to help.
- Read Elder Chigbundu's words (aligned quote). Add that Sister Runia said not understanding is not the same as not believing.
- Is it wrong to ask why? What did Nephi say he knew and did not know in 1 Nephi 11:17?
Ask the Master
- Tell the story of Sister Runia's brother Kent. In a college sculpting class he had to sculpt a bust of himself from clay and could not get the eyes right. The instructor was helping others, but Kent wanted the piece to be his own and struggled alone until he finally humbled himself and asked. The instructor dug into the clay much further than Kent had, so abruptly that it startled him, and within minutes the eyes came to life. The piece was uniquely Kent, yet shaped by a master's hand.
- Read the fourth key quote (paragraph 44): “He waits for an invitation before He can really go to work.”
- Read President Chibota's words (aligned quote) and discuss the questions.
- Why do we wait so long to ask for help, from people and from the Savior?
- Kent said the piece was still uniquely him. What does that tell you about what the Savior wants to make of you?
Your choice this week
- Read Sister Runia's invitation (see invitations) and her promise that the Savior can fix what feels badly broken.
- On the back of their drawing, each youth writes one hard thing in their life right now and one sentence they will pray each day this week to invite the Savior into it. This stays private.
- Check for understanding: ask one youth to explain the umbrella and the rock in ten seconds.
- Bear a short testimony. Tell them that next week you will ask who tried the daily sentence and what they noticed.
Key passages from the talk
“Yes, because you can trust the one who designed it, and it always turns out.”
“The gospel isn’t the umbrella; it’s the solid rock we’re standing on during the storm”
“God’s love has moved me from questions that begin with ‘why’ to reflections that begin, ‘I know that God loves me, so what is supposed to be happening here?’”
“He waits for an invitation before He can really go to work.”
The speaker’s direct invitation
“Let’s choose Christ, who can heal the wounds of this world while carving out room for joy!”
Scriptures
- Helaman 5:12 Team race: list every kind of storm the verse names and the one thing it promises to those who build on the rock.
- D&C 122:7 One youth reads aloud after you describe Joseph Smith in the jail cell. Ask what answer he received instead of a break.
- 1 Nephi 11:17 Read during the question segment. Ask what Nephi knew for sure and what he admitted he did not know.
Other voices that agree
“The burden we carry may not always be removed, but our backs will be built to carry the load placed upon them”
“He sees not only who we are but who we can become.”
Three things to remember
- The gospel is the rock under my feet, not an umbrella over my head.
- I can start my hardest questions with what I know: God loves me.
- The Savior waits for me to invite Him, and I can trust the One who designed the plan.
Ways to act this week
- Pray your one sentence every day this week, inviting the Savior into the hard thing you wrote down.
- The next time something goes wrong, stop and rewrite your why question so it begins from God's love.
- Put Jaac's answer about trusting the designer on your lock screen or mirror for seven days.
- Ask for help with one thing you have been trying to handle alone: from a parent, a leader, or the Lord.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- I Stand All Amazed
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with two or three youth: skip the teams. Read Helaman 5:12 together and do the rewriting activity as one group.
- Large class: use groups of four for the rewriting activity and hear from only three groups.
- Short on time: do the drawing, the Lego story, the rewriting activity, and the final choice.
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.