"'Return unto Me … That I May Heal You'" - General Conference Applied

Last updated on August 4th, 2025 at 10:27 pm

General Conference Applied

S5 E24 – Sunday, June 29, 2025 | “‘Return unto Me … That I May Heal You’” by Elder S. Mark Palmer; April 2025 General Conference

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Podcast Episode Outline

Introduction

As we begin this podcast episode, if you have not recently listened to or read Elder S. Mark Palmer’s April 2025 General Conference address, please pause this podcast episode and go review his address.

Bio

“Elder S. Mark Palmer was sustained as a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 2, 2016. Following his call as a General Authority, he served for five years in the Africa Southeast and Africa South Area Presidencies. Elder Palmer began service as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy on August 1, 2021. He currently assists members of the Twelve in supervising the South America Northwest, Africa Central, Africa South, and Asia North Areas.

“Elder Palmer has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the New Zealand Wellington Mission. He and his wife served together as mission leaders in the Washington Spokane Mission and as interim mission leaders in the Australia Sydney South Mission.

“Elder Palmer received a bachelor of commerce degree in 1979 from the University of Auckland and a master of business administration degree in 1982 from Brigham Young University. He founded SMP Ventures, a real estate development company, and has served as president since 1993. Prior to that, he was a partner and a managing director with Trammell Crow Company.

“Stanley Mark Palmer was born in Te Puke, New Zealand, on February 11, 1956. He married Jacqueline Ann Wood in 1981. They are the parents of six children.”
This was Elder Palmer’s 3rd general conference address. His most recent address was “Our Sorrow Shall Be Turned into Joy” from the April 2021 General Conference.

Invitations

“To all who are longing for faith, we invite you to come back. … To all who recognise what you have lost, we invite you to come back so you can once again taste the joyous fruit of the gospel. … This message is not a challenge, and it is not a condemnation. It is an invitation, extended with love and a sincere desire to welcome you back to your spiritual home.”
- In our own words: If you have stepped away from the Church, accept the loving invitation to come back. If you have not stepped away from the Church, invite those who have left to come back.
“Feel the witness of the Holy Ghost as you now hear this loving invitation and magnificent promise from our Saviour, Jesus Christ: ‘Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?'”
- In our own words: Return to Jesus Christ so He can heal you.
- Clay Application: Assess my spiritual momentum. Make improvements. Daily repentence, better prayer (with my notebook). READ the Come, Follow Me section instead of (or in addition to) listening. I personally catch more inspiration that way.
“When some of Jesus’s followers in Capernaum found His teachings hard and chose to leave, He turned to His Apostles and asked, ‘Will ye also go away?’ This is the question we each must answer as we face our individual times of testing.”
- In our own words: Ask ourselves if we will “also go away” from the Savior during challenging times.
- Mitch Application: I will create a document or a video in which I share my testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Their Church. In this document or video, I will specifically answer the Savior’s question (i.e., “Will ye also go away?”).
“[Focus] your faith on Jesus Christ and His gospel—the trunk and the roots.”
- In our own words: Focus your faith on Jesus Christ and His gospel.
“Be patient as your faith and testimony also grow. This includes not taking offense at thoughtless comments like ‘Where have you been all these years?'”
- In our own words: Be patient and choose not to take offense.
“Nourish your faith and your testimony as you feast at the sacrament table each week and as you worship in the house of the Lord.”
- In our own words: Take the sacrament each week and worship in the temple.
“Stay sensitive to the feelings and the witness of the Spirit. Learn from Amulek, who described his time as a less-active member by saying, ‘I was called many times and I would not hear.'”
- In our own words: Follow the Spirit.
“With all the love in our hearts, we welcome you home.”
- In our own words: Invite others to come “home” to the Church.

Discussion Questions

What is the Lord, through Elder Palmer, inviting us to do? And how do we intend to take action?
Just like the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees in Jacob chapter 5, this story of the willow tree is not really about trees. Elder Palmer provided five learnings from the story of the willow tree… What other learnings can you think of?
What can we learn from Elder Palmer’s neighbor who stopped Elder Palmer from cutting the tree up for firewood and “chastised [Elder Palmer] for giving up on the tree”?
Elder Palmer stated: “contrary to narratives which sometimes circulate, record numbers of our young people are choosing to stay strong and to grow their faith in Jesus Christ.” How might we be instruments in God’s hands to circulate this correct narrative?
Imagine that you were there with the Apostles when Jesus asked them “Will ye also go away?” Looking at your life currently, would you also respond like Peter: “To whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.”? If not, why not?

External Resources Referenced In This Episode

The Power of Everyday Missionaries
Elder Bednar “Converted unto the Lord”
Anti Nephi Lehies
Elder Rasband social media committing to his mom to obey word of wisdom
Moroni fortifying cities
Parks and Rec
Elder Nielson’s address
President Eyring April 2025
President Eyring April 2025 episode
Elder Schmeil
Jacob 5
true.millenials Instagram post
The Power of Spiritual Momentum
Elder Kearon relentless pursuit

What will you do?

How will you take action on the invitations extended in this General Conference address?

Conclusion

The focus of our next podcast episode will be the April 2025 General Conference Applications – Return and Report: President Holland, Elder Uchtdorf, Elder Bednar.

As we conclude this episode, we would invite you to refer to the podcast episode details for this podcast episode where we have provided important information for connecting with us and further supporting the General Conference Applied Podcast. The best ways to help us are to like and subscribe to the podcast, to share the podcast with others, to like and share our content on social media, to share your own experiences with us on social media, and especially to contact us on our website.

Please remember that General Conference Applied is meant to be a supplement for your review of General Conference Addresses. We promise that you will get more out of each General Conference Applied episode when you study the General Conference address first.

Thank you for joining us in this effort to become doers of the word and to take action on general conference invitations.