Thinking Celestial - A ”Follow The Prophet” Series Podcast · SLCC Institute of Religion

Ep 177 S7 Anita Longhurst ‘Jesus Christ and Your New Beginning’ Patrick Kearon

·32 min·2 clips
Jesus Christ offers “a new beginning” with “forgiveness, healing, restoration, peace, and eternal life.”
The conversation opens with the hosts talking about how much they like Elder Patrick Kieran. They laugh about his humor and the affection they feel for him and his wife. The tone is playful and familiar right away. From there they turn to Jesus Christ and Your New Beginnings from the October 2025 General Conference. Anita centers the talk on Heavenly Father’s plan and the Savior’s atonement, and that becomes the main anchor of the discussion. The hosts keep coming back to the idea that what people do in this life matters. They do not leave that as abstract doctrine. They treat it as something that should shape how a person shows up in daily life. A major thread becomes the question of where Jesus would go if he were moving through the world now. The hosts picture the people at the margins. They talk through the homeless, the sick, immigrants, and people caught on different sides of a tense political moment. The point is not to settle the labels. The point is to notice need. They suggest that the Savior would go where he is needed. That leads them to ask who the listener ought to know and go to with the same kind of attention. The conversation keeps folding doctrine into action. They pick up the idea that Jesus did not withdraw from people then and will not withdraw from people now. They also return to a phrase about faithful endurance. That becomes a way to talk about discipleship that keeps going even when it is uncomfortable. The hosts connect new beginnings to staying in the process with God. They describe that as following the Savior’s pattern of mercy and kindness. Along the way they keep the register casual and warm. The conversation moves by questions more than lectures. It feels like two people thinking aloud together and trying to turn a conference message into something usable. By the end, the episode lands on grace, shame left behind, and the chance to begin again as often as needed. It is earnest without getting stiff. It is friendly without losing the point. It leaves the listener with a simple invitation to live more like Christ in the places that are hardest to enter.

As heard by us

Warm, playful conference-talk discussion that turns new beginnings into ordinary discipleship.

The episode opens in a cheerful, slightly unguarded way and stays rooted in a clear belief that Heavenly Father's plan is good, life matters, and the Savior's atonement makes that plan possible.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Want a lively take on new beginnings and who Jesus would seek out now?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on