Brian K. Ashton

Second Counselor in General Sunday School Presidency (October 2, 2015 – present)

General Conference Addresses

• October 2018 General Conference
  • The Father
    • “Having “a correct idea of [Heavenly Father’s] character, perfections, and attributes” is essential to exercising faith sufficient to obtain exaltation. A correct understanding of Heavenly Father’s character can change how we see ourselves and others and help us to understand God’s tremendous love for His children and His great desire to help us become like Him. An incorrect view of His nature can leave us feeling as if we are incapable of ever making it back to His presence.”
    • “If we will strive to increase in light and truth until our eyes become single to God’s glory, Heavenly Father will send the Holy Spirit of Promise to seal us up unto eternal life and reveal His face unto us—either in this life or the next.”
    • “Given the distance between what we are as mortals and what Heavenly Father has become, it is not surprising that some feel that becoming like the Father is unattainable. Nevertheless, the scriptures are clear. If we will cleave in faith to Christ, repent, and seek God’s grace through obedience, eventually we will become like the Father.”
• October 2016 General Conference
  • The Doctrine of Christ
    • “The doctrine of Christ on the other hand is the means—the only means—by which we can obtain all of the blessings made available to us through Jesus’s Atonement. It is the doctrine of Christ that allows us to access the spiritual power that will lift us from our current spiritual state to a state where we can become perfected like the Savior.”
    • “The prophets have taught that faith begins by hearing the word of Christ.”
    • “Faith also causes us to stop worrying so much about what others think of us and begin to care far more about what God thinks of us.”
    • “Repentance is not a backup plan just in case our plan to live perfectly fails.”
    • “Continual repentance is the only path that can bring us lasting joy and enable us to return to live with our Heavenly Father.”
    • “Because repentance is really about becoming like the Savior, which is impossible on our own, we desperately need the Savior’s grace in order to make necessary changes in our lives.”
    • “As we then symbolically sacrifice our hearts and our sins upon the sacrament altar, we receive the Holy Ghost to a greater degree. Receiving the Holy Ghost to a greater degree further moves us along the path of being born again. As we continue in this process and obtain all the saving ordinances and covenants of the gospel, we receive “grace for grace” until we receive a fulness.”

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