Pres. Christofferson’s sweet parenting story teaches how to seek truth

July 31, 2026 - 16:18

In a newly released video, President D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles opened up about a personal moment from his early days as a father, using the memory to explain how individuals can better recognize and hold onto truth in a noisy world.

The story centers on his son when the boy was just a toddler. President Christofferson recalled how the child, in his limited vocabulary, would point at something and call it by the wrong name. Instead of simply correcting him, the father gently repeated the correct word, over and over, until the little boy began to say it right. It was a slow, patient process, but the child eventually learned because he trusted his father's voice more than his own mistake.

That simple exchange, President Christofferson said, mirrors the way we seek divine truth. We often come to situations with our own flawed understanding, like a child guessing at a word. But if we are willing to listen, the Lord offers a clearer answer. The key, he taught, is humility and a genuine desire to be corrected. Truth is not something we invent but something we receive, and receiving it requires us to let go of our pride and accept guidance from someone who sees more clearly than we do.

He noted that this applies to both small daily decisions and larger questions about faith. When we pray, study, or simply pause to listen, we are inviting that patient correction into our lives. The toddler in his story did not get frustrated or insist he was right. He just kept looking to his father. In the same way, we can look to our Heavenly Father, trusting that He will gently steer us toward what is real and lasting.