What April 2026 Conference Taught Us

April 2026 General Conference fell on Easter weekend, and the messages were deeply Christ-centered and personal. Cydni and Sher discuss the talks that moved them most, the quotes they can't stop thinking about, and what they felt inspired to change. Cydni opens up about a silent prayer and how President Eyring's talk answered something she didn't even know how to ask. Sher reflects on the image of the Savior praying for each of us by name, and why that changes everything. Along the way there are a few laughs, a forgotten outline, and an amazing statistic about General Conference. This week's episode is "What April 2026 Conference Taught Us" and we are so glad you are here!

This Week's Challenge
Study and ponder the talks from this conference prayerfully, and act in faith on the principles they teach. 

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Show Notes

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Transcript

Episode 161 - What April 2026 Conference Taught Us 

Cydni: [00:00:00] When I was 16 and I first started to drive, my older brother told me some great driving advice. He said, if the stop sign has a white border, that stop sign is an optional stop. Well, I don't know if he knew. That I didn't know that was a joke. So for the next three days, I ran through every optional stop sign there was, which was all of them. Because every stop sign has a white border around it.

Not one person was injured in the successful practical joke that I'm aware of anyway, but in a time where a lot of people would freely give us advice in the direction of our life and how we should feel and what we should think, I think we should be more aware of the tricks and the deceitful people that come after us, and that it can cause danger to us and to others, which I'm just telling my brother I'm not over it yet.

And for this reason, I'm so grateful that we have a living prophet and apostles who strive to direct us in the way of peace and [00:01:00] growth and ultimately towards our Savior. Welcome to the Cydni and Sher podcast. we're so glad you're here. 

Sher: As Cydni has already hinted, we are going to be talking about General Conference April, 2026, and just some things that Cydni and I noticed or felt during the conference. We're taking a break from our normal episodes. So last week we talked about courage, and this week we're gonna talk about conference. And the reason we're doing conference this week and not right after conference is because. I left and we couldn't, 

Cydni: she had enough. 

Sher: That's right. 

Cydni: She had enough of me and my driving.

Sher: She ran over me one too many times and I was furious. So I'm gonna ask a few questions I just wanna point out that Cydni is the one who wrote all the questions. I followed Cydni's outline, and then I find out right now Cydni didn't do any of that and she forgot about her questions.

Cydni: Yep. That's why I am allowed to have medication for a DH, adhd. Because I qualify. That's [00:02:00] why it can be in my pantry. 

Sher: So I don't know what's gonna happen, but we're gonna find out. I'm gonna ask a question. We'll see what Cydni says. 

Cydni: No, but first I have to say this, I'm so sorry. I'm going to tell you something recently.

'cause in order to get a DHD medicine, you have to do a follow up with this therapist and I like to have it in the pantry just in case. And I forgot about my appointment on Zoom. And so she was calling and I answered it, but I was driving my kid to school we were late and she said, are you driving?

And I said, yeah, I forgot about it and my son's gotta get to school right now. She's like, okay, I'm just gonna refill it. And that was it. That was all. And I was like, okay, thanks. That's all. You can continue. 

Sher: She didn't refill it fast enough. 

Cydni: I don't really take it that often.

Sher: I can tell.

All right. So witch talk felt like it was for you personally. And why Cydni? 

Cydni: We have the same one. I cannot believe it. When I was reading yours, I was like, we have the same one, but for different reasons. So if you want me to go first, I will. And then it will look like I came up with it first. 

Sher: Okay. That's fair.

Cydni: [00:03:00] My top choice is President Eyring, and here's why. We are told If we ask, we will receive. And that God knows the desires of our hearts better than even we do. And I have struggled with this idea for years. I'm willing to ask and I'm willing to knock. But what about these times where you just don't know what you want to ask for and you don't know exactly what to say? When I feel heaviness and I feel tired and confused, and I felt overwhelmed to know God knows what I'm in need of. Before I ask, but what if I don't know the desires of my own heart and I don't really know who I am or what I want and what I'm in need of? I've actually secretly felt pressure that maybe he's waiting for me to pray a certain way and deliver a specific prayer because he knows what I need better than I know. Does that make sense? 

Sher: Yeah. Okay.

Cydni: So sometimes I feel discouraged to pray because I don't know what to say. And just recently, I've had a difficult situation in my own [00:04:00] personal life that I just didn't know how to go about it. And this was like maybe two weeks ago. And I knelt down to have a sincere prayer and I could not find words for it.

I opened up the prayer, I knelt down in silence for a very, very long time, and then I ended the prayer. And I never found the words in my prayer ever. I just said, amen. And I was done. And I felt confused about this, I felt peace, but I didn't feel like I did a good job.

So when I sat and listened to President Eyring, say what he said about silent prayers. I can't express to you how it felt to feel like God heard it.

He heard my silent prayer. He said, I testify. The Lord hears and answers the prayer of our hearts. As prophets have taught many times in the past, you may not feel like praying or you may not know what to say. But God hears the secret prayers of your heart. That was a [00:05:00] very specific answer to something in my heart that I didn't even understand, and I felt inadequate in the prayer where I sat in silence, and now I understand that it was enough and it was okay, and it felt like it was exactly what I needed to hear.

it helped me understand what it means that God knows what we need more than even, we know what we need that we can go and ask even when we don't know exactly what we're asking. But he knows us well enough to answer our prayers in the way that we need. 

Sher: Cydni. That was great. Thanks for taking my answer. I really appreciate it. I do wanna add just one thing to it is that the reason I loved his talk so much is because it Taught that we really can find peace in the most difficult situations because God truly does answer the silent prayers of your heart. He knows what you need. And I found great comfort in that also. But I'm gonna add a couple more just because you did that to me. 

Cydni: And you wanna one up Me?

Sher: No, just 'cause I feel like I should say something. President Uchtdorf, [00:06:00] I really loved his talk because I felt like he said in one paragraph what. We were trying to say in a whole month of podcasts in March, so this is what he said about all the people like Mary and Peter, that we talked about how they must have felt when Christ died. He said, . I've tried to imagine the depth of their grief. I can't. I've tried to imagine their heartache, helplessness, and hopelessness. I can't, perhaps The question they all asked was, how could this happen? How could the man who had cast out demons healed the crippled, cured the sick, walked on water, conversed with angels, taught the blessed hope and infinite glory of the Gospel fed multitudes and raised the dead. How could he himself have died today? We understand better why the Savior had to die. We know his dying brought new birth through Resurrections Miracle, I feel like this summed up all of our March episodes on what I was feeling throughout that whole month, [00:07:00] but didn't know how to describe it. President Uchtdorf did it just right outta the gate, so, 

Cydni: yeah. But I mean, one, we're women, so we like to take one sentence and turn it into four episodes, actually. Five. And also, we're not apostles yet. Is that blasphemous? I don't wanna be one. I can't be one. I've done too many things wrong.

Sher: Okay, moving on after that. Nons silent confession of Cydni. The other talk I really liked that spoke to me was Sister Porters because she was talking to the children of the church and it was clearly on my grade level. It was simple and sincere and I loved it. And I do wanna read one quote from her that.

Jesus Christ knows you. He understands you and he loves you. Jesus has done everything to help you stay close to him. Learn all you can about him as you try to keep the most important commandments to love God and love others. He will help you grow into the magnificent person you are meant to be. He will help you be happier, learn faster, feel comfort, make friends, and [00:08:00] have more opportunities. Wake up each day with purpose and confidence, knowing that Jesus will walk with you. I love that quote, and I love that talk. And going into our next one, 

Cydni: why did you get to say two? And I only got to say one 

Sher: because I wrote the outline. All right. Going into our next question what was your favorite quote?

Cydni: I wrote down my favorite quote in a notebook without who said it. Is that acceptable? 

Sher: That's not shocking. 

Cydni: Go ahead.. Okay, Someone said. This one simple thing in passing, but it stuck out like a neon light in a dark night. Love what the Savior loves. I have thought about this endlessly.

it changed so much in my life immediately and the way I want to live, . It just felt to me like I really needed to correct and improve and maybe be more aware. And intentional with what I choose to love. And you spend time doing what you love and effort in what you love. And so [00:09:00] I'm gonna try to love what the Savior loves. 

Sher: I really like that now. I wish I would've taken your answer. 

Cydni: You can't. I went first. 

Sher: Well instead I'm gonna one up you again and do two. So 

first of all, I'm gonna go with a quote that Elder Hall gave, but he was actually quoting a scripture and I've read this before and I just needed to hear it. In two Nephi, chapter 33, verse six, it says.

I Glory in plainness I. Glory in truth. I glory in my Jesus. I think I could read that over and over again because that sums it up. I like plainness and simple things. I like truth, and I am grateful for my Jesus. And then Elder Gilbert, he quoted President Nelson, , which is, it's much more exhausting to find happiness where you can never find it.

I think that is great advice because it's true when you go looking somewhere else, you might be able to get a haha, but you won't be happy. Onto our next question what message or announcements surprised you?

Cydni: I really love the explanation of the [00:10:00] Salm assembly sucker. I just read word for word. Her outline is so funny. But it really is true. It was the same thing. I'm sorry. It really means you took my answer 

Sher: again. 

Cydni: Well, and it's not just me because our friend and supporter. Who we call Manana Anna, because she's so blessed. She spoke in church and she shared the same thing. So it was me and Manna, banana Anna.

but truly, when we had the opportunity to sustain our profit. That was unexpected for me to feel the way that I felt. I've only felt this one other time, and it was with President Nelson where I truly felt he was a prophet. I was nervous. Because some of President Oak's talks are very serious and they're not funny and they're hard for me to listen to sometimes. He's very technical so I was worried I wasn't gonna feel the same.

I did spend a lot of time praying before knowing we'd be asked to do that, and I was shocked and appreciated the spirit that I felt when [00:11:00] I stood and sustained President Oaks. 

Sher: That's summed up what I was gonna say perfectly. Thank you. 

Cydni: You're welcome. 

Sher: I will just add to it that I love how we sustained him by quorums and groups there's such organization to the church and it just makes sense to me. There needs to be organization to prevent chaos from entering in. Life is chaotic enough but this is smooth organization. You can tell God was in control of it. I do wanna say, I did notice that when President Eyring stood up and President Oaks, that all the other apostles watched as they stood to make sure they were okay. I could see the love and concern in their eyes for those men. And I just thought it was really beautiful that we belong to an organization that truly cares about each other.

Cydni: I love that. I also felt it made me have this feeling that everyone's counted for, and to have individual groups stand up. It was like. Every sheep is counted kind of a feeling to me. 

Sher: Yeah, I agree. 

Cydni: I loved it. 

Sher: Me too. Moving on to our [00:12:00] next question. What did you feel most inspired to change or improve in your life? 

Cydni: It was Sister Ye talk for me. She talked on ministering and I felt like I was a little guilty of feeling like it was a checklist. I recognize now that if I feel like it's a checklist, it's because of how I'm seeing it. I'm not seeing it the way that God intends, which is everyone's accounted for. And you are supposed to follow the spirit, but she says in it that we are. The Savior's hands, and that really changed how I want to look at ministering in the future. I also loved that she said we are not called. Or released from ministering. it is part of fulfilling the covenants we made at baptism and in the temple. We coveted to take upon the Savior's name becoming as he is, as we sacrifice and consecrate our lives to him. And I really needed to have a different perspective on ministering and I thought her sincere talk, it really corrected some of my perspectives.

Sher: I [00:13:00] agree with that. I loved her talk. It was really good. I really like her. 

Cydni: I do too. 

Sher: I'm just gonna do three quick things. Just three. 

Cydni: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. 

welcome to the Sher podcast. See how I took myself out? 

Sher: Yeah, I like that even better. Just kidding. I really like this story that Elder Becerra said about the man that sold his car to pay for his tithing. Holy cow. I need to be so much more faithful. This man is such an example of being courageous and being faithful. Amazing. I'll admit, 

Cydni: I was like, please don't sell your car. I was like, don't let the story go there. 

Sher: It went there. 

Cydni: It did. He did it. 

Sher: And then Elder, Sora he talked about being more careful about social media and philosophies of men that lead away from Christ and that we need to stay close to the true vine. Everything is out there. You're gonna find whatever you want. So if I wanna know the truth, I need to find it in the true vine, which is following the Savior. 

And then last one Elder Bednar's talk about charity, but actually I'm gonna move it to the end, so I'll get to that later. 

Cydni: Okay. 

Sher: So our [00:14:00] next question is, what was an impression you felt during conference?

Cydni: My impression was to live our faith more fully, to be sincere about taking the name of Christ upon ourselves and to live that way.

Sher: I love that. And that is definitely something that I need to do as well. And I wrote down several things, but I'm going to try really hard to keep it to one this time and I'm gonna go with Emily Bell Freeman's when she read the scripture where Christ prayed for Peter and that image of the Savior interceding and praying for all of us. By name really got me this time. I know the atonement was individual, but that means that Christ said our name, each and every one of us. He saw us and he prayed for each one of us, and he's still praying for us by name. We have a God praying for us. Cydni, that is so empowering and a little bit overwhelming and comforting all at the same time.

And our last question is sum up what you think the overall [00:15:00] message of general conference was. 

Cydni: For me, it was really Christ-centered. In fact, I asked AI how many times was Christ mentioned or referred to in the 2026 General Conference. It only had a number for Sunday, April 5th. Do you even care to try and guess what it is? 

Sher: More than five 

Cydni: ding ding, way to put forth effort on that. Yeah. It was more than five just Easter Sunday alone, 1,242 times Christ was referred to, that includes songs and prayers. 

Sher: That's amazing.

Cydni: And that does not include Saturday session. 

Sher: Wow. 

Cydni: I've already said this, but it is how I feel that for me, the overall summary is to live the way that Christ lived and in such a way that it's. Authentic and real. There was phrases like, it's the way of heaven. And I will devote my whole heart and my whole strength to him. I pledge my [00:16:00] life to our redeemer. We are his hands. Take upon the Savior's name. And there was another about boldly living your day-to-day life as Christ would live. And I felt there was a rejuvenation in our faith in how we live. Not just to go to church on Sunday, but be this, you are authentically this and every decision you make is because of what you believe really rooted like deep into the ground.

Sher: Cydni, I agree with that and I think you and I were kind of on the same wavelength. I took notes on all of conference and I put the notes into AI, and I had it it up for me. So here it goes. He knows your name, he sees your silent tears, he reaches for you again and again and again. Abide with him. Build on his rock, walk with him. That is the path home. And don't just change your behavior. Let Christ change your heart. Love all people. Minister in his name and you'll find his love and glory in your [00:17:00] Jesus. I really like this summary. But then because we had a week between, I started listening to conference again, and this is where I feel like I got another message that was very clear, and that is they talked about Christ's characteristics and that you can get these characteristics. That we needed to become that. So it wasn't just a part of us. It is who we are. Like Elder Bednar said, when he was teaching us about charity.

It's not just changing your behavior, but being spiritually transformed, letting charity eventually possess you, rather than just being something that you possess. It's something that is a part of you, and that goes to what you were saying is that we are becoming more Christlike and becoming closer to him by literally having those qualities, his characteristics be who we are. That's just us. And I am nowhere near that. I'll tell you that right now. 

Cydni: I love what you're saying because it felt like the whole time there was so many talks that said be like [00:18:00] Christ sincerely, but then there was, and this is how you do it and President Christofferson talked about what are the desires of Christ's heart?

Meaning if you have the same desires of Christ in your heart, how would you act? And he said, there's three things that are in Christ's heart, number one, charity. Number two, his passion to foster the happiness and advancement of others. And number three, his desire to glorify the Father and to fulfill the Father's will in every particular.

Our challenge comes from President Oaks. We invite all to study and ponder. the talks prayerfully and to act in faith on the principles they explain, the Lord has promised unto him that receiveth, I will give more as we treasure up and act upon the teachings. This conference, the Lord will continue to teach and inspire with personal and guidance.

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts. As a reminder, Christ knows [00:19:00] your name. He sees your tears. He offers peace. This conference reminds us the path forward isn't just changing behavior, it's letting Christ change our hearts. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and Sher 

Cydni: Maybe he didn't know that I was unaware. maybe I didn't, you can't make a single noise apparently. I'm gonna say it again. I'm just gonna go one more time. Okay. 

Sher: so I'm gonna ask the questions. Is that okay? 

Cydni: . I don't even remember the questions. Are you serious? Like I would remember that. I serious, I don't even think I answered the questions. I just threw some stuff out there and I was filling it and then I looked at your outline and I was like, oh, that's a great question sher 

Sher: I am gonna punch you

Cydni: Why would you follow my outline? Are you serious? How long have we been doing this? [00:20:00] 

Sher: I did exactly what you said. 

Cydni: You basically ran a red sign and you ran it. 

Sher: Oh my word. so I'm going to ask some questions and Cydni may or may not answer 'em, but I'm gonna try to answer them.

Cydni: Good plan. Oh, shoot. Don't feel emotional. Okay. We don't have time to edit emotion out. Okay. Did you fall asleep through any bonus question? Did you fall asleep through conference talks? 

Sher: Did I? 

Cydni: Yeah. 

Sher: I don't think so. 

Cydni: I did it. Was that one 

Sher: that was 

Cydni: that? What, what is this? 

Sher: Thanks for joining us. 

Cydni: We're so glad you're here.