September 9, 2025, 8:31pm MDT
Sir Sign University president Bruce C. Kush and his wife, Sister Alinda Kush, gave their first prayer message of the semester at Ensign University on Tuesday, September 9th.
With that in mind, President Kush said he decided it was appropriate to focus on his comments in the invitation that President Nelson invited during his October 2024 general conference speech.
“I encourage you to spend every week for the rest of your life to enhance your understanding of Jesus Christ’s tone sin,” President Nelson said.
President Kush invited listeners to take time with him that morning to deepen their understanding of Christ’s tone sin.
Jesus Christ is on his way home
President Kush compared the mortality rate to what he had at Disneyland when he was about five years old.
Along with his older cousin, President Kush boarded a train that he took around the park. They were to get off the train at the same stop where they left. There they will be reunited with President Kush’s parents.
When the two kids got off the train they realized they had chosen the wrong stop. They didn’t know how to go back to President Kush’s parents.
Tears filled President Kush’s eyes as he recalls the horrors he experienced as a boy separated from his parents.
“This childhood experience has become a quiet parable in my life,” he said.
President Kush and his cousin were eventually reunited with his parents, but this experience was with him for many years.
He explained that listeners may find themselves separated from God, just as he was separated from his parents.
“But good news about the gospel,” he said.
He continued, “Jesus Christ is the way back. He is the bridge between being lost and being discovered.”
What is repentance?
President Kush explained that finding a way to return to God requires effort, or repentance, to be concrete.
He asked two questions about repentance: “What is repentance really? And how can I know that God has forgiven me?”
To define repentance, President Kush cited President Nelson’s speech at the April 2019 General Assembly.
“When Jesus asks you and me to ‘repent,’ he invites us to change our hearts, our knowledge, our spirits, and even the way we breathe. ”
To help answer his second question – “How can I know that God has forgiven me?” – President Kush invited President Robert E. Lund, the president of Salt Lake’s married student stocks and lab teachers, to the stands.
President Lund answered President Kush’s question. “You experience peace, joy and gratitude. You want to do good things to your heart.
Stay near Jesus Christ
Sister Kush also addressed listeners, beginning with stories from her and President Kush’s trip to Europe this July.
Sister Kush explained how Rhine boats use safeguards called locks to navigate various elevations.
“The lock consists of chambers with gates open at each end, which lifts and lowers the container to match the water level on the other side,” she said.
When Kushus’ boat entered the lock, the captain placed the boat directly on the wall. He told passengers that staying near the wall would help manage the ship’s drift.
Sister Kush painted similarities between this experience and her spiritual life.
“Staying firm with Jesus Christ helps us navigate the often violent oceans of life, avoiding dangerous obstacles. He is the path to security and peace.”
She then asked the listeners to think, “We’ll pull him close to us, but be firmly surrounded by the safety of his love.”
She offered four suggestions to get closer to Christ.
Check your spiritual hearing by finding quiet moments during the day and listening to God. Take out proverb garbage by removing the effects that drive away spirits. Protect your spiritual mind by keeping your desires pure so that the spirit can live there. Save someone every day – not necessarily a few hours of service projects, but with a quiet and constant act of love.
Sister Kush concluded by inviting listeners to do one thing to bring them closer to Jesus Christ that day.
“Jesus Christ is our safe place,” she said. “He is the road. When we stick to him, follow him, and believe in him, we draw out his power and be safe from spiritual shaking and drifting.”
