September 17th, 2025, 9:12pm MDT
OREM, Utah – In the wake of the tragedy, the greatest feeling for the brothers Sean R. Dixon is love.
“I feel that feeling for each of you today,” said Brother Dixon, the second counselor for the young male general presidential position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I have prepared a speech today, and I pray that you can have a soft heart, so that the Lord and the Holy Spirit can speak to you.
Brothers Dixon spoke with a young adult during a prayer at the Utah Valley Religious Institute on Wednesday, September 17th.
The Utah Valley Institute is adjacent to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, where Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at a student event on September 10th.
A week later – almost an hour – young local adults gathered at the Utah Valley Institute to pray, sing, worship and seek healing through Jesus Christ.
Their pain was especially personal to Dixon. Brother Dixon has spent more than 30 years as a teacher and administrator at the church seminary and institute, and five years as director of the Utah Valley Institute from 2019 to 2024.
He told the young adult before praying that he spent some time in the courtyard where the shooting took place, where he felt a deep respect.
“In response to the terrible deeds of evil, we find the Lord,” Brother Dixon said. “We have discovered that the Lord has come and made his presence known. There is respect on this campus. I think it has something to do with the fact that you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Following the prayer, the church family services counselor taught a course on handling the many emotions that come with community tragedy.
Additionally, starting September 24th, the Utah Valley Institute will begin a five-week course called “Peacemakers necide.” This focuses on avoiding conflict and being light and other similar topics. Classes will be held on Wednesdays at 6pm
“He will heal the broken heart.”
During the prayer, Brother Dixon testified that the answer to all difficulties was Jesus Christ.
The first great commandment is to love God with all his heart, heart, heart, strength (see Doctrine and Covenant 4:2), but the “first great truth of eternity” is that God loves his children with all his heart, heart, heart, strength.
“God should not forget his son and daughter… He sees you in your unique pain. That’s not like everyone else,” Brother Dixon said.
He referenced Psalm 147:3. This states that the Lord will “heal the broken hearts and bind their wounds.”
“Brothers and sisters, if you feel that you have a broken heart today, if you feel that you have any gaping wounds, we testify that we believe in the Savior,” Brother Dixon said. “We believe in our Savior, who reaches out far beyond the pain and sadness we are experiencing. His ability to bring comfort and healing is endless.”
The Dixon brothers also referenced the stories found in three Nephi 8-11, in which the Nephites experienced earthquakes, fires, turbulence, and the complete darkness of the entire land. The Dixon brothers said they suffered from fear, sadness and pain for three days. But at the end of that darkness, the world’s savior, light, glowed.
“As we pass through the darkness, we know that light is on the path to drive away the darkness,” Brothers Dixon said.
He continued, but the Savior was among the Nephites, and he spent time healing sick, lame, leprosy, withered, or other suffering (see 3 Nephi 17:7). The suffering today may not look the same as what is found in the Bible, Brother Dixon said. For example, people are unlikely to contract leprosy. However, as in ancient times, they may be socially isolated.
Brother Dixon said he would come to Christ for those who recognize themselves and others in one of these deadly sufferings.
“We are not healers. We have no ability to heal,” Brothers Dixon said. “We are the people who bring them. We are those who can bring people to the Savior so that he can heal them.
The Dixon brothers also noted many ways President Russell M. Nelson has recently advocated for peace measurement, including his speech at the April 2023 General Assembly, “Peacemakers Need.”
He asked young adults to reflect first, in the way the Holy Spirit invites them to come to Christ, and secondly, in a concrete way that would allow them to become a better peacemaker.
“The life of our Savior,” Brother Dixon testified. “He’s not a person from a history book, but he’s alive and longs to bless and help each and every one of you.”
