Young members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered in Hamilton and Auckland New Zealand on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, the 16th and 17th of September, for devotionals with Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
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Her messages focused on divine identity and the joy found in following Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy and Pacific Area President, who presided at the two devotionals, also shared messages. He was accompanied by his wife, Sister Maxine Meurs.
Several parents and youth leaders also attended the devotionals.
Sister Runia told young attendees that “all of us are family and we want to go home to that heavenly place, that we first called home.”
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Youth and their parents attended the devotionals in Hamilton and Auckland. September 2025.© 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.She posed the question: “How can we know that Heaven is our home?”
And then she answered her own question: “I invite you to ask Heavenly Father, how do you really feel about me?” She invited the youth to listen for tender mercies, and to record them.
She also suggested ways to “navigate to our Heavenly home.”
“If you are in a dark place, pray. If you are having struggles, pray. Keep praying. Remember, even Jesus prayed as a resurrected being.”
She continued: “In the House of the Lord we can feel wrapped in the arms of His love.”
Sister Runia said that “our direction matters so much more than our speed,” and encouraged young people to “reclaim the faith we had before we came to this earth.”
“My faith is not in an outcome,” she said, “it is in Jesus Christ.”
General Authority Seventy, Elder Peter F. Meurs, also shared a message with devotional attendees in both cities. He encouraged young people to look to the Saviour, and to gather to the sacrament and to the temple to seek greater faith in and from the Lord.
“I hope you realise the healing power you have each Sunday by taking the sacrament,” he said.
Elder Meurs was accompanied by his wife, Sister Maxine Meurs.
After attending the devotional in Auckland, one teenager, Litiane, said, “I think I’ll change my attitudes towards my parents, and to look towards the Saviour. He loves us.”
Kowhai, who attended the devotional in Hamilton, said, “One quote that really stuck out to me that she shared was: ‘Not understanding is not the same as not believing,’ which to me was impactful because it kind of gave me a reassurance surrounding my spiritual journey.”
Another teenager who attended the Hamilton devotional, Lani, said, “I really liked when she talked about the billboard that said, ‘Life gets easier,’ but then it was crossed out and under it was written ‘you get stronger.’ That helps me see that challenges can help me and are not just bad things that happen in your life.”
“Sister Runia reminded me that Heavenly Father really knows us and will help us,” said Keelie, “even when we are in our lowest lows, or highest highs.”
Avery said, “She told us to pray every day, when we’re happy or sad, when we’re lonely and need someone, when we’ve had an achievement, when we’ve got something to share. Because we need to know Him like we know our own family.”
Sister Runia is visiting Australia, New Zealand, and Tonga this week with her husband, Brother R. Scott Runia.
They started their ministry in Sydney with President Camille Johnson, General Relief Society President, and her husband, Brother Douglas R. Johnson.
As the visiting leaders and their spouses are travelling in the South Pacific this week, they are being accompanied by members of the Pacific Area Presidency and their wives.
