Class Descriptions

Choosing Forward: Walking in Light, Building What Comes Next
Jenie Connors and Jacob Sybrowsky

Divorce can leave us wondering who we are and what comes next. Yet even in seasons we did not choose, Jesus Christ offers light, hope, and a way forward. Through the introduction of personal and financial frameworks, we’ll explore how to trust His light, reclaim what is ours to choose, and begin rebuilding a financial foundation with clarity, purpose, and intention. Because financial confidence is not the destination, it is the platform to build a life of significance. We each have a light to shine, a difference to make, and a life to touch. With Christ as our light, we can choose—one decision, one action, one step at a time—to move forward.

Developing a Love that Endures
Bryan and Jennifer Packham

The love we search for is not something we have to invent or demand from another person. It is a gift from God that we seek, receive, and gradually develop as we choose to follow the Savior and let His love, light, and truth fill us. We will talk about how Christlike love can sustain and guide us as we move forward after divorce, with Jesus Christ as our example. We will discover how turning to the Savior can transform us and the way we love, helping us develop a love that is real, sustainable, and everlasting.

Finding a Change in Perspective
Liz Adamson, Pam Raleigh, Barbara Smith & Stephanie Shepherd

A panel of women who have experienced divorce and found new perspectives that have helped them heal and become stronger. Learning to see God’s view of who we can become.

Using a caterpillar-to-butterfly metaphor as a guide, panelists will share personal experience across three themes: turning from negativity toward gratitude, moving from isolation toward genuine social connection, and shifting from external validation to a grounded sense of self-worth. Each segment pairs a lived story with a suggestion from a church leader and practical steps attendees can start using right away. We focus on moving through the past and looking forward into new possibilities.
 

Grace After Divorce: Forgiveness, Healing, and Boundaries
Dr. Jason Whiting

How can grace and forgiveness help me heal and find peace after a marriage has ended? This workshop explores how grace and forgiveness can support life after divorce while honoring truth, accountability, justice, trust, and healthy boundaries. Drawing on gospel teachings, research, and clinical experience, we will consider what forgiveness (of self and others) can mean, what it does not require, and how the Savior can help us release resentment without excusing harm or returning to destructive patterns.

More Than Surviving: Finding Abundant Life After Divorce
Crystal Bowman

Divorce requires coping with big changes and difficult circumstances and learning ways to protect yourself along the way. But often what helped you get through the divorce can hold you back from living fully now. In this class, we’ll explore how anxiety, hurt, and self-protection can continue to shape your choices and how, with Christ, you can take meaningful steps toward greater connection, purpose, and (my favorite) hope. Together, we’ll consider the Savior’s promise of “life…more abundantly” (John 10:10) and what abundant life can look like after divorce.

Rebuilding Your Life After Divorce, A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Moving Forward with Christ
Mary Alice Hatch with Matt Townsend

Divorce can feel lonely and uncertain as you find yourself rebuilding a life you never expected. But you don’t have to navigate it alone!

This class will explore practical and spiritual ways to move forward with Christ as your partner—taking action even when you don’t know the outcome, trusting the Lord’s timing, and remaining open to new opportunities He may place in your path.

As we partner with Christ and trust in His timing He can support us and lead us to a brighter future filled with possibilities!

Recognizing the Blessings of Letting God Prevail in Times of Adversity
President Matt Miller and Debbie Miller

How do we respond when faced with devastating loss, disappointment, unfulfilled dreams, hopes, and expectations? Where do we turn for hope and healing? Finding our way at these times can feel overwhelming and confusing, with so much that is unknown lying before us. Thankfully we know that God loves us and wants to help us. following President Russell M. Nelson has told us that “as you choose to let God prevail in your lives, you will experience for yourselves that our God is a God of miracles.”

Matt and Debbie Miller share blessings they received as they followed this admonition to “Let God prevail” and sought His help in navigating the challenges and difficulties of losing a spouse - one through death and the other through divorce - and finding their way to a new and beautiful, bright chapter in their lives.

Storms to Sunshine: A Hope-Centered Approach to Healing After Divorce
Kelli Anderson

Divorce can leave us navigating an unexpected storm—feeling alone, uncertain of what comes next, and wondering if life will ever feel hopeful, peaceful, and joyful again. Drawing from both professional expertise and personal experience as a child of divorce and someone who has walked through divorce herself, trauma therapist and author Kelli Houghton Anderson, LCSW, will introduce the Trauma Impact Phases™—Storm, Clearing, and Sunshine—as a hopeful framework for understanding the emotional journey after divorce. Through practical tools and gospel-centered principles, participants will explore ways to navigate difficult emotions, rebuild a sense of self, strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, and move forward with greater hope, trusting that healing is possible and that a peaceful, connected, and joyful life can still lie ahead.

Success in Second Chances
Stacie Walton

Can you truly find success in a second chance? Absolutely—but it takes real tools, not just good intentions! When a bird and a fish fall in love, where on earth do they build a home? Blending two completely different worlds is messy, funny, and full of uncharted territory. In this class, I share the four foundational pieces Jim and I discovered over 15 years of blending our family —from embracing the "crockpot" mindset to ditching "my way" or "his way" for the 3rd way. Come get well-equipped for your journey, laugh through the real-life chaos, and discover Heavenly Father’s true intent for your second chance: to experience real joy and happiness through His plan.

What Do I Still Want? Rediscovering Dreams and Direction After Divorce
Heather Nemelka

After a divorce, most of your energy goes to the things that have to be figured out, like kids, money, schedules, relationships, and work. Those decisions matter. But in the middle of them, it's easy to lose track of a different question: What do I still want for the life ahead of me? This interactive workshop gives you time to think about dreams you may have set aside, decide what you want now, and sort out which goals are truly yours and which came from other people's expectations. We'll talk about how fear, disappointment, and self-doubt can make it hard to picture something new. Through reflection, discussion, and gospel principles, we'll look at how God can help us find purpose, growth, joy, and direction when life doesn't go the way we planned. You'll leave with a clearer sense of what you want in this next chapter and one or two steps you feel ready to take.

When God Doesn’t Give You the Map: Finding Light When You Can’t See the Way Forward
Jenn Zingmark

Divorce can leave us facing a future we never planned and asking questions we never expected: What do I do now? How do I know which direction to go? What if I make the wrong choice? And why won't God just tell me what to do?

The Brother of Jared faced his own uncertain journey. When he needed light for the barges, God didn't hand him a map or simply solve the problem. Instead, He invited him to think, act, use his agency, and bring a solution to the Lord. The Brother of Jared prepared sixteen stones, carried them up the mountain, and asked Jesus Christ to touch them and provide the light he could not create on his own.

His experience offers a powerful pattern for navigating life after divorce. We don't always receive the answers we want or see the entire path ahead. But we can tell the truth about where we are, seek personal revelation, act in faith, and bring our efforts to Christ. We may not receive a map for the entire journey, but through Jesus Christ, we can receive enough light to take the next step.

When Life Isn’t Picture Perfect: Look in, Look Around, Look Up
Christy Gunnell

For all of us at this Conference, life probably hasn't gone according to plans. Why do things not go as planned? Is there something possibly the Lord wants us to learn from our failures or heartaches? In this class we will learn to look in, look around, and look up, so our failure, heartache, and unexpected turns can become learning experiences rather than roadblocks.