We all hit moments when our spiritual footing feels shaky. Maybe it’s the exhaustion of daily discipleship, a faith question that rattles us, or the slow erosion of spiritual habits that once felt strong. Then the prophetic voice of Elder Soares pierces through: “How firm is your foundation, and what reinforcements do you need?” (Elder Soares October 2025 General Conference)
This question can awaken us.
Because God is in the business of building foundations, and reinforcing them.
1. Firm Foundations Begin with Hearing Him
The Doctrine and Covenants opens with one word: Hearken.
That single command, hear Him, frames everything about discipleship. As I’ve shared before, “when God asks us to hear Him, it’s so that we can better know how to love Him”.
Reinforcement begins with renewed attention.
When life gets noisy, hearing God’s voice requires covenantal listening: prayer that includes silence, scripture study that expects revelation, worship that invites encounter.
Reinforcement practice: Take five minutes each day this week to stop consuming, no music, no scrolling, and simply listen.
Ask, “Father, what do I need to hear today to strengthen my foundation?” Then trust what comes. That’s how spiritual engineers, prophets and disciples alike, begin their rebuilding.
2. Reinforcements Are Covenant Connections
The Restoration of the gospel went beyond restoring priesthood and organization because it included restoring relationship. The very structure of revelation is covenantal: “God is the one you can trust. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God who makes covenants and keeps them”.
When your foundation trembles, look to your God, the great covenant maker and keeper, who is sure and trustworthy. He is the spiritual rebar running through your soul, binding you to Christ, linking your personal story to His eternal one.
Add your reinforcement to the strength God already has provided: Every time you partake of the sacrament, attend the temple, serve another person, or choose to forgive, you pour another layer of divine concrete over your faith.
Reinforcement practice: Identify one covenant connection you’ve neglected. Maybe it’s temple worship. Maybe it’s Sabbath rest. Maybe it is the quiet sitting and reflecting on why God is the ultimate trustworthy one. Recommit to it this week as an act of covenant renewal, not duty.
3. Reinforcements Are Built Through Remembering
In Hebrew, the word zakar, “remember”, meant to recall and to act in covenant. When God “remembers” Noah, He doesn’t suddenly recall an old friend; He acts to fulfill His promise.
To remember is to reinforce.
Every testimony we record, every journal entry of answered prayer, every moment we bear witness of Christ to another, becomes a spiritual beam strengthening our inner structure.
As you remember what God has done for you, your foundation deepens into bedrock.
Reinforcement practice: Write down one story of God’s faithfulness in your life. Share it with someone who needs to borrow your strength.
Teaching Tip
Invite your family or class to draw a simple house or tower and label its “foundation.” Then discuss: What materials does a strong spiritual foundation need? As they share answers, ask: Which of these could use reinforcement right now?
Reflection Question
What covenant, memory, or habit would most strengthen your spiritual foundation if you reinforced it this week?
When storms come, and they always do, our peace won’t come from avoiding the wind. It will come from the strength of what lies unseen: the firm foundation built on hearing, remembering, and covenanted love.
Christ is the cornerstone. The rest of the structure? That’s the daily work of your discipleship.
So today, take inventory. Ask again that prophetic question: “How firm is my foundation and what reinforcements do I need?”
Then begin to build.
Taylor Halverson
Learn Deeply. Live Meaningfully. Spread Light and Goodness!
