Elder Joseph W. Sitati, a General Authority Seventy, spoke during the Sunday morning session of October 2022 general conference. Following the patterns of faith, humility, love and service mark the true crucible of enduring and joyful discipleship, he taught. The following is a summary of what he said.
Elder Sitati’s conference talk summary
Patterns of discipleship are “realities that govern our lives that we cannot change. When we respect and align what we do with these eternal realities, we experience internal peace and harmony. When we don’t, we are unsettled, and things do not work as we expect.”
Pattern of faith: “Whenever we care to notice, we see that Heavenly Father has given us sufficient witnesses of truth to govern our lives so we will know Him and have the blessings of peace and joy.”
Pattern of humility: “Humility inclines the heart of the disciple towards repentance and obedience. The Spirit of God is then able to bring truth to that heart, and it will find entry.”
Pattern of love: “When we focus our best efforts on loving God and others, we are enabled to discover our own true divine worth, as sons and daughters of God, with the complete peace and joy that this experience brings.”
Pattern of service: Love for God and service to others grow into the attribute of charity. “This resonates with the pattern of consecrated service in the kingdom of God that is set before us by the Lord’s living prophets and apostles. We become one with them.”
Notable quotes from Elder Sitati’s conference talk
When God’s children respect and align what they do with patterns of discipleship, “we experience internal peace and harmony. When we don’t, we are unsettled, and things do not work as we expect.”
“Humility inclines the heart of the disciple towards repentance and obedience. The Spirit of God is then able to bring truth to that heart, and it will find entry.”
“What we do at home is the true crucible of enduring and joyful discipleship.”
See the full text of Elder Sitati’s talk: ‘Patterns of Discipleship’
Who is Elder Sitati?
- Elder Joseph Wafula Sitati has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2009.
- Elder Sitati, Sister Gladys Sitati and their children were baptized — in an outdoor swimming pool — in their native Kenya in 1986, when the Church was still in its infancy in that East African country.
- Elder Sitati has spoken in general conference twice before — one six months after being called as a general authority and again in 2015, when he spoke about the three fundamental charges given by God to His children found in Moses 2:28: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”
What has Elder Sitati done recently?
- Earlier this year, he concluded two years of service as president of the Church’s Africa Central Area, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
- In September 2021, he presided over the groundbreaking for the Nairobi Kenya Temple, the first in both Kenya and all of East Africa.
- Elder Sitati, who turned 70 years old earlier this year, was released as a General Authority Seventy at the October 2022 general conference — the day before he gave his conference message — and was given emeritus status.
Read more of Elder Sitati’s general conference addresses.
- October 2009 general conference: Blessings of the gospel available to all
- April 2015 general conference: ‘Be Fruitful, Multiply and Subdue the Earth’
