EXCERPT
A new year does not begin because the calendar changes.
It begins because Jesus Christ makes change possible, again and again.
INTRO
January always feels like a threshold, but this year feels different. I am not stepping into 2026 only with goals, but with a deeper awareness of how much I still need the grace of new beginnings.
On a personal level, I began something in late December that has already humbled me. I enrolled in boxing training and quickly learned the truth of a saying I once heard, “Everyone can fight, but not everyone can box.” Since December 23, I have trained six days a week, three hours a day, discovering that boxing is not about force, but fundamentals. Footwork. Head movement. Timing. Discipline. Skills, technique, and speed matter more than power.
Watching the greats only deepened that lesson. Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion, did not become legendary by relying on strength alone, but by mastering movement, adaptability, and relentless discipline. His career is proof that greatness is built on fundamentals refined over time.
The same principle echoes in Bruce Lee’s timeless words, “Be water, my friend.” To be adaptable. Formless. Fluid. To empty the mind and adjust to whatever shape life requires. Water flows around obstacles, yet can also crash through them when needed. That image has stayed with me in training. Every session feels like learning how to move with life rather than against it.
Professionally, 2026 brings its own kind of discipline. Major work lies ahead. Domain transitions. Intune migrations. Expanding responsibilities in Azure that will demand precision, patience, and steady endurance. These are not quick victories. They require humility, adaptability, and the willingness to begin again when plans change.
As I reflected on these personal and professional goals, Elder Patrick Kearon’s message from General Conference settled deeply in my heart. His words felt like the spiritual parallel to everything I was learning in the gym and at work.
“All of us can have a new beginning through, and because of, Jesus Christ. Even you.”
In that moment, I saw the connection clearly.
Boxing teaches me to move with discipline.
Work teaches me to adapt with patience.
But the Savior teaches me something far greater.
No matter how many times I stumble, hesitate, or feel behind, through Jesus Christ I am never out of beginnings. This year is not just about improvement. It is about remembering that in every arena of life, spiritual and temporal, I am allowed to start again.
NOTES FROM ELDER PATRICK KEARON
Elder Kearon reminded us that when Jesus walked among the people, He did more than perform miracles. He restored hope. He reached those society avoided. He touched the diseased and comforted the weary. He taught liberating truth and called sinners to repentance.
To the blind, the lame, the grieving, the ashamed, and the broken in spirit, what the Savior offered was not simply relief from pain. He offered a new beginning.
Not once.
Not rarely.
But as often as needed.
Elder Kearon taught that baptism is not our only chance to start again. Through weekly sacrament and daily repentance, we are invited into continual renewal. This is not a church of one-time forgiveness. This is the Church of new beginnings.
PERSPECTIVE (DIRECT QUOTES)
“All of us can have a new beginning through, and because of, Jesus Christ. Even you.”
“With baptism by water and the Spirit, we are born again and can walk in newness of life.”
“These new beginnings can happen every day.”
“Jesus gives us as many new beginnings as we need.”
PRACTICE (TODAY, NOT SOMEDAY)
Today’s practice is choosing renewal over regret.
It is stepping into the gym again, even when yesterday felt like failure.
It is opening the laptop again, even when yesterday felt overwhelming.
It is kneeling in prayer again, even when yesterday felt heavy.
Faith is not demanding perfect conditions.
Faith is trusting the Savior who makes imperfect beginnings holy.
Repentance is not fear.
It is hope in motion.
FINAL REFLECTION
The Savior never gave up on His mission, even when the cost was suffering beyond measure. He endured so that I would never run out of beginnings.
Not just at baptism.
Not just at major turning points.
But every ordinary day when I choose to stand up again.
That is what faithful endurance looks like.
Not perfection.
But persistence with God.
POCKET I’M KEEPING
I do not have to wait for a perfect moment to change.
I only need to choose to begin again, today.
WHAT I HEAR NOW
“All of us can have a new beginning through, and because of, Jesus Christ. Even you.”
“This is the Church of new beginnings.”
“Jesus gives us as many new beginnings as we need.”
Link To The Talk
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2025/10/31kearon?lang=eng
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