In the first of a new series of videos produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, artist Tessa Broyles paints a mural on a wall in New York City and shares how she found relief from personal challenges through Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
Broyle’s painting and video are based on Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson’s general conference message “Jesus Christ Is Relief.”
In the seven-minute video, Broyles talks about her anxiety and negative thoughts that caused her to criticize herself. She compares those feelings to rocks she carried in a heavy emotional backpack that weighed her down.
“I was basically adding in my own weight and making up my own rocks. And in ignoring them, it grew heavier,” she said.
The realization that she had been pretending the anxiety wasn’t real made it impossible for her to resolve her challenges and find any kind of relief.
“Something that I learned was that you can’t find relief for a problem that you’re pretending you don’t have,” she said. “It’s OK to have burdens.”
In recognizing her own challenges, Broyles said she learned to open up and receive help from friends, family and the Savior.
“We are a conduit through which He provides relief,” she said of how the Savior helps individuals to minister to and support each other in times of difficulty.
Opening up on the streets of New York City
Broyles described her experience of painting a mural on the streets of New York City as both exciting and humbling. As people passed by her and stopped to watch her paint, she talked with them in ways she said she usually doesn’t get to in other settings.
“Whether people are religious or not, we all have burdens, and we all need help and relief with them,” she said. “Anyone who sees the mural can appreciate it for that message alone.”
A virtual snapshot in time, Broyles said the mural is meant to depict the moment when God begins to take the weighted-down backpack off her back.
“I wanted it to be that moment when relief is starting to be felt,” she said.
That message was a core part of President Johnson’s talk in April 2023 when she talked about how the Savior alleviates the burdens of those who seek Him.
“I testify that Jesus Christ is relief,” President Johnson said in that talk. “Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we may be relieved of the burden and consequences of sin and be succored in our infirmities.”
In an Instagram post after the video went live on YouTube, Broyles wrote, “I’m usually pretty close to the vest about my thoughts and feelings, so this has been quite a stretch, but I’ve loved seeing how many people connected with the message behind the mural.”
Future episodes in the artistic series
The next episodes in this series will feature additional artists and their personal stories of building faith in Jesus Christ. Artists for those episodes include Brooke Smart and Tyran Schouten whose murals will be based on general conference messages from Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder D. Todd Christofferson, respectively.
Those episodes are currently scheduled to be released over the next month on the Church’s YouTube, Instagram and Facebook channels.
