Sunday

       Well today has been a pretty hard day. I woke up at about 2am with a really bad stomach ache. I was up for a long time just sick :( Andrew actually slept most of the night but I was up being sick; it was not fun. Then I got feeling a little better so I went to give my talk. It went pretty well. I think I only spoke for about 7 minutes or so. But I actually spoke slowly this time so the translator could keep up. One great thing about my primary calling is that I am not afraid to get up in front of people anymore. I wasn't nervous at all and didn't even turn red for once. So that was great :) After my talk I wasn't feeling to great still but the primary just doesn't have enough people to work without me right now, especially when my first counselor is gone. The kids really liked the singing hospital though. I brought Brandon's lab coat and stethoscope for them to wear when they came to pick a song out of the pocket. The Junior primary is so much better behaved than senior primary. It is so hard to deal with the rowdy senior primary; I feel like I am about to go insane after senior primary singing time. But at least they liked being doctors too.
       Brandon got released from being a counselor in the young men's today so maybe I can grab him for primary, haha. We have some teachers that haven't shown up for 3 weeks now and it is so frustrating trying to find a sub at the last minute. Brandon also has a big test on Tuesday that he has been studying really hard for. I am very proud of him for how good he has been studying. He goes to school around 7 and doesn't come home till 6. He has been studying really hard so hopefully his test goes well on Tuesday. He is such a good test taker I bet he will do really great :)

Here is a copy of my talk on Covenants:

Covenants

When researching about covenants I came across a talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson about the power of covenants that I really liked. He asks the question “What is the source of moral and spiritual power, and how do we obtain it? The source is God. Our access to that power is through our covenants with Him.”

A covenant is a sacred agreement between God and a person or group of people. God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions. When we choose not to keep covenants, we cannot receive the blessings, and in some instances we suffer a penalty as a consequence of our disobedience. “When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” D&C 130:20-21. A covenant is different than a commandment. We all have commandments given to us that we are expected to follow. But in a covenant, we are promising to God that we will keep His law. And it is very serious if we break our promise to Him.

The Lord has given us the opportunity to have many different covenants with Him and thus an opportunity for blessings. In our dispensation the Lord has revealed the new and everlasting covenant, which is the fullness of the gospel, to Joseph Smith. The covenants are new every time they are revealed after a time of apostasy. It includes the doctrines and commandments of the Lord including baptism, temple marriage, the word of wisdom etc.

I think it is a good thing for us to review what covenants we have made with the Lord.

In Mosiah 18:8-9 we learn about the covenants we make in baptism. By being baptized we make a covenant with God to bear one another’s burdens, mourn with those who mourn, comfort those who need comfort, and stand as witnesses of God at all times. If we do these things we are promised that we will be redeemed of God and numbered with those of the first resurrection and have eternal life.  Elder Christofferson says, “By being baptized into the church we become part of the covenant people of the Lord and heirs of the kingdom of God.”

In D&C 132 the Lord reveals the new and everlasting covenant of celestial marriage. He says that if you marry by the word of God and it is sealed by the Holy Spirit then you will come forth in the first resurrection and will inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, powers, dominions, all heights and depths. You also will be exalted and be Gods. What amazing blessings these are if we abide by the covenant of celestial marriage in the temple.

In the temple endowment we covenant to be chaste, charitable, benevolent, tolerant and pure; to devote our time, talents and material means to the church, to maintain devotion to the cause of truth, and to help prepare the earth for Christ.

I have really started to learn what it means to give all of your time and talents to the Lord with my new primary calling. It takes all of my time during the week. But I find that as I devote myself more to the Lord, He blesses me with the ability to take care of Andrew and get all the primary things done that I need to. The calling has really helped my faith to grow.

            Robert J. Matthews states “because gospel covenants are revealed from heaven, they are specific indicators of what God would have us do.” We are able to know God’s will for us by the covenants we make with Him. This is such a great blessing because we don’t have to be in the dark. We can know that if we are keeping our covenants with God we are on the right path to salvation. God has laid out the path before us and all we have to do is stay faithful to our covenants and they will lead us home. President Boyd K. Packer reminds us that “we are a covenant people. We covenant to give of our resources in time and money and talent—all we are and all we possess—to the interest of the kingdom of God upon the earth. In simple terms, we covenant to do good. We are a covenant people, and the temple is the center of our covenants. It is the source of the covenant.” It is in the temple that we make these covenants with God and it is so important that we are worthy to go to the temple and participate in these sacred covenants.  Our covenants will help strengthen us and keep us close to the Lord so that we can bear our burdens and become more perfected in Christ.   

            How are we strengthened by keeping our covenants? Elder Christofferson says the first way we are strengthened by keeping covenants is that as we are obedient to the commandments of Christ we are promised many blessings from God by his covenant with us. Those blessings are what help strengthen us in times of need. 

            The second way we are strengthened by keeping covenants is they “produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord.” It takes faith to get baptized and take the name of Christ upon us but as we keep his commandments our faith grows. In the lectures on faith it states, “In offering whatever sacrifice God may require of us, we obtain the witness of the Spirit that our course is right and pleasing to God. With that knowledge, our faith becomes unbounded, having the assurance that God will in due time turn every affliction to our gain.”

            The Lord said in D&C 97:8-9 “Verily I say unto you, all among them who are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice- yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command- they are accepted of me. For I the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit.” I really liked this scripture because the Lord is telling us that if we keep our covenants and obey His commandments He will bless us so that we can bring forth fruit or in other words He will help purify ourselves and do much good in the world.

            The last blessing from keeping covenants Elder Christofferson says is the bestowal of divine power. He states “Our covenant commitment to Him permits our Heavenly Father to let his divine influence flow into our lives.” God can bless us so much more because by living our covenants we show Him that we are willing to receive more knowledge and spiritual power.

In conclusion covenants make us strong. They provide blessings from God, help our faith to grow, and allow Heavenly Father to bless us with increased spiritual power and knowledge.