Covenants

• Alma 17: 15…The Lord’s promises are always extended unto even the most wicked on conditions of repentance
• Mosiah 18: 13…When we’re baptized we covenant to serve God until we die
• Mosiah 18: 12…We should perform covenants with holiness of heart
• Mosiah 5: 5…We should make covenants with God to be obedient
• Alma 24:18-19, 21-22…Should die before breaking temple covenants
• “Several years ago I installed a stake president in England….He had an unusual sense of direction. He was like a mariner with a sextant who took his bearings from the stars. I met with him each time he came to the conference and was impressed that he kept himself and his stake on course. Fortunately for me, when it was time for his release, I was assigned to reorganize the stake. It was then that I discovered what that sextant was and how he adjusted it to check his position and get a bearing for himself and for his members. He accepted his release and said: ‘I was happy to accept the call to serve as stake president, and I am equally happy to accept my release. I did not serve just because I was under call. I served because I am under the covenant. And I can keep my covenants quite as well as a home teacher as I can serving as stake president.’ “This president understood the word covenant. While he was neither a scriptorium nor a gospel scholar, he somehow had learned that exaltation is achieved by keeping covenants, not by holding a high position.” Boyd K Packer, Ensign, May 1987, 23-24
• “The discussion (between Abraham Lincoln and General Daniel Sickles) was observed by General James Rusling, who gave the following account of the conversation: In reply to a question from General Sickles whether or not the President was anxious about the battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln gravely said, “No, I was not; some of my Cabinet and many others in Washington were, but I had no fears.” General Sickles inquired how this was, and seemed curious about it. Mr. Lincoln hesitated but finally replied: “Well, I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of the campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what was going to happen, oppressed by the gravity of our affairs, I went to my room one day, and I locked the door, and got down on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to Him mightily for victory at Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His war, and our cause His cause, but we couldn’t stand another Fredericksburg or Chancellorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty God, that if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And he did stand by your boys, and I will stand by Him. And after that (I don’t know how it was, and I can’t explain it), soon a sweet comfort crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken the whole business into His own hands and that things would go all right at Gettysburg. And that is why I had no fears about you.” Seven Miracles that Saved America, Page 191
• “The strength of your commitment is measured by your willingness to give your very lives for that in which you believe.” Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 2003, 80
• “I encourage you to take time each week to be by yourself… Take an honest look at your life. Evaluate where you stand with the promises you have made with Heavenly Father…. When all is said and done, …only you know if you are living true to your covenants made with God.” M. Russell Ballard, Church News, 18 Oct. 2008, 16
• “For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming of the Lord. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not… God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God. All through the ages, the prophets have looked down through the corridors of time to our day. Billions of the deceased and those yet to be born have their eyes on us. Make no mistake about it – you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. Never before on the face of this earth have the forces of evil and the forces of good been as well organized…. …Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain – the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future, will stand in this fight – and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days, foreordained mission?” Ezra Taft Benson, “In His Steps,” Speeches of the Year 1979, 59-60
• “If we succeed in passing through the approaching fiery ordeals with our fidelity and integrity unimpeached, we may expect at the close of our trials, a great and mighty outpouring of the Spirit and power of God–a great endowment upon all who shall have remained true to their covenants. …” Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow. Chapter 7: Faithfulness in Times of Trial: “From the Shadows into the Glorious Sunshine”
• After King Benjamin’s talk, we want feedback on how he did. The reaction of the crowd was to cry with one voice saying they knew of the truth’s he had spoken because his words caused a mighty change in their hearts, as they were touched by the spirit turning the faith they had on these things into knowledge. This brings them joy, and a desire to covenant with God to be obedient to his commandments so that they do not have to endure the everlasting torment.
• “The tree of life is the central focus in Lehi’s dream. Everything points to the tree of life. The tree represents Christ, who is the clear manifestation of the love of God. The fruit is His infinite Atonement and is great evidence of God’s love. Eternal life with our loved ones is sweeter and more desirable than any other thing. To realize this gift, we must “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” 4 He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” 5 We can fill our lives with accomplishment and well-doing, but in the end, if we do not enter into sacred covenants to follow Christ and faithfully keep them, we will have utterly and completely missed the mark.”  Kevin W. Pearson, April 2015 General Conference
• Mosiah 2:36 -37… 36  And now, I say unto you, my brethren, that after ye have known and have been taught all these things if ye should transgress and go contrary to that which has been spoken, that ye do withdraw yourselves from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in you to guide you in wisdom’s paths that ye may be blessed, prospered, and preserved— 37  I say unto you, that the man that doeth this, the same cometh out in open rebellion against God; therefore he listeth to obey the evil spirit, and becometh an enemy to all righteousness; therefore, the Lord has no place in him, for he dwelleth not in unholy temples
• “One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.” General Conference, Richard G Scott, April 2013
• “By definition, trials will be trying. There may be anguish, confusion, sleepless nights, and pillows wet with tears. But our trails need not be spiritually fatal. They need not take us from our covenants or from the household of God.” General Conference, Neil L. Anderson, October 2012
• April 2, 1996 – Tuesday – Quito Ecuador…”We next went to Marcelo Mosquera’s house.  Let me tell you about him.  He got his right arm blown off to the elbow and 3 fingers and half of his left hand.  He did it working in the Jungle.  His wife left him. He never gets hired because of his physical impairment, so it’s very hard to get a job.  The government pays him 150 mil sucres each month (about 60 bucks a month) as a retirement pay.  This month he has no money at all because after getting it, he was robbed on the way home.  He’s had to go 2 days without food, and today he finally was invited to eat by Elder Howard and another friend.  With all these trials and problems (by the way, he lives in a one room house and basically all of his possessions (gas stove, bed, TV) were all given to him)  he still works soooo hard in the church work.  He sold almost all his possessions last November to go to the Lima, Peru Temple.  He’s the Turubamba Ward Mission Leader and magnifies his calling sooo much.  He reads his scriptures and is active.  He serves others.  He’s an example for me.  The thing was, after telling us his situation, he testified of his love for Christ, cried while doing it, and then went looking for things to give things away to us.  He gave my comp stickers.  Just seeing his situation, he has all the reason to complain and be selfish. But rather he serves others.  He is so awesome.  I’ll be like him.  I left 5 mil sucres on his table.  I hope he can make good use of it.  I left from there repenting of my selfishness, and of the times that I’d whined for material things.  How lost I was.  I’ll pray for him.”  – Clinton Brown Missionary Journal