Sister Linda Burton
Sister Burton is such a great lady, you can feel the spirit so strong when you are around her and she really lets you know how loved and special you are! I felt that when I met her and I felt it again as she spoke on Saturday.
Sister Burton spoke about Covenant Keeping.
Making and keeping covenant means:
1. choosing to bind ourselves to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
2. Committing to follow the Savior
3. It is trusting the Savior and desiring to show our gratitude for the price He paid to set us free through the infinite gift of the atonement.
Keeping our covenants is an expression of our commitment to become more like the Savior
Why make and keep covenants:
1. Covenant keeping strengthens, empowers and protect
As we keep our covenants we receive courage and strength to help us bear one another's burdens.
The Savior said "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another"
We all have burdens to bear and burdens to share
An invitation to the bear one another's burdens is an invitation to keep our covenants
Lucy Mack Smith said "We must cherish one another, watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down together in heaven"
Even the prophet Alma had to bear the burden of having a rebellious son but Alma was blessed with Covenant keeping brothers and sisters in the gospel who were deeply converted unto the Lord and had learned what it meant to bear each others burdens.
As parents seek and act on personal revelation, counsel together and administer and teach the simple principles of the gospel they will have power to strengthen and protect their families.
2. Keeping covenants is essential for true happiness
President Monson said "Sacred covenants are to be revered by us and faithfulness to them is a requirement for happiness."
Covenant keepers are commandment keepers
3. Keeping our covenants demonstrates our love for the Savior and our Father in Heaven
Of all the reasons we ought to be more diligent in our covenant keeping this reason is more compelling than all LOVE.
Evaluate how much we love the Savior by using as a measure how joyfully we keep our covenants.
Let us remember that even those who have been wayward and in the past or who are currently struggling can feel the touch of the Good Shepherd's hand upon our heads and hear his voice saying "come on you aren't tied down anymore, you are free!"
Sister Carole Stephens
Keeping your baptismal covenants means you are willing to serve the Lord your whole life
We keep our covenants everyday as we are kind show love and take care of each other
Love and watch over and serve others in small and simple ways.
When thou art converted strengthen thy brethren
We are all at different places on the path but we can help each other press forward with a steadfastness in Christ having a perfect brightness of hope and the love of God and of all men.
Do you see yourself in the work of salvation?
Take a moment to think of another daughter of God who needs encouragement to get back on the path or who needs a little help to stay on the path. Ask your Father in Heaven about her she is His daughter, He knows her by name, He also knows you and He will tell you what she needs. Be patient and continue in faith and prayer in her behalf and act on the promptings you receive as you act on these promptings the Spirit will confirm that your offering is acceptable to the Lord.
President Joseph Smith said, "This society was organized to save souls. What are we doing to win back those who have gone astray, to warm up the hearts of those who have grown cold in the gospel?"
A book is kept in heaven of your faith, your kindness and your good works and your words.
Sister Linda Reeves
When all is said and done, What will matter to our Heavenly Father will be how well we have kept our covenants and how much we have tried to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ
Lift up your heads and receive the pleasing word of God and feast upon His love. I testify of the strength and power of prayer as we express our deepest pains and desires to our Heavenly Father and the answers are received as we feast upon the scriptures and the words of the living prophets
President Thomas S. Monson
Heavenly Father loves you, each of you, that love never changes., it is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or the amount of money you have in your bank account, it is not changed by your talents and abilities, It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful, God's love is there for you, whether or not you deserve love, it is simply always there.
Prayer, scripture study will strengthen our testimonies and He will be there and we will not walk alone
Where ever we are in life there are times when all of us have challenges and struggles although they are different for each they are common to all.
There will be times when you will walk the path strewn with thorns and marked by struggles. There may be a time when you feel detached and even isolated from the giver of every good gift, you will worry that you will walk alone, fear replaces faith. When you find yourself in such circumstances I plead with you to remember Prayer.
We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. We have the promise, Pray always and be believing and all things shall work together for your good.
What I learned:
We need to love each other, help each other and strengthen each other but especially those who have gone astray. The Lord was always concerned with the one and so should we. We should not judge each other, we all have struggles, our struggles are different and they are real and they hurt. Lets just be kind, patient and understanding of one another. When we do this we will be keeping our covenants and following Christ's example and showing Him our gratitude for His atonement and it shows that we love Him.
