Why I Stay on the Covenant Path

Much of our property in Garden Valley is on a steep hillside with a creek at the bottom. We built a path to make it easier to get to the creek. Our son spent a lot of time digging deeper into the dirt with a shovel and pickaxe and moving rocks to create steps and a higher edge for the path. We also used logs. It is probably hard to tell from this picture, but towards the top right on the right side of that yellow twine is where we started the path. It ran pretty straight along the hillside and descended from the top right to the bottom left of this picture. After we made the path, we found out that we had been mistaken about our property line. Notice again the yellow twine. That more closely marks our correct property line which means that about half of the path is on the neighbor’s property. This past month we started a new path near that middle tree at the top of the picture. A direct path would have been too steep so we did more of a zig-zag path and then reconnected in the middle. The path is narrow because we are making it with shovel, pickaxe, and our hands.

That was the story of our path on the property. Now for the sermon. (Last week my older son said he was excited to read about the picture of the big rock on our property and then ended up reading a sermon. You’re welcome!). In the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, we make covenants which are promises between us and God that bind us to Him, protect us, and lead us back to Him. When we keep those covenants we are on the covenant path. The first covenant we make is at baptism. We make more covenants in the temple. Today in Relief Society we discussed “Why the Covenant Path” by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I chose the covenant path when I was eight years old because I felt good going to church and being kind to others, and I believed what my parents taught me and what I learned at church about Jesus Christ. After being baptized, I received the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift directed me as a child, as a teenager, and as a young adult in choosing the right, discerning right and wrong, repenting when I sinned, and serving others. As a young teenager I attended the Las Vegas Temple open house with my family and felt so much joy, awe, and happiness that I knew I wanted to be married in the temple. I was married to Alden Holm in the Mesa Arizona temple and made more covenants that day as I received my endowments and was sealed to Alden. Since then I’ve had to choose each day to keep the covenants I made at baptism to always remember my Savior and keep his commandments and the covenants I made in the temple to live the law of obedience, strive to keep the commandments of God, obey the law of sacrifice and the law of the gospel of Jesus Christ, to keep the law of chastity, and to help in the Lord’s work. I continue to choose to keep my covenants because of the blessings I’ve received. To me those blessings are evident in four areas: family, church service, personal growth, and spiritual growth.

Family

I love my husband. I love my children. Being a mom and a wife is rewarding and difficult. I am committed to being a mom and a wife because I have made covenants to my husband and to my Heavenly Father.

Church Service

While serving at church, I have felt a portion of the love that Heavenly Father feels for His children. I have been blessed to serve beyond my capacity. I have received guidance and strength.

Personal Growth

I have prayed about what to study in college, how to continue to increase my talents and abilities, which classes to take and groups to join. As I have kept my covenants, I am blessed to receive guidance in my personal growth.

Spiritual Growth

This is the main reason why I stay on the covenant path. Spiritual growth is in every area of my life. I stay on the covenant path, because as I keep my covenants and seek for personal revelation, I am directed by my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. I am given thoughts that teach me. I receive inspiration to talk to someone, to serve someone. In my scripture study, I receive answers to questions. I have a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I am becoming more than I could be on my own because I keep the commandments, sacrifice, consecrate, keep myself sexually pure, and serve others. I have power to be what the Lord wants me to be because I have made covenants.

Staying on the covenant path can be less treacherous than choosing to get off because I know I am choosing what God wants me to choose, because there is clear direction, and because I won’t have to suffer the consequences of unwise decisions. The covenant path can also be difficult. It may not be the path that some friends and family choose. It may lead to persecution. But mostly, in order to be made into the person my Heavenly Father needs me, I will be tried and tested. Throughout my life as I keep my covenants, Heavenly Father keeps His covenant to me by blessing me with His Spirit, protecting me, and in power to do His work. This leads to joy and peace in this life and eternal life or life with our Heavenly Father after we die.