Brother Bruce Vallejo
Priests Quorum Secretary
June 28th 12:00 Sacrament Meeting
Hello brothers and sisters I was asked to speak on Elder Rasband talk from the October 2019 General Conference keeping our promises and covenants. I got a random phone call last week. I had to pick it up because I didn’t know if someone was calling the wrong number or my friend got a new number. I just always feel bad if I don’t pick up the phone. Turns out it was Brother Neilson and when he asked me to give a talk I was actually kind of excited to give a talk to prepare me for my mission. But I definitely forgot to write it till I was on my way up to Lagoon and thought oh I should probably start writing my talk cause my friend also had a talk today so we helped each other out. And I’m so happy he gave me the topic of this talk because it was honestly one of my favorite talks from that general conference.
As Elder Rasband said in his talk “covenants are two way promises between you and god” which is the perfect way to put it because when you hold up your part God will bring many blessings and a lot of happiness to you. A great example I thought of when I was thinking of covenants and keeping our promises I opened my scriptures to D&C 14:7 where it says “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” Which is a scripture I love so much because it shows us if we are able to make it to the end keeping our promises to him he’ll give us eternal life. Keeping our covenants is essential to our happiness now and in the next life.
I’d like to also speak about some of the saving ordinances because ordinance and covenants come hand in hand. Such as Baptism and confirmation. Once we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ to always remember him and to also keep his commandments. It’s also a promise to serve him to the end. And Heavenly Father promises that we may repent from ours sins and be forgiven as it says in Alma 7:14 ”Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness.” That is just such a beautiful thing because no matter how bad you think you messed up and think there’s no way anyone can forgive you but the lord will always have your back as long as you are willing to take the steps of repentance.
And another very important thing is honesty brothers and sisters. You cannot be keeping your promises while not being honest. It’s like water and oil. They just don’t go together. There will always be a split between them. A great story about honesty is the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector in Jericho known for how wealthy he was. But Zacchaeus was dishonest and didn’t make the money himself; he just pocketed some of the tax money he collected from the people of Jericho. But one day Jesus came to Jericho and actually went to Zacchaeus’s home. Zacchaeus had a completely different lifestyle after his interaction with Jesus Christ. He saw his wrong doings and decided to get his life back on track. He promised Jesus he would stop stealing the money, give half his possessions to the poor, and pay the people he wronged 4 times more than what he cheated them on. This story teaches us that dishonesty is not the way of Christ and if you live a dishonest life it’s not too late, you can always stop that lifestyle and turn to light of Christ and live a honest life because I can testify to you if you live a dishonest life and don’t seek to change it. It’ll come back to you and make your hardships even harder. But you can always change and become honest and keep the promises you have made with our Heavenly Father.
In closing I’d like to share my testimony. The light of Christ pushes all the darkness away and no matter how dark and cold you can find your spirit Heavenly Father can warm it and cast out that darkness. And if you keep your promises and covenants, Heavenly Father can always find a way to forgive you and accept you into his glorious kingdom when the time comes. I know President Nelson is a true prophet of God and Joseph did find the golden plates, translated the Book of Mormon and restored this beautiful gospel. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.