What is a covenant and why is it important?

Hello Everyone!

We had a zone temple trip this afternoon and so we are completely out of time to write! Don't worry, I still do love all of you and will type fast!

This makes a great umbrella!

Last week was awesome! We had MLC on Thursday and it went well! The best part about it was that we went to the temple that night as well :) That's right.... TWICE in less than a week. I love life.

My companion, Elder Consigna, have been super busy doing everything we can to teach people about what brings true peace and happiness in this life. It's not hard. Life is so so good.We just need to understand certain principles and live them!

A thought that I have been having recently has been about our "Covenant-Relationship" with Heavenly Father. 

So poor and yet so happy.

For many people in the world, they would ask the honest question: What in the world is a covenant? A simple answer is that a covenant is a two-way promise... In this sense, between Man and God. 

Why is it so so so important that we have this type of relationship with God? 

Why do we make promises?

 That is one of the most common statements we hear as we teach people. 

This is a typical end of our conversations: "Brother, so that you can find out for yourself if our message is true, will you pray and ask your Heavenly Father?" 

"Well I'm not going to promise. You can sin when you promise because if you don't fulfill it, you are a liar."  The people here are good people. They do not want to sin so they do not promise.

Many people in our generation see no need to promise anything. Or in other words "no need to commit."

Many people see safety in NOT promising things. 

I not only see safety in making covenants with God,I see eternal blessings in the covenants I have made with God. Many people would rather not make promises in fear of breaking them. I make promises to my Heavenly Father, knowing all the while that He would so much rather have me try, fail 100 times, and then succeed.

 Sometimes we forget that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have PERFECTED the attributes of patience, love, and kindness (among all others). They will love us. They will be patient with us through everything. Especially as we fulfill the covenants we made with Them. 

How many missionaries can you fit in one of these!? TEN!!!

Covenants with God have been 100% mandatory since the foundation of the world. 

When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, a Savior was provided for the world and they were promised the reality of living with God again IF they promised to be faithful from that time forward. 

So many in today's world will say things like, "As long as I live a good life, I will be saved - regardless of my religion." But then we are faced with the question, "How are two VERY GOOD people saved that believe in completely opposite doctrine?" One believes that Christ is a God, another says He's only a person, but they are both the nicest people in the world! The answer is in the covenants we make. God is not a God of chaos, but a God of order:

D&C 88:119
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"

Does that sound like He is saying, "Do whatever you want, just make sure you're a good person!" .... No, it doesn't :)

D&C 98:15
"For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me."

Acts 3:25
"Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed."

Mosiah 18:10
"Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"

It's interesting to note: Whenever we read about covenants with God, the Man is never the one to create the requirements or the blessings. It is up to Heavenly Father to set the terms. We either accept and follow, or reject and say that we know better than Him.

D&C 14:7
"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."

I know that this is what we all need right now. I know that we may say, "No religion is going to save us - it's all personal anyways," but I would seriously invite anyone to ponder upon the teachings of Jesus Christ since the beginning. We need covenants. It's how we are given the power to fulfill EVERYTHING He asks of us.

Helping the doctor register patients for free surgeries.

I know that this is true. I know that there is only one church on the face of the earth that understands the covenant-relationship that we need to build with our Father in Heaven. I hope something that was mentioned here sparked your interest. If it did, stop ignoring it and saying to yourself, "that sounds good" and then convincing yourself that it's the same thing every other church teaches. It's not - and I invite anyone and everyone to learn more about it :)

I love you all so much! I am so grateful for the support you all give! Have an awesome week and make someone else smile!

Love,

Elder Jacobs