(For those of you reading this who don't know, Sean and I are out in Lake Charles, Lousiana until the end of August for Sean's work.)
On Sunday, July 13th, Sean and I spoke in church to our congregation on keeping our baptismal covenants. This is my talk that I gave, word for word. :) As much as I love talking to people, speaking to a hundred people, give or take some, who probably know a lot more about the subject I am about to talk about MAKES ME REALLY NERVOUS and unfit for the task. However, I know that when I do what I am asked and pray for strength and comfort, I can succeed anything I am put up to do. I can definitely liken this situation to a scripture verse from the Book of Mormon.
1 Nephi 3:7
7 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.
Elder Robert D. Hales, one of our beloved twelve apostles of the Church, said in General Conference of 2000, "Our Baptism and confirmation is the gateway into His kingdom. When we enter, we covenant to be of His kingdom—forever!"
Baptismal Covenants are covenants or promises that we make between ourselves and God when we are baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We believe that anyone at the age of 8 who is living a worthy life may be baptized. I decided when I was 8 years old that I wanted to make this step and follow in the footsteps of my Savior, Jesus Christ. With the help of my parents, family, and bishop, I was prepared for one of the most special days of my life so far! On Saturday, November 2, 2002, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
________________________________________________________________________
My Talk
For those of you who do not know me, I am Lyska Seamons and behind me is my good-lookin and very hardworking husband, Sean. We moved into this ward at the beginning of May with the Vivint Home Security group and are here just for the summer. Sean and I met about a year and a half ago at the Seattle airport. Sean had gotten off of his mission 2 months earlier and he was headed to his first semester of school at BYU. I was returning to BYU for my 3rd semester. Long story short, I was walking backwards trying to pull my 2 big suitcases to the baggage drop-off when I… dropped them. Haha Sean just so happened to be standing behind me and we both went to pick up my bags, but I beat him to it. Neither of us said a word but we both were thinking, “Oo she’s cute” and “Oo he’s REALLY cute!”. Fast forward 5 minutes, we both are out of the security line and that’s when we both realized and at the same time said, “Oh, you’re going to BYU, too?!” We found out that not only were we on the same flight but that our seats were 2 numbers a part, so of course we sat by each other. We watched ‘Captain America’ and exchanged numbers when we landed in SLC. A week later we started hanging out at each other’s apartments and from then on we saw each other every day. We were married 8 months ago in the Bountiful, Utah temple :) I can let Sean do the rest of our introduction when he gets up here.
So… the reason I am up here… my talk! – Keeping our baptismal covenants
As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are taught that when we are baptized, we enter into a covenant with God. We promise to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end. We renew this covenant each time we partake of the sacrament.
I know that when I was 8 years old, I knew I was getting baptized but I couldn’t necessarily do it alone. I was still a child and needed constant help to remind me what things I should do and have that guidance and direction in my life. In primary, we are always striving to teach the children to choose the right by saying our prayers and reading our scriptures, etc. However, we know that parents play a KEY role in a child’s life. Kids feel a great importance of being a witness of Christ and being an example to others showing their love for Christ. We can all show our love for others by the way we talk, through our actions, and definitely through our thoughts.
A few days ago while preparing this talk, I called my grandma back home in WA and asked for help. I love this woman so much! To me she is the perfect example of living the gospel. This might sound kind of cheesy, but I like what my grandma had to say to me. Mind you, whenever I talk to her she likes to bring up how Sean and I met because she just loves how similar we are to each other… that she met my grandpa in an airplane just about 60 years ago flying our same route, Seattle to Salt Lake. She said, “well your talk is on baptismal covenants? It all starts with those very first covenants.” Keeping the commandments, remembering Christ in our day-to-day tender mercies, and taking upon us his name. We are living and breathing examples and witnesses of Christ in these last days. She said, “Both you and Sean were attracted to each other that day in the airport because the both of you were living worthily and seeking out the best in your life.” It’s just like when you hear of those stories when you see someone you do not know but its by their actions and the way they conduct themselves that you KNOW they are a member of the church. “I believe this was the same for you and Sean…” Sean and I were attracted to each other not only because we were both wearing BYU attire, but more importantly because of our light that we had and we were living worthily to be able to recognize that light we each had.
Other ways we keep our baptismal covenants:
·
Study the scriptures
·
Fast
·
Pray
·
Pay my tithing
·
Teaching the little children to
come to Christ – what better way to serve Christ than by serving his precious
children.
·
Love one another
·
Care for one another
·
Always putting Christ first and
then recognizing that the good things in our life come from him. We may have
put the time and effort into a certain goal, but ultimately it was Christ that
was helping us along the way to reach that goal.
·
Those goals in my life and the
covenants I kept since I was baptized at the age of 8, led me to make the most
important covenant 8 months ago, my marriage covenant.
Each week when we take the sacrament, we renew the covenant we made at baptism. Each day as we choose the right and follow Jesus, we are keeping our covenant and growing in faith. As we keep the covenant we have made, the Lord’s Spirit will be with us, and one day we will be worthy to go to the temple and make other very important covenants with Heavenly Father.
STORY about Jonathan – Before I tell you this story, I want you to really pay attention to Jonathan and his actions. If only we were all like him at this age.
Jonathan lived with his parents on a large ranch. He had a pony of his own, and he often helped his father care for the ranch horses. One day Jonathan fell from his pony and injured his back. After examining him, the doctor told Jonathan and his parents that Jonathan would be all right but that he would have to stay in bed for many weeks.
Jonathan had been baptized a member of the Church just two months before the accident. He had made a covenant, or promise, with Heavenly Father that he would obey the commandments. Taking the sacrament had helped to remind Jonathan of his covenant. He had listened carefully to the sacrament prayers and sat reverently as the sacrament was being passed. Each time, Jonathan listened for the words that told of his covenants -- to always remember Jesus and to keep his commandments. Jonathan knew that when he said "amen" and took the sacrament, it meant that he would try his best to keep his covenants with Heavenly Father.
Now that Jonathan had to stay in bed, he could not go to church and he could not partake of the sacrament. Jonathan missed those quiet, reverent moments when the sacrament was being blessed and passed. He knew how important it was to be reminded often of the covenants he had made. He wanted to have Heavenly Father's Spirit with him. Jonathan decided to ask the bishop if the sacrament could be brought to his home on Sunday.
The bishop was pleased to know that Jonathan did not want to miss the sacrament and that he wanted to be reminded of the covenants he had made with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He arranged for two priesthood bearers to visit Jonathan at the ranch on Sundays and prepare the sacrament for him.
WOW. It amazes me how at that young of an age and to have been baptized just 2 months before his accident, how serious he took his covenant he made with his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It makes me question whether or not I am living my life like Jonathan.
Keeping Covenants
Protects Us, Prepares Us, and Empowers Us
By Rosemary M.
Wixom
Primary General
President
We
are covenant-making people of all ages walking the path of mortality back to
His presence. Keeping covenants protects us, prepares us, and empowers us.
As
men and women of all ages, we walk in His light. Our journey on the path
is personal and well lit with the Savior’s love.
We
enter the gate to the path of eternal life with the ordinance and covenant of
baptism, and then we receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost. Elder Robert D. Hales asks us, “Do [we] understand and
do [our] children understand that when [we] are baptized [we] are changed
forever?”
He
also explained that, “when we understand our baptismal covenant and the gift of
the Holy Ghost, it will change our lives and will establish our total
allegiance to the kingdom of God. When temptations come our way, if we will
listen, the Holy Ghost will remind us that we have promised to remember our
Savior and obey the commandments of God.”2
Each
week as we partake of the emblems of the sacrament,
we renew our baptismal covenant. Elder David A. Bednar said: “As we stand
in the waters of baptism, we look to the temple. As we partake of the
sacrament, we look to the temple. We pledge to always remember the Savior and
to keep His commandments as preparation to participate in the sacred ordinances
of the temple.”3
Temple
ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. They are those ordinances necessary for our exaltation in
the celestial kingdom. As we strive to keep our covenants, our feelings of
inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the
covenants of the temple come alive. Everyone is welcome to walk that path to
eternal life.
The Power, Joy, and Love of Covenant Keeping
By Linda K. Burton
Relief Society General President
Okay, so, up until this point, I have told
you several ways we can keep our covenants and read to you great quotes from
the apostles of God, but why do we really need to make and keep them?
Why Make and Keep Covenants?
1. Covenant
keeping strengthens, empowers, and protects. (If there is time I will read this short story)
A wise mother I know
intentionally includes her children in her efforts to keep her covenants. She
joyfully bears the burdens of neighbors, friends, and ward members—and comforts
those who stand in need of comfort. It was not surprising when her young
daughter recently came asking for help to know how to best comfort her friend
whose father had just passed away. That was a perfect setting to teach that her
desire to comfort her friend was one way to keep her baptismal covenant. How
can we expect children to make and keep temple covenants if we don’t expect
them to keep their first covenant—their baptismal covenant?
2.
Keeping covenants is essential for true happiness. When I think of true
happiness it brings me back to an experience when I was in middle school.
Service
Story w/ Ki and Tyson
It was a summer day, my
sister’s were probably at soccer practice and my parents were at work. My
younger brother, Tyson, and I were most likely playing video games when Ki, my
brother that is here in this ward with us today, came down and told us we had to
go grab some shovels, the wheel barrow, gloves, and some hedge trimmers. I
asked Ki, “What do we need with those things and where are we going?” He said,
“Don’t worry about it, you’ll see.” So of course, I had to listen to my older
brother and do what he asked. We got the shovels and put them in the back of
the truck and then joined Ki in the truck. 5 minutes later we arrived at some
apartments behind the church. We hopped out and Ki started grabbing the wheel
barrow and walked around the corner of the apartments, stopped, then started
digging.
For those of you who don’t
know me, I’m not the biggest fan of weeding. You get hot, and sweaty, and dirt
mixed in with that sweat. It’s not exactly what I had planned for my nice
summer day. An hour goes by and we are finally done. I was so happy to be done
but not because we had weeded someone else’s flowers and bushes, but because I
got to go home. The next Sunday, we were at church and Ki told me who it was
that we did the service for. It was an older man, in a wheelchair. I had
noticed that man in church before but just never knew who he was and now I did.
That man never knew who it was the cleared out the weeds for him. It was a big
reality shock for me and all of a sudden I had this emotion come over me and I felt
so bad that I didn’t really care that I was weeding for another person.
Anyways, my point is, after this experience, I have been so much happier and
willing to serve others. I find so much joy and happiness in helping and
focusing on others. Serving others brings true happiness into my life.
-----
Just like King Benjamin said
in Mosiah 2:17, “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only
in the service of your God.”
3.
Keeping our covenants demonstrates our love for the Savior and our Father in
Heaven.
“If we fully appreciated the many blessings which are
ours through the redemption made for us, there is nothing that the Lord could
ask of us that we would not anxiously and willingly do.”23 According to this statement by President Joseph Fielding Smith,
covenant keeping is one way to express our love for the incomprehensible,
infinite Atonement of our Savior and Redeemer and the perfect love of our
Father in Heaven.
Elder Holland movingly suggested, “I am not certain
just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised
if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ
asked Peter: ‘Did you love me?’”24
I invite each of us to evaluate how much we love the
Savior, using as a measure how joyfully we keep our covenants. The Savior said,
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and
he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will
manifest myself to him.”25 How we all need a regular manifestation of the Savior in our daily
lives!
________________________________________________________________________
Here is a link to the talk that Elder Robert D. Hales gave in the October General Conference of 2000.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-covenant-of-baptism-to-be-in-the-kingdom-and-of-the-kingdom?lang=eng
________________________________________________________________________
Here is a link to the talk that Elder Robert D. Hales gave in the October General Conference of 2000.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2000/10/the-covenant-of-baptism-to-be-in-the-kingdom-and-of-the-kingdom?lang=eng
