Here are some of the notes I used for my talk - sorry they don't make much sense probably! But there might be some good things in there :)

Story of the brother of Jared…

Take the brother of Jared… he knew that he needed to go to the promised land, right? They had an entire OCEAN to cross. Imagine getting your family together… sitting down for a little family council… well kids, wife, etc – we have this goal of getting to the promised land but I have some bad news – we’re going to have to swim there. IMPOSSIBLE. They were going to need help…. So the Lord had them make boats. Boats of safety that would get them to their destination.

Wouldn’t you feel better climbing aboard a sturdy boat?... because what happens next?

Vs 4: they got aboard… commending themselves unto the Lord…

Vs 5: FURIOUS WIND… towards the promised land

Vs 6: No monster of the sea could break them

This is an intense journey! Thank goodness for the boats.

Today I was asked to speak about being the Lord’s covenant people. My first thought was, what does that even mean? I took it a little step deeper and asked myself, how am I a covenant person? You can ask yourself – how are you a covenant person?

We make promises to the Lord through covenants. These are very individual and personal moments between God and us. Making these covenants is like making the individual decision to get on the boat so that God can take us to the promised land – Eternal Life.

Just as the boats kept the Jaredites safe from the furies of the ocean, our covenants keep us safe from the furies of the world. We are always pressing forward to the goal of Eternal life. But, we feel the furious winds, don’t we? Sometimes we feel buried by the world and have no idea when our prayers will be heard and we’re back on top. Sometimes these “monsters of the sea” attack… but when we are surrounded by our covenants, we can be safe.

We’ve been promised protection, forgiveness, the spirit, and eternal life as we keep our covenants – what a blessing!

It is amazing that so many times our covenants feel more like obligations rather than privileges or blessings. How can we celebrate our covenants on a daily basis? I love the story of when Alma invited his people to make covenants… they clapped their hands and shouted for joy! Do we feel like shouting for joy when we renew our covenants every week? Now… I have never shouted for joy as the sacrament is being passed around, but I have felt immense gratitude. Sometimes I feel like my life is going crazy and the furious winds are just too furious and I can’t stay afloat. I am so grateful for that time on Sunday when I can ponder what is going on, take the sacrament, and feel confident that God is helping me towards Eternal Life….

Didn’t want to get baptized until 99 ½ … but now I realize that through renewing my covenants, I can be clean every day.

I would like to suggest 3 ways that our covenants (baptismal or temple) help us as a covenant people.

Anchors us down & gives us hope

Unites us together

Sets us free

Anchors us down/gives us hope

Bonnie D Parkin:

There are both stormy seas and calm waters in life. But as Ether tells us, “Hope cometh of faith, [and] maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God” (Ether 12:4). Covenants anchor us to solid ground, which, amidst the storms, makes our promises not only meaningful for eternity but vital for today.

Today is the BEST DAY YET….. something better is to come.

Unites us together

Look around you… we are all here because we chose or are choosing to become part of God’s covenant people. We are stronger together. We are united as a ward family, as a church, and eventually with our own families… the covenant of temple marriage unites a family in a way that the world cannot.

Keeping your covenants not only blesses you, but it blesses everybody around you… Hna Santillan – Emily – Oscar

Sets us free

Gentle-hearted King Benjamin said: “Because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ. … And under this head ye are made free” (Mosiah 5:7–8).

What are me made free from? SIN. We come unto Christ – the true liberator.

A scripture a day keeps Satan away