Relief Society
February 5, 2012
Lesson: Chapter Three, Daughters in My Kingdom
CLEAVE UNTO THE COVENANTS, Exodus, Migration, and Settlement
Following the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smithin 1844, and due to continued persecution of Church members, President Brigham Young counseled the Saints to leave Nauvoo, Illinois for a new home where they hoped to live and worship in peace. The exodus began in February 1846. More than 5,000 people thronged the Nauvoo Temple after it s dedication, so they could receive the endowment and the sealing ordinance before embarking on their journey into an unknown future. They came to the temple all day and long into the night until each person had received their ordinances. The strength, power, and blessings of temple covenants would sustain them during their journey, when they would suffer cold, heat, hunger, poverty, sickness, accidents, and death. They were spiritually prepared when they left Nauvoo. President Brigham Young made the following declaration to the Saints: "This shall be our covenant - that we will walk in all the ordinances of the
Lord." They were bound by covenant to God, their families, and their fellow sojourners.
We each make a covenant at baptism to serve Him and keep His commandments (Mosiah 18:1-10). During the temple endowment we make additional covenants. During their journey west, women found spiritual strength in each other"s love and compassion. Throughout the journey, as they suffered trials of illness and death they prayed in faith for each other and comforted each other. "The love of God flowed from heart to heart till the wicked one seemed powerless in his efforts to get between us and the Lord, and his cruel darts, in some instances, were shorn of their sting."
Covenants keep us focused, help us have the Holy Ghost present, guide our choices, give strength to carry on, to persevere, bless us with new callings which provide personal growth, give us a new perspective, help sustain our faith, allow us to recognize the power of the Lord manifested daily, and provide a protection from the power of Satan. Keeping covenants help us strengthen others, bare every trial, and endure every challenge.
