2.331 This Shall Be Our Covenant
Show Notes
Allen Roberds reflects on Doctrine and Covenants 136, examining the immense challenges faced by Brigham Young and the Saints after Joseph Smith's martyrdom. This episode delves into how keeping sacred covenants and walking in the Lord's ordinances provides unwavering spiritual strength and guidance, even amidst chaos and profound difficulty.
Key Points
- Doctrine and Covenants 136 offers timeless counsel for navigating chaos and adversity, extending beyond its historical context of organizing the Saints' westward migration.
- Following Joseph Smith's martyrdom, Brigham Young, as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, sought divine direction to lead the Latter-day Saints through persecution and the journey to the American West.
- The episode emphasizes that despite overwhelming physical, mental, emotional, and relational trials, adhering to covenants and divine ordinances ensures that everything will ultimately work out.
- Covenants serve as a foundational pillar of faith, empowering individuals with spiritual strength and inviting the Spirit into their lives during challenging times.
In spite of all your troubles, despite all of the challenges you face, keep the covenants you've made. Walk in the ordinances of the Lord, and everything else will take care of the rest.
Episode Resources
Full Transcript
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth, a bold reminder that our lives are meant to carry his flavor, his truth, and his love to the world. Join me each day to explore one verse of scripture and one thought, striving to stay full of savor and truly live as savory salt. Hello, my friends, it's great to have you with me.
Today, let's be anxiously engaged in a good cause and bring to pass much righteousness. We have no idea what lies ahead of us, the challenges we may face. So, what do we do about that?
We're reading this week Doctrine and Covenants sections 135 through 136, as well as Mormon chapter 7 through Ether chapter 2. We'll get back into the Book of Mormon. Here in a day or two, we're going to dive into Doctrine and Covenants Section 136 today.
It's really quite interesting because we shift gears now. The leadership of the Church after Joseph Smith, I don't know if many people realize, it doesn't just turn to Brigham Young. Yes, Brigham Young is the second Prophet and President of the Church here in the modern era, the Latter days, right?
But it actually takes about three years or so for that to happen. And in that interim, you have the chaos that is Joseph being martyred. And then Brigham Young was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve.
You have the Saints being driven out of Nauvoo, the kind of chaos as thousands are moving west, and then you have the development of Winter Quarters, and Brigham is just trying to figure this all out, right? Like, we look at him now, and you know, he's considered — even amongst regular historians that are non-Church historians — an American Moses for what he did to get the Saints across the plains, the American West, and into the Salt Lake Valley, as we know that migration now to be. And yet, here in this time in Section 136, Brigham Young is not the President of the Church.
He is the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, and he is praying and asking for the Lord to just help out because he doesn't know what to do and how to organize them. Then we get Section 136, and I think you and I could spend some extra time in here, not seeing this only as how Brigham Young should organize the migration. A lot of times people just kind of simplify Section 136 and say, "Hey, this is, you know, this is just telling Brigham what to do to organize the Saints." So today and tomorrow, I think we're going to dive in and look at a couple verses here that I think can really help us today.
After Joseph Smith dying, they didn't know what was going to happen with the Church. The persecutions didn't stop; they continued to drive them out of their cities and towns, basically being hunted, right? My friends, our journey is going to come with ups and downs, and sometimes those downs are going to be quite down.
They're going to be difficult. For some of us, they may be physical difficulties. For some of us, they may be mental difficulties, emotional difficulties, spiritual difficulties, maybe a combination of all of them.
Maybe relationship difficulties, family difficulties, friend difficulties, whatever it may be. The list goes on and on of the difficulties. And yet, when we keep our covenants, when we walk in the ordinances of the Lord, everything will.
As a kid, how often President Hinckley would speak at General Conference and say, "Look, just do your best, follow the Lord, keep the commandments, and things will just work out." And he said it with this incredible optimism. So I don't believe this verse is a whitewash verse that's just saying, "Forget all of your troubles." I think this is actually saying, "In spite of all your troubles, despite all of the challenges you face, keep the covenants you've made. Walk in the ordinances of the Lord, and everything else will take care of the rest." My friends, I'm grateful for covenants we can make.
This is another pillar of my testimony this week. I'm grateful for the covenants and the opportunity that I have to keep ordinances and perform them in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the power it brings in my life and for the Spirit it brings in my life.
And I testify of their strength. That's all for today, my friends. Lift up your hearts and rejoice.
Cleave unto the covenants you have made. And together we will be savory salt. For more information, visit us at www.savorysalt.org.
This transcript was generated using AI and may contain errors. I do my best to review and edit them when I can.