Conference Counsel: Ordinances, covenants and obtaining God’s help
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- Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman speaks at the morning session of general conference at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.
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- Ryan Comer
This past week was my late wife’s birthday. She would have turned 36 years old. As I stood by her grave, I marveled that it’s been over six years since she passed away. I looked at all the headstones around her grave that weren’t there when she was buried. Time sure does move fast.
In my reflection, I can’t help but wonder how it is that I’ve personally made it through the last six years. How did this experience of losing my wife not completely break me?
The answer to this question is found in the subhead for the talk given by Sister Emily Belle Freeman, young women general president in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the general conference of the church last month. It reads: “Learn how priesthood ordinances and covenant promises will allow God’s power to flow into your life.”
It is no coincidence or accident that I have been able to continue to push on — and not just push on, but push on while retaining my faith. I believe it has come because of priesthood ordinances and covenant promises that have allowed God’s power to flow into my life. I know I haven’t been perfect, but I feel that God has seen my effort and rewarded me.
Using an example from her own life, as well as the life of Emma Smith, wife of church founder and first President Joseph Smith, Sister Freeman elaborated on obtaining God’s power. With heartfelt conviction, she explained what is required of each of us and reassured all those listening to her words that it is possible.
Starting her talk, titled “Live Up to Your Privileges,” Sister Freeman spoke of how she came to better understand the power of ordinances and covenant promises in a hospital room.
“Recently my husband, Greg, received a diagnosis that would require an intensive surgery and months of chemotherapy,” she said. “Like many of you who have faced a similar situation, we immediately began praying for heaven’s help and God’s power. The Sunday following Greg’s surgery, the sacrament was delivered to our hospital room.
“On this occasion, I was the only one taking the sacrament. One piece of bread. One cup of water. At church, my mind often focuses on the delivery system of the sacrament — the preparing, the blessing and the passing. But on that afternoon, I pondered the gift of God’s power available to me through the sacred ordinance itself and the covenant promise I was making as I took that piece of bread and that cup of water. (Doctrine and Covenants 107:20) This was a time when I needed power from heaven. In the midst of great heartache, exhaustion and uncertainty, I wondered about this gift that would allow me to draw upon the power from him that I so desperately needed. Partaking of the sacrament would increase my companionship with the spirit of the Lord, allowing me to draw upon the gift of God’s power, including the ministering of angels and the savior’s enabling strength to overcome.
“I don’t think I had ever realized with this much clarity before that it’s not only who officiates in the ordinance that matters — what the ordinance and our covenant promise unlock also deserves the focus of our attention. Priesthood ordinances and covenant promises allow God to sanctify us and then work wonders in our lives.”
At this point of the address, as transcribed on the website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there’s a footnote that quotes Elder Dale G. Renlund from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the church. It reads:
“Through these covenants, we have greater access to [the Lord’s] power. To be clear, baptismal and temple covenants are not, in and of themselves, the source of power. The source of power is the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Making and keeping covenants create a conduit for their power in our lives.”
That was from Elder Renlund’s April 2024 general conference address titled “The powerful, virtuous cycle of the doctrine of Christ.”
How do priesthood ordinances and covenant promises allow God to sanctify us and work wonders in our lives? Sister Freeman continued:
“First, in order for an ordinance to manifest the power of God in our lives, it must be done with authority from the son of God. The delivery system is important. The Father entrusted Jesus Christ with the keys and authority to oversee the delivery of his priesthood ordinances. Under his direction, within the order of his priesthood, the sons of God have been ordained to stand in place of the son of God. (Doctrine and Covenants 107:1-3)
“Second, we don’t just make covenant promises — we must keep them. In many gospel ordinances, we make sacred covenants with God; he promises to bless us as we keep those covenants. Do we realize it is the combination of priesthood ordinances along with the keeping of covenant promises that allows us to draw upon God’s power?
“That afternoon I wondered if I, a covenant daughter of God, fully understood how to access the gift of God’s power through priesthood ordinances and if I truly recognized how God’s power works within me.” (Doctrine and Covenants 107:18-20)
As I read those words, I find myself wondering how well I personally do at pondering the power of God that is being unlocked in my life through the ordinance of the sacrament and the covenant promise I make and keep. Am I focused on that during the blessing and the passing of the sacrament as much as I am focused on various aspects of the delivery system? Am I sometimes guilty of simply going through the motions?
In the blessing on both the bread and the water, we covenant to “always remember him.” Am I always remembering Jesus Christ when I make certain decisions each day? The phrase “What would Jesus do?” may sound trite, but honestly, am I thinking throughout each day about what Jesus would do and striving to emulate him as much as possible? I am grateful for this weekly opportunity to partake of the sacrament and obtain God’s help in my life. I have needed it, and I will continue to need it.
Transitioning into a discussion on how obtaining God’s help related to Emma Smith, Sister Freeman said:
“In 2019, a prophetic invitation was extended to the women of the church, teaching us how to draw the savior’s power into our lives. President Russell M. Nelson invited us to study Doctrine and Covenants 25, a revelation given to Emma Smith in Harmony, Pennsylvania. Accepting that invitation changed my life.
“Last month, I had an unexpected opportunity to visit Harmony. There, under the maple trees, the priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Close to those trees is the front door of Joseph and Emma’s home. Across from the fireplace in that home, there is a window. I stood at that window and wondered what Emma might have thought as she looked out across the trees.
“In July of 1830, Emma was 26 years old; she was so young. She was three and a half years into her marriage. She had lost a baby boy — her first. His little grave is just down the lane from her home. As I stood at that window, it was not hard for me to imagine what might have filled her thoughts. Surely, she worried about their finances, about the increasing persecution that threatened their safety, about their future. And yet, the work of God was everywhere around her. Did she also wonder about her place in the plan, her purpose in his kingdom and her potential in the eyes of God?
“I think she may have.
“Just across the way, the gift of God’s priesthood authority and keys had been restored to the earth. (Joseph Smith–History 1:71) This was a time when Emma actually needed power from heaven. In the midst of great heartache, exhaustion and uncertainty, I imagine Emma wondered about this gift of God’s priesthood that could unlock the power from him that she so desperately needed.
“But Emma didn’t just stand at that window and wonder.
“While the Prophet Joseph was being tutored in keys, offices, ordinances and how to assist in the service of the priesthood, the Lord himself, through his prophet, gave a revelation to Emma. (Doctrine and Covenants 25) Not Nauvoo-Relief-Society-president Emma — this revelation was given to 26-year-old Emma in Harmony. Through revelation, Emma would learn about the inward sanctification and covenant connection that would increase the ability of those priesthood ordinances to work in her life.
“First, the Lord reminded Emma of her place in his plan, including who she was and whose she was — a daughter in his kingdom. (Doctrine and Covenants 25:1) She was invited to ‘walk in the paths of virtue,’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:2) a path that included ordinances that would unlock God’s power if Emma held on to her covenants. (Doctrine and Covenants 25:13)
“Second, in her season of deep mourning, the Lord gave her purpose. Emma didn’t just have a front-row seat to the restoration; she was an essential participant in the work taking place. She would be set apart ‘to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:7) Her time would ‘be given to writing, and to learning much.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:8) Emma was given a sacred role to help prepare the saints to worship; their songs unto the Lord would be received as prayers and ‘answered with a blessing upon their heads.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12)
“Last, the Lord outlined a process of inward sanctification (Doctrine and Covenants 25:15) that would prepare Emma for exaltation. ‘Except thou do this,’ the Lord explained to her, ‘where I am you cannot come.’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:15; Doctrine and Covenants 14:7)
“If we read section 25 carefully, we discover an important progression taking place. Emma would go from being a daughter in the kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants 25:1) to ‘elect lady’ (Doctrine and Covenants 25:3) to queen. (Doctrine and Covenants 25:15) Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood ordinances, combined with the keeping of her covenant promises, would increase her companionship with the spirit and with angels, empowering her to navigate her life with divine guidance. Through his divine power, God would heal her heart, enlarge her capacity and transform her into the version of herself he knew she could become. And through the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, ‘the power of godliness [would be] manifest’ (Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-20) in her life, and the Lord would part the veil so she could receive understanding from him. (Doctrine and Covenants 107:18-19) This is what it looks like for God’s power to work within us.
“President Russell M. Nelson taught:
“‘Everything that happened in [Harmony] has profound implications for your lives. The restoration of the priesthood, along with the Lord’s counsel to Emma, can guide and bless each of you. …
“‘Accessing the power of God in your life requires the same things that the Lord instructed Emma and each of [us] to do.’
“There were important things happening on both sides of that window in Harmony, including the revelation given to the elect lady whom the Lord had called — a revelation that would strengthen, encourage and instruct Emma Smith, God’s daughter.” (Doctrine and Covenants 24)
The struggles we deal with in life can be overwhelming. It can be easy in difficult situations to give in to feelings of despair and hopelessness. It can be easy to doubt. We need power in these moments. Sister Freeman needed it during her struggle, and Emma Smith surely needed it as well.
But the Lord doesn’t leave us without help in those situations. As we stay close to him, he reminds us of our place in his plan — specifically, who we are, which is not some identity based on physical characteristics or beliefs, but our eternal identity: a son or daughter of God. He gives us opportunities in church to serve, which help us develop Christlike love and humility.
As I was pondering the message of this talk, and specifically, obtaining power from God when we really need it, I started to think about President Nelson’s counsel during his general conference address last month that now is the time to prepare for the second coming of Jesus Christ. In an April 2019 general conference talk titled “We can do better and be better,” President Nelson said:
“Brethren, we need to do better and be better because we are in a battle. The battle with sin is real. The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord.”
There’s so much in the world that can lead to a loss of joy and love of the Lord, and Satan isn’t going to slow down. He’s only going to try harder as the second coming gets closer and he realizes he’s running out of time. He’s only going to fuel even more wickedness. Are we prepared for those efforts? Consider these other powerful words by President Nelson:
“Our savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of his mightiest works between now and when he comes again. We will see miraculous indications that God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ, preside over this church in majesty and glory. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
Those words were shared during an April 2018 general conference address titled “Revelation for the church, revelation for our lives.”
Are we doing what is required to survive spiritually? God is willing to help us. Are we willing to allow him to?
Sister Freeman continued:
“When our granddaughter Isabelle was given a name and a blessing, her father blessed her with an understanding of the priesthood; that she would continue to grow in and learn about the blessing it would provide in her life; and that her faith in the priesthood would grow as she continued to grow in understanding.
“It is not often a little girl is blessed to understand the priesthood and to learn how those priesthood ordinances and covenant promises will help her to access God’s power. But I remembered Emma and thought to myself, Why not? This tiny daughter has the potential to become an elect lady in his kingdom and eventually a queen. Through his priesthood ordinances and the keeping of her covenant promises, God’s power will work in and through her to help her overcome whatever life brings and become the woman God knows she can become. This is something I want each girl in the kingdom to understand.
“‘Live up to your privileges.’
“Learn how priesthood ordinances and covenant promises will allow God’s power to flow into your life with greater efficacy, working in and through you, empowering and equipping you to reach your full purpose and potential.
“Carefully study and ponder the Aaronic and the Melchizedek priesthood ordinances, the covenant promises we make with each and the power of God we access through those ordinances.
“Remember, it’s not only who officiates in the ordinance that matters; what the ordinance and your covenant promise unlock also deserves the focus of your attention.
“Partaking of the bread and water is a weekly reminder of his power working in you to help you overcome. Wearing the garment of the holy priesthood is a daily reminder of the gift of his power working in you to help you become.
“We all have access to the gift of God’s power.
“Every time we partake of the sacrament.
“Every time we cross the threshold of a temple. (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22)
“This is the highlight of my sabbath. This is why I cherish my temple recommend.
“‘In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.'” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20)
“Of this gift I bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
What Sister Freeman said could happen for her granddaughter is the same as what can happen to all who stay on the covenant path. God’s power can work in and through each of us to overcome whatever life brings so that we can become the person God knows we can become.
We will all need that power if we want the ultimate goal of both peace in this life and eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God.” (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7)
Contact Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net. Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rbcomer8388 and on X at @rbcomer8388.
