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Hey there everybody welcome back to another episode of Redeemed Through His Blood.

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Scott Durfey here is always joined by David Durfey

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What's up Dave?

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Oh sweet to be here Scott.

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We're well into summer, halfway through the summer day.

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July months it's been really warm here in Utah been kind of nice I love it.

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Hey I got something on my mind.

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The, this is my study this week.

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I read something that had a profound effect on me that I've been thinking about and haven't

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been able to quit thinking about it.

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And I was a talk I don't even think I have the reference.

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Give them by Elder Neil A. Maxwell.

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And he's talking about the atonement of Jesus Christ and the will of God and you know like

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like he liked to do.

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He made this one sentence this one statement.

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He says I know that I am unworthy but I am not ungrateful.

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I just I just man that resonated with me.

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I that's I and I'm not as worthy as Elder Maxwell but this is the statement really resonated

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with me.

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I am unworthy but I am not ungrateful.

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I think that is the key Scott to our spirituality our spiritual success our relationship with

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the Savior.

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That is the key to having desires to do the will of God to strive to keep commandments

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to make and keep covenants is gratitude.

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None of us are worthy.

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I mean right King Benjamin said that just remember you unworthy creatures.

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None of us are really worthy.

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I know there's that that question we all wrestle with at the end of the temple recommend interview.

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But we're worthy enough through Jesus Christ and his atonement.

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The key to our spirituality and our success is is not being worthy the key to our spirituality

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success and really our spiritual progression and growth is being grateful.

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So I just that's I hope I never forget that statement and I probably will think about

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it every day the rest of my life and and encourage our listeners to think about it.

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You know you you may not feel worthy but the real question isn't whether you're worthy.

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The real question is are you grateful.

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If you're grateful you're going to be fine because I want and grateful for what we're

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grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ.

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That's what I think of when I think of gratitude.

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I think of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

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There's nothing I'm more grateful for.

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There's nothing I need more.

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There's nothing I want more for me for my family for loved ones then for the full access

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and application of the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life.

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So listeners you may not feel worthy but never never never become ungrateful and and we really

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show our our lack of gratitude by not striving by not keeping the commandments.

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Gratitude in the towel would be a gross form of of a lack of gratitude.

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So anyway I I'm just really I don't know there's something about that statement that

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not only resonates with me but there's something about it that motivates me recognizing that

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an apostle prophet seer revelator confessed his unworthiness but acknowledged that his

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gratitude and as long as we're grateful there's hope for us Scott.

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Anyway I just wanted to I wanted to share that and it's kind of the essence I think

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of the whole course is understanding and appreciating the atonement of Jesus Christ

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in our life and if people could strive for that more understanding more gratitude and

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believe me those are connected the more you understand it the more grateful you are for

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it.

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So maybe maybe we could start with that.

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Well and the more grateful we are and you've said this fact I think last time you said

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it I think they're getting sick of hearing this say this but it's true and and and if

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we're getting sick of hearing us say it then that's a good sign that means we're saying

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it may be just enough but gratitude is the beginning of desire.

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It's the highest motivating power in my life and and I think that that's the way it should

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be in most of our lives.

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Elder Scott is the one who really taught that to me that gratitude for the atonement of

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Jesus Christ is the highest motivating power in our lives and and the lack of gratitude

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for the atonement of Jesus Christ Scott would would show the gross not only negligence but

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maybe mockery of the atonement of Jesus Christ and so it's it's this the key to our spiritual

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lives our spiritual progression or our eternity is the level of our gratitude for which is

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usually the result of our understanding of Jesus Christ and his atonement and today we

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want to talk about the covenants that we enter into which are part of the application or

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accessing the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ in our life.

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We haven't said too much about covenants or ordinances and I like to kind of dive into

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that which includes the name of Christ what it means to take upon ourselves the name of

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Jesus Christ which I think is such an important part of our relationship with him how we feel

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about his name how we feel about ordinances how we feel about covenants ultimately all

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the ordinances and all the covenants of the gospel Scott are the essence of the restoration

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of the gospel of Jesus Christ and it is all about a relationship ordinances are and covenants

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are not another checklist of dues and don'ts when we make covenants with the Lord it's

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not another checklist it's about our relationship with him some of the ordinances and covenants

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we enter into are definitely conditional upon our faithfulness for sure but many of the ordinances

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and covenants so we enter into are unconditional that God has promised us his love and to have

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an or to to enter into an ordinance with him and a covenant with him is is evidence of

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his love and his power which he has promised that would those things would be with us if

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we if we just drive we don't have to be perfect we will for sure not be sinless he knew all

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of that we live in a fallen celestial hellish world but the covenant is there and through

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repentance we that that covenant is is sure that we can repent over and over and over

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again and that covenant is is still there and we don't I think really appreciate how

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central covenants are to who God is I want to say that again it's really important we

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understand how important covenants are to who God is you you look at the you look at

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the scriptures and covenants are everywhere in the scriptures and many people don't don't

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see that they don't appreciate it two hundred seventy two times in the Bible word covenant

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is used I think it's two hundred seventy times in the Book of Mormon so think about that

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book Book of Mormon Doctrine Covenants sorry so it's like five hundred and whatever that

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is like five forty and then I think it's like nineteen times in the Pearl of Great Price

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so it's it's like almost five hundred sixty times the word covenant and all the other

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words that kind of mean that I'm not even counting the word covenant is used in the

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holy scriptures our God is a covenant God and covenants matter to him and he offers

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them to us because of his love for us because we are his children I mean any study of the

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scriptures just the Bible just the Bible loans God I just let's just review this for

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a minute you have you have a covenant that God makes with Adam and Eve before they ever

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leave the garden and covenants after they leave the garden that's all recorded in Genesis

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this is just before I mean all of this is in Genesis Scott you have a covenant with

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Noah yet we know in the Pearl of Great Price that there were covenants made with the Enoch

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that God our God is a covenant God he is a covenant keeping covenant making God so you

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have it with Noah you have it with Abraham over and over again in Genesis 15 Genesis

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17 Genesis 22 the new and everlasting covenant that becomes eventually called and when we

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talk about the new and everlasting covenant we're really just talking about the Abrahamic

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covenant which he renewed with Isaac which he renewed with Jacob which he is renewed

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with all the prophets which he renewed with Joseph Smith which he is renewed with President

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Nelson which he removed which he renews with you and me when we go to the house of the

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Lord so all of that takes us back the new and everlasting covenant new because it's

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been restored everlasting because it goes all the way back to Abraham Isaac and Jacob

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it goes all the way back to Noah it goes all the way back to Adam he makes covenants with

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Israel throughout the Old Testament he makes covenants with Moses after they leave Egypt

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in Egypt after they leave Egypt he makes a covenants with Joshua and Israel in the land

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of Canaan he makes amazing covenants with David in 2 Samuel 7 when Israel kind of reaches

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its height of power he makes a new covenants he calls it a new covenant with Jeremiah and

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Jeremiah chapter 31 which is referenced too many times in the New Testament anyway and

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you can read all of the covenants that he made with Lehi Nephi Jacob throughout the

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Book of Mormon covenants is scattered throughout all of the chapters all of the books of the

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Book of Mormon because it's kind of the center of our relationship with him we have a covenant

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relationship with him there's something sacred about that Scott it's not like he's

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our pal or just our just a friendly relationship here we have a covenant relationship and everything

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about covenants everything about ordinances which is how we usually enter into a covenant

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through ordinances all of that has to do with our relationship there's just something so

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sacred about that I I mean and I'm not I'm not judging or I'm not trying to condemn

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but it's a different Scott between living with your partner or entering into a covenant

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with your partner I mean it's one's a lot more sacred than the other the responsibility

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the commitment the the love the understanding of the relationship there's just so much more

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to having a covenant relationship with God than just seeing him as our our friend or our

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care our caregiver or whatever so I I just I want to get into that we can start to talk

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about that but I think it's the essence of of how to access power the power of God the

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power of the atonement of Jesus Christ it's really key I think in in working out our salvation

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and exaltation when we talk about the work of salvation and exaltation which is now kind

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of become a big phrase right in the in the church it's in all over in the church handbook

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of instructions and I love it that's a great phrase to kind of summarize the work of the

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church and the kingdom of God on earth is the work of salvation and exaltation it all

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comes down to ordinances and covenants that is not to take away from faith in the Lord

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Jesus Christ or repentance or baptism or receiving the Holy Ghost or enduring to the

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end that's that's all what we call the doctrine of Christ but in in the doctrine of Christ

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ordinances or covenants I think are summarized by the term indoor to the end president Nelson

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kind of has said that that indoor to the end means going to the temple taking upon herself

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the name of Christ and making and keeping covenants and and I love that because I I

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think it that ordinance and covenants give us power there is power associated with that

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there is knowledge there is symbolism in the ordinances and covenants of the gospel

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it this is what helps me to remember is the ordinances and covenants this is what helps

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me to reflect upon my relationship with with my savior with my heavenly father with the

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Holy Ghost this this gives me power to become sanctified I mean elder bednar has taught

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that powerfully that it's that it's through the ordinances and the covenants of the gospel

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that we become sanctified in fact Joseph Smith taught that I'd have pulled that up find the

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page in teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith Scott but Joseph Smith thought that that it

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was through the ordinance and covenants that that man would be born again so let's let's

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get into it and what questions do you have and what points do you want to make on that

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yeah questions will come I'm sure as we go and you know we we oftentimes get questions

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from our listeners at our email address mine might just throw that out at that's he redeems

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us at gmail.com you can send those questions here but you know Dave I think over the years

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or over the yeah years and episodes that we've been doing this I've had several thoughts around

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this and experiences that have you know this this has really piqued my interest this isn't

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something that was natural for me to grasp and to understand not in the degree that you're

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describing it one day I met an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and I run into a person there

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who is after we started the podcast yeah yeah this was after the bridge started the podcast

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and I met the I met a meeting and and this person who described herself as being a member

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of the church and afterwards we had a little conversation after the meeting we had a little

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conversation and and she was talking about how she had made covenants how she had been

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to the temple how she had but was no longer participating I don't know what that means

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exactly participating in our covenants other than we're just not potentially not keeping them

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at the moment but that doesn't necessarily we haven't made covenants but I asked her because

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I have had it I've had this experience and I wanted to kind of know if others had as well

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and I just said what was it like being under covenant to not living a life of that was in

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keeping with the covenants that you had made and she said and I had had the same experience she

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said you know there were times when I felt the covenant pole I felt Heavenly Father keeping

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his end of the covenant even though I wasn't oh I love that yeah she was yeah she was saying and

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that's how I had felt you know this may I had maybe not been able to articulate it in this fashion

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and up until this point yeah but but she had made that description and I thought about that and I

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thought about that ever since this has been over a year maybe two ago that I had had this

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conversation with her and I have thought about that and I can actually think about

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times as I go back in my mind not in morbid reflection but as I go back in my mind and

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thinking about the times when in my life when my life was out of attunement and where I still felt

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the presence of and the pull of and the blessings of and and the direction from the Holy Ghost

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as part of my covenants and and she told me she said Scott I broke my covenants Heavenly Father

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didn't break his and she she she claimed and I I tend to agree that I felt and feel even those

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covenant poles and those covenant blessings even sometimes in spite of my unworthiness.

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Well I love that Scott and that's the God that we believe in I mean I love the the

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prophet Hosea and the what he teaches us about the covenant and this covenant relationship and

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so I've just I just have thought about this and I've just turned to Hosea chapter two

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for just a minute Scott and there are just a few verses in here I want to read which I

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I really love and I think it really describes the character of our God and and by the way

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right this is this is life eternal that they might know the the only true God and Jesus

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Christ from now and then we learn who God is best by understanding the covenant that he has entered

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into with us that's how we understand him best that's how we really learn his character that's

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how we begin to take up on ourselves not only his name but his character that's how we can become

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like him and there is nothing more that he wants than that he doesn't we we don't have much to

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offer him but he wants us to have what he has so in Hosea chapter two it says he's talking about

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the divorce of Israel the Israel is chasing other gods right he's talking about a marriage that

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we're married to him we are Israel is married to to God and he says after all of their wickedness

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and all of this stuff and after the after Israel has played the harlot right then he says in verse

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14 therefore behold I will allure her you kind of use the word what you what was the word you used

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the poll poll yeah therefore behold I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak

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comfortably unto her is that sweet yeah yeah bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably

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where I can be you know alone in a in a beautiful place then and have this sweet relationship

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and I will give her vineyards and then he says and it shall be at that day sayeth the Lord that

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thou shalt call me is she is she means husband I'll call you my husband again and then he says verse

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19 and I will betroth her unto me forever this is after she's chosen to leave him I will betroth the

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unto me forever I will betroth the unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving kindness

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in loving kindness and in mercies I will even betroth the unto me in faithfulness and thou shall

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know the Lord know the Lord not just cognitively intimately know the Lord anyway I I just love this

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description of a relationship that Israel has with God because of the covenants that God has

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made with Israel and honestly Scott you have to be pretty bad to be thrown out of the covenant

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you have to be pretty bad to I mean you have to just kind of turn your back on it and and make a

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choice right be totally an infidel and practice infidelity in the covenants that you've that

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you've made with God before he will right and even then and even then he will not forget us

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and he and if we will just turn back towards him he will receive us and and betroth us again in

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loving kindness I don't know if I'm the only one in the church that's seen it this way but you know

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and and I don't see it this way now but in the past I think I did see it this way where

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you know when you're ready and this is how I saw it when you become ready to enter into a covenant

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relationship there's so much obligation there you know I am obligating myself and so I better be

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ready to toe the line and I better be ready to keep every commandment and I better be you know

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and there's a certain level of up skill on my part that needs spiritual up skill on my part

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and I and I think to a degree this is true I think to a degree it's true but I don't think it's all

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of it you know I think now when I look think of a covenant relationship I don't think of it as a

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obligatory relationship even though it is but it's only obligatory because of my love right

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my love binds me to obligation not your perfection not my perfection not my fear not your fear of

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retaliation and punishment and all of that other stuff which is the way I think I kind of saw it

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you know now I see my covenant relationship with my heavenly father as an invitation to heal

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not to I don't have to be completely healed in order to enter it that's how my healing continues

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yeah and that's how my growth and my coming unto him is is amplified it's not criticized because

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of my covenant it's amplified and that invitation becomes sweeter not more bitter because of my

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love for him I think so many people Scott struggle in the church thinking that they have to

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to reach some sort of level of perfection or some sort of level of worthiness in order to I mean

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I know that worthiness I know that keeping in command was I know all of that's important

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yeah but some people think that they have to almost go beyond the mark before they can enter

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any kind of relationship or make a covenant with God that's my point and it just holds us back

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because God doesn't see it that way he does not see it that way we had we we had a covenant

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relationship with him before we were born we saw him as our father we were his children

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we weren't perfect or sinless there either I mean if you can brother Matthews brother

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Robert J. Matthews taught me that if you can commit the the unpardonable unforgivable

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sin in the premortal existence is one third of the of our father spirits did then there must

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have been varying degrees many degrees all kinds of degrees of wickedness and righteousness in the

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premortal existence there was all kinds of different levels of being valiant being true and faithful

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and but we were faithful enough we were good enough there through the Atonement of Jesus Christ

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and we knew that we were going to come down here and according to the plan of the father

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we were going to live in hell in a fallen celestial world and experience this so that we could learn

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how through covenants and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and entering into a covenant with

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him that through him we might think of the veil of the temple that through Jesus Christ

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we might enter back into the presence of God that's that is just the center of the whole plan

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and to to think that we have to be sinless or perfect before we can participate in that plan

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or even unfallen right I mean we we have the fall in our lives which is the second pillar of eternity

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according to elder mcconkey and if the fall in our lives is so important and it is I mean look

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at how much time is spent in the temple alone in the temple endowment we focus so much time on

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our fallenness well heavenly father knew we were fallen and and it's part of his plan well he provided

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a way for love for to be completely emanating our lives through this covenant relationship

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by taking on us his name it really is about love and it really is about our feelings and

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our emotions for our heavenly father yeah I know that their behaviors and actions and those things

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matter and I know that the law of God matters here that he wanted the law his love for us

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and our love for him he wanted it to be sealed by us receiving ordinances and making covenants

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I mean this is the essence of the restoration of the fullness of the gospel I think it's in well

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you know moroni brought it up when he appeared Jesus brought it up in the very first vision

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what does Jesus say to them they they they keep my commandments but they deny the ordinances thereof

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or in my mind Scott when he says that they they deny the ordinances or the covenants thereof

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I've always kind of seen that to be synonymous power with with ordinances and covenants and

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this is all in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and other prophecies when moroni

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appeared to Joseph Smith Scott three years after the first vision three times that night he was

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quoting Old Testament passages New Testament passages and many of those passages we don't

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have all of them recorded in Joseph Smith history but but Oliver Cowdery shared them in a letter

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uh in more detail about what Joseph Smith had told him that moroni had taught him that night

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and later the next day when he appeared to him four different times and and you know I don't think

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members appreciate the um relationship that Joseph Smith and moroni had but moroni appeared to him

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22 times 22 times they they talked they had a relationship and um anyway moroni was really

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the teacher and tutor for Joseph Smith and what ordinances and covenants meant and a lot of the

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scriptures that he quoted alluded to this and I think one of them was in Isaiah 24 when Isaiah

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prophesies the earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof because they have transgressed

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the laws changed the ordinance and broken the everlasting covenant uh all prophets who have

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ever lived have understood that our relationship with God is by covenant it's not just I love you

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relationship it is I love you and therefore I desire to enter into a covenant and that there are

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that there are um commandments that must be kept there are laws that must be obeyed there are

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sacrifices that must be made there there is effort on my part that I must strive to work out in my

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relationship with my heavenly father all of this helps me to become more like him the again that

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is a relationship to we enter into covenant relationships because we want to be one with

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someone anyway I uh these covenant relationships god are such a central part I remember present

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packer years and years ago talking about a visit that he had with the stake president

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and he asked the stake president kind of what was his priorities in his stake and the stake president

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told president packer to make and keep covenants president packer said wow that had a powerful

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effect on him and he knew by the spirit that that stake president understood the essence

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of the gospel of jesus christ and that every stake president every priesthood leader every

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mother father parent it should strive right to to help those who we lead to make and keep covenants

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this should be the priority of every priesthood unit stake ward district branch in the church

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is to make and keep covenants to progress in our relationship and that's what it's about it's

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it's not about conforming scott it's not it's not about performing it's not about performance

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conformance it's about transformations about being transformed and and covenants and ordinance

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trans they they transform us my my experience this past year working in the house of the lord

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two days a week and participating in the ordinances of the gospel and and every time i'm in the temple

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to officiate in sealing ordinances and seal couples to each other and and children to parents

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both for the living and for the dead it transforms me just as the officiator in those ordinance god

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and i know that individuals who we have we have a group of individuals who every thursday and every

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friday morning are there scott at six a.m and some of them are the same people and some of them will

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go four or five days a week and they're doing thousands of names for their deceased ancestors

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and it it's really been an amazing experience for me to see these saints in the purest form of that

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word to see these saints come to the house of the lord and to visit with them about how the i mean

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i've asked them about this and and and to and to see how the temple and participating in the

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ordinances of the gospel has transformed them how completely transformed them and some of them are

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not old people scott some of them are young people some of them are young couples uh some of them

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are singles some of them are married some of them are widowed or widowers uh but it has been an

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amazing experience for me something that i never fully appreciated until i've had that responsibility

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given to me to to be a sealer in the temple for the last year if a person david is uh

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thinking about covenants and wondering you know maybe i have entered into covenants and i'm not

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really understanding them or taking them seriously maybe i haven't yet or yet entered into covenants

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and you're talking about how covenants are transforming how they change us give us some

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examples what do you mean what do you mean they're transforming how what could what could one expect

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that hasn't maybe entered into a covenant relationship or is not really maybe made the

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covenant but not entered into the relationship by living that way but what what could we expect how

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how do we transform what how do we change what what does that look like you know scott there's

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there's something about the intensity of the holy ghost uh when one is prepared now there it takes

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preparation to go to the house of the lord it takes great spiritual preparation you don't have to be

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perfect don't have to be sinless you may feel unworthy but don't feel ungrateful all of that but

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there has to be some preparing of the mind spiritually preparing of the heart spiritually

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pre preparation of the spirit and when those individuals come who are prepared

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there's a certain intensity scott of the holy ghost that is president in the house of the lord

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it is i testify the house of the lord and there is something very sacred very holy very reverent

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about walking the in the house of the lord there's an intensity about it there is something tangible

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about it uh i i remember the first time i went to the temple i literally thought i was going to die

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and the reason i thought i was going to die was because i was so really unprepared uh it was uh

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it was exhausting for me it was uh i had a migraine headache when i left uh i was it the

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intensity for me was not a good thing because i was not prepared for it and and kind of the ritual

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of it i was totally unprepared for and uh some of the things that were said i took so literal

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that it it scared me there was fear uh it was a super intense in some ways positive in some

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ways negative experience for me uh and then i wasn't really worthy first time i went to the temple

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i'm still not worthy but i you know i'm i'm worthy enough but you know what i mean i i

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there's a spirit about it and that spirit walking in that spirit in the house of the lord feeling

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that spirit uh being in the temple and uh after you've done ordinances for yourself and you've

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you've uh you know entered into a covenant relationship with the lord every time you go

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back to the house of the lord even though scott i believe that we renew our ordinances and covenants

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in the temple every sunday when we partake of the sacrament elder parry's taught that other

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apostles have taught that that the sacrament the sacrament is not just a renewal of the baptismal

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covenant as has been taught many times but it's also how we renew our covenants in the house of

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the lord so when we partake of the sacrament i think of my temple ordinances not just my

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baptismal covenant i think about that too but i think about my marriage i think about my endowment

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i think about the initiatory i think about all of that when i participate in the sacrament ordinance

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however when we go back and we perform these ordinances vicariously for others

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the more you do it the more sanctified you become and that is just the natural process of participating

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in the ordinances because when you do it and you feel their presence there as i have felt as when

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i've seen in i've seen the the faces of some of these individuals and the joy on their face when

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their children who died before the age of eight are sealed to them in the house of the lord

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sealing i don't know i love sealing couples i love performing marriages for those who are deceased

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vicariously and there's something really sweet about that and i've had some really tender

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experiences doing that but there is something that for some reason i get emotional about

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sealing children to their parents there's something emotional about that for me and especially i think

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when uh for children who died before the age of eight and i don't know if you know this but

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200 years ago 48 percent of all children who were born never lived past the age of eight

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i'll think about that for a minute 48 percent of children who were born over 200 years ago

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didn't make it to the age of eight wow and i'm i've been shocked by how many of the ordinances we

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perform are for children who died before the age of eight and i've seen the joy on the faces of the

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mother to have that child who they have waited for for two over 200 sometimes 300 years back to the

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even 500 years 1500s who have waited to to have that ordinance sealed to them do i think that

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they've been together in the spirit world yes i don't think i i don't think that they don't have a

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relationship in the spirit world but they know that eternity is a long time and they desire

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to have that ordinance performed because they understand the law and the power of the priesthood

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of god and they want it sealed they want it sealed by priesthood they want it sealed by the holy

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spirit of promise they want it sealed and i've seen the joy on their faces when they have had that

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ordinance performed for them so it's just so sacred scott and after you have that experience

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even a few times and some of these people have that experience weekly over and over and over again

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they are so connected with the spirit world with their ancestors with eternity how can that not

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transform you right yeah it completely transform you it completely changes your perspective of life

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of eternity of relationships of families i mean you just don't see it based upon the

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banal carnal world that we live in you see you see it as this sacred holy eternal

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going on and on and on in the power of godliness and the power of god and yeah

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yeah your your description is transformative experiencing it i can't right words can't describe

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it just it well you and i think i think you did a pretty good job but i think that you know the

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description is great but imagine participating in it so i i love that that you but you said something

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else you said something about how the intensity of the holy ghost we seem to you know we've spent

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the last we've spent the last several podcasts prior to today talking about how do we retain how

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do we recognize how do we receive the spirit of the holy ghost in our lives and the importance of

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that the member of that member of the godhead administering the blessings of christ's atonement

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in our life all of the blessings the compensatory the enabling the the redemptive blessings all of

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the blessings in our lives but but i think that's a big one you know the the intensity and i don't

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think that um you know oftentimes when we use the word intense that kind of connotes you know sort of

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a tight muscles and a locked yeah you know maybe stress yeah maybe stress you know but but i love

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that you just a few minutes ago or a few seconds ago you used the term the fullness of the holy

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ghost and i think that's really what you're referring to when you say intensity is we're

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really filling the holy ghost in its fullness the fullness of the holy ghost is available to us

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that's in doctrine comes section 109 scott in the temple in the dedicatory prayer of the kirtland

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temple and the and the prophet joseph mith prays that those who will come will receive the fullness

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that their incomings will be in the name of the lord that their outgoings will be in the name of

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the lord and that they will receive a fullness of the holy ghost the fullness is the intent the

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fullness of the holy ghost is the intensity i'm trying to describe right and there's an intensity

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of the holy ghost and also an intensity of holiness holiness right there's just this

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holiness about it scott i mean you work in the laundry room of the temple you don't just fold

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socks you fold socks in a certain way you don't just fold clothes or towels or i work in the laundry

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too i'm you know that it's awesome in serratoga spring's temple at least the sealers spend usually

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about a half hour a week in the laundry room and uh and i'm learning i'm trying to learn the order

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of the laundry room there's an order to it scott and i love i love the order the order to it it's

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because it's it's done in holiness everything is done in holiness now i for some that may not be

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for everybody i i think some people that might drive them crazy but i know that's the order of god

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well isn't it interesting that what we look for we find you know and that's what you've

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gone looking for the order in the laundry room and you found it there well so let me just go back

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to this the fullness of the holy ghost for so you know the entire podcast 37 i think this will be

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either 37 or 38 episodes this season for this podcast so we've talked about the atonement of

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jesus christ we've talked about how to change our lives because or through the atonement of jesus

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life jesus through the atonement of jesus christ as we have uh uh experience the effects of the fall

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of adam and eve and our own fallenness in this life well we've talked about how the atonement

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of jesus christ is administered to us through the holy ghost we've talked about how the blessings to

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through the through the atonement of jesus christ are the blessings that we need for every problem

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every problem spiritual physical emotional mental problem in our lives is available to us through

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the atonement of jesus christ as administered by the holy ghost and so if we're participating in

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these ordinances and covenants and we have entered into that family relationship whereby we are

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entitled through inheritance right yeah through inheritance and by the holy spirit of promise

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which is the holy ghost and its fullness again and so all of this culminates there everything

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that we have talked about from day one up until now culminates in this covenant relationship and

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we participated in the temple but we experience it even outside of the temple it takes place

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there at center there at central to that but we experience the blessings in our lives as we live

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worthy and participate in those blessings in those covenants and that are there amen i mean when

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when you go prepared yeah and uh you're worthy enough and you're faithful enough and you go into

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the house of the lord and you participate in the ordinance of gospel either for yourself or for

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vicariously those those who are in the spirit world yeah hey you you don't leave the same

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you don't leave the same person now i don't know how long that may last

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but you you're not the same person there's something about even i i know this is not

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scientifically possible but just to make a point it's almost like it changes your dna scott

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but you you walk different you talk different there's there's something different there's

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00:48:10,200 --> 00:48:17,400
there's something about that scott but i and it and it comes not only through the holy ghost and

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through the gifts of the spirit but it also comes to some degree scott from our obedience and our

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sacrifice the covenants and and promises that we make commitments that we make the responsibilities

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we take upon ourselves scott if if um if an individual seeks to keep those covenants not

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only do they walk out different not only do they talk different but it changes how they live their

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lives right you know the covenant of obedience the covenant of sacrifice yeah the covenant of

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living the gospel the covenant of of chastity and and being chased and sexually clean and pure

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the the covenant of consecration all of these covenants and laws that we that we commit to to

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live and obey uh completely changes as individuals and again it's not a checklist

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it's because i want to become more like my loving heavenly father and loving heavenly mother

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i want to be more like their son my savior my redeemer jesus christ i want to have the holy

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ghost to be with me it is all about seeking to return to my heavenly home not just because of

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but through the power of making and keeping covenants when you say when you leave the temple

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you walk away you're different um deb and i have been to the temple recently just last week we went

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early morning there had been some stuff in our family in our lives and this is not unusual it

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was nothing major but it was enough it was enough for us to be fully aware of our fallenness

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let's just put it that way right and so we go there and when we left uh when we came out we got in

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my uh vehicle uh on our way home and we both just looked each other and just kind of there were tears

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in our eyes and we just felt better prepared for life and i think that's what this does for me

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you know i i just know that heavenly father has a gift for me and that gift has been made available

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to me through his son jesus christ and that gift is an endowment which allows me if i participate

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and then if i align and then and for me that's really about taking his name upon me and the more

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i can do that in the temple and the more i can do it through that covenant relationship

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really allows me in a deeper more holy way to be aligned with to have my will totally swallowed

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up by his and as i do that uh you know and i learned this not not at church not at not in uh

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00:51:32,520 --> 00:51:37,240
not in a podcast not by studying the scriptures unfortunately it's there to be learned for those

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who have eyes to see it but i didn't but i learned this in a a you know i needed to learn that it was

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only in my complete surrender in my complete complete giving my my life to the to the care of

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god 100 it was only in that that i could be relieved from the bondage of self and that bondage of

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self it becomes complete or the release from the bondage of self feels more complete when i

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participate in taking his name upon me and allowing the spirit to be to dwell with me to

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receive the spirit in the fullness and to be with me as i as i leave the temple so not only does it

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change me between the door and of the temple and the door of my truck when i leave but potentially

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it can change me completely and and permanently and deptly now i go back for a reminder and a

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deeper change and a deeper commitment and a deeper swallowing of my will and all of those things

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is i'll take it back you know my fallen state i will take my will back i will begin to remember

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my fallenness and and that will begin to show up but as i go there and take his name more fully upon

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me so that i can have the fullness of the spirit with me my life is just peaceful yeah it i that's

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the gift believe me i i know scott and as we go there and we get to understand and know the

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giver of the gift this is talked to us about in doctrine covenants 8833 as i go there and i

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learn about the giver up the gift i really see the gift for the enormous value that it has well

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you come to know the giver that's and that's the only way you can understand you come to know

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the giver by understanding all the gifts that he offers us there yep well i love that scott

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thank you thank you for that and you know it it all goes back to 80 doctrine covenant section 84

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i have verses i think in 1920 21 speaking of the temple the lord said in the ordinances there of

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the power of godliness is manifest well that term the power of godliness is manifest in our lives

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i would add the power of godliness is manifest in our lives not just outwardly not just that i

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don't it's more than just i see it yeah it is manifest in me it is manifest through me it is

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in me and that power of godliness has everything to do with more than his priesthood it has everything

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to do with the atonement of jesus christ and the gift and power of the holy ghost the power of godliness

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is all of that and it becomes manifest in me that it's changing it's transformational that is

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transformational the power of godliness is manifest not not just because i see it but because it's in

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me it becomes part of you becomes part of your sin you becomes a part of the air you breathe

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we are so blessed god we may not be worthy but we are not ungrateful for the fullness of the restoration

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of the gospel of jesus christ through the ordinances and covenants that have been restored

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i mean in the very first section of doctrine covenant section one the preface right it talks

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about why did i restore these things and he talks about in the weak things in the weak things i'm

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going to restore i'm going to restore the ordinances and the covenants uh it's in verse 19 the weak

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things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones that man should

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not counsel his fellow man neither trust in the arm of the flesh but that every man might speak in the

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name of god the lord even the savior of the world we'll talk more about the importance of the name

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next week scott and then verse 21 that faith also might increase in the earth and then verse 22

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that mine ever lasting covenant might be established there you go that mine ever lasting covenant

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might be established that's the as the purpose of the restoration and verse 23 that the fullness of

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my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple under the ends of the world and before

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kings and rulers that's pretty that's a pretty good description of the purpose of the church kingdom

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00:56:39,560 --> 00:56:45,880
of god and the restoration of the gospel that the everlasting covenant and let's let's uh next

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00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:51,080
week let's talk about the new and everlasting covenant of the gospel and what that what that

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really means scott there's many things connected with the word covenant in the hebrew scott it's

486
00:56:56,680 --> 00:57:04,520
berith the hebrew word for covenant is berith and the ancient hebrus would never say we make a covenant

487
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:10,120
we use that term pretty loosely but then the hebrus would never say that they would say

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00:57:10,120 --> 00:57:19,720
carat berith which means we cut a covenant cut a covenant carat berith yeah we'll have a fun

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00:57:20,360 --> 00:57:25,960
discussion and there would always be blood always there would always be blood and there would always

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be sacrifice involved in those covenants which would bind us to our god and to each other

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and there's something just really holy and sacred and reverent about that scott and we'll

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00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:50,040
continue maybe our discussion next week more on covenants ordinances and what it means to take

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upon ourselves the name of god looking forward to that discussion this has been a good day today

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as well as you contemplate these things you really have we all have a phenomenal opportunity and it's

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by obviously divine design that this is the case but as again we partake of the sacrament this week

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let's really consider our invitation this will be our invitation to consider what it looks like for

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us to take upon us the name of jesus christ what does it mean when we take his name upon us how

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does that look how should that affect our lives and indeed how does it hey gang thanks so much

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for being with us today and always we look forward to being with you again next week and until then

500
00:58:36,200 --> 00:59:02,040
be well