Mormon Apostle: Elder D. Todd Chriistofferson

I received an answer to one of those requests through the remarks given by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, apostle of Jesus Christ. It came as the Spirit bore witness to me and reviewed what has been my privilege to experience through trial–the power and blessing of keeping my covenants.

Elder Christofferson made a call for “strong Christians who will sustain and defend the kingdom against moral relativism and militant atheism.” He said the Lord needs those who can stand through tragedy and be sustained by the deep roots of testimony and covenant living.

Unique to The Church of Jesus Christ is the ability to receive by covenant, through the Savior’s restored authority or priesthood, the blessings God promises us when we keep our promises to Him.

Our covenants, remarked Elder Christofferson, allow us to have the resources to act; they provide nourishment and strength. They produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord.

The Spirit communicates God’s pleasure and we feel secure in that, and we know that we can succeed because we know that God knows us by name. It provides reassurance we need in times of trial that our course is approved by God. We really can obtain a witness of the Spirit that our course is right.

There is comfort in the Savior’s words that ” all…who are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice are accepted” by the Savior.

Through our covenants, our faith to go through trials is increased, and as we go through the trials, our faith is increasingly extended.

Elder Christofferson reminds us that the Holy Ghost is the messenger of grace to sanctify us. It is gift by which Adam was quickened in the inner man. It was the power by which the ancients endured all that they did. As we keep our covenants, we experience the same gifts–which include revelation, knowledge, peaceable things. As we speak in hostile venues, the Holy Ghost puts into effect the promise that we will not be confounded. I have seen and felt that promise and want to identify those situations at work when, in response to hostile comments, responses have been prompted and changed perceptions or at least confounded those who once were very opposing.

The Holy Ghost makes clear how you will get by the next insurmountable hurdle. I felt the Spirit speaking to me once again.

Elder Christofferson encouraged us to let our covenants be paramount, indicating that divine covenants make strong Christians. He invited us to let our obedience be exact, that we can ask in faith nothing wavering.

He then promised:

The Savior will sustain you as you work and watch and He will stretch forth His hand and say, “Here am I.”

In closing, Elder Christofferson shared his witness and closed with a remark and a prayer:

The Savior will strengthen and finish your faith and give you godly power. I pray that through our covenants, we may be powerful instrument for good in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ who is Our Redeemer.