Covenants – Help

I have a few suggstions for teaching this to the HP Group. I find I have to teach the basics real quick just so I did it, and then branch off into some ideas that make them think. Also, there are ways of sidestepping those aspects of of the lesson you find hard to teach given the pressure to make covenants you’ve witnessed etcetera.

As far as content goes — hit a couple basic ideas to start off with, and then consider the following questions to the HP Group:

1. In your experience, what are common stumbling blocks that prevent people from keeping their covenants? (Let the class run on this track for a while, and have a couple acceptable reasons yourself.).

2. How can we strengthen ouselves and others in keeping their covenants (again, have a couple ideas yourself, and let the class do most of the talking on this one).

3. Consider presenting an interesting administratve perspective on covenants with this situation — which actually happened. You’re a mission president and a missionary approaches you regarding a lady who wants to be baptized. But she has Alzheimers disease. It’s a moderate to heavy case of it, so she’s not all there mentally. But her son is taking the lessons, and this elderly woman also accepted a baptismal invitation from the missionaries, and indicates she wants to be baptized. If you were the mission president, would this be the right thing to do?

Ask the class to apply what they know about covenants, accountability, etcetera to explore the question. In your back pocket, to share after the discussion has run its course, is how a particular mission president resolved the situation. The class might be divided, some saying there is no need to make a covenant because the woman isn’t accountable. Some might say its downright wrong to baptized someone who isn’t all there mentally, and will take the “pushy missionaries going after numbers” approach. Others will think it should be done.

The way this was resolved was to actually baptize the woman. Reasons given by the mission president:

1 She had committed sin while she was of healthy mental capacity, which needed to be remitted.

2. She would have the Gift of the HOly Ghost which is an outgrowth of baptismal related ordinances.

3. She would be on the records of the Church, and would have access to Church resources and help.

4. The Priesthood holders would be accountable if they didn’t baptize the woman and they should have; who are we, as priesthood leaders to judge who should be baptized and who shouldn’t when the situation is not crystal clear?

If people disagree, you can pin it all on the mission president who made the decision, and comment on the need for inspiration in these situations…an easy way out in case the class backs you into a corner…..

You can also comment on the “fulness of hte gospel” comment i the BoM preface I think it says the BOM contains the fulness of the gospel, or Joseph Smith said it does. But it doesnt’ contain the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, which is supposed to be te crowning ordinance of the full gospel. How does the BoM contain the fulness of the gospel when it doesnt’ contain all covenants in the gospel?

You can have fun with this one, and have a few answers in your back pocket to relieve the confusion at the end of the discussion. People here might have some possible answers to that question.

Regarding your misgivings — leave them out of the lesson — focus on those aspects of covenants that you CAN talk about without reservation, such as blessing you HAVE received from your covenants. For me, I’d talk about the faithfulness of my wife, how the eternal marriage helped our commitment. Also, an example of the baptismal covenant’s requierement that we bear each other’s burdens. I tell a story about a time when the Ward bore one of my burdens when my son was in the hospital.

Focus on those topics you CAN talk about positively, with a view to uplifting the people there. If you think hard enough, there may well be a lot ot talk about .

Hope this helps!

I’m mostly a simple fellow, I try to keep everything simple and not get caught up in splitting hairs.

To me covenants are symbolic of my desire to improve myself, and to love my fellow men. I just don’t see any specific lines of any contract coming under scrutiny during some future intervew with the grand Father. I think it will be settled before any such interview could take place. Spirit and intent outweigh wording 1000 to 1 in my book, …and who’s intent? That’s right, YOURS.

Nobody can put words into your mouth. When you participate with a group you tend to flow along its structure, but what you pick up along the way is entirely up to you.

Just wanted to post my gratitude. In addition to the ideas you guys gave me, I also did some etymology research on the word ‘covenant’ and came up with several layers of meaning to discuss; French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew. The Hebrew word is ‘berith’, meaning ‘to cut’, as in the ritual cutting of animals that took place in the temple as TOKENS of Mosaic Covenant. This tie in meaning led to quite a discussion.

I know this is a week late, but when I taught this lesson last week I went to great effort to keep the conversation away from specifics, and talked about the Abrahamic Covenant and “keeping the commandments.” I made a point that I did NOT want to define what those commandments meant, and that each individual needed to work that out personally. It worked for MOST of the class, but, like always, someone brought up home teaching as one of the specific commandments that is required to enter the Celestial kingdom (some talk by DOM about the five questions you will be asked at the pearly gates or something). Then it got out of control, and pretty soon there was a whole list of specific commandments on the board that is required to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant and receive exaltation in the CK, and of course WofW was number one – right on top of the list. Other commandments that our branch mormons consider to be vital part of their covenants:

WoW *************** (this one seemed to be particularly important)

10% Tithing to the church

willing to live law of consecration

temple marriage

chastity – before and after marriage

love thy neighbor

home teaching

regular church attendance

support local leaders and the prophet

🙄 🙄

It’s always interesting to listen to sincere people who have no clue about the historic nature of what they are discussing. It happens all the time, and religion is merely one of the topics that gets butchered. As a former history teacher, I cringe – but I’ve learned to do it internally.

It’s just people being people, and I’m sure I’m guilty of it more often than I realize.