Opening question
Think of someone who came before you, such as a parent, a grandparent, or an ancestor you never met. What did their faith make possible for you? Take a moment, then let's hear a few.
Relief Society · Elders Quorum · 25 minutes
The Infinite Power of God in Our CovenantsRelief Society & Elders Quorum lesson
Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan · Of the Seventy · Saturday Afternoon Session
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A 25-minute class
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This class in one line
Covenants made with God keep working across generations. The faithfulness of parents and ancestors helps draw wandering children back, and no one has gone beyond the reach of Jesus Christ and His Atonement.
Skip a detailed discussion of the Enos covenant and the gravity comparison. Mention them in one sentence each and spend your time on Elder Morgan's story and the class's own experiences.
0–2Open2–5Hook5–20Discuss20–23Apply23–25Testify
Before Sunday
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Sunday: covenants that reach across generations
This week we will discuss Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan's talk "The Infinite Power of God in Our Covenants" from general conference. He tells how he found the Church as a teenager, and his wife, Rebecca, explained it by pointing to covenants his ancestors made in the Nauvoo temple. Please read or listen to the talk before Sunday if you can. Ponder this: whose faithfulness before you has blessed your life, even if you never met them?
Pick one opening
Opening question
Think of someone who came before you, such as a parent, a grandparent, or an ancestor you never met. What did their faith make possible for you? Take a moment, then let's hear a few.
Story hook
Elder Morgan grew up in another church that believes in the Book of Mormon. When he was 14, he spent two months secretly attending a Latter-day Saint congregation, hiding between the accordion doors of the overflow, and he gained a testimony. Years later he wondered aloud why a boy like him cared about religion. His wife, Rebecca, said, "I know what it was! It was covenants." His ancestors had made covenants in the Nauvoo temple.
Opening question
Elder Morgan's mother read the Book of Mormon to him every day. All he remembered was "and it came to pass" and "wars and rumors of wars." What did he learn from her anyway, and what do the people we love learn from what we do over and over?
Teach this first
Covenants bless the generations that come after us
Elder Morgan teaches that covenants with God do not bless only the person who makes them. They reach across generations. The covenant faithfulness of parents and grandparents does not take away a child's agency, but it does have a real effect on their posterity. God uses every possible means to bring His children back, as He promised when He said He would plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers.
Elder Morgan said it was covenants that had reached him, "not my covenants but the covenants of those who came before me."
Ask the class
- 1.Elder Morgan says covenants "do not 'take a day off.'" What might it look like for the covenants we keep today to keep working in our families after we are gone?
- 2.How does it change the way you see a wandering child or grandchild to know that faithful covenants still have an effect on them, while their agency is still their own?
If time remains
No one is beyond the reach of Christ's Atonement
The Atonement of Jesus Christ fulfills God's greatest promise, and its reach is infinite. Elder Morgan, quoting President Holland, teaches that no one can sink lower than the light of Christ's Atonement shines. He counsels worried parents to keep their covenants, cheerfully do all they can, and trust God's timing.
Ask the class
- 1.Elder Morgan says, "Your story, your family's story, is not all written." How can that truth help someone who is praying for a struggling loved one keep going?
Counsel together
Quorum / Relief Society business
- •Which members of our ward have family members who are struggling or away from the Church, and how can we support them as they keep their covenants and wait on the Lord?
- •How can we help families in our ward read the Book of Mormon together, even when it seems like no one is listening?
Last 3–5 minutes
Close
This week, do one thing to strengthen your posterity through your own covenants. You might read the Book of Mormon with someone you love, pray by name for a family member who has wandered, or attend the temple for an ancestor.
Elder Morgan teaches that God hears the prayers of parents who worry about their children and will answer them in His own time and in His own way. As we keep our covenants and do all we can, we can stand still with assurance and see the salvation of God.
Your witness: Think of a time you saw the faithfulness of someone before you, or God's patience with someone you love, bless a person's life. Share it briefly and say what you know about the power of Jesus Christ to reach every one of His children.