CREEKERS,

Today I would like to share my testimony of eternal family, baptism, covenants, and the responsibility we have to love one another as disciples of Jesus Christ. These are deeply personal beliefs that have shaped my life. As I share them, I recognize that each of us has our own experiences and our own journey of faith. My hope is simply to testify of what I have come to know through prayer, scripture, family, and experience.

When I think about who I am, I do not begin with my occupation, my accomplishments, or even my challenges. I begin with this simple truth: I am a child of God.

That truth changes everything.

It means that before I was a daughter of earthly parents, I was a daughter of Heavenly Father. Before I was a wife or a mother, I belonged to an eternal family. Every person we meet carries that same divine identity.

Because of that belief, I have never been able to see family as something temporary. I see family as eternal.

My earthly family is part of that eternal story.

I was blessed to be born into a family that taught me about Jesus Christ. My parents were not perfect. No family is. Yet they gave me something that no earthly possession could ever equal. They taught me to seek God.

One of the defining moments of my life was my baptism.

My father, John, baptized me. I still remember what that meant to me. He was acting under the authority of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. That ordinance was not simply a tradition. It was a covenant with God.

From that day forward I understood that my life belonged to something greater than myself.

Baptism is more than entering a church.

It is entering a covenant.

Every week as we partake of the sacrament, we renew that covenant. We promise to remember Jesus Christ, to keep His commandments, and to take His name upon us. In return we are promised the companionship of His Spirit.

Think about that promise.

The Lord does not promise that life will be easy.

He promises that we do not have to walk through life alone.

That companionship of the Holy Ghost has guided me through joyful moments and heartbreaking ones. There have been times when I felt confused, discouraged, or overwhelmed. During those moments I have learned that peace does not always remove the storm. Sometimes it simply gives us strength to continue through it.

Jesus Christ understands every sorrow we experience.

Because of His Atonement, none of us are beyond hope.

None of us are beyond repentance.

None of us are beyond redemption.

When I think about eternal family, I do not imagine perfect people.

I imagine people learning.

Growing.

Repenting.

Forgiving.

Trying again.

Families can bring us our greatest joy.

Families can also bring us our deepest pain.

Many of us know what it feels like to experience divorce, death, misunderstandings, addiction, illness, or broken relationships.

Those experiences do not erase God’s love.

Nor do they erase our responsibility to love one another.

Agency is one of Heavenly Father’s greatest gifts.

Love cannot be forced.

Faith cannot be forced.

Repentance cannot be forced.

Every individual must choose.

Sometimes those choices bless a family.

Sometimes they wound a family.

But even when another person’s choices hurt us, we can still choose integrity.

We can choose kindness.

We can choose patience.

We can choose to follow Jesus Christ.

I have often reflected on the Savior’s commandment:

“Love one another; as I have loved you.”

Notice He did not say, “Love only those who agree with you.”

He did not say, “Love only those who never disappoint you.”

He simply said, “Love one another.”

That commandment can be difficult.

It is easy to love people when everything is going well.

It is much harder when someone misunderstands us or when relationships become strained.

Yet that is precisely when discipleship matters most.

Love does not eliminate accountability.

The Savior forgave sinners while also inviting them to “go, and sin no more.”

Mercy and justice work together.

Truth and compassion belong together.

One without the other is incomplete.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to speak truth with charity.

We are called to defend what is right without forgetting to love those who are still learning.

That balance has become increasingly important in our world.

Today there are many voices telling us who we are.

The gospel tells us whose we are.

We belong to God.

Because we belong to Him, every person has eternal worth.

The child.

The teenager.

The struggling adult.

The lonely widow.

The neighbor.

The stranger.

Every one of them is a child of Heavenly Father.

When we begin to see people that way, our conversations change.

Our homes change.

Our communities change.

Our hearts change.

The gospel is not only something we believe on Sunday.

It is something we practice every day.

It is found in serving our neighbors.

Helping someone who cannot repay us.

Listening before judging.

Being patient with family members.

Showing gratitude.

Keeping our word.

Living honestly.

Seeking forgiveness.

Extending forgiveness.

These quiet acts of discipleship build Zion one relationship at a time.

I also believe that remembering our ancestors matters.

Our stories matter.

The sacrifices of parents and grandparents matter.

The examples they leave become part of our own testimony.

As we honor those who came before us, we become better prepared to bless those who come after us.

Our children learn more from what we do than from what we say.

If we want them to value covenants, they need to see us keeping ours.

If we want them to believe in kindness, they need to see us living kindly.

If we want them to trust the Savior, they need to see us trusting Him ourselves.

That is the example I hope to leave.

Not perfection.

Faithfulness.

Not having every answer.

Continuing to seek the Lord.

Not never falling.

Always getting back up through Jesus Christ.

As I conclude, I return to where I began.

I know that I am a child of Heavenly Father.

I know that Jesus Christ lives.

I know His Atonement is real.

I know baptism is a sacred covenant with God.

I know the Holy Ghost can guide and comfort us if we seek Him.

I know families are central to Heavenly Father’s plan, and I believe that through Jesus Christ, faithful covenants have eternal significance.

May we strengthen our homes.

May we honor our covenants.

May we extend grace to one another.

May we remember whose children we are.

Above all, may we strive each day to become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I leave you my testimony that He knows each of us individually, loves us perfectly, and invites us to come unto Him with faith, hope, and charity.

In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.