Kathy's talk May 2014

The first thing I want to say, is Happy Memorial Day! I wouldn’t be able to say anything before I said thank you to all those who have served in the military. So thank you!

I am so excited to be here this morning. Don’t get me wrong, I am still literally shaking like a lunatic, but I still am just so excited.

Mostly because I feel like us giving talks is our official initiation into this ward and I just can’t tell you how happy that makes me. I truly have fallen in love with everyone I have met here.

For those of you who we have not met yet, my name is Kathy Cox and my husband who is sitting with our children is Jimmy.

Jimmy and I are both from New York which is where we met.  We met in high school.

It was an ordinary day on an ordinary ride home on the school bus, when the next thing I know, I turn around and find a boy standing in the aisle telling me, “Don’t Move”

I quickly found out that this boy had just “tried” to throw his chewed piece of gum out of the bus window but  somehow it mistakenly landed in my hair instead.

Sure enough, I soon confirmed, with my own hand that here was infact a huge piece of chewed gum, tangled in my hair.

I was certain we were going to have to cut it out. I had no idea what to do. And well I pretty much wanted to die right there.

But long story short… after we got home and after lots of tears, not gonna lie, a few choice words, and several different substances, we were able to get the gum completely out without even picking up the scissors.

As a teenage girl, I was forever grateful. I was able to breathe again. But more importantly…

Because we did not have to cut my hair, I did not have to secretly hate that boy, Jimmy Cox for the rest of my life.

And well, looking at the last 10 years of my life, that is a very good thing.

In fact, since that night of that incident, he has been become my very best friend, and I sincerely cannot imagine life without him

After high school, Jimmy joined the Marine Corps and I headed to good ole, Utah to attend BYU.

One might think this might be the end. But we actually endured the whole long distance relationship thing.

And after hundreds of emails, letters, and long distance phone calls, Jimmy and I were reunited in in the beautiful Island of Hawaii, two years later.

We were soon married and sealed there, in the Laie temple, and then got to live out the first two years (give or take) of our marriage there…

I know, you probably should feel bad for us. It was plain awful

Two years after that we found ourselves in Glendale Arizona which is where we were blessed with two children. Lexi who is 2 and Izaac who is one.

And shortly after Izaac was born, Jimmy landed his dream job of being a police officer for the city of Sedona. So to Cottonwood we came.

And I have to say, I was not the most optimistic person about coming here. I was very nervous about moving to such a small town.

But I also have to say, that I have absolutely fallen in love with this city and it is honestly mostly because of the people. I feel like we won the lottery with this ward and I am forever grateful for all of you! So thank you for being so wonderful.

With that said, I probably should start with my talk. Sorry if the introduction was a little too long, in my defense, I’m just being a really nice wife in trying to take up more time for my husband.

My talk today is on a beautiful talk by Rosemary, M Wixom, the General Primary President of the Church.

It is titled, “Keeping covenants protects us, prepares us, and empowers us”. She gave this talk, this year at the latest General Women’s meeting.

So boys, even though it is geared towards women, it can actually teach all of us a great deal.

And I hope hope hope I can do her justice and  get her wonderful message across. Because I am telling you, this talk is phenomenal. If you have the time, I encourage you to go back and read the whole thing.

K here goes nothing.

Looking out at all of you and thinking about everyone I have met here, I am 100% certain that most of you know a lot more about covenants than I do.

But for the sake of line upon line, precept upon precept,  I am going to start out really really simple.

Which brings me to, what is a covenant??

A covenant is defined as “a sacred agreement between man and God”

May sound simple enough, right? but I actually want to break this down even further

Lets talk about this agreement part first. What is an agreement?

I like looking at the word agreement,  like a deal or a hand shake.

“You do this, I do this” Hand shake

Husband, you do the dishes tonight and I’ll give you a back rub”

Okay it’s a deal, handshake

Lexi, if you clean up all your toys, I will give you a super big hug”

“Ok” handshake

These are both agreements.

Both parties have an obligation towards one another.

If you do this, I do this, Handshake

Okay so now let’s take it one step further.

A covenant is a sacred agreement between man and God.

Let’s focus on the between man and God part.

Here we learn that it is not just a regular agreement between man and man

but between man and God

So no longer can it be something just between my husband and I or me and my daughter

This part is essential to understand.

In a covenant, man can actually make a deal or handshake if you will, ***** PAUSE*****…….with God.

I want you all to just take a second to really think about what this really means

What making an agreement with God really means.

We as individuals are given an opportunity to go in on something with Our Father in Heaven.

We are given the opportunity here to make a deal with the most powerful, majestic, divine being there is.

How amazing is that??

It is one thing to make a deal with someone who can really really benefit us. Like a teacher who can give us a good grade if we do something, or a parent who can give us money or send us on a trip if we do something

But how much more incredible is it to be able to form an agreement with the Almighty.

I’ll do this and you do this”

We can have our Lord and King, working for us! helping us, remembering us!

It is just such a powerful and incredible idea.

To me, this is what makes a covenant so special.

It isn’t just a deal but a deal with with our Eternal Father in Heaven.

Who better to make a deal with? I just think this is absolutely incredible.

Last, there is a little adjective before that word agreement that makes a covenant, a covenant.

And that word is “Sacred” …….

A covenant is a sacred agreement between man and God.

This is also key.

We are no longer dealing with the dishes or toys but with very special and sacred things.

We are talking about our souls, our spirits, and eternity. Our lives and our Salvation

AND because of this…. Because a covenant involves these sacred things, it means that it cannot be on our terms either.

God is the one that tells us, “You do this,  and I’ll do this”

Covenants are heavenly. They come from God. Which is why that word “sacred” is in there.

Man can not and will not be able to ever make them alone.

I think this is also incredible because we see here that God is reaching out to us to make covenants. He wants to help us.

This brings me so much peace.

Okay so now that we know,...

That a covenant is sacred, a covenant is an agreement, and a covenant is between man and God, we can talk about them now …..with a little bit more understanding.

So lets move on

Let’s go back to what Sister Wixom tells us.

Covenants protect, prepare, and empower us. Okay? Well HOW?

How can covenants protect us?

How can covenants prepare us?

How can covenants empower us?

These are all pretty remarkable things!

I am pleased to tell you that covenants can do all of these incredible things simply because they mark our pathway back to our Heavenly Father.

I am going to say that again, COVENANTS MARK THE PATHWAY BACK TO GOD.

God tells us to do things in certain covenants and promises amazing things in return that will one day help us return to him in the end

One more time, covenants mark the pathway back to God

So one might say, um okay, I’d like to get back to living with God please… where do I go? what do i do? how do I start?

Figuratively speaking…. how do I shake his hand???

And that first step, is baptism.

Sister Wixom tells us, “We enter the gate to the path of eternal life with the ordinance and covenant of baptism, and then we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Robert D. Hales reiterates this with, “The ordinance of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, take us out of this world and into the kingdom of God.”

So we are literally opening the gate on this great and beautiful path back to God.

And at the same time, leaving our ordinary knowledge of this world behind us and entering the Kingdom of God.

Elder Robert D. Hales poses this question on baptism

“Do [we] understand and do [our] children understand that when [we] are baptized [we] are changed forever?”

This is another great thought to ponder

Do we really understand just how remarkable it is to be baptized? How life altering this choice really is?

Elder Hales goes on to say that,

“When we understand our baptismal covenant and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will change our lives and will establish our total allegiance to the kingdom of God.”

To me, I feel like when we are baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost we are literally putting on armor.

We are joining an unstoppable and unifying kingdom.

We can be as the armies of Helaman.

Temptations will no longer be faced alone. We can now have the Holy Ghost with us at all times.

What greater protection can someone have than that?

………..

Each week as we partake of the sacrament, we renew our baptismal covenant.

This allows us to move on to another very important covenant that Sister Wixom talks about.

Elder David A. Bednar said: “As we stand in the waters of baptism, we look to the temple. As we partake of the sacrament, we look to the temple.

“Here we pledge to always remember the Savior and to keep His commandments as preparation to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple.”

This is how covenants can prepare us. They help us become clean and worthy.

They help us enter the doors to the temple and in turn, to live with our Father in Heaven again.

Sister Wixom says, “Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”

I cannot express to you, the truth that I believe this sentence holds.

Having a temple marriage has been and I am sure, will always continue to be the greatest blessing in my life.

Sister Wixom continues, “Temple covenants are those ordinances necessary for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom.”

There isn’t any wiggle room here. Temple covenants are essential for exaltation.

And they give us unwavering power.

Sister Wixom says, “As we strive to keep our temple covenants, our feelings of inadequacy and imperfection begin to fade, while the ordinances and the covenants of the temple come alive.”

What a beautiful picture. Our imperfections fade and the covenants of the temple come alive.

Again, I can testify of Sister Wixom’s words. Temple covenants without doubt give us power, confidence, and strength. At least they have for me.

Each one of us is or can be on this path that can lead us back to God.

And we can enter, continue, and cross the finish line by making and keeping these sacred covenants God has offered us.

The Lord said to Emma Smith, “Lift up thy heart and rejoice, and cleave unto the covenants which thou hast made.”

In times of unbearable trials, that is what God told Emma to do. Cleave unto your covenants.

Sister Wixom closes with, “As individuals, we are strong. Together with God, we are unstoppable.”

Covenants allow us to work with God.

It is a partnership.

Like mentioned in the beginning, we can have the Lord working with us, remembering us, and helping us.

We can shake his hand. He tells us, “If you do this, I do this”

Making these covenants can put us on a path lit by a light that cannot be darkened.

I would like to bear my testimony that I know covenants can protect, prepare, and empower us.

I know with all my heart, that because of the covenants I have made with my Father in Heaven, I am where I am today.

I have a long way to go but I know that I am on the right path.

I am so grateful for a Heavenly Father, who wants more than anything for us to be happy and to return to him and is willing to shake my hand, and help me through this life.

Again, “As individuals, we are strong. Together with God, we are unstoppable.”