Do you want to be happy? What makes you unhappy?

President Nelson said, “If you want to be miserable,

break the commandments—and never repent. If you want joy, stay

on the covenant path.” End of quote. Isn’t it simple to be happy?

Just make covenants and keep them in your lives.

Let us review some things that can help us to stay on the covenant path and make us happy. One. What is the covenant path?

According to Elder Dale G. Renlund,

“The term covenant path refers to a series of covenants whereby we come to Christ and connect to Him.

Through this covenant bond, we have access to His eternal power. The path begins with faith in Jesus Christ and repentance, followed by baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.” End of quote. We renew these covenants every time we partake of the sacrament.

Beginning with the baptismal covenant,

we make more covenants throughout our lives. Again,

Elder Renlund said, “The covenant path leads to the ordinances of the temple, such as the temple endowment.

The endowment is God's gift of sacred covenants that connect us more fully to Him.” Two. Are you on the covenant path?

Sometimes when we make covenants, we fail to keep them.

When this happens, how can you return to the covenant path?

Let me share some examples of returning to the covenant path.

A little over a month ago, I received a message from a return missionary who served with us. He said, “The last while has been tough. Battling anxiety and depression every day has been weighing me down, and it is very difficult.

I feel alone and just miserable.

I have been praying for the guidance of our Heavenly Father for peace and comfort in what I can do to battle the hardship. ...

While I was praying, I felt the prompting of the Spirit telling me that I needed to be paying my tithing in full. ...

I felt the Spirit so strongly and I immediately felt the urge to do so.

With the desire to do so, I felt a prompting that ‘If you pay your tithing, everything will be okay.’

I'm still struggling to find peace, but I do have a testimony in our Savior and that through my obedience I can feel and find the peace I am looking for in my heart and mind.

I have recently decided to come back to the Church and to seek the Spirit in all that I do.” End of quote. Now he is doing very well.

You also may ask Heavenly Father for peace, but the answer may be different than what you anticipate it will be.

As long as you seek to know of the Savior and pray to Heavenly Father,

He will give you a customized answer for you.

President Monson taught, “The greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and we obey, we will always be right.”

“When we keep the commandments,

our lives will be happier, more fulfilling, and less complicated.

Our challenges and problems will be easier to bear, and

we will receive God’s promised blessings.”

When I was called to be a bishop, it was during the most difficult time of my life. I was a young father in my early 30s, but I was in trouble financially because of family challenges.

I couldn't find any solution and I thought the challenges would never end. I was exhausted financially and emotionally.

I started doubting my spiritual strength as well.

It was at that difficult time that my stake president extended the calling to me.

I accepted the call anyway, although it was hard. My wife also had an interview with the stake president, but she could not say yes and she did not say no either,

but kept shedding tears. She cried for the whole week asking Heavenly Father, “Why now?” and “Do you really know each individual?”

She didn't get an answer,

but I was sustained as a bishop on the following Sunday.

She did not ask Heavenly Father those questions anymore, but supported me in my calling for six years.

On the Sunday when I was released, my wife heard a voice while she was receiving the sacrament. The voice whispered to her, “Because it was too hard for you to walk,

I called him as a bishop in order to hold you and walk for you.”

Looking back at the past six years, she realized that all the many challenges that seem to be endless had now been resolved along the way.

We learned that when we think it is not a good time for us to receive a calling, it may be the time we need that calling the most.

Whenever the Lord asks us to serve in any calling, whether it is a light or a heavy calling, He sees our needs. He provides the strength we need and has blessings ready to be poured out upon us as we faithfully serve.

There are many other things that distract us from the staying on the covenant path. No matter what it is,

it is never too late to turn our heart to Heavenly Father for help.

Elder Paul V. Johnson taught us, “When we follow Satan, we give him power.

When we follow God, He gives us power.”

King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon testifies,

“I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God.

For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual;

and if they hold out faithful to the end, they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.” Three. How can keeping covenants with God make you happy?

My wife says that our marriage yokes us together and because of that she can do things she couldn't do before.

For example, ever since she was young, she had a hard time going out in the dark.

But it is not hard anymore because I go with her.

She is short and cannot reach to the high shelves unless she uses a chair or ladder. But I can reach the things from high shelves for her

because I am taller than her.

Taking our Savior’s yoke upon us is like that. As we yoke ourselves to Him, we can do things we couldn’t do on our own because He can do the things we cannot do for ourselves.

Elder David A. Bednar, said, “Making and keeping sacred covenants yokes us to and with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In essence, the Savior is beckoning us to rely upon and pull together with Him, even though our best efforts are not equal to and cannot be compared with His. As we trust in and pull our load with Him during the journey of mortality, truly His yoke is easy and His burden is

light.” President Nelson also taught, “Yoking yourself with the Savior means you have access to His strength and redeeming power. ...

The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power— power that strengthen us to withstand our trials,

temptations, and heartaches better.

This power eases our way.

Those who live the higher laws of the Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. ...

Keeping covenants actually makes life easier!

Each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples— and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ.” End of quote. My dear brothers and sisters, do you want to be happy?

Stay on the covenant path. Your life will be easier, happier, and filled with joy.

Our Savior is inviting us, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” He is the living Christ. He carries our burdens and makes our life easier.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Six years ago, our family was traveling at night just outside the city of Oxford. As is often the case with young children, we needed to stop, so we found a service station with an array of shops and restaurants.

With precision, we filed out of the car, visited the services, and filed back in, resuming our journey.

Fifteen minutes later, our eldest son asked a significant question: “Where is

Jasper?” Jasper sits on his own at the back of the car.

We assumed he had fallen asleep or was hiding or playing a trick on us. As his brother inspected the back of the car more closely, we discovered our five-year-old son was not there.

Our hearts filled with dread.

As we made our way back to the service station, we pleaded with Heavenly Father that Jasper would be kept safe.

We called the police and informed them of the situation.

When we anxiously arrived, more than 40 minutes later, we found two police vehicles in the car park, lights flashing. Inside one of them was Jasper, playing with the buttons.

I will never forget the joy we felt in being reunited with him.

Many of the Savior's parabolic teachings focus on gathering, restoring, or striving to find that which has been scattered or lost.

Among these are the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

As this incident with Jasper has played in my mind over the years, I have reflected on the divine identity and importance of God's children,

the redemptive power of Jesus Christ, and the perfect love of a Father in Heaven who knows you and me.

I hope to bear witness of these truths today. Firstly, Children of God.

Life is challenging. Many people feel overwhelmed, alone, isolated, or exhausted. When things are difficult, we may feel that we have wandered or fallen behind.

Knowing that we are all children of God and members of His eternal family will restore a sense of belonging and purpose. President Ballard shared:

“There is one important identity we all share now and forever. ...

That is that you are and have always been a son or daughter of God. ...

Understanding this truth— really understanding it and embracing it—is life-changing.”

Do not misunderstand or devalue how important you are to your Father in Heaven. You are not an accidental byproduct of nature, a cosmic orphan,

or the result of matter plus time plus chance.

Where there is design, there is a designer.

Your life has meaning and purpose.

The ongoing Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ brings light and understanding regarding your divine identity.

You are a beloved child of Heavenly Father.

You are the subject matter of all these parables and teachings.

God loves you so much that He sent His Son to heal, rescue, and redeem you.

Jesus Christ recognized the divine nature and eternal worth of each person.

He explained how the two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor are the foundation of all of God's commandments.

One of our divine responsibilities is to care for those in need.

This is why, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we “bear one another’s burdens,

... mourn with those that mourn, ... and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.”

Religion is not only about our relationship with God;

it is also about our relationship with each other.

Elder Holland explained that the English word “religion” comes from the Latin “religare” meaning “to tie” or more literally, “to retie.”

Thus, “true religion is the tie that binds us to God and to each other.”

How we treat one another truly matters.

President Nelson teaches, “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire.”

This is even more important when our fellow travelers feel lost, alone, forgotten, or removed. We do not have to look far to find people who are struggling. We can start by helping someone in our own family, congregation, or local community.

We can also seek to relieve the suffering of the 700 million people living in extreme poverty,

or the 100 million people who are forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, and identity-based violence.

Jesus Christ is the perfect example of caring for those in need—

the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the poor, the imprisoned.

His work is our work. Elder Gong teaches that “our journey to God is often found together.” As such,

our ward should be a refuge for all of God's children.

Are we passively attending church or actively creating communities whose purpose is to worship, remember Christ, and minister to one another?

We can heed President Nelson's counsel to judge less, love more,

and extend the pure love of Jesus Christ through our words and actions. Two. The redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the supreme expression of our Heavenly Father's love for His children.

The word “atonement” describes the setting “at one” of those who have been estranged or separated.

Our Savior's mission was to provide both a way to return to Heavenly Father and relief in the journey.

The Savior knows through His experience how to support us through life's challenges.

Make no mistake, Christ is our Rescuer and the Healer of our souls.

As we exercise faith, He helps us press forward through hardships.

He continues to extend His loving and merciful invitation:

“Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; ... and ye shall find rest unto your

souls.” The metaphor of the yoke is powerful. As President Howard W. Hunter explained, “The yoke was a device that allowed the ‘strength’ of a second animal to be linked and coupled with the effort of a single animal, sharing and reducing the heavy labor of the task in hand.

A burden that was overwhelming or perhaps impossible for one to bear could be equitably and comfortably borne by two

bound together with a common yoke.”

Present Nelson taught: “You come unto Christ to be yoked with Him and with His power, so that you’re not pulling life’s load alone. You’re pulling life’s load yoked with the Savior and Redeemer of the world.”

How do we yoke or bind ourselves to the Savior?

Elder Bednar explains: “Making and keeping sacred covenants yokes us to and with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In essence, the Savior is beckoning us to rely upon and pull together with Him. ... We are not and never need be alone.”

To any one burdened, lost, confused, you do not have to do this alone.

Through the Atonement of Christ and His ordinances, you can be yoked or bound to Him.

He will lovingly provide the strength and healing you need to face the journey ahead. He is the refuge from our storms still.

Third. Heavenly Father’s love.

For the record, Jasper is witty, affectionate, intelligent, and rambunctious. But the key to the story is

he is mine.

He is my son. And I love him more than he will ever know.

If an imperfect, earthly father feels this way about his child,

can you imagine how a perfect, glorified, loving Heavenly Father feels about you?

To my dear friends of the rising generation, Gen Z and Gen Alpha:

please know faith requires work.

We live in a time when, for many, only seeing is believing.

Faith can be challenging and requires choices.

But prayers are answered and answers can be felt.

Some of the most real things in life are not seen.

They are felt, known, and experienced. They, too, are real.

Jesus Christ wants you to know and have a relationship with your Father in Heaven.

He taught: “What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father,

open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say,

Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine.”

Can you think of a more personal, loving image of God, the Eternal Father?

You are His child. If you are feeling lost, if you have questions or lack wisdom, if you are struggling with your circumstances, or wrestling with spiritual dissonance, turn to Him.

Pray to Him for comfort, love, answers, and direction. Whatever the need and wherever you are, pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father.

For some, you may want to follow President Nelson's invitation and “ask if He is really there—

If He knows you. Ask Him how He feels about you and then listen.”

Dear brothers and sisters: Know your Father in Heaven. He is perfect and loving. Know who Jesus Christ is.

He is our Savior and Redeemer.

Bind yourself and those you love to Him and know who you are.

Know your true divine identity. God's plan of happiness is all about you.

You are His precious child and of great worth.

He knows and loves you. Of these simple but foundational truths I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

We are grateful for all who have spoken to us this afternoon and for the beautiful music that has been provided.

We remind you of the Saturday evening general session,

which will be broadcast from the Conference Center this evening at 6 p.m. mountain daylight time.

The nationwide broadcast of Music and the Spoken Word will air tomorrow morning from 9:30 to 10 a.m. mountain daylight time. The Sunday morning session of conference will immediately follow. Our concluding speaker for this session will be Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Following his remarks, the choir will sing “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty.”

The benediction will then be offered by Sister Andrea M. Spannaus,

who serves as Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.

My dear brothers and sisters,

my thoughts today are on the gathering of Israel,

what President Russell M. Nelson calls “the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude,

nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty.”

The gathering is the ultimate recognition that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.”

It is as simple as that. We are gathering God's children in these last days that they might have “blessings poured out upon their heads” and the promises of “the riches of eternity.”

It follows that to gather Israel,

we need missionaries—many more than are serving.

Today I am speaking to the many seasoned seniors in the Church who could serve as missionaries. The Lord needs you.

We need you in New York and Chicago, Australia and Africa, Thailand and Mexico, and everywhere in between.

Let me take you back to the year 2015.

I was a newly called member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

One of the wonderful responsibilities we carry as apostles is to assign missionaries to their fields of labor.

I had participated as a Seventy in the process, but now as an Apostle, I felt the full weight of the assignment.

I began with prayerfully placing a great number of young elders and sisters, one by one, in missions around the world.

Then I turned to the senior couples. There were ten on the list.

Not very many. Surprised, I asked my associate from the missionary department, “How many do we need this week to fill the requests?” He responded, “300.”

That sobering moment has stayed with me. Ten couples to fill 300 requests.

President Nelson has encouraged couples to “get on their knees and ask Heavenly Father if the time is right for them to serve a mission.”

Of all the qualifications, he said,

“a desire to serve may be the most important.”

As the scripture says, “If ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work.” That work is all about the law of the harvest. We

read in John, “both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”

I have seen the law of the harvest fulfilled in my own family.

Some years ago I was visiting family when the bishop asked me to conclude the sacrament service. As I was coming down from the stand, a woman approached me with her seven children and introduced herself as Sister Rebecca Guzman. She asked “Elder Rasband, Do you know Rulon and Verda Rasband?” I beamed and replied, “They are my parents.”

You can see where this is going.

With Rebecca’s permission, who is here with family in the Conference Center,

I share her family's story.

My parents, Elder Rulon and Sister Verda Rasband were serving as a senior couple in the Fort Lauderdale Florida Mission.

They were proselyting and by divine guidance, knocked on the door of Rebecca's home.

She was just a teenager, and she loved listening to the music of the Osmonds, in particular,

our friend Donny, who is here with us today.

She had listened to their media interviews and learned they were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

She felt there was something different about them and thinking it might be their religion,

Rebecca spent two years researching the Church’s beliefs in the school library. So when a kindly looking couple knocked on her family's door and introduced themselves as Latter-day Saint missionaries, she was taken aback.

“My mother told me to get rid of them,” Rebecca later wrote.

“But my heart said no. I looked into their faces and I felt so much warmth

and love. The memory still brings tears to my eyes and deep emotion to my heart.”

Rebecca invited them in and my missionary parents shared a message with her, her two younger sisters, and, despite her objections, her mother. Rebecca described to me: “Both your parents were wonderful in explaining any questions we had.

I can still see their faces, as if there was light surrounding them.

We always hugged your mother when she left,

and she always made a point of helping my mother feel comfortable and respected. Your father always had a sparkle in his eyes as he was teaching us about Jesus Christ.

He tried to include my father in discussions and eventually won him over.

My father was a chef at a local country club and started cooking dinners for your parents, including making your father’s favorite—Key Lime Pie.”

When Elder and Sister Rasband asked Rebecca and her family to read the Book of Mormon, Rebecca did so in five days.

She wanted to be baptized immediately,

but the other members of her family were not ready.

After four months, Rebecca insisted she be baptized and join the true Church.

She recalled, “Every fiber of my soul knew it was true.

On April 5, 1979, missionaries baptized 19-year-old Rebecca,

her mother, and two sisters. My father was a witness at the baptism.

When I met Rebecca and her family at church, we took a photograph of her family with me.

I took it home to my elderly mother, and she held it close to her heart.

Then she said to me. “Ronnie,

this is one of the happiest days of my life.”

My mother’s response begs the question for our seniors:

What are you doing at this stage of your life?

There are so many ways senior missionaries can do what no one else can. You are a remarkable force for good, seasoned in the Church and poised to encourage and rescue God’s children.

Some of you might be thinking,

“But what about leaving the grandchildren?

We would miss family milestones, birthdays, friends, and even our pets.”

If I had asked my mother why she and dad went on a mission,

I know she would have said this: “I have grandchildren.

I want them to know that your father and I served in the mission field.

We wanted to set an example for our posterity, and we were blessed, so blessed.” As I have visited missions around the world, I have seen the remarkable service of our legion of senior missionaries.

It is clear they are happy doing the will of the Lord and being about the Lord’s business. For some— and we hope thousands of you—full-time missionary service in another corner of the world will be just the right place. For others, serving a Church service mission at home might be preferable.

Because of health issues or other circumstances,

there are those who are unable to serve.

We understand those situations, and it would be my hope you might find ways to support those who are serving.

Follow the Prophet's counsel and pray to know what the Lord would have you do.

Mission fields around the world are pleading for your help.

President Nelson has said of our senior missionaries, “They are young in spirit, wise and willing to work.”

Out in the field, you have a smorgasbord of opportunities:

you may serve in mission offices or temples, strengthen young missionaries, bolster small branches, work in family history centers or at historic sites, teach institute, provide humanitarian service, work with young adults, help in employment centers, or on Church farms.

The particulars of ways to serve, what best suits you, where you are needed, and how you can get ready to go are addressed on the website “Senior Missionary.”

You can also talk with your bishop or branch president.

I have called many couples to serve and watched as the light of Christ has filled their countenances.

At their return, they have described growing closer to the Lord and closer to one another,

feeling the Spirit of the Lord pour down upon them and knowing they are making a difference. Who would not want that?

A mission might be the greatest chapter in a couple's life.

A good title might be “My Lord Will Have Need of Me.”

You may be on unfamiliar ground. However, the power of the Spirit will make you feel right at home.

My parents and tens of thousands of returned missionary couples have borne testimony of the joy they found in missionary work.

The Lord has said in latter-day scripture: “And if it so be that ye labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!”

Isaiah gave us a poetic description of what it means to serve in the mission “field.” Scripture tells us, “the field is the world.”

The great ancient prophet wrote: “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

The mountains, hills, fields, and trees can be likened to mission presidents, bishops, district leaders, members, and those who seek the truth but they “know not where to find it” will testify that the senior missionaries change the very landscape with their testimony of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

As an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you to serve as a missionary in the gathering of Israel and perhaps even serve again. We need you—we need you.

We are grateful to you seniors, for the lives you have led and the examples you have been in your homes, wards, and stakes.

I now invite you to take your know-how coupled with your time-honored testimonies and go on a mission.

I pray that the next time I sit down to assign senior couples, there will be hundreds of you waiting anxiously for your call.

I also promise that as you serve, you will feel the love of the Lord in your life. You will know Him,

He will know you, and “how great shall be your joy.”

Your dedicated service to Jesus Christ will inspire and bless your family, your grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

Peace and love will be multiplied in their lives for years to come.

I promise. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Amen.

[MUSIC PLAYING] “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”

♪ ♪

♪ Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! ♪

♪ O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation! ♪

♪ Join the great throng, psaltery, organ, and song, ♪

♪ Sounding in glad adoration! ♪

♪ Praise to the Lord! Over all things He gloriously reigneth, ♪

♪ Borne as on eagle wings, safely His saints He. ♪

♪ Hast thou not seen how all thou needest hath been ♪

♪ granted in what He ordaineth? ♪

♪ Praise to the Lord! Who doth prosper thy way and defend thee. ♪

♪ Surely His goodness and mercy shall ever attend thee. ♪

♪ Ponder a new what the Almighty can do, ♪

♪ Who with His love doth befriend thee. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all ♪ ♪ that is in me adore Him! ♪

♪ All that hath breath, join with Abraham’s ♪ ♪ seed to adore Him! ♪

♪ Let the “amen” ♪ ♪ sum all our praises again, ♪

♪ Now as we worship before Him. ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Now as we worship before ♪ ♪ Him! ♪

Dear Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for the opportunity to gather together

in love and in unity with our friends throughout the world,

to listen and be guided by thy prophets and thy servants.

We thank Thee, Father, for Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer,

who makes everything possible in our lives.

Please, Father, bless us now with eyes to see what we need to do to transform our hearts and to serve Thee better.

We love Thee, dear Father, and we look forward to being with Thee one day.

We ask Thee for the health and strength of our dear prophet

and Elder Holland. And this we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

This has been a broadcast of the Saturday afternoon session of the 193rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Speakers were selected from leaders of the Church.

Music for this session was provided by a multicultural choir comprised of members residing in northern Utah.

This broadcast has been furnished as a public service by Bonneville Distribution.

Any reproduction, recording, transcription, or other use of this program without written consent

is prohibited.