Jet Mariano

Tag: Covenants

  • MIT8 – “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation”

    Deseret Peak Utah Temple — blue hour after a 4:30 PM proxy endowment. Foundation steady, heart steady.

    Excerpt

    When life shakes, covenants hold. The temple is where Jesus Christ strengthens my foundation so I can stand steady through any upheaval.

    Intro

    I drove west to Tooele Valley for a late-afternoon proxy endowment at the new Deseret Peak Temple. It became a 5‑hour sacred errand—2 hours round‑trip, 2 hours in ordinance and 30 quiet minutes in the Celestial Room, and 1 hour making photographs at last light. President Nelson’s words about foundations felt tailor‑made for this day.

    Notes from President Nelson

    • The Salt Lake Temple’s seismic retrofit is a living parable: strengthen the foundation to withstand future shaking.
    • Our safest spiritual place is inside our temple covenants.
    • The temple centers us on Jesus Christ—His doctrine, ordinances, and power.
    • The Restoration continues; methods adjust by revelation while doctrine remains.
    • If distance or health limits attendance, rehearse your covenants and let Him teach you.
    • Go more often, not less; the temple becomes safety, solace, and revelation.
    • Build now—before the spiritual earthquakes come.

    Perspective — direct quotes

    “Whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants.”
    “How firm is your foundation?”
    “Everything taught in the temple increases our understanding of Jesus Christ.”

    Practice — today, not someday

    1. Foundation checks: After each temple visit, write one way I’ll anchor to Christ this week.
    2. Covenant rehearsal: Set a weekly 10‑minute block to review the promises I’ve made and the power He offers.
    3. Regular appointments: Put the next proxy session on the calendar before leaving the parking lot.

    Final Reflection

    Looking through the arch toward a glowing House of the Lord, I felt why foundations matter. The drive, the ordinance, the quiet—each pressed me deeper into the covenant path. Cameras can’t capture the weight of peace, but they can remind me where it’s found. President Nelson’s plea is mercifully simple: strengthen the foundation now. The shaking will come; Christ holds.

    Pocket I’m Keeping

    “Safest place to be—inside my temple covenants.”

    What I Hear Now — direct quotes

    “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”
    “How firm a foundation.”

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  • Overcome the World & Find Rest — Jordan River Temple

    Jordan River Utah Temple — Rain on Glass. iPhone shot from the driver’s seat; focus on the droplets to let the temple bloom softly behind. Light edit for contrast/clarity on the foreground drops.

    Excerpt
    When life is heavy, rest isn’t escape—it’s yoking with Christ and keeping covenants. Even through rain-blurred glass, the temple holds steady.

    Intro
    After sacrament it poured. I drove to the Jordan River Temple and stayed in the car, letting the storm drum on the windshield. Through a thousand raindrops, the spire stayed true. That quiet minute was my rest.

    Perspective (direct quotes)

    • “Come unto me… and I will give you rest. … My yoke is easy.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
    • “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
    • President Russell M. Nelson: Covenant keepers have increased access to the power of Jesus Christ and are entitled to a special kind of rest through their covenant relationship with God.

    Principles

    • Rest comes with the yoke, not from running away.
    • The covenant path stays visible—even when everything else is blurry.
    • Small, steady acts (prayer, sacrament, ministering, temple) invite power and peace.

    Practice (today, not someday)

    • Name one burden and yoke it to Christ in prayer.
    • Keep one covenant action (text a ministering message, schedule a temple visit).
    • Trade one distraction for five minutes of stillness with the scriptures.

    Pocket I’m Keeping
    Covenants > chaos. I can rest while it rains.

    What I Hear Now
    “Walk with Me.” • “Let the temple teach you to rise.”

    Link to the Talk

    Full talk: “Overcome the World and Find Rest” — President Russell M. Nelson (Oct 2022 General Conference)

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    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Marked in Time — “Free to Choose” (Neal A. Maxwell)

    September 3, 2025 — after ~20 listens/reads since last night

    Manila Temple × Milky Way. Elder Neal A. Maxwell’s “Free to Choose” reminds me that joy needs both agency and daily submission—souls matter more than stars.

    Intro

    Elder Maxwell’s final BYU devotional (2004) feels like a compass: agency = joy + daily submissiveness. The line that keeps ringing: “Souls matter more than stars.” Freedom to choose is breathtaking—and sobering—because God honors our desires and won’t force us. That means peace is possible without compulsion, and accountability is real.

    Straight Line

    • Agency is God-given and personal. “I have given unto man his agency” (Moses 7:32). “Thou mayest choose for thyself” (Moses 3:17).
    • Agency is complete—consequence included. We can “live and move and do according to [our] own will” (Mosiah 2:21), but “whoso doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself” (Hel. 14:30).
    • Opposition is required, not optional. We’re enticed “by the one or the other” (2 Nephi 2:16); no neutral exists.
    • Desires direct judgment. We receive “according to [our] desires” and “wills” (Alma 29:4). Educate desire = spiritual continuing ed.
    • Real risk: some are “not willing to enjoy that which they might have received” (D&C 88:32). Tragedy = turning down joy.
    • No decision is a decision. Delay discards the holy present; accountability stands “astride every path.”
    • Lucifer can tempt but not compel. God won’t force; the devil can’t force.
    • Patterns > moments. Repeated choices shape prayers, power, and promises kept.
    • Souls > stars. The cosmos is vast, but the gift to choose—and choose God—is vaster. Joy needs freedom and submissiveness.
    • God’s posture: “What could I have done more?” He gives the maximum reward and the minimum penalty justice allows.

    Final Reflection

    Agency isn’t adrenaline; it’s alignment. The Spirit clarifies; He doesn’t coerce. Maxwell hooks joy to two daily moves:

    1. Choose (don’t drift).
    2. Submit (trust the Father’s will), like the Savior did.

    That mix removes panic from decision-making. It reframes boundaries as worship, not deprivation. It also explains why I can feel peace while longing tugs—the peace marks my stance, not the absence of pressure.

    Pocket lines I’m keeping

    • No decision is a decision.
    • Educate your desires.
    • Souls matter more than stars.
    • He will not force us.

    What I hear now

    • Name the choice: I will use my freedom to choose covenant-keeping over compulsion.
    • Educate desire (micro-habits): one scripture paragraph; one honest prayer; one tiny act of service. Desires follow diet.
    • Boundary as submission: Not replying to triggering messages is choosing God now, not “avoiding.”
    • Presence over pressure: Wife is in town—people > stars (and > screens). Focus mode stays on; lock-screen previews stay minimal.
    • Work lens: In interviews, I’ll listen for agency patterns: signal → hypothesis → test → decision → ROI. Under heat, do they choose calmly and own consequences?
    • One-line prayer: Father, I choose Thy will in this hour; educate my desires and make my joy clean.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • “I Love To See The Temple”

    Jordan River Utah Temple — filmed today around 3:15 pm on the way home from work. Summer birds, soft wind, and a steady spire through the trees… “a place of love and beauty.”

    Intro
    On the way home I pulled over where the Jordan River Temple rises above the trees and filmed a slow, quiet pass. The line kept looping: “a place of love and beauty.” With the temple in view, “I’ll prepare myself…” didn’t sound like childhood someday—it sounded like a choice for today.

    Song
    I Love to See the Temple — Janice Kapp Perry

    I love to see the temple;
    I’m going there someday
    to feel the Holy Spirit,
    to listen and to pray.
    For the temple is a house of God—
    a place of love and beauty.
    I’ll prepare myself while I am young;
    this is my sacred duty.

    I love to see the temple;
    I’ll go inside someday.
    I’ll covenant with my Father;
    I’ll promise to obey.
    For the temple is a holy place
    where we are sealed together.
    As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:
    a family is forever.

    Final Reflection
    This children’s hymn grows up with us. “I’ll go inside someday. I’ll cov’nant with my Father; I’ll promise to obey.” The melody is simple; the promises are not. Preparation is worship. Obedience is love in motion. And “As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth: A fam’ly is forever” is more than a lyric—it’s a covenant Christ makes possible in His house.

    What I hear now

    • Prepare beats postpone. If it’s “my sacred duty,” act today.
    • Covenants quietly reorder life. “I’ll promise to obey” changes calendars and priorities.
    • Keep the temple in frame. Let “a place of love and beauty” shape how I speak, serve, and schedule.
    • Family is the point. Live so “a fam’ly is forever” feels true at home, not just in song.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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