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.”
St. George Utah Temple — staged long-exposure. I set the camera on a tripod, framed the composition, and patiently waited for a car to pass and paint light across the scene while the moon peeked through the clouds. Momentum takes patience—and a steady heart.
Excerpt
Small, steady choices create spiritual momentum. Tonight I staged the scene—one camera locked down for a 20-second exposure while I waited for a car to drive slowly and paint light across the temple. Planned movement, steady heart.
When life feels hot and hurried, deep roots matter. President Russell M. Nelson shows us how to build momentum that lasts—covenant by covenant, day by day.
Intro
Momentum changes games—and lives. President Nelson compared it to a team that grabbed two quick baskets before halftime and never looked back. “Momentum is a powerful concept.” In discipleship, positive spiritual momentum keeps us moving when heat, headlines, or hard days try to slow us down. And while “none of us can control nations or the actions of others or even members of our own families,”we can control ourselves. His five invitations—small, steady choices—gather power:
Get on the covenant path (and stay).
Discover the joy of daily repentance.
Learn about God and how He works.
Seek and expect miracles.
End conflict in your personal life.
Notes from President Nelson (Sep 2022)
“With all the pleadings of my heart, I urge you to get on the covenant path and stay there.”
“Ordinances and covenants give us access to godly power. The covenant path is the only path that leads to exaltation and eternal life.”
“Please do not fear or delay repenting. Satan delights in your misery. Cut it short. Cast his influence out of your life! Start today to experience the joy of putting off the natural man.”
Daily worship/study nourishes testimony; without it, faith can crumble “with frightening speed.”
“God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.” Do the spiritual work and believe, “doubting nothing.”
“I plead with you to do all you can to end personal conflicts that are currently raging in your hearts and in your lives.”
Promise: acting on these brings increased momentum, strength to resist, more peace of mind, freedom from fear, and greater family unity.
Perspective
Covenant power is real. Baptism, sacrament, and temple covenants plug us into godly power.
Repentance is progress, not punishment. “Please do not fear or delay repenting… Cut it short… Start today…”
The climb is designed to change us. “Now, a caution: Returning to the covenant path does not mean that life will be easy. This path is rigorous and at times will feel like a steep climb. This ascent, however, is designed to test and teach us, refine our natures, and help us to become saints. It is the only path that leads to exaltation.”
Peacemaking is discipleship. Ending conflict invites the Prince of Peace into the room.
Miracles may take time and may not match our first request—but the Lord moves the mountain in His way, in His time.
Practice (today, not someday)
Pick one small action to spark momentum today:
Schedule the temple (or step toward worthiness with your bishop).
Write one concrete repentance step; do it before bed.
Give God 10 undistracted minutes—scripture + prayer.
Ask for one needed miracle and the faith to act.
Make peace with one person (forgive or seek forgiveness).
Final Reflection
My staged photo worked because the camera stayed still while the light moved. Discipleship is the same: a heart fixed on covenants lets grace “paint” our lives with motion and light. Small, holy repetitions—repent, learn, believe, reconcile—create a current that carries us when our own strength fades.
Pocket I’m Keeping
“Walking the covenant path, coupled with daily repentance, fuels positive spiritual momentum.” That’s my pocket sentence for the week.
What I Hear Now
Keep the camera steady—covenant steady. Let Me provide the light and the timing. Do the small things today; I’ll handle the mountains.
Link to the talk
President Russell M. Nelson, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum.” (General Conference)
Waxing gibbous moon peeking through stormy blue over the Jordan River Utah Temple, Friday night (9/5/25), framed by leaves and looking East South East of the sky.
lle’s “preconditioning,” included the Power of Now reference, and linked the YouTube clip you gave me:
Excerpt Desire steers destiny. Elder Neal A. Maxwell teaches that God judges “according to the desire of [our] hearts”—and helps us train those desires toward Him.
Intro Maxwell reframes agency at its core: desires are the drivers. Genes, circumstances, and environments matter, but—as he reminds us—“there remains an inner zone in which we are sovereign, unless we abdicate.” In that sacred space lies our real agency.
Eckhart Tolle explains the other side of the equation in what he calls preconditioning:
“Mental and emotional filters: our minds are filled with ingrained narratives, beliefs, and emotional patterns that act like lenses through which we view the world.”
Those filters shape perception, just as culture, family patterns, and past wounds bend behavior. Yet, as Maxwell insists, they cannot erase that sovereign inner zone. What we persistently desire is who we become—and what we receive.
Straight line (what he’s saying) • Desire is more than preference; it’s a real longing that directs agency and outcomes. • God mercifully considers our desires, works, and degrees of difficulty—yet won’t force us. • Satan desires our misery; wrong desires make us our own victims. • Lukewarmness flattens the soul; righteous desires must be relentless, daily. • Education of desire = learn truth and learn to love it; small acts create spiritual momentum. • “Do you,” President Brigham Young asked, “think that people will obey the truth because it is true, unless they love it? No, they will not” (Journal of Discourses, 7:55). • Some desires must dissolve (envy, self-pity); weak righteous desires can grow strong. • Parents teach and model, but each soul must choose; God’s arm is stretched out still. • In process of time, holy desires produce holy works. • Preconditioning may set the stage—but the sovereign inner zone decides the play.
Final reflection My outcomes track my appetites. When I aim my wants at ease or applause, I drift. When I aim them at Jesus, momentum returns. Desire is today’s steering wheel. Elder Maxwell’s reminder of the inner zone keeps me accountable: I can’t blame culture, genes, or preconditioning. They explain, but they don’t excuse. Tolle helps me name the filters that fog my lens, but Maxwell reminds me that God still waits on what I choose to desire.
Pocket I’m keeping • Pray, then plan by desire: “More holiness give me” → schedule one aligned act. • Replace envy with intercession: bless the person I’d be tempted to compare with. • Feed the flame daily—scripture, sacrament, service—before screens. • Name one mis-aimed desire and starve it for a week. • Measure progress by direction and devotion, not dopamine.
What I hear now If I train my want-to, God will shape my able-to. Even a spark—“I desire to believe”—is enough for Him to begin multiplying light.
