Bring Forth Fruit Meet for Repentance

Hey guys I really don’t know where to start and I apologize if I jump around a bunch but please try to bear with me as I share some thoughts I would appreciate you to consider. I have 2 super important concepts to present and I hope my words will convey what’s in my heart.

On April 13th, 2025 I along with many of you stood to receive a new name we can be called by. Covenant Christians, I am so so grateful for the Lord’s continued willingness to work with us, BUT as you’ll recall we were also SEVERELY REPRIMANDED.

Among the many reasons we were reprimanded on the 13th, is that our hearts are not right and we are unable to be gathered. The talk provided ample explanation of what we can expect to come next UNLESS we CHOOSE to learn by Precept. If we can learn the dang lesson that is being taught, THEN we can become a people of One Heart and One mind AND it doesn’t have to hurt so bad!!!! I hate learning by sad experiences; I am grateful for what I’ve learned and I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’m doing this to hopefully persuade enough of you that we can CHOOSE a better path. It’s still gonna have growing pains, but I’d rather the pain be a result of my choice to pursue it than to be forcefully dragged kicking and screaming through painful experiences and then asked “did ya learn anything helpful from that?”

T&C 86:4
“You who are quickened by a portion of the Celestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fullness. And they who are quickened by a portion of the terrestrial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fullness. And also, they who are quickened by a portion of the telestial glory shall then receive of the same, even a fullness. And they who remain, shall also be quickened. Nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are WILLING to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received. For what does it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”

I’m really trying to learn by choice rather than consequence, and what I understand from the God's Covenant People talk was in a way liberating and I hope I can do a good enough job communicating these things so you’ll see what I see and hopefully we can come together in this. After chastising us for the evil people still fellowship among us, the Lord talks about the Guide and Standard and what I saw this time I hadn’t seen before. Denver quoted the Answer to Prayer for Covenant by saying:

Answer to Prayer T&C 157:55-56:
“But I require a statement of principles to be adopted by the mutual agreement of my people, for if you cannot do so, you will be unable to accomplish other works that I will require at your hands. When you have an agreed statement of principles, I require it to also be added as a guide and standard for my people to follow. Remember there are others who know nothing, as yet, of my work now underway, and therefore the guide and standard is to bless, benefit, and inform them — so I command you to be wise in word and kind in deed as you write what I require of you.”

The Lord said IF … IF YOU CANNOT DO SO, YOU WILL BE UNABLE to accomplish other works that I will require at your hands.

IS THAT A PROPHECY?!
I THINK SO…

And then towards the end of his talk he says

“God gave us an opportunity with the Guide and Standard. It was to provide an experience for a group of people with differences and disagreements to learn and increase their ability to respectfully disagree while still coming to a mutual concession. Rather than mutually agreeing, we surrendered the fight without achieving a unanimous statement that satisfied everyone. In that, it was a failure. We are failing again. We are so fixated on achieving a result that we fail to realize that the results do not matter; only the process matters. Results should be a byproduct of the process. We hurry through the process to reach the result, never realizing we've discarded the very tool intended to produce people of one heart and one mind, who can live together in peace. How we proceed is critical to succeeding as a people. Results, accomplished through compulsory means, which include peer pressure, refusing to engage, and shaming someone for a desire to stay in the process, cannot and will not bring people of peace together.” - God's Covenant People talk

There’s a bunch in that I’d like to go over but continuing from the revelation stating IF WE CANNOT COME TOGETHER AND PRODUCE A GUIDE AND STANDARD WE ALL UNANIMOUSLY AGREE ON WE WILL BE UNABLE TO ACCOMPLISH OTHER WORKS, and here we read that the Guide and Standard IS THE TOOL that’s gonna help us achieve one heart and one mind. He says:

“We hurry through the process to reach the result, never realizing we've discarded the very tool intended to produce people of one heart and one mind,”

We’ve discarded the very tool. And he also says

“Rather than mutually agreeing, we surrendered the fight without achieving a unanimous statement that satisfied everyone. In that, it was a failure.”

The Guide and Standard was a failure.

Now I apologize this isn’t gonna be a subject most who participated in it are gonna like, and this is super important to me as well and I’ll explain why, so please bear with me. But what I’d like to temporarily draw your attention to is that feeling. If you feel any kind of divide between yourself and another person because of the guide and standard, isn’t that a problem? To feel divided from those wanting to gather together to live Gods laws together and have ONE HEART together. If you feel divided from another then you’re not one heart.

Matthew 3:19
“Therefore, if you shall come unto me, or shall desire to come unto me, or if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift before the altar, and go your way unto your brother, and first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

Okay so feeling divided needs to be fixed. Back to where I was…

The Guide and Standard was "the very tool" that was intended to help us develop one heart and one mind, and per the revelation IF we don’t create a statement of principles that we all are “unanimous” in accepting then WE will be "unable to do other works that are required."

So IF ITS DONE ... and can't be revisited; and IF THATS A PROPHECY…. then we won’t be able to do the future tasks the Lord has in store for us.

This is an important topic for me because I got to help with it. My experience was such that while most of the fellowships were meeting together and working on this together; the email that went to my fellowship ended up in my mom’s abyss we call her inbox. As such, we didn’t see the email invites to discuss it together and were not involved with most of the discussions that happened. But in 2017 after many many documents were made and people tried to reason together endlessly… the idea was put forth to cast lots and let the Lord pick the people who would work on it together and we would go from there. Only those WILLING to participate were included in the drawing. I had had a conflict with Jennifer Willis previously to all this happening, and had fully intended on NOT putting my name into the drawing cause there are so many better people than I in this community; so when Jennifer called me and asked if she could submit my name into the drawing I was surprised, but more than anything I was grateful. To me, she was extending what I accepted as an olive branch to patch a rift that’d happened between us. I agreed and my name was added to the drawing and I was given the number 96. I started texting everyone I knew to make sure the Lord had other, better, options to choose from but surprisingly Jennifer had submitted most of their names too or they had submitted them themselves so I was relieved. On the day that the numbers were called I said a prayer offering my willingness to the Lord that IF I was chosen, I would serve. My number was called 7th as the last of the initial group of 7. Then a group of 7 alternates were drawn in case anyone had anything come up and had to back out. I was the only girl drawn in the initial group of 7. I looked at my number thinking maybe it was upside down and it wasn’t my number, but 96 turned upside down is still 96. I was terrified, but willing, as I had made that commitment to God.

I believe all of this is relevant so bear with me. Day 1 we got on a slack chat to start communicating with the organizers and one of the 7 had an urgent medical emergency come up and asked to be replaced because he couldn’t give the guide and standard the attention it needed, and so the first alternate joined. We started the next day by getting on a zoom call, discussing the terms the community had given us to work on it, divvying up assignments and we all worked on our parts collectively and individually for 3 days & 3 nights. We took all the documents and the work that had been submitted and pieced them together using as little of our own words as possible and using only scriptures or direct quotes only to explain the various principles. All week long I was fasting as we worked. As we worked through the various topics, decisions would need to be made over how to present a concept, how to organize it, or occasionally what doctrinal concepts needed to be in it - always taking into account the guidance given in the Answer to Prayer for Covenant that says:

“Remember there are others who know nothing, as yet, of my work now underway, and therefore the guide and standard is to bless, benefit, and inform them — so I command you to be wise in word and kind in deed as you write what I require of you.”

We talked through concepts reasoning together the best way forward and when we thought we had an agreed to concept we’d vote. We agreed UNANIMOUSLY on 100% of those votes Every single vote was unanimous after talking about the different sides of an issue and coming together with a compromise that would satisfy everyone as best we could. Most people that worked on the guide and standard had a contentious and long suffering experience. I had the best experience!!! I experienced one heart and one mind with those wonderful men I got to work with and I will always treasure that experience and them!!!!!

THAT is the experience I want all of you to have. I want you to experience being One Heart with all of our Covenant Christians.

I want to point out that there were disagreements but they never resulted in anger or hostility; we were ALL WILLING to consider everyone’s perspective and LOOK FOR A SOLUTION THAT WE CAN ALL AGREE TO. That is reasoning together. You have to be willing to consider, that in order to resolve the matter we are all gonna need to compromise. “You give a little, I’ll give a little” to quote Hayley Mills in the 1961 film The Parent Trap.

I had a beautiful experience with the Lots group in working on the Guide & Standard (now Section 175 of the T&C), so it pains me to hear it was a failure.

In the God's Covenant People talk is says:
“Rather than mutually agreeing, we surrendered the fight without achieving a unanimous statement that satisfied everyone. In that, it was a failure. We are failing again. We are so fixated on achieving a result that we fail to realize that the results do not matter; only the process matters. Results should be a byproduct of the process. We hurry through the process to reach the result, never realizing we've discarded the very tool intended to produce people of one heart and one mind, who can live together in peace."

Let me reiterate that slightly different: “We are so fixated on [producing a document] that we fail to realize that THE RESULTS DO NOT MATTER. ONLY THE PROCESS MATTERS.” What is the process? Experiencing conflict and working together to find a mutual agreement. You have to BOTH be looking for a compromise that will satisfy everyone. I propose that the document could be one sentence and if we all unanimously agreed on that one sentence we’d have achieved what we were asked to do. (I’m not actually proposing 1 sentence, I’m just using an extreme example to show my point) The results DO NOT MATTER! The process matters!

I have 4 children who I love and adore, shout out to my favorite, you know who you are! 😆 In my home, Rule #1 is “People Matter More”. If they at any time we’re fighting over a game or something; that game went away because “your sister matters more than that game” or “your brother matters more than that toy”, and they didn’t get it back until they could come to an agreement between themselves about who’s turn it was going to be and how they were going to go forward without fighting. Once they fixed their relationship they could have the toy back. One of my favorite mommy moments, I was sitting in my bedroom and I could hear the kids started to argue & fight over something, and I stood up to go deal with it when I heard “stop, if we don’t fix this moms gonna take it away” I waited, they resolved their issue and I celebrated back in my bedroom!!! I’m so freaking proud of my kids, everyone of ‘em!

But the point I’m getting at is “People matter more”. We live on. The only things that survive this world are us. People are what’s real. Language changes, books become archaic, and any document produced will serve its purpose, but the process of experiencing that conflict and CHOOSING to let people matter more than being right, more than getting it my way, more than any specified amount of time. The process of coming together so we can rejoice at seeing each other and live peaceably together in a community is ALL that matters.

"We MUST, but have not, learned to disagree respectfully. We take sides, prejudge, run away from conflict, and prefer being right with man over being right with God. We need to counsel with one another patiently and listen attentively. Some disagreements and differences may take years to work out. We have an “us vs. them” mentality that permeates this movement. It has been on display for years, and is particularly obvious in the weeks leading up to this conference and the women’s conference held yesterday. This is the work, and many of you can’t tolerate or won’t even entertain the idea that God cares about how we work on our relationships as much or more than He cares about our projects.

Now, what was offered in T&C 175 was accepted, but I propose that the Lord would LOVE to see us WILLING to open it back up, IF IT MEANT we were WILLING to come together, all of us, and no longer have it be a matter that divides us. I want better relationships with my Covenant brothers and sisters. I don’t want to feel uncomfortable that they want to have a conversation. I want to mend those relationships. I’m sorry for the hurt I’ve caused you, & I’m sorry for not making more of an effort before now; I would welcome a more personal conversation.

“I would rather submit to the decision of the group than insist that my view be followed. For me, harmony between brethren is more important than getting what I think best to be followed. For me, harmony between brethren is more important than getting what I think best to be followed. I believe harmony can lead to much greater things than can merely enforcement of even a correct view." - In the Epigraph to the T&C

"God gave us an opportunity with the Guide and Standard. It was to provide an experience for a group of people with differences and disagreements to learn and increase their ability to respectfully disagree while still coming to a mutual concession."

If the Guide and Standard is a living document then we should be comfortable and willing to add or edit it until we have a "unanimous statement that satisfied everyone." If we can accomplish this then the Answer to Prayer for Covenant says we will be able to accomplish what more the Lord has in store for us, and finally have one heart.

I went back and read the revelation given in T&C 176. The Lord accepted the efforts of every group that participated … the Lord is kind and loving and merciful in our stupidity, and grateful when we are trying to fix something that hurt someone. Maybe it wasn’t intended to hurt anyone, but we have to acknowledge when we do hurt one another, and try to make it right. Many have been hurt over this, and “people matter more”. The results do not matter, only the process matters.

This leads me to the second subject I want to talk about, On the subject of repentance.

We were given a name so we can collectively call ourselves “Covenant Christians”; and in that same moment we collectively were called to repent… repeatedly…. And threatened repeatedly with consequences that follow for those that don’t repent. Since we have a name and were called to repent collectively; I propose that we come together and repent collectively (in addition to our own personal penance to fix the issues the Lord brought up).

In Mosiah 2:1 we read:
“And now it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold, they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them; and they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying, O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ, that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our hearts may be purified! For we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God who created Heaven and earth and all things, who shall come down among the children of men.”

They all cried with one voice.

In an effort to acknowledge what we’ve done wrong, and to commit to do better; I would like all who choose to participate to come together with one voice in collectively authoring our cry for forgiveness. I’m open to your ideas, but I created a Google Doc we can all help write. I think it matters if you help, I don’t think we all need our own personal sentences but everyone is invited to add what they feel needs to be added. I’d like to have something we can collectively respond with together. Everyone is invited to help, and I believe we could sign it collectively as “Covenant Christians” as well as sign our names individually.

IF our goal is to heal and mend ourselves together; this is a godly pursuit.

In Matthew 10:23 Christ was asked:
“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

Love God, Love your Neighbor.
It doesn’t say anything about being right about doctrine, it says Love God & Love your neighbor. This is most important; AND HOW we can welcome and include other faiths with differing beliefs if we can all agree on foundational elements such as these.

In the God's Covenant People talk he states:
“How we proceed is critical to succeeding as a people.”

In 4th Nephi 1:3 we read:
“There were no conflicts in the land because of God’s love that filled the people’s hearts. There was no envying or disputes or disturbances or whoredoms or lying or murderor any kind of unrestrained, lustful conduct. There certainly couldn’t have been a happier people among all the people created by God. There were no robbers or murderers, neither were there Lamanites or any kind of ites, but they were united, Christ’s children, and heirs to God’s kingdom. How they were blessed! The Lord blessed them in everything they did, and they were blessed and given prosperity until 110 years had ended.”

I think all of us are marred from life’s learning experiences and we should all be mindful of each other and treat each other with gentleness and kindness, and seek to be one and find ways we agree rather than ways we disagree.

Anyway thank you for your time, I would REALLY appreciate your feedback. I hope to learn by precept, but will be grateful for any lessons God chooses to teach me!! 🙏🏻