Wendy Watson Nelson Talk

Excerpt from the talk

“…My soul delighteth in the covenants of the Lord.”

 by Wendy Watson Nelson

This address was given Thursday, April 30, 2015 at the BYU Women’s Conference

You can read the full talk here, or watch it here.

As we keep our covenants, to what else do we have access? Joseph Smith declared that if we
as covenant women “live up to (our) privilege,” the angels will not be able to be restrained from
being our associates. Our “privilege” includes our covenants. Our covenants are a “privilege”!
Therefore, as we live up to our covenants, the angels will not be able to be restrained from being
our associates. (Relief Society Minute Book, Nauvoo, Illinois, Apr. 28, 1842, Church History Library, 38)

We could also say it this way: As we keep our covenants, we can ask for angels to help us.
Literally!

It was during Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s April 2010 general conference talk that I first learned
this truth. He said, “Ask for angels to help you.” He said it with such clarity, and yet in a manner
that implied this was something we all knew. But for me it was an entirely new principle. I
wanted to call out, “Wait! Wait! What? You mean I could have been asking for angels to help
me all this time?”

Without intending to sound too dramatic, I can say with all candor that Elder Holland’s six
words changed my life. “Ask for angels to help you.” That counsel changed my prayers, changed
my understanding of the very real help from heaven that is always available to us as we keep our
covenants.

I started to ask for assistance from those on the other side of the veil from that moment on. Now
I’m not talking about praying for fantasy angels with wings to magically fairy-dust our problems
away. I’m not talking about praying to angels. I’m talking about praying to your Heavenly
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, for those on the other side to be “dispatched” (Elder
Holland’s word) to assist you. Perhaps a loved one or two could be sent to help you with
whatever you need.

Can you imagine the effort it took those angels who pushed from the rear of handcarts as they
helped the pioneers over the steep, snowy, windy, freezing, jagged terrain of Rocky Ridge? If
angels can manage that, they can certainly help you and me over our present Rocky Ridges. We
know the Lord gets His work done with the help of His angels. So could you use a little more
help in your life? If so, keep your covenants with more exactness than ever before. And then ask
for angels to help you with whatever you need. Or ask for them to be dispatched to help those 
you love.

Does your child need help? Is your husband in trouble? Does your aunt need comfort? Does your
best friend need direction? Ask for angels to be assigned to help them. As a covenant-keeping
woman, you can do just that!

One of my former institute students, let’s call her Barbara, followed through with that suggestion
with thrilling results. Barbara has served as proxy for many of my ancestors. During a few
particular temple sessions, Barbara had special experiences with a woman named Genevieve and
with Genevieve’s sisters. Barbara felt a deep connection with them. So she prayed and asked if
Genevieve and her sisters, who now live on the other side of the veil, could be dispatched to help
Barbara’s own sister, who lives on this side of the veil. Barbara’s sister had not been active in the
Church for years, and she was having heart-wrenching difficulties with some rigorous life
events.

Here are Barbara’s words: “I prayed that my sister could find peace in this world; that she could
find direction back to Heavenly Father; that the sisters of Genevieve could help her find her way
back, and watch over her in this process. A few weeks later my sister told me that she was taking
her three boys to church! Later she asked me how to get her patriarchal blessing. The eldest boy
turned eight this summer and was baptized. And my sister is now attending temple preparation
classes.”

How can we explain such miracles? Mormon tells us, “My beloved [sisters], have miracles
ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of
men. . . . And the office of their ministry is to call men [and women] to repentance, and to fulfill
and to do the work of the covenants of the Father.” (Moroni 7: 29, 31)