October 2026 General Conference › Lessons › Elder David A. Bednar › Adults
Credentials for the Journey Home
From “Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise,” by Elder David A. Bednar · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
Covenants kept over time are sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and no one else's unrighteous choices can take God's promised blessings from a faithful covenant keeper.
Objective
Learners will explain in their own words what it means for a covenant to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise and will choose one way to hold fast to their covenants this week.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Bednar's talk, Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and mark the sections The Parable of the Passport, The Holy Ghost Is the Holy Spirit of Promise, and The Sealing Ordinance.
- Ask class members to have the talk open in Gospel Library, or bring a few printed copies.
- Bring paper and pens for silent writing.
- Write on the board: repent sincerely and consistently / honor our covenants / yield our hearts unto God.
- Pray for those in the room who have been hurt by another person's choices. Decide now that you will not ask anyone to describe a marriage or family situation.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
What gets you through the gate?
- Begin with prayer. Then ask everyone to think of a document they guard carefully: a passport, a license, a birth certificate.
- In pairs, give one minute each to answer the first question below.
- Tell the class that Elder Bednar began his talk with words he learned from President Boyd K. Packer. Read President Packer's sentence from the aligned quotes and ask the second question. Take two or three answers.
- What makes that document worth protecting, and what would you lose if it were damaged?
- President Packer called ordinances and covenants credentials. What do you think he wanted us to feel about them?
The parable of the passport
- Form groups of three or four. Ask each group to read the section The Parable of the Passport together.
- Give the groups two things to find: what the man had, and what he had not done.
- Bring the class back and hear a short report from two groups.
- Ask someone to read the last paragraph of that section aloud, where Elder Bednar names the limit of his analogy. Make sure the class hears it clearly: hardship that comes through no fault of our own does not diminish God's promises to us or invalidate our covenants.
- The man held a valid passport and was still turned away. What is Elder Bednar teaching about receiving a covenant and keeping it?
- Why do you think Elder Bednar stopped to say what his story does not mean?
The stamp: sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise
- Invite everyone to read silently the section The Holy Ghost Is the Holy Spirit of Promise, and then Doctrine and Covenants 132:7. Ask them to notice what the Holy Ghost does with our ordinances and covenants.
- Ask a class member to read aloud the key quote that begins with the words Receiving this ratifying sealing.
- Point to the three phrases on the board. Give two minutes of silent writing: which of these three is the Lord inviting me to give more attention to right now, and what would that look like on an ordinary weekday?
- Invite a few to share what they are willing to share. Note the phrase “in process of time” from Moses 7:21, which Elder Bednar uses for how this seal is received.
- What changes for you when you think of this sealing as something that comes over time and not as a single event?
- How have you seen steady, repeated repentance strengthen your confidence before God?
When another person's choices bring sorrow
- Say gently that the next section speaks to a tender question, and that no one will be asked to share a personal situation.
- Ask one person to read aloud the two parts of the sealing ordinance that Elder Bednar describes in the section The Sealing Ordinance. Then ask another to read the paragraph that begins Sometimes, unfortunately, through the end of that section, slowly.
- Ask the class to listen for two lists: what Elder Bednar says he does not know, and what he says he does know. Write both on the board in the class's words.
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 64:31–32 together and ask what it adds about the Lord's promises and His timing.
- Share Elder Hathaway's sentence from the aligned quotes and ask the questions below.
- Elder Bednar is honest that revealed doctrine does not answer every detail. How does his testimony of what he does know help you live with questions that are not yet answered?
- What does it mean to you that the Savior's Atonement can overcome all things for every person who holds fast to their covenants with Him?
King Benjamin's promise
- Read Mosiah 2:41 aloud together from the scriptures. Elder Bednar closed his talk with this verse.
- Check for understanding: ask each person to turn to a neighbor and finish this sentence in their own words: A covenant is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise when…
- Listen in on two or three pairs. If you hear the idea of a one-time event, return briefly to the three phrases on the board.
- Which word in King Benjamin's promise do you most need today?
Choose and act
- Elder Bednar did not give a specific assignment in this talk, so invite each person to decide prayerfully how to act on what he taught. Show the ideas in the act list and give one quiet minute to write a choice.
- Bear your testimony that promised blessings will be received by those who hold fast to their covenants with the Savior.
- Follow up: tell the class you will begin next week by asking what they noticed as they acted. Next week, give the first two minutes to that question.
Key passages from the talk
“Ongoing faithfulness is required for those credentials to be valid and for promised blessings to be received.”
“Receiving this ratifying sealing by the Holy Ghost typically is not a one-time event; rather, it comes over time as we repent sincerely and consistently, honor our covenants, and yield our hearts unto God.”
“The power of the Lord’s infinite and eternal Atonement can overcome all things, all the time, everywhere, for every person who holds fast to their covenants with Him.”
“No faithful disciple will ultimately be deprived of any eternal blessing God has promised because of another individual’s unrighteous exercise of moral agency.”
Scriptures
- D&C 132:7 Read silently after the section on the Holy Spirit of Promise. Find the words Elder Bednar quotes and ask what the verse says must happen to every covenant.
- Moses 7:21 Point out the phrase “in process of time,” which Elder Bednar uses to describe how the ratifying seal is received. Ask what that phrase teaches about patience with ourselves.
- D&C 64:31–32 Read together after the section The Sealing Ordinance. Ask what these verses teach about the certainty of the Lord's promises and about His timing.
- Mosiah 2:41 Read aloud together near the end. Invite each person to choose one word from King Benjamin's promise that they need today.
Other voices that agree
“Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into His presence. To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.”
“the question for most righteous followers is not if He will deliver but how and when He will do so”
Three things to remember
- Receiving a covenant opens the way; keeping it over time is how its blessings come.
- The Holy Ghost seals our covenants as we repent consistently, honor them, and yield our hearts to God.
- No one else's unrighteous choices can take from me what God has promised.
Ways to act this week
- Each night this week, ask in prayer what you can repent of today, and act on the first thing that comes.
- Before the sacrament on Sunday, read Mosiah 2:41 and tell Heavenly Father one covenant you want to honor more fully.
- If another person's choices have brought you sorrow, write the key quote that begins No faithful disciple where you will see it each morning.
- Schedule a time to worship in the house of the Lord, or take one step toward being ready to go.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Standing on the Promises
- How Firm a Foundation
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with two or three people: skip the groups. Read the passport story aloud, then the paragraph that begins Sometimes, unfortunately, and talk through the two lists together.
- Large class: keep people in pairs for every discussion so that everyone speaks, and take only two reports each time.
- Short on time: teach the passport segment, the three phrases on the board, and the key quote that begins No faithful disciple, then go straight to choosing an action.
This lesson is an independent study aid written for this site. It is not an official lesson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Quotations are word for word from the official talk; paragraph numbers count the paragraphs of the talk as published at churchofjesuschrist.org, not counting headings or picture captions. The activities, questions and ideas for acting are suggestions; follow the Spirit and adapt them to those you teach.