Will It Get You In?
From “Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise,” by Elder David A. Bednar · Sunday afternoon session, October 2026 General Conference
The big idea
A covenant is an enduring promise between God and me; as I keep it over time the Holy Ghost seals it, and no one else's choices can take God's blessings from me.
Objective
Youth will be able to explain what a covenant is and how the Holy Ghost seals it over time, and will choose one daily way to take care of their covenants this week.
Before you teach
- Read Elder Bednar's talk, Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.
- Ask youth to bring phones or scriptures; they will open the talk in Gospel Library.
- Bring paper, pens, and a few markers for the board.
- Write three words across the board with space under each: REPENT, HONOR, YIELD.
- Some youth live with the pain of a family member's choices. Plan to teach the last part gently and do not ask anyone about their family.
Lesson plan
Thirty minutes in 6 parts. Times are a guide; let the Spirit and the learners set the pace.
Will it get you in?
- Start right after the prayer. Say: stand if this would get you in, stay seated if it would not.
- Call out quickly: a concert ticket for last year's show. A school ID that went through the wash and cannot be read. A library card with someone else's name on it. A valid boarding pass for today's flight.
- Ask the first question below and take three fast answers.
- Tell them Elder Bednar taught that ordinances and covenants are spiritual credentials for our journey home to Heavenly Father.
- What has to be true about a ticket or an ID for it to actually work?
The passport story
- Choose a traveler, a border official, and a narrator. The narrator reads the section The Parable of the Passport from a phone, stopping before the paragraph that begins The lesson of this story, while the other two act it out without words.
- Ask everyone to read silently the last two paragraphs of that section.
- Ask the questions below. Be sure the youth hear Elder Bednar's own caution: hard things that happen to us through no fault of our own do not damage our covenants or God's promises.
- The passport was real and valid. Why was that not enough?
- Elder Bednar says his story has limits. What does he not want anyone to conclude from it?
Twelve-word challenge
- Phones face down. In teams of two or three, give 90 seconds to write the best definition of a covenant in twelve words or fewer.
- Have each team read theirs aloud. Then have everyone open the section Covenants, Ordinances, and Promised Blessings and find Elder Bednar's definition. The team that came closest gets a round of applause.
- Ask the teams to search the same section for two more answers: who sets the conditions of a covenant, and what our part is.
- Ask a youth to read the key quote that begins A covenant is a solemn promise.
- Why does it matter that God sets the conditions and that we choose with our agency to accept them?
- Which ordinances have you received so far, and which are still ahead of you?
The stamp
- Explain that the traveler needed an official stamp. Elder Bednar compares that stamp to the witness of the Holy Ghost, whom the scriptures also call the Holy Spirit of Promise.
- Read together the section The Holy Ghost Is the Holy Spirit of Promise. Then read Doctrine and Covenants 132:7 and have the youth find the words Elder Bednar quotes from it.
- Ask a youth to read the key quote that begins Receiving this ratifying sealing. Point to REPENT, HONOR, YIELD on the board.
- Hand out markers. Everyone comes up and writes under at least one word what it looks like on a normal Tuesday. Read a few aloud.
- Read Doctrine and Covenants 136:4 and ask what walking in the ordinances of the Lord looks like in a school week. Then share President Packer's words from the aligned quotes.
- Elder Bednar says this sealing typically is not a one-time event. How does that change the way you think about a bad day or a mistake?
- What is the difference between receiving an ordinance and keeping the covenant that comes with it?
An honest question
- Say that Elder Bednar then spoke about the sealing of a husband and wife in the house of the Lord, and about what happens when one spouse breaks covenants. He voiced the question a faithful person might ask. Read the question and his answer from the key quotes or from the paragraph that begins Sometimes, unfortunately.
- Read the key quote about what unrighteousness by one person cannot do. Explain that Elder Bednar taught this about marriage, and that his words reach every faithful disciple.
- Point out his honesty: he says he does not know exactly how and when the blessings come, and that he does know they will come. Share Sister Runia's sentence from the aligned quotes.
- Give two minutes of silent writing on the question below. No one shares unless they want to.
- When someone else's choices have hurt you or someone you love, what would you want to remember from Elder Bednar's testimony?
Take care of your passport
- Read Mosiah 2:41 aloud together. Elder Bednar ended his talk with this promise from King Benjamin.
- Check for understanding: each youth tells a partner, in one breath, what a covenant is and how it is sealed.
- Elder Bednar gave no specific assignment in this talk, so let the youth choose their own. Show the act list. Each person writes one choice in their phone notes and sets a daily reminder.
- Follow up: tell them you will ask next week what they did and what they noticed. Open next week's class with that question.
Key passages from the talk
“A covenant is a solemn promise—an enduring commitment between God and His sons and daughters.”
“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.”
“‘Can the unrighteous exercise of moral agency by another person rob me of what God has promised?’ The answer to this question is an emphatic no!”
“unrighteousness by one person cannot hinder or thwart the flow of God’s love, strength, and blessings to another person”
Scriptures
- D&C 132:7 Read together in the segment The stamp. Have youth find the words Elder Bednar quotes and say in their own words what the Holy Spirit of Promise does.
- D&C 136:4 Read after the board activity. Ask what it would look like for a teenager to walk in the ordinances of the Lord during a school week.
- Mosiah 2:41 Read aloud together at the end. Ask each youth to pick the phrase that gives them the most hope.
Other voices that agree
“To worthily receive them is the quest of a lifetime; to keep them thereafter is the challenge of mortality.”
“Not understanding is not the same as not believing.”
Three things to remember
- A covenant is an enduring promise between God and me, and He sets the terms.
- The Holy Ghost seals my covenants over time as I repent, honor them, and give my heart to God.
- Nobody else's choices can cut me off from God's love, strength, and blessings.
Ways to act this week
- Every night this week, repent of one specific thing in your prayer before you sleep.
- During the sacrament on Sunday, put your phone away and think about one covenant promise you want to keep better.
- Pick one of the board answers under REPENT, HONOR, or YIELD and do it each day until next class.
- If someone's choices are weighing on you, read Mosiah 2:41 each morning and talk with a parent or leader you trust.
Suggestions written for this lesson, not the speaker’s words.
Music
- Let the Holy Spirit Guide
- Choose the Right
Adapting the lesson
- At home or with one or two youth: skip the acting and the teams. Read the passport story together, each write a twelve-word definition, and compare with Elder Bednar's.
- Large class: run the twelve-word challenge in teams of four and let only three teams read aloud.
- Only 15 minutes: do Will it get you in?, the passport story, the REPENT, HONOR, YIELD board, and the closing choice.
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.