Thanks for the Covenant | Russell M. Nelson | 1988

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This unique Thanksgiving message reminds us to be grateful for the blessings which are ours through the covenant established with our father Abraham.

This speech was given on November 22, 1988.

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"Sister Nelson and I are thrilled to be with you on this special occasion. Whenever we come to BYU and are privileged to rub shoulders with members of the faculty and student body, we are better for it.

In two days, people in this nation will set aside their usual labors and celebrate Thanksgiving Day. This custom fosters gratitude to God for the good things of life. Each one of you will offer your own expressions of gratitude in your own way, wherever you are. We have so much for which we are grateful—family, friends, food, freedom, faith—all of which come to us from a loving Father in Heaven.

On my list of things for which I am thankful are items that may not be on your list. I would especially like to express my gratitude for the privilege of being here today. In the past five weeks my calling has taken me to thirteen different nations on three different continents. So I’m grateful for the jet airplane and competent people who work to help us travel in safety. I’m pleased that I don’t have jet lag. My poor brain has long since given up trying to keep track of which time zone I’m in. I find that if one travels eastward to Europe and then westward to the East, time zones get fuzzy anyway, and opposing jet lags hopefully just cancel out.

I am grateful also for the fact that wherever I travel, the reputation made by groups from Brigham Young University has preceded me. I salute cultural ambassadors of goodwill who represent this institution. What you have done is of inestimable value. Literally, the world is your campus.

Another observation for which I am grateful is that graduates from BYU are widely disseminated throughout the earth. Precious seedlings of faith blown by winds of responsibility reach fertile soil of opportunity in lands near and far.

Wherever I go in the world, I see amazing growth of the Church. People once uninformed are learning of the gospel. I am an eyewitness to fulfillment of the promise made to the Prophet Joseph Smith when the Lord said, “The ends of the earth shall inquire after they name” (D&C 122:1).

National governments once hostile to this Church are now cautiously opening doors because they have learned that doctrines restored through that great Prophet will strengthen citizens of their nations.

I would like to speak to each individual here with the hope that I may give you a new perspective of gratitude at Thanksgiving. Against a historical backdrop I should like to paint a mental picture that would allow you more fully to comprehend who you really are.

The panorama of history will extend so far back you will wonder if I have forgotten to relate my message to you. But if you’ll pay careful attention and follow the thread of thought, you will see that the relationship is real. In fact, if you should view your own identity without this broader understanding, such limitation would constitute an unfortunate injustice.

Going Back in Time

Each one here no doubt has at one time or another had some sort of identity crisis. On those occasions one has wondered with truth introspection: “Who am I really? Why am I here? What am I to do?” To find identity, direction, and purpose, it helps to be reminded of the past.

Before we start, I’d like to give you a little quiz. Nothing you’d rather have today, is there? I won’t ask for answers aloud, but perhaps you can silently answer these questions or even write them in your notes.

Who are your parents?

Where is your home?

Are you of Israel?

Are you Hebrew?

Are you related to Abraham? If so, how?

Are you Jewish?

To what countries do you trace your ancestry?

Do any of you trace your ancestry to Egypt?

To find answers, let’s go back in a mental time tunnel. Before the world was made, “Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, . . . looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven” (D&C 38:1). The Lord had shown Abraham “the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones” (Abraham 3:22). We are no doubt among those he envisioned.

“And God saw these souls . . . and he said: These I wil..."