Elder Cache I. Noble | Given on January 10, 2026 to Seguin First Ward

Brothers and Sisters; good morning. I believe I have met the majority of you but for those of you I am yet to meet my name is Elder Cache Noble. I have been out on my mission for three months now and Seguin has been my first area. I have really enjoyed serving here and Seguin is a really great first area! As a missionary here I have seen so many miracles! I promise you the Lord is very involved with this town and He loves each and every one of the people here. A little bit about me is that I am from Spokane, Washington which is near the Idaho border. My family and I have lived there for the past 6 or 7 years. I can't remember which. My parents' names are Curt and Jen Noble and I have three younger brothers Casen, Sawyer and Bryson. I have been blessed to have them in my life and I am grateful for their support as I am on my mission. At home; our main activity was boating, as we have many lakes where I live. I also loved hanging out with my friends, and watching lots of movies and TV. 

This Sunday, I have been asked to speak by the Bishopric on the topic of Living with Conviction in our Covenants. When we got the call asking us to speak I was actually very thrilled as I have put a lot of thought, prayer, and studying into this talk. But please bear with me as this is the first talk I’ve had to give on my mission so far! As I prepared for this talk it was a very fruitful study for me and I felt the spirit a lot.

When I sat down on Wednesday night to begin my study I felt prompted to begin by understanding the literal meaning of the topic given to me. I asked myself what does it mean to live with conviction? Conviction means an unshakeable belief in something without the need for proof or evidence. In essence it means to live with an unshakable faith in your belief. Prophets and Apostles of Jesus Christ have taught that we can have an unshakable faith by making and keeping sacred covenants; or promises to the Lord. As a missionary I have gained a better understanding of a covenant as I have learned to teach covenants to those I meet. A covenant is a two-way promise between you and God. Throughout all ages the Lord has made covenants with us, His beloved children. Heavenly Father made covenants with Adam and Eve as well as many Old Testament prophets. Such as Noah where God promised to not flood the earth again, Moses who was promised to have the words and power to free God's people from the Egyptians. And the well known and mentioned Abrahamic Covenant where God promised that his posterity would be numerous and that through his seed; all the families of the earth would be blessed. God has continued to make covenants with us today through His Son, Jesus Christ. 

We make these covenants or promises to God as we participate in Sacred Ordinances or in other words, sacred acts that show God we want to enter into a covenant relationship with Him. As we make those promises to God; He in turn promises us incredible blessings.

When it comes to living these covenants and keeping our promises I wanted to look at how we can live with conviction in our baptismal covenants. All members of the Church of Jesus Christ who have been baptized have made promises to God. In so doing they enter into an even closer relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. This opportunity is available to all who are willing to make and keep promises with God as they follow the examples of the Savior. Jesus Christ himself was baptized and as the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi exclaimed, “And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!” 

At baptism we make four covenants with God. The first of which is to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. This means that we remember Him and strive to live as His Lifelong disciples. It means that we make Jesus Christ our first priority in our lives. Two of the ways we do so is through frequent and sincere prayer. As well as frequent and consistent scripture study. We live these with conviction as we seek to do these daily. Elder David A. Bednar has said that, “praying sincerely to the Eternal Father in the name of His Beloved Son deepens and fortifies our covenant connection with Them.” I love how he mentions it is a covenant connection with them. In the MTC I was asked by my Branch President, President Bateman to look at my tag. He asked me to look for my family name. Thinking the answer he was seeking was obvious I said it is Noble! But he asked me the question again. He then taught me that when we are baptized we enter into a new relationship with Jesus Christ. And with this first covenant to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, we literally take upon ourselves the name of Christ as a new family name. King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon taught that, “it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ and that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.” 

The second baptismal covenant we make is to serve God and serve others. This promise is built upon the two great commandments which are to love God and to love your neighbor. We live this covenant with conviction as we serve His children and minister to our brothers and sisters. 

The third baptismal covenant is built upon those same two commandments to love God and love others in that the third covenant is to keep all of God’s commandments. It is taught that when we love God, everything in our lives will move into its proper place. I like to teach commandments as safeguards. Our Heavenly Father has created our bodies and the world we live in. He knows better than anyone on how to take care of them and has given us safeguards as guidelines to living a healthy and happy life. And that by obedience to those commandments we may return to live again with Him. Picture yourself standing 5 feet away from a cliff edge of a great canyon. In front of you is a small and simple railing with a warning of loose rocks on the opposite side of the fence. Looking up though you see many people hopping the fence to get on the other side to get a better view. It may look like they are having fun and getting better pictures than you. Seeing them hop over the fence may even make you want to do the same! Picture you do choose to hop over that fence and in so doing, rocks slip out from underneath you and you fall and plunge down into the canyon. What may have seemed like a small and even silly railing with a simple warning on it, is now the one thing that could have kept you safe.

This is how God's commandments are. He gives them to us simply and does not force us to obey them. Sometimes we may not understand or comprehend why he has given us a specific commandment. But that does not mean we can excuse ourselves in disobeying his commandment. One of God's most important commandments is the Word of Wisdom which prohibits the use of alcohol, tobacco or any smoking device, drugs as well as tea and coffee. As a missionary I have had multiple people propose the question of, “those things have never hurt me and some argue they are good for me! How can I believe in God when he makes up that commandment? I just don’t get why he would ask me to do that.” To them my answer is; do not believe in God because of the commandment given. But instead believe the commandment is true, because you believe in God. May we see that commandments are not the evidence for God, but that God is the evidence for a commandment being wise and true. We live this covenant with conviction when we practice that mindset of trusting in God and staying faithful to it. 

 As imperfect humans though we are bound to mess up! That is why we make the fourth covenant with God, to Endure to the End! The word Endure means to abide and we do so within the end. One of Jesus Christ’s titles is the end. Enduring to the End does not simply mean living till we die but instead continues on into the eternities. Enduring to the End literally means Abiding in Jesus Christ with an unshakable belief. Or in other words Living with Conviction in our Covenants. When we make mistakes and sin, we should turn toward our Lord Jesus Christ who has paid the price for our sins so that he may forgive us freely. Daily repentance and partaking of the sacrament weekly allow us to renew the covenants we make at baptism and recommit ourselves to Jesus Christ. Elder Jeffery R. Holland explained that “abiding” as an action means “[to] stay – but [to] stay forever.” 

 When I heard that I remembered this year's theme for Come Follow Me; which comes from Moses 6:34. Which reads, “thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore walk with me.” Jesus Christ has invited each of us to Come and See. After we have seen, He then extends His invitation to Come Follow Me. And when we are following Him, He asks us to stay! He asks us to walk with him. To come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you. The apostle John recorded in his gospel the moment when many of Jesus’ disciples chose to go back and walk no more with him. Jesus then said turning to the twelve, “will ye also go away?” Then Simon Peter answered him, “Lord to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.” At that moment Peter chose to stay. He chose to stay forever! And He did so with conviction saying, “we are sure!” Despite the increasing trials that Peter faced and the realization that following Jesus is not an easy or popular choice he still chose Christ! Knowing that Jesus was the key to eternal life. And that is God’s promise and reward for us! 

 As we follow the example of Peter by trusting and believing in Jesus Christ with conviction, that same promise of eternal life is available to each of us. With our choice to follow the Savior into the waters of baptism He promises us two things. The first being that we can then enter into the kingdom of heaven and the other is the gift of the Holy Ghost. We often think of eternal life as just a part of that first promise, that we will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But brothers and sisters, with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, you are experiencing eternal life. Eternal life is living with a member of the Godhead. Jesus Christ said, “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” With that understanding and knowing the Holy Ghost is with us to testify of the Father and Son; we know that those who are living their covenants with conviction are living eternal life! 

What a beautiful gift God has given us! President Russel M. Nelson, our late prophet, taught us how to live eternal life now! Throughout his life he emphasized the importance of making and keeping sacred covenants with God and we do that by Thinking Celestial. As we think celestial, we consider each choice with the question of how will this choice impact me in the eternities? As we choose to live in our covenants with conviction we have that wonderful promise of feeling the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. Even when we can’t feel him; He will be there because we entered into that covenant relationship when we were baptized. 

I would like to add to this my own testimony. In my life and in my own personal faith journey I have always understood that more than anything, the most important thing is to have my own personal relationship with Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. To me my relationship with Jesus Christ is more important to me than the Church and the most important doctrine to me is that I am a beloved son of a loving Heavenly Father. I believe that He has a body of flesh and blood just like me. He has eyes that he sees me with. He has seen my good and bad. He has ears that he hears my prayers of sorrow and prayers of thanksgiving. He has hands that he has reached out to me with. And He has arms that one day will hug me! And I have chosen to walk with Him and his Son Jesus Christ right now! I chose to believe in this church and be a part of it because it is the only true church where I can make promises to God and enter into an even closer covenant relationship. That is why I am here on a mission. To tell people that I have found the most joy, by being in a covenant relationship with God. For those of you who have made covenants, walk with him. Live eternal life now as you live with conviction in your covenants. And to those who are yet to make covenants with Him, make them and keep them and look forward to it. He will bless you so much for it! Of this I testify in the most sacred name of Jesus Christ, Amen.