Alvardo-BYU-Idaho
Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks to students at Brigham Young University–Idaho, in the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Photo by Lauren Dominguez, courtesy of BYU–Idaho.All rights reserved.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Aimee Cobabe, Church News
Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, told students in a devotional at Brigham Young University–Idaho on Tuesday, March 18, how he and his family have been blessed by making covenants in the temple.
“I want you to feel the heavens open for you,” he said to students gathered in the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho. “One of the most helpful aids at your disposal is the Savior’s temple.”
God and His Son, Jesus Christ, will manifest themselves to those who “bring the temple close,” Elder Alvarado promised.
He pointed to President Russell M. Nelson’s talk in a Worldwide Youth Devotional in 2018, where he told the youth they are the hope of Israel.
Said Elder Alvarado: “You are not the leaders of tomorrow or some distant future. You, yes you, are the leaders of today. … The Savior has His eyes fixed on you.”
He continued that “as you use your agency to press forward with steadfastness in Christ, you will never go amiss. This is possible because of sacred covenants.”
Discipleship and covenant connection with the Lord Jesus Christ is a life-long quest, Elder Alvarado testified.
“The Lord will bless you and your posterity as He is blessing mine today,” he said.
Sister Cari Lu Rios Alvarado also spoke of how temple covenants are blessing their family. She relayed a story from their daughter Kelli, who said she struggled to pay attention while receiving her endowment. Later, while helping her younger brother prepare to make covenants in the temple, she felt inspired to share that the temple is all about Jesus Christ.
Alvarado-BYU-Idaho
Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Cari Lu Rios Alvarado, greet students after a devotional on the Brigham Young University–Idaho campus in Rexburg, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Photo by Hans Koepsell, courtesy of BYU–Idaho.All rights reserved.Quoting Kelli, Sister Alvarado said: “When I started focusing on Jesus Christ with all my heart during my temple worship, I became confident. And now I can say that the temple is the best thing I have in the world to get close to Jesus Christ.”
Elder Alvarado cautioned that there will still be challenges in one’s life. He said he faced many adversities in his own life.
“Darkness tried to creep up on me many times as I was a young adult building a family with Cari Lu,” he said. “Like any and every family, we all go through our struggles, but my confidence lies on my Savior and His power to light our life with His grace that blesses my eternal family.”
Elder Alvarado said there may also be people — even friends and family — who mock those who learn of Christ and worship in the house of the Lord.
Alvarado-BYU-Idaho
Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speaks to students at Brigham Young University–Idaho, in the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Photo by Hans Koepsell, courtesy of BYU–Idaho. All rights reserved.“There will be opposition in any attempt to come unto Christ, but seek not worldly sources to understand what is not of this world,” he said.
To face this opposition, Elder Alvarado pointed to President Nelson’s words from the Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults in May 2022 and in his October 2022 general conference address.
“Take charge of your own testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel,” President Nelson taught. “Work for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with false philosophies of unbelieving men and women. As you make the continual strengthening of your testimony of Jesus Christ your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.”
Said Elder Alvarado: “Let’s do this for the rest of our lives — be proactive in your preparation to receive and participate in the ordinances of salvation and exaltation and in honoring the covenants that will transform your life now and throughout every day of your life.”
He invited students to focus on temple covenants as a main goal in their lives. He also invited them to make their own homes, even their apartments, feel like the temple.
“Take the temple with you,” he said.
Speaking on perfectionism, Elder Alvarado reminded that “God does not expect you to be perfect. We will make mistakes and fall short,” he said. “But we can overcome those shortcomings because of our Savior and the covenants we have been invited to make with Him and our Father in Heaven.”
Alvarado-BYU-Idaho
Students walk to a devotional at Brigham Young University–Idaho, in the I-Center in Rexburg, Idaho, on Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke on making covenants in the house of the Lord. Photo by Hans Koepsell, courtesy of BYU–Idaho.All rights reserved.Copyright 2025 Deseret News Publishing Company.