Editor’s note: To support personal and family gospel learning, the Church News is publishing articles on messages from April 2026 general conference. It is recommended to listen to or read the full address in addition to reviewing these resources.
About this talk
- “The Joy of a Covenant Relationship With God”
- Elder Thierry K. Mutombo | General Authority Seventy
- Sunday morning session of April 2026 general conference.
- Theme: Heavenly Father’s plan is happiness now and joy forever in His presence by making covenants with Him.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of Elder Mutombo’s message here.
Outline
- In some parts of the world, people customarily give a paschal or Easter Day greeting in which the greeter says, “Christ is risen” and the other person responds, “Truly, He is risen.” This is more than a simple greeting or declaration — it is a celebration of Jesus Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection.
- The Savior’s invitation “Come unto me” means individuals can feel God’s infinite love manifested through His Son, Jesus Christ, wherever they are or whatever they are going through. Heavenly Father has a special love for each person who makes covenants with Him.
- Elder Mutombo and his wife, Sister Nathalie Mutombo, experienced this divine love amid the death of four children and pressure from extended family for the couple to separate. Elder Mutombo felt peace as he remembered the words of their temple sealing and the promises they made to God and to each other.
- As President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, following Christ is a continuous commitment and way of life; keeping covenants requires Christ’s followers to leave “the tradition of men” (Mark 7:8).
- The miracle Elder and Sister Mutombo prayed for happened after they stood for truth and light. Christ works miracles according to one’s faith in Him.
- In mortality, all will face dark days. When facing this darkness, remember the dark day Jesus Christ was lifted on the cross and the Sunday that came after.
- Heavenly Father’s plan for His children is happiness now and joy forever through making covenants with Him. Satan’s goal is misery and sorrow, and he wants individuals to break their covenants. Life’s great test is obedience to God.
- Individuals can grow in humility and strengthen their covenantal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ by building their life on the Savior and responding to the Holy Ghost’s direction to faithfully keep covenants.
Reflection questions
Have you ever heard the Easter Day greeting Elder Mutombo shared at the beginning of his talk? If not, how do you think it could help you remember the Savior more on Easter?
How can Elder and Sister Mutombo’s experience of experiencing divine love amid losing children and overcoming pressure to separate inspire you in your life?
When going through a hard time, what helps you remember the Savior and feel His love?
Elder Mutombo teaches that Heavenly Father’s plan is happiness now and joy forever in His presence. How do His laws and commandments help us attain this?
What is something you can do today to strengthen your covenantal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
Speaker quotes
- “The understanding of what Jesus Christ offers through His Atonement and Resurrection brings comfort, peace and reassurance to all of us. Without Jesus Christ’s infinite Atonement, no one would have hope to return to our Heavenly Father. And without His Resurrection, death would be the end.”
- “The miracle Nathalie and I prayed for happened after we stood for the truth and the light that is in Jesus the Christ. We received a strong confirmation that Christ works miracles according to our faith in Him. Sometimes things do not work out in mortality as we hope, and sometimes we need the faith in Jesus Christ that all will work out in the end.”
- “Our Heavenly Father’s plan for us is happiness now and joy forever in His presence. He gives us laws and commandments and makes covenants with us to bless us. His desire, purpose and glory are to have us return to Him pure, having proven ourselves worthy of an eternity of joy in His presence.”
Reference scriptures
- “Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”
- “O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?”
- “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
Invitations and promises
- “‘Come unto me’ is a divine invitation which means wherever you are now or whatever you are going through in your life, you can feel God’s infinite love manifested through His Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, our Heavenly Father has a special love for each person who makes the covenant with Him in the waters of baptism. That divine love deepens as additional covenants are made in the house of the Lord and are faithfully kept.”
- “During this mortal life, each of us will face our own dark days, times when things are not going as hoped. When you face this darkness of sorrow, please remember that dark day when Jesus Christ was humiliated, bruised, abused, reviled and lifted on the cross for you and me. That day was filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored Jesus Christ. But the doom of that day did not last forever. The despair did not linger because, on Sunday, the resurrected Savior overcame the bonds of death. So no matter how dark your days are, please remember that Sunday will come if you faithfully keep the covenants that you made with the Lord.”
- “We can grow in humility and strengthen our covenantal relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, if we change our nature to become like a child, building our life on the rock, who is the Savior Jesus Christ, yielding in faith in Him, responding to the Holy Ghost’s direction to faithfully keep the covenants made with the Lord at our baptism and in the house of the Lord.”
Stories
- At the beginning of their marriage, Elder and Sister Mutombo lost four children. After the death of the fourth child — a 9-month-old baby boy — their extended families gathered and decided that tradition required Elder and Sister Mutombo to separate. Elder Mutombo prayed for strength to face this adversity and felt peace as he remembered the words of their temple sealing and the promises they made to God and each other. He told family members that he and Sister Mutombo would stay together and continue to strive together to build an eternal family.
Additional resources
- Related image: “Mary Speaks With the Resurrected Christ”
- Related video: “Standing by Our Promises and Covenants”
- Related hymn: No. 129, “Where Can I Turn for Peace?”
Recent conference talks on covenants
- Elder Quentin L. Cook: “Keys, Covenants and Easter” (April 2026)
- Elder Neil L. Andersen: “Eternal Marriage Is an Eternal Journey” (April 2026)
- Elder Alan R. Walker: “A Peculiar Treasure” (April 2026)
Who is Elder Mutombo?
- Elder Thierry K. Mutombo was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in the April 2020 general conference. He is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and served a mission in the Ivory Coast as a young man. While he was attending university, his mother told him about a sister missionary named Sister Nathalie Sinda; later the couple met and married.
