The March 2024 Come, Follow Me Ministering Printable ties together President Emily Belle Freeman’s 2023 October General Conference talk “Walking in Covenant Relationship with Christ” and Elder Yoon Hwan Choi’s talk “Do You Want to Be Happy?” with 2 Nephi 13 from March’s “Come, Follow Me” lesson.
Download March 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. My local drugstore prints them for just pennies. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them.
March 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
2 Nephi 13:12 – Covenant Cairns
Last year the youth theme logo was a cairn – a stack of stones used to mark trails for hikers. For the youth, it symbolized the things in our lives that help point us to Christ. After learning about cairns all year long, my kids unexpectedly got to experience the value of cairns firsthand when we visited Canyonlands National Park in December.
Footprints in the Sand
In the park, there are two granaries built into an alcove along Aztec Butte. They date back to 1200-1300 AD. I was eager to see them, so we headed out along the trail. But we quickly ran into a problem. The trail was through a sandy wash and it lacked clear markings. It was hard to tell what was the trail and what was just the wash. We were soon looking down at the mess of footprints in the sand to help us find the right direction. But the footprints ran in all directions. There were so many it was hard to decipher a clear path.
It didn’t take long before we were utterly confused about where to go. It was then that my son spotted a cairn up on the side of the butte we were hiking around. We were so busy looking down at the footprints that we totally missed it. Nobody expected the trail to go straight up the enormous butte.
We assumed that the trail would follow along the wash around the butte. We hesitated, wondering if we were really supposed to go straight up. Luckily we decided to trust the cairns, and we scrambled up to the top. At the top of the butte, we were able to get a better view of our surroundings. We also spotted the rest of the trail and found a look-off area to view the granary. If we had not looked up, we would have missed the trail.
Finding Cairns
On the way back down, we talked about how our experience was a lot like life. Sometimes, we become so preoccupied with where everybody else is headed that we overlook the cairns the Lord has set. And when we follow the footsteps of others, it can get really confusing. It was only by looking up that we found the true trail. Like the cairns, we lose the path when we look to others or the most popular way instead of looking up.
We also talked about how sometimes the trail doesn’t go the way we expect it would. We almost didn’t follow the cairns because we didn’t expect them to go straight up. In life, we can second guess the way when it doesn’t match our expectations. It reminds me a lot of Christ in the New Testament. He wasn’t the Messiah people were expecting, so they missed Him. In hindsight, we see their errors and wonder how they could be so blind. But we ought to humble ourselves and recognize that we too are at risk of missing Christ when we rely more on our expectations than Him.
Finally, we almost didn’t take the path because it looked so hard. While looking for the trail, we reasoned that the trail would be easier if it went around the butte. When we are living the gospel, we assume that this means our lives should be easy. If we are living righteously then we shouldn’t have any trials. But we only found perspective after we climbed the butte. If we want to become more like Christ, we have to be ready to climb.
Destroy The Way of Thy Paths
The experience of the cairns reminded me a lot of 2 Nephi 13 (which parallels Isaiah 3). In this chapter, Isaiah talks about the judgments that will befall Jerusalem for their wickedness. It talks about a time when things will be turned upside down and in chaos. The people will lose their experienced leaders and will be led by children and babes. The result will be societal chaos, which will lead to people desperately seeking leaders from among themselves.
Isaiah laments, “O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths” (2 Nephi 13:12).
Strait and Narrow Path
Just like the sandy trail to Aztec Butte, it is confusing when the path is destroyed by the conflicting footprints of others. It is impossible to make any sense out of it. And getting lost in Canyonlands without a cellphone signal is one thing, but getting lost in this life is much, much worse.
Fortunately, like the cairns, we have been given markers along the trail by He who created the trail. Later in 2 Nephi 31, Nephi tells us, “Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:17-18).
Covenant Cairns
In the October 2023 General Conference, President Emily Belle Freeman shares her experience walking the 40-mile Jesus Trail in Israel, despite breaking her ankle six weeks before the trip. With the help of her knee scooter and her guide, she was able to make her way over steep inclines and around large boulders. The experience taught her about her own decision to walk the covenant path with the Lord. President Freeman explains that walking the covenant path “begins with the covenant of baptism and leads to deeper covenants we make in the temple.” As we walk this path with Christ, it isn’t about a check list of things to do. It is about developing a relationship with Him.
She shares her own reason for choosing to walk the covenant path:
I walk this path as a “beloved daughter of heavenly parents,” divinely known and deeply trusted. As a child of the covenant, I am eligible to receive promised blessings. I have chosen to walk with the Lord. I have been called to stand as a witness of Christ. When the path feels overwhelming, I am strengthened with enabling grace. Each time I cross the threshold of His house, I experience deeper covenant relationship with Him. I am sanctified with His Spirit, endowed with His power, and set apart to build His kingdom. Through a process of daily repentance and weekly partaking of the sacrament, I am learning to become steadfast and to go about doing good. I walk this path with Jesus Christ, looking forward to the promised day when He will come again. Then I will be sealed His and lifted up as a holy daughter of God.
Making covenants with our Savior are important cairns along the covenant path. Not only do they mark the way, but they also help us walk the path. When we make covenants with the Lord we enter into a covenant relationship with Him. This relationship gives us fuller access to His grace and we are endowed with His power. In the chaos of life, the Lord is our sure guide. When we look to Him, we will not be confused by the multitude of footprints that can lead us astray.
And when we do lose our way, Elder Yoon Hwan Choi in the same General Conference shared, “There are many other things that distract us from staying on the covenant path. No matter what it is, it is never too late to turn our hearts to Heavenly Father for help.”
Ministering Handout
I decided that No Bake Minute Cookies look like stones, so I made my own little edible cairns!
But I also loved the idea of these two books if you minister to a family with younger children. It is a great way to help them visualize the covenant path.
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Did you like this March 2024 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
