Covenant Path? What's that?

In Russell M. Nelson's first day on the job he talked about staying on the "covenant path"? I thought that phrase seemed a little strange. What exactly is the covenant path? Well, I looked to back at old General Conference talks and found that that phrase wasn't used in General Conference until 2007 when Elaine S. Dalton, in her talk Stay on the Path, quoted Jeffrey R. Holland:

“Beginning with our baptism, we make covenants as we follow this path to eternal life, and we stay on the path by keeping them. …

“… The promptings of the Holy Ghost will always be sufficient for our needs if we keep to the covenant path. Our path is uphill most days, but the help we receive for the climb is literally divine. We have three members of the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—helping us because of the covenants we have made.

“To remind us of those covenants, we partake of the sacrament each week. In the prayer offered on the bread, we ‘witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that [we] are willing to take upon [us] the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given [us]; that [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us]’ [D&C 20:77]” (“What I Wish Every New Member Knew—and Every Longtime Member Remembered,” Liahona and Ensign, Oct. 2006, 11–12).

 In his original article, Holland clarifies what he means by "covenant path":

• "Beginning with our baptism, we make covenants as we follow this path to eternal life, and we stay on the path by keeping them. "
• "If our covenant path has an earthly symbol of an eternal destination, it is the house of the Lord, the holy temple."
• "Actually, the path to the temple will be easier than it might appear at first because you will find happiness as you move along it and you will also find help for the journey."
• "Now that you have entered into this path lighted by our Redeemer and are being assisted by angels, avoid backward glances toward the darkness and remorse of the past."

In his April 2014 General Conference talk, Gary Stevenson cited a personal conversation he had with apostle David Bednar in which Bednar shared how easy it is to check where you are on the covenant path:

Recently, Elder David A. Bednar described a simple way to conduct a family assessment to mark progress on the covenant path by essential ordinances. All that is needed is a piece of paper with two columns: “name” and “plan for next or needful ordinance.” I did this recently, listing each family member. Among them, I noted an infant grandson, soon to be blessed; a six-year-old grandson, whose preparation for baptism was essential; and a son turning 18, whose preparation for the priesthood and temple endowment was imminent. Everyone on the list needed the sacrament ordinance. This simple exercise assisted Lesa and me in fulfilling our role to help each member of our family along the covenant path, with an action plan for each of them. Perhaps this is an idea for you which will lead to family discussions, family home evening lessons, preparation, and even invitations for essential ordinances in your family.

Yep, it's just a matter of making a checklist and checking it off. Who knew?