This is a long post. You are forewarned. It’s mostly
for me to kind of compose my thoughts. For those who may be reading this who
may not be familiar with the beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, I encourage you to reach out to me privately if you have any
questions about what I have written. Or I can happily refer you to some of the
members of the church who are in His service full time as a missionary. You can
also discover more at comeuntochrist.org. We also have a great opportunity to
hear from the Lord’s servants and prophets next weekend (the first weekend in
October) and invite all to listen at www.churchofjesuschrist.org.
Please note
that these are my thoughts and opinions, and understanding. And my thoughts and
opinions are limited to what I have studied and pondered. I have quoted
apostles and prophets and the scriptures where I can, but these are wholly my
thoughts and my thoughts alone, and don't represent the official doctrine of the Church. That may be why my thoughts are a bit all over
the place, just as they were a month ago. As I write this, more thoughts and
promises have come to my mind since I’ve given the talk, but this is just a
sampling of the things of my heart regarding the temple. I was asked by the
bishop of my ward to give a talk on the temple and family history work during
the pandemic. Little did he know that when I go down a rabbit hole, sometimes I
can keep going and going. Unfortunately,
I don’t know that this is ever going to be as polished as I’d hoped it would be
especially on such a subject that is so near and dear to my heart. I know that
there are some thoughts that aren’t as developed as they should be, I beg your
forgiveness for my humanness. This is a rough draft of just some of my feelings
as I studied. I know I didn’t get to share everything in this post that day,
and I think there is more that can be discussed and pondered as a lifelong
study of the temple, the Savior, covenants, and promises and the plan of
salvation are something that I hope to one day fully understand.
As I write this, I think about all of the different
thoughts that came to my mind amid heart as I prepared this talk a month
ago. I wanted to bring people hope, I
wanted to bring people peace as I had felt through preparation and thoughts on
the temple. When I delivered the talk, there was many more things I did not get
to share because of time constraints, and I hope that some of those thoughts
can be shared in this context without any constraints. The things I did share I
felt prompted that they were the most important to the congregation I was
speaking to. Please note, there is still a lot I’ve left out and cut out. I
hope to include as much as I can, if only for my own study and to remember
myself what great things the Lord has blessed us with, even amid the pandemic.
It's been a weird year. At the beginning of 2020, I
felt that this was going to be an incredible year, I felt a bright hope for
this year and it really felt like things were going to be awesome and we were
going to have great experiences. Yet we
look back on things and realize, we had deadly fires, the pandemic, plagues of
locusts, riots, murder hornets, UFO’s are real, and this week there is rumor of
a coming Dr. Pepper shortage, what is the world coming to? We could handle
toilet paper, but Dr. Pepper?! That’s just taking things too far.
In all seriousness, our lives have been a little
turned on its head. No one has not been affected by things that have happened
this year, and in the beginning, I was excited to celebrate this bicentennial
year of the restoration, (which I still am doing), and excited for what a new
decade could bring. But things got harder. Job losses and fears for my family’s
safety became real. Members back home were dying. NYC became a ghost town and
yet amidst all this turmoil I felt hope. My brother in law’s brother worked as an
EMT on overtime and was just transporting bodies from the hospitals to the
morgue for 12 hour shifts. As many people thought this was a hoax, that did not
make up for the massive numbers of people getting sick and dying back home
. One saving grace for me during this time was access
to revelation and the comfort and peace that comes from the spirit. President
Nelson has taught that joy has nothing to do with the circumstances of our
lives, but the focus of our lives. [i] One thing that has helped
me focus during this turmoil was that I was prompted to take the financial
planning class and at the start of the pandemic that was the best possible
place I could be. This class challenges you to focus on foundation principles,
to help you adjust your focus. And for me the foundation principles always
brought me back to exercising faith in Jesus Christ. This has brought me peace
and I found that as I was focusing on the Savior and what he could do,
especially because I felt helpless in many days of the pandemic, what a
blessing it was to reignite my faith in Jesus Christ in such a hard period of
time. I honestly was excited to see the miracles in my life occur as I applied
the foundation principles in my life, because miracles did happen.
So what does this have to do with the topic of Temple
and Family History work during the pandemic? In my mind, everything. I love the
temple. I feel at peace when I am in the temple. It is a sacred sanctuary where
I feel like my prayers have more power, maybe even a greater lift to heaven.
However, this is not the first time in my life where I’ve been unable to attend
the temple on a regular basis. Growing up we had 1 youth temple trip a year to
the DC temple. I can remember going down to DC on a Friday night to baptisms at
around midnight. It was lovely to be in the temple when the world was
quiet. I think eventually they changed
the temple trips to Saturday, but it was only 1 time a year. My parents would
make the trip once or twice a year, and we’d wait around in the visitor’s center,
on the temple grounds or at the bookstore until they were finished with their
sessions. When I came to BYU I started
going every week, and I loved that I could walk to the temple, though often I
had friends who could drive and attend with me.
I realized that the temple also prepared us for hard
things. I had actually been in the temple the morning of September 11. We had
finished doing baptisms and were waiting for a friend out in the parking lot,
and when she finally came out she said someone had just come into the locker
room hysterical, just crying and said that New York had been attacked. I told my friends, take me home, now. As I walked in the door, the first tower
fell. My roommates were awake and glued to the TV. As I watched memories of my childhood
crashing to the ground, I fell to the ground myself. I went into my bedroom and
cried and pleaded with the lord to keep those I love safe. It was a terrible
day, but in the quiet moments of my bedroom, I felt an overwhelming peace that
it would be ok and that that my dad and those people I knew and loved would be
safe. Every member of our home ward who
worked in the city survived the attack, and many miracles happened that day in
spite of how awful the circumstances were. That was a powerful moment for me
knowing that the spirit cannot lie, Het is a comforter and when things are out
of your control, you can always turn to the Lord, and He will send peace. My
dad was safe, and the comfort from the spirit was confirmed that assurance that
they would be ok. Being in the temple
prepared me for that day, and relying on the spirit helped me to survive that
day. On my mission, we’d have a temple
P-day every transfer, because the temple was within driving distance for all
missionaries. At the time the LA mission was the 3rd smallest in the
world behind temple square and Long Beach. Those P-days and the peace of
knowing and remembering my temple covenants prepared me for the hard things
that happened on my mission. The temple prepares and protects you for life,
especially when you are in the service of God. Then when I did a semester
abroad to the holy land, and for the first time in a long time- really since my
youth, I didn’t have access to the temple. I was visiting some of the most holy
sites in the world, yet I longed for the temple. It wasn’t until I was in the
land of Egypt some months later that I was able to feel the power of my
covenants. We were about halfway through the semester when we went to Egypt, so
for me, it had been quite a while for me away from the temple. We ended up
going to Karnack which is this huge, huge temple complex and when I say huge, I
mean it took 15-20 students with arms stretched out to surround a simple pillar
of this temple complex. And as I was
feeling so small in such a massive place, our professor brought us aside and we
left our tour guide for a moment (in order to keep our agreement that we would
not share the gospel or any part of it with those who are not members of our
faith), to see a small simple building. And as we walked around the building, I
no longer felt alone. Because on the walls of this temple of Thutmosis III was
promises I recognized, symbols I recognized, and honestly, it brought to my remembrance
all of the promises and covenants I had made and a I knew I wasn’t alone.
Heavenly Father let me know, even in the land of Egypt and false Gods, that he
knew me. He knew this girl needed a
temple experience away from the temple. He knew I needed to know that he was
aware of me. Even with the whole world around me in and around all of those
great and spacious buildings, he knew where I was in that moment. He helped me
to remember that He remembered. And how wonderful is it to know that He knew
that 13 years later, he knew that the experience of a girl in Egypt would
prepare her to speak to you about such a sacred and important topic in the
middle of our own plague. In the middle of our own pandemic, I know, that the
temple, and the Rightful Priesthood, along with its covenants, ordinances and
blessings are available to us, even when the temples are closed or we don’t have
immediate access, there is power in the covenants we have already made.
Now, why in the world was there symbols of the temple
in Egypt? Simple. Search the pearl of Great Price. Search the things that
Abraham and Moses explained in those books. The Pearl of Great Price is a
temple text. So that no one can say I didn’t have access, it is not true. The
temple and its mysteries and promises are contained within the scriptures we
already have. If you long for the temple, or long to remember, search the scriptures,
come and partake of the sacrament when you can. The sacrament renews all covenants
and promises you have made. But even more importantly it points us to Christ,
just as everything that occurs within the walls of the temple does. The whole
purpose of temples is to bring us back to Christ and ultimately Heavenly
Father. I could go on and on and on about Egypt and the temple and Abraham and
Moses and what all the previous prophets before the dispensation of the
fullness of times has done to bring people to Christ. That was their whole
purpose. Everything that happened in the tabernacle during Moses’s time or
during the time of Zerubbabel’s temple, or the second temple period were all
trying to point us to Christ. We have such a great opportunity to remember
Christ ALWAYS when we partake of the sacrament and as we go about living our
daily lives. How often do we dedicate ourselves to Him and his cause? I submit, that it should be more than weekly,
and more often than once daily. ALWAYS remembering Him will allow you to have
the spirit with you to survive spiritually. What a blessing it has been to
focus on the importance of the sacrament in our lives during the pandemic. It
was a blessing to have the Elders come into my home when all churches were
closed. It was a blessing for me to remember.
Oh how often do we need to remember? How often do we fail? Thankfully
the Lord is merciful to us and to our frailties. You can have a temple
experience outside of the temple in your own homes. How grateful I am that
Heavenly Father doesn’t confine sacred moments, revelatory moments to just when
we are in the temple.
Oftentimes he allows us to have these experiences when
temples aren’t available or when we are in the middle of the wilderness. Is it any wonder why we are studying the Book
of Mormon this year? How many wilderness experiences are there in the Book of
Mormon? Lehi, Nephi, the tree of Life dream, The Brother of Jared, the
missionary experiences of Alma, Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah, the
war chapters, Mormon, Moroni, is there not a type in this for us? How often did
the prophets of the Book of Mormon look to the prophets of the Old Testament in
their wildernesses? Didn’t Nephi and Moroni ask you to remember the great
things the Lord had done, didn’t they say that Miracles haven’t ceased, and
that God is not a respecter of persons, and will do the same things he has done
in the past to prove to you HE is there? That He has all power? That the world
is in his hands. Yes, you have your agency. Yes, you have the ability to
disobey. But you also have the ability to be FAITHFUL. In Moroni we are taught without Faith there
can be no miracle. He will try our faith. But why? So we know in whom we can
trust. The title page of the Book of Mormon notes that the whole purpose is “to
show unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the Lord hath
done for their fathers. And that they may know the covenants of the Lord, that
they are not cast off forever—And also to the convincing of the Jew and gentile
that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all
nations.”[ii]
Elder Bednar and President Nelson have both spoken
about temple experiences that can be had in the home. “As recorded in the Old
Testament, Jehovah promised the children of Israel that as they carried the Ark
of the Covenant – the most sacred of their religious symbols – they would cross
the River Jordan on dry land. Most noteworthy in this episode, is that the
“water did not part until their feet were wet…Still during this time when
temple work is not being performed, blessings are readily available to
Latter-day Saints. Like the children of Israel who carried the Ark of the
Covenant into the River Jordan knowing waters would part, members must press forward
with fortitude, courage and the expectation that miracles will follow. If we
will exercise the faith to press forward, then in the Lord’s way, and according
to his timing the water will part…We have to pray, we have to seek, we have to
ask, we have to have eyes to see and ears to hear. But
we can be blessed in remarkable ways to learn lessons that will bless us now
and forever.”
“the Lord is aware of our circumstances and our
situations. And He will not give any less credence to an earnest sincere prayer
offered in a family room or kneeling at the side of a bed for this period of
time. He will look on us with great mercy and great compassion.” This is a
temporary interruption.”[iii]
I testify I have had these experiences all
throughout the pandemic and in my life.
And my hope and joy has been abundant throughout the year. Has it been
without hardships? No. I’ve lost 2 members of my family during this time, and I
know others in this congregation have gone through heart wrenching things. But
despite all of that I was studying Come Follow Me, I was receiving answers to
my prayers, I didn’t let the world change my focus. My focus has been on HIM.
In my
study in preparation for this talk, I’ve noticed that many talks mentioned the
temple being a preparation- and it is a preparation for the hard things that
may come. Are we not blessed to know the plan of salvation when a family member
passes? My grandmother’s funeral and cousin’s funeral were both filled with
tears, but also with joy. I got to hear of what wonderful lives they led and
stories I hadn’t ever heard. And there was happiness, even though there’s an
ache and a piece of your heart that hurts when saying goodbye. Those are hard
things to do, but temple blessings are unfolded. During the pandemic, I’ve been
reading some of the journals of my ancestor Thomas Bullock. He was a clerk to
Joseph Smith up until the prophet died, and much of the church history and many
important sermons were recorded in his journals. He was asked by Brigham Young
to be the last to leave Nauvoo in order that there be a history of what
occurred. He was forced at gunpoint to leave immediately, all while having
“ague” aka malaria, and he begged for some time, the mob gave him and the rest
of his family half an hour to get out and they were one of the last families in
Nauvoo left within that time with only what they could carry. Elder Ballard
quotes what happened next from the journal history of the Church: “Remember
when Nauvoo fell in September of 1846 and the unbearable conditions of the
Saints in the poor camps. When word reached Winter Quarters, Brigham Young
immediately called the brethren together. After explaining the situation and
reminding them of the covenant made in the Nauvoo Temple that no one who wanted
to come, no matter how poor, would be left behind, he gave them this remarkable
challenge:
“Now is
the time for labor,” he said. “Let the fire of the covenant which
you made in the House of the Lord, burn in your hearts, like flame
unquenchable” Within a few days, in spite of near-destitute
conditions at Winter Quarters, many wagons were rolling eastward to rescue the
Saints in the poor camps along the Mississippi River.
We often hear of the suffering and the sacrifice those early
Saints endured, and we ask ourselves, how did they do it? What was it that gave
them such strength? Part of the answer lies in President Young’s powerful
words. Those early Latter-day Saints had made covenants with God, and
those covenants burned like unquenchable fire in their hearts.[iv]
They were able to make it across the
Mississippi as impoverished as they were, because of the fire of the covenant.
They were able to make it to Winter Quarters, and finally into the Salt Lake
Valley because the fire of the covenant burned brightly in their hearts, thankfully
in other members who felt it within their hearts to live up to the covenants
they had made. Daughters in my kingdom references the need to get the
ordinances completed in the temple prior to leaving Nauvoo, and how it was the
covenants that kept them, “Many were
the blessings we had received in the house of the Lord, which has caused us joy
and comfort in the midst of all our sorrows and enabled us to have faith in
God, knowing He would guide us and sustain us in the unknown journey that lay
before us. For if it had not been for the faith and knowledge that was bestowed
upon us in that temple by the influence and help of the Spirit of the Lord, our
journey would have been like one taking a leap in the dark. To start out … in
the winter as it were and in our state of poverty, it would seem like walking
into the jaws of death. But we had faith in our Heavenly Father, and we put our
trust in Him feeling that we were His chosen people and had embraced His
gospel, and instead of sorrow, we felt to rejoice that the day of our
deliverance had come.”4[v]
How does the fire of the covenant burn within
you? How do your covenants protect you?
Strengthen you? What can you do to keep
the fire of the covenant burning within you? For me, I come back to the
sacrament, the sacrament points to Jesus Christ, as do our covenants. It is
because of Jesus Christ that we are able to even make covenants. It is because
of his sacrifice, it has been such a blessing to simplify and focus on the
sacrament. It has been a blessing to hear these prayers and gratefully ponder its
significance in my life as receiving has been harder for me as a single woman
without any priesthood holders in my home. The purpose of covenants is to help
us more fully utilized the atonement in our lives. In the ordinances, the power
of godliness is manifest[vi].
Think of that. I t is literally the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ in
action. It is all made possible by his infinite sacrifice. So what does that
mean for us?
In the temple we learn of who we are
and who we are meant to become. We’re taught about how to get there. We are
taught about how we can return to our Heavenly Father and be with our families
for eternity, through these ordinances, and through the power of the Savior and
his atonement, and through the power of our covenants. Remember Abraham, when he knew there was
greater happiness and peace and rest for him, he sought the blessings of the
fathers[vii]-
he’s talking about the priesthood. He’s talking about the ordinances, and he’s
talking about the receiving greater knowledge and instructions…through temple
covenants, and what happens to him? He gets into trouble with the priests and
his own father tries to sacrifice him, Abraham and cries out to heaven- and
what happens? Abraham is saved by an angel under the direction of Jehovah-
Jesus Christ. Abraham has a temple experience in the midst of one of the
(presumably)hardest experiences of his life- excepting the trial he will have
to go through with Isaac. He is able to come to know who he is, what he is
supposed to do, and who he needs to become. He is given the records of the
patriarchs, and a history of the creation of the worlds, and most importantly a
knowledge of Jesus Christ and what the priesthood is, a challenge to share it,
and spread the gospel, and blessings and promises of seed that he holds onto
for his entire life. Then there’s a big
famine, and he’s told to get out of dodge, and move on and he was obedient. He
is in the wilderness and has another temple experience, where Jehovah
identifies himself again, and promises him blessings, he mentions in Abraham 2:
16- ‘Eternity was our covering and our rock and our salvation as we journeyed from
Haran by way of Jershon to come to the land of Canaan’. Isn’t that an interesting choice of words?
Eternity, Rock, Salvation. Think on that. Did he not have the fire of the
covenant in his heart and mind? The book of Helaman mentions that we build our
foundation on the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. When the Savior mentions to Peter the
foundation of the church to be built up on the rock- it’s the rock of
revelation he is referring to. What does
revelation do? Point us to Christ. To salvation, to eternity. The word covering
is also tangent I can go on forever with, the verb cfr in Hebrew is such an
important word to focus on and is often used in the sense of atonement, and
very symbolic in Abrahams story and any other story that includes a type of
Christ. It is used in the Passover story, used in Isaac’s story, in Moses’s
story, in numbers in the rules about the cities of refuge, in Ruth’s story, but
that’s a tangent for another day. When
he (Abraham) arrived in Canaan- he built an altar, and made an offering to the
lord. Then he comes to Sechem in the
plains of Moreh- where he also gives offerings he meets Jehovah here too. He
then moves to another mountain- this
isn’t something easy to do- we have mountains quite like Abraham had, and I get
altitude sickness and am super out of shape, and climbing mountains is not
easy, but what is it called where he moves to? Bethel- Meaning house of God. I
believe there may be sacred things too sacred to share, but enough for us to
know that Abraham had sacred experiences with the Lord there. Please note – It
is Beth-el. El- being the singular name of Elohim. (TANGENT) And we know that
he named another mountain, in his experience with Isaac, Jehovah-jireh- which
in Hebrew has the noun Jehovah whom members of the Church of Jesus Christ view
as Jesus Christ, it is translated as “the Lord” in the KJV, and the verb “to see”
I’m not going to go into the grammar- because I’m really rusty and terrible at
it, but there is significance to the names of mountains that Abraham
gives. And we know that where Abraham sacrificed
Isaac is where the temple was erected where the present day Dome of the rock
now stands on the temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is a difference between Jehovah and
Elohim. And as latter-day Saints, we know this. Ok now I’m back- And there, after climbing a
mountain at Beth-el, he built another altar, and called again upon Him again- Abraham is relentless in his worship and
acknowledgement of God in his life. Then because of the famine, keeps going,
and decides it’s too bad in Canaan, he needs to go down into Egypt, and so
while traveling, he has another conversation with the Lord, fully guided by Him
in the wilderness, either on top of a mountain, or in his travels, Abraham was
close to the lord. He talked with Him face to face amidst trials, famine,
wilderness and mountains, and he is given blessings, knowledge, and is numbered
among many of the noble and great ones. He was chosen before he was born. He
then gains an understanding of the Lords mission, and his own mission. These
were all temple experiences for Abraham, and he gives us glimpses of that, and
how he was called and chosen.
Now,
we have grown up being called a chosen generation by modern day prophets. We
have come to understand who we are through modern revelation, through
scriptures and through the temple. We know we are to build up the kingdom of
God in the last days and prepare the world for the second coming of the Savior.
We are part of that chosen generation.
If Abraham was chosen, and it was not easy for Abraham, yet he never
lost sight of the promises and blessing of the covenants how easy do you think
it will be for us. Guess what? You wouldn’t have been chosen if you couldn’t do
it! Abraham never lost sight of eternity- it was his covering. He never lost
sight of God and Jesus Christ and he had all of the promises before his eyes.
Then what of a few months for us in quarantine, social distancing, and
ministering the best we can in the circumstances we have. I have no doubt we
are chosen not just to make us feel special but to help us recognize the great
mission and trials that may be placed before us. We are part of Abraham’s
mission that all the nations of the Earth are blessed. 2 Sentences after
Abraham finds out he’s chosen, he also finds out that he will be proven, and
tried to see if he will keep the commandments of god. If Abraham was chosen and
proven, and tried- we know his biggest trial was that sacrificing the son he
loved, the one whom all of his promises rested upon- and he was tried unlike any
other saving Jesus Christ Himself, which also by the way was a temple
experience of the greatest significance, then who are we to think we won’t have
to go through trials? We are blessed beyond measure! I don’t think Heavenly Father wants us to go
through life just giving us things without us learning. He wants us to live up
to our privileges, and he wants us to bless others. So If Abraham could have so
many temple experiences in the middle of the wilderness, on the tops of
mountains, and even himself being placed upon an altar to be sacrificed by his
own father, if all of that could happen to Abraham, who was chosen before he
was born, and he can still have a very personal witness of the Savior, and
claim eternity as his covering, and the rock of his salvation, then we as
covenant keeping members of the church absolutely have the opportunity to be
called, and we already know we are part of the chosen generation, and prove
that we will be faithful in times of difficulties. And quite frankly, we know
we can be victorious. How? We know through the scriptures and modern
revelation, we have every bit as much opportunity to be as faithful as Abraham
was, and we know Jesus Christ will come. He will be our Rock of Salvation and
our covering – which he always has been from the beginning. We will be
victorious because Christ will be victorious. He has already conquered death.
He has overcome the world. He will be triumphant over all evil. It won’t be an easy fight for us in these
mortal tabernacles, but Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. He really did
suffer everything in hopes that we may repent, have faith in Him, and be
obedient to his commandments and partake of the covenants and ordinances of the
temple. I know He will. It’s going to be hard for us- of course it was, it’s
not time for participation trophies, it’s time for us to actually get in the
game and live up to who we were born to be.
We can see even in Isaiah; he is offering us hope. And he is telling us to look to Abraham –
Isaiah 51:2-3: Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bare you: for
I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him. For the Lord shall
comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her
wilderness like EDEN, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and
gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Vs.
7-16: ¶ Hearken unto me, ye
that know righteousness, the people in whose aheart is my law; bfear ye not
the creproach of dmen, neither be ye
afraid of their erevilings.
8 For the amoth shall eat
them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my
righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
9 ¶ Awake, awake, put on astrength, O arm of
the Lord;
awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that
hath cut Rahab, and wounded
the bdragon?
10 Art thou not it which hath adried the sea,
the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a bway for
the cransomed to
pass over?
11 Therefore the aredeemed of
the Lord shall breturn, and come
with singing unto Zion; and everlasting cjoy shall be upon their
head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and dmourning shall
flee away.
12 I, even I, am he that comforteth
you: who art thou,
that thou shouldest be aafraid of a
man that shall
die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass;
13 And aforgettest the Lord thy
maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of
the bearth; and hast feared
continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready
to destroy? and where is the
fury of the oppressor?
14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that
he should not die in the apit, nor that his
bread should fail.
15 But I am the Lord thy God, that divided
the asea, whose waves
roared: The Lord of
hosts is his
name.
16 And I have put my awords in thy
mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the
heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.[viii]
He
has promised us so much! And there is promises behind our being faithful! We
are His people, and we have an opportunity to stand up and be hopeful and look
forward to the day when He will reign and call us His.
Now there is an old fireside talk given by Jeffery R.
Holland- called Lessons from Liberty Jail. If we need a more modern version of
a prophet, if you can’t quite relate to Abraham, you can relate to Joseph
Smith. We have some of the most
comforting verses of all of scripture due to Joseph Smith’s experience in
Liberty Jail. I encourage you to read the powerful words of Elder Holland as he
recounts to us what the prophet went through while in that vile place. His
entire message can be found here: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland/lessons-liberty-jail/.
Here are some of the highlights from his message:
“As we think on these things, does it strike us that
spiritual experience, revelatory experience, sacred experience can come to
every one of us in all the many and varied stages and circumstances of our
lives if we want it, if we hold on and pray on, and if we keep our faith strong
through our difficulties?
when you have to, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly
instructive experience with the Lord in any situation you are
in. Indeed, let me say that even a little stronger: You can have sacred,
revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most
miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring
the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and
opposition you have ever faced.
We will face things we do not want to face for reasons that
may not have been our fault. Indeed, we may face difficult circumstances for
reasons that were absolutely right and proper, reasons that came because we
were trying to keep the commandments of the Lord. We may face persecution; we
may endure heartache and separation from loved ones; we may be hungry and cold
and forlorn. Yes, before our lives are over we may all be given a little taste
of what the prophets faced often in their lives. But the lessons of the winter
of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience
if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These
difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we
will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our
problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our
lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and
revelation, divine companionship and peace.
As I have read the history of those days, the days that went
before and days that came after, I have reached the conclusion that the
hardships, the persecution, the almost universal opposition [toward the Church at that
time] were necessary. At any rate they became school
teachers to our people. They helped to make [them] strong.10
everyone, including (and perhaps
especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times. When that
happens we can sometimes fear God has abandoned us, and we might be left, at
least for a time, to wonder when our troubles will ever end. As individuals, as
families, as communities, and as nations, probably everyone has had or will
have an occasion to feel as Joseph Smith felt when he asked why such sorrow had
to come and how long its darkness and damage would remain.
Perhaps you have had such
moments already in your young lives. If so, I hope you have not had too many.
But whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the
fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear
us. He does see us. He does love us. When we
are in dire circumstances and want to cry “Where art Thou?” it is imperative
that we remember He is right there with us—where He has always been! We must
continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with
heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has
somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard.
And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us.
When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we’ve
ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every
such situation into a would-be temple.
I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and
on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round
about you, to bear you up. [D&C 84:88]
Joseph was not greater
than the Savior, and neither are we. And when we promise to follow the Savior,
to walk in His footsteps and be His disciples, we are promising to go where
that divine path leads us. And the path of salvation has always led one way or
another through Gethsemane. So if the Savior faced such injustices and
discouragements, such persecutions, unrighteousness, and suffering, we cannot
expect that we are not going to face some of that if we still intend to call
ourselves His true disciples and faithful followers. And it certainly
underscores the fact that the righteous—in the Savior’s case, the
personification of righteousness—can be totally worthy before God and still
suffer. In fact, it ought to be a matter of
great doctrinal consolation to us that Jesus, in the course of the Atonement,
experienced all of the heartache and sorrow, all of the disappointments and
injustices that the entire family of man had experienced and would experience
from Adam and Eve to the end of the world in order that we would not have to
face them so severely or so deeply. However heavy our load might be, it would
be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that
burden with us and for us. first two truths taught to Joseph in that
prison-temple. First, God has not forgotten you, and second,
the Savior has been where you have been, allowing Him to provide for your
deliverance and your comfort.”
Now I want to focus on some of the promises that have
been given in in dedicatory prayers ,and conference talks regarding temple and
family history work, and keeping our covenants:
I begin with Section 109 of the Doctrine and
Covenants, verses 22 -26, 35-38 and 78-80 which is the dedicatory prayer of the
Kirtland Temple:
“And we ask thee, Holy
Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power,
and that thy aname may be upon them, and thy glory be
round about them, and thine bangels have charge over them;
And from this place they may
bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the aends of the earth, that they may know that this is
thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast
spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
24 We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that
shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all
generations and for eternity;
25 That no weapon aformed against them shall prosper; that he who
diggeth a bpit for them shall fall into
the same himself;
26 That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise
up and aprevail over thy people upon
whom thy bname shall be put in this
house;
Let the aanointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them
with power from on high.
36 Let it be fulfilled upon them, as upon those on the day of
Pentecost; let the gift of atongues be poured out upon thy people, even bcloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation
thereof.
37 And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty awind, with thy bglory.
38 Put upon thy servants the atestimony of the covenant, that when they go out
and proclaim thy word they may bseal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy
saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the
inhabitants of the cearth, because of their
transgressions, that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble.
78 O hear, O hear, O hear us, O Lord! And answer these
petitions, and accept the adedication of
this house unto thee, the bwork of our
hands, which we have built unto thy name;
79 And also this church, to put upon it thy aname. And help us by
the power of thy Spirit, that we may bmingle our
voices with those bright, shining cseraphs around
thy throne, with acclamations of dpraise, singing
Hosanna to God and the eLamb!
80 And let these, thine aanointed ones,
be clothed with salvation, and thy saints bshout aloud for
joy. Amen, and Amen.”
Now from Section 110:9, part
of the Lord’s answer to the petition of the dedicatory prayer:
8 Yea, I will aappear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own
voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not bpollute this choly house.
Section
132:19 regarding the covenant of marriage:
19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man amarry a wife by my word, which is my law,
and by the bnew and
everlasting covenant, and
it is csealed unto them by the Holy Spirit
of dpromise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have
appointed this power and the ekeys of this priesthood; and it shall be
said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be
after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit fthrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers,
dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s gBook of Life, that he shall commit no hmurder whereby to shed innocent iblood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and
commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in
all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all
eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they
shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their jexaltation and glory in all things, as hath
been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation
of the kseeds forever and ever.
Now I want to turn to some of the promises from some of the temple dedicatory prayers of temples I've had the pleasure of entering. All of
which can be found on the church website, www.churchofjesuschrist.org by
entering in the search box the name of the temple + dedicatory prayer. (I'm being a bit lazy this Sunday in my references, They are all quoted from the church website- I'll get to it!). I’m telling you it is an amazing thing to
learn of the promises and blessings and pleadings of the lords servants for all
who enter the temple. Please take a look, you won’t be disappointed! When I had
looked over some in preparation for the talk, I had 17 pages, I’ve definitely
cut that down, but you search and seek to see how the temple can be part of
your life still, even when they are closed:
Washington DC:
Washington D.C. Bless
all people, our Father, that they may prosper, but not more than their faith
can stand. Reveal thy mind and will to them. Let them be true to righteousness
today, tomorrow, and until the scene is folded up.
Wilt thou deign to make
this temple thy house and let holy angels visit it to deliver thy messages, as
the rushing of mighty winds with power and glory.
Our Holy Father, hear
our pleadings; accept our penance; forgive our sins; and help us in our
endeavors. Let thy blessings flow from thy heaven where thou sittest enthroned
in glory, honor, power, majesty and might, dominion, truth and justice,
judgment, mercy, and an infinity of fullness from everlasting to everlasting.
Mt. Timpanogos
May it be an holy
sanctuary to those whose burdens are heavy and who seek Thy consoling comfort.
Dear Father, please
forgive our sins and remember them no more against us. Give us strength and
discipline to walk above our weaknesses. Grant us the companionship of Thy Holy
Spirit and the directing power of the Holy Ghost in our lives at all times and under
all circumstances, that we may serve Thee faithfully and well in Thy great work
of bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of Thy sons and daughters.
Los Angeles
We have felt Thy
presence and in times of doubt and perplexity have hearkened unto Thy voice.
Here in Thy holy house, in humility and deep gratitude we acknowledge Thy
divine guidance, Thy protection and inspiration.
May the temples,
tabernacles, churches, wherever a branch or ward of the Church is organized,
declare even in silence that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light,
and that "...there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved."
If any with gloomy
forebodings or heavy hearts enter, may they depart with their burdens lightened
and their faith increased; if any have envy or bitterness in their hearts, may
such feelings be replaced by self-searching and forgiveness. May all who come
within these sacred walls feel a peaceful, hallowed influence. Cause, O Lord,
that even people who pass the grounds, or view the temple from afar, may lift
their eyes from the groveling things of sordid life and look up to Thee and Thy
providence.
Salt Lake City:
Our Father, may peace
abide in all the homes of Thy Saints; may holy angels guard them; may they be
encompassed by Thine arms of love; may prosperity shine upon them, and may the
tempter and the destroyer be removed far from them. May the days of Thy
covenant people be lengthened out in righteousness, and sickness and disease be
rebuked from their midst. May the land they inhabit be made fruitful by Thy
grace, may its waters be increased and the climate be tempered to the comfort
and need of Thy people; may drought, devastating storms, cyclones, and
hurricanes be kept afar off, and earthquakes never disturb the land which Thou
hast given us. May locusts, caterpillars and other insects not destroy our
garden and desolate our fields; but may we be a people blessed of Thee in our
bodies and spirits, in our homes and habitations, in our flocks and herds, in
ourselves and our posterity, and in all that Thou hast made us stewards over.
Heavenly Father, when
Thy people shall not have the opportunity of entering this holy house to offer
their supplications unto Thee, and they are oppressed and in trouble, surrounded
by difficulties or assailed by temptation and shall turn their faces towards
this Thy holy house and ask Thee for deliverance, for help, for Thy power to be
extended in their behalf, we beseech Thee, to look down from Thy holy
habitation in mercy and tender compassion upon them, and listen to their cries.
Or when the children of Thy people, in years to come, shall be separated,
through any cause, from this place, and their hearts shall turn in remembrance
of Thy promises to this holy Temple, and they shall cry unto Thee from the
depths of their affliction and sorrow to extend relief and deliverance to them,
we humbly entreat Thee to Turn Thine ear in mercy to them; hearken to their
cries, and grant unto them the blessings for which they ask.
There are so many blessings
that we have received and can still received even when temples are closed. Our
beloved prophet noted in the last General Conference:
Brothers and sisters,
during times of our distress when
temples are closed, you can still draw upon the power of
your temple covenants and endowment as you honor your covenants.
Talk about the temple
with your family and friends. Because Jesus Christ is at the center of
everything we do in the temple, as you think more about the temple you will be
thinking more about Him. Study and pray to learn more about the power and
knowledge with which you have been endowed—or with which you will yet be endowed.
He also promised many things when the restrictions are lifted:
“We can also hear Him in the
temple. The house of the Lord is a house of
learning. There the Lord teaches in His own way. There each ordinance teaches
about the Savior. There we learn how to part the veil and communicate more
clearly with heaven. There we learn how to rebuke the adversary and draw upon
the Lord’s priesthood power to strengthen us and those we love. How eager each
of us should be to seek refuge there.
When these temporary COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, please
schedule regular time to worship and serve in the temple. Every minute of that
time will bless you and your family in ways nothing else
can. Take time to ponder what you hear and feel when you are there. Ask the
Lord to teach you how to open the heavens to bless your life and the lives of those
you love and serve.
While
worshipping in the temple is presently not possible, I invite you to increase
your participation in family history, including family history research and
indexing. I promise that as you increase your time in temple and family history
work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him.”[ix]
How has your heart changed during
the pandemic? How can you exercise your
faith during this time? As part of a chosen generation, even as Abraham was
chosen- I invite you to call on the powers of Heaven that the Covid-19 will
subside. Ask in faith for us to be able to safely return to the His holy House.
In the meantime, pray that you may feel the power of your covenants in your
home. I mentioned previously that I did not have a priesthood holder in my
home, but as President Nelson stated it does not mean that there is no
priesthood power in my home. He said: “Now a little
word of warning. There are those who would undermine your ability to call upon
the power of God. There are some who would have you doubt yourself and minimize
your stellar spiritual capacity as a righteous woman.
Most certainly, the adversary does not want
you to understand the covenant you made at baptism or the profound endowment of
knowledge and power you have received or will receive in the temple—the house of the Lord. And Satan certainly does not want
you to understand that every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple,
you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having “charge over” you.3
Satan
and his minions will constantly contrive roadblocks to prevent you from
understanding the spiritual gifts with which you have been and can be blessed…
Now, may I clarify several additional points with respect to women and
priesthood. When you are set apart to serve in a calling under the direction of
one who holds priesthood keys—such as your bishop or stake
president—you are given priesthood authority to function in that
calling.
Similarly, in the holy temple you are authorized to perform and
officiate in priesthood ordinances every time you
attend. Your temple endowment prepares you to do so.
If you are endowed but not currently married to a man who bears
the priesthood and someone says to you, “I’m sorry you don’t have the
priesthood in your home,” please understand that that statement is incorrect.
You may not have a priesthood bearer in your
home, but you have received and made sacred covenants with God in His temple.
From those covenants flows an endowment of His priesthood power upon you. And
remember, if your husband should die, you would
preside in your home.
As a righteous, endowed
Latter-day Saint woman, you speak and teach with power and authority from God.
Whether by exhortation or conversation, we need your voice teaching the
doctrine of Christ. We need your input in family, ward, and stake councils.
Your participation is essential and never ornamental!”[x]
Therefore,
dearly beloved brethren [and
sisters, when we are in even the most troubling of times], let us cheerfully do
all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost
assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed. [D&C 123:17; emphasis added]
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
[i]
Russel M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival”, October 2016 General
Conference, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/10/joy-and-spiritual-survival?lang=eng
[ii]
The Book Of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, title page.
[iii]
The Church News, 04.20.2020, https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-04-20/covid-19-elder-bednar-temples-kingdom-god-move-forward-181733.
[iv]
M.Russel Ballard, April 1999 General Conference, ‘Like a Flame Unquenchable.” https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1999/04/like-a-flame-unquenchable?lang=eng
[v]
Daughters in My Kingdom, The Works and History of the Relief Society, 2011,
2017, pg 29. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/daughters-in-my-kingdom-the-history-and-work-of-relief-society/cleave-unto-the-covenants-exodus-migration-and-settlement?lang=eng
[vi]
D&C 84:19-20
[vii]
Abraham 1-3
[viii]
Isaiah 51:1-16
[ix]
President Russell M. Nelson, April 2020 General Conference, “Hear Him”, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/45nelson?lang=eng
[x]
President Russell M. Nelson, October 2019 General Conference, “Spiritual
Treasures”, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/36nelson?lang=eng
