I often feel a lot of stress before attending the
temple, much like all stress I feel before giving a talk. The difference is that when I give a talk I
am stressed until I finish and sit down whereas the stress is often relieved
the moment I walk through the temple doors.
Yes, the power of Satan is real. He works hard to keep us from going to the
temple. It is easy to come up with many
excuses to not go to the temple. I often
stress about leaving my children. One
time while living in Virginia my one year old screamed the whole four hours
that I was gone to the temple. I felt
bad for my little girl and also for the babysitters! I also stress about fitting in the time when
there are so many other things to get done.
We all live very busy lives. We
have to remember that there is good, better and best. Much of what we do in this life falls into
the categories of good or better, but attending the temple is something that is
best! Satan will do everything in his power to keep us from going to the temple
because he knows that within the Lord’s House we are greatly blessed.
The blessings received in the temple have eternal
consequences. I speak not only of the
blessings that come from the covenants that are made within those walls but
also of the personal revelations that guide us as we strive to navigate this
mortal life.
The first
blessings I would like to address are those that come directly from making
and keeping the covenants. These
blessings apply to all if we live worthy.
We also have the chance to share these blessings with others who have
gone before us as we perform the ordinances for them.
The first of these ordinances, which are blessings
from God if we do our part, are baptism
and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
These are a little different than the other ordinances that are done in
the temple. When we are baptized for
ourselves it is not done in the temple but after we are baptized and turn
twelve we are allowed to go into the temple and be baptized and receive the
Holy Ghost for those who didn’t have that chance here on earth. The blessings that come from being baptized
include having our sins washed away! What
a huge blessing! I remember when I was baptized that I giggled and giggled with
delight. The Holy Ghost was so strong
and I knew I was doing just what Heavenly Father wanted me to do. It was my first major step leading me to the
temple. Each week I am grateful that I
get to partake of the sacrament and renew my baptismal covenants. What a blessing to be clean each week. Not only are we clean when we are baptized
but we also become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
which means that we get to be part of another family! I have always felt so blessed that no matter
where we move or visit, we have family, people that are willing to love us and
serve us, a place where we feel like we belong.
I remember one time I was in Europe and we visited a German ward, I
couldn’t understand anything they said, but I realized that the church is the
same everywhere; the people were warm and inviting. We were family! When we go to the temple, we can help others
also join this family and have their sins washed away. Then when we receive the Holy Ghost we are
blessed even more! Heavenly Father just
wants to bless us over and over again, we mean everything to him! When we
receive the Holy Ghost we are able to have him with us. He can teach us, guide us, comfort us and
testify to us of the truth of the gospel and of the other things that we will
learn in the temple, whether of the things pertaining to the ordinances or the
concerns of our minds.
The other ordinances are done for the living and the
dead at the temple these consist of the ordinations, initiatory, endowment and
sealing. “The ordinances of washing and
anointing are all personal. The covenants are personal. We cannot find them
spelled out in the scriptures. These things were not meant for the people of
the world until they prepare themselves.” (2)
Slivia
Allred (3) taught us that “The initiatory
ordinances provide us with specific immediate and future blessings. The endowment
embodies sacred covenants. It includes receiving instruction, power from on
high, and the promise of blessings on condition of our faithfulness to the
covenants we make. President Brigham
Young defined the endowment the following way:
“Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the
Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable
you to walk back to the presence of the Father … and gain your eternal
exaltation.” 6
.”
Robert
D. Hales (1) tells us that “Endowment instructions give guidance as to how we
should conduct our lives here in mortality.” and that “The temple endowment blessings are as essential
for each of us as was our baptism. For
this reason we are to prepare ourselves that we may be clean to enter the
temple of God.” God wants to continue to
bless us. Let us live worthy to receive
not just some of His blessings, but ALL of his blessings!
Doctrine and Covenants teach us a lot about the
blessings that come through a temple
sealing. The temple is the only
place where husband and wife can be married “in time, and through all eternity”
(D&C
132:19). I am so grateful that I can
be with my husband forever. It doesn’t
end at the end of this earthly life.
But, Heavenly Father doesn’t stop His blessings there. Doctrine and Covenants 131 and 132 teaches
that by being sealed you can be exalted in the highest degree of the celestial
kingdom with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (D&C
131:1–3; 132:23–24). Wow!
And the blessings keep coming. Doctrine
and Covenants also says that we will “inherit thrones, kingdoms,
principalities,… powers, [and] dominions” (D&C
132:19). It promises that if we keep
our covenant that we will continue to have spirit children,
throughout eternity (D&C 132:19, 30–31; see also D&C 131:4)
and that we “shall be gods, because they have all power” (D&C
132:20–21). So not only are we
blessed to live with our family together forever, we get to live with God and
Jesus Christ and continue to be blessed throughout eternity with ALL that
Heavenly Father has! What AMAZING
blessings Heavenly Father has waiting for us.
We need to prepare ourselves, live righteously and go to the temple!
“The
temple is a house of learning. Much of the instruction imparted in the temple
is symbolic and learned by the Spirit. This means we are taught from on high.
Temple covenants and ordinances are a powerful symbol of Christ and His
Atonement. We all receive the same instruction, but our understanding of the
meaning of the ordinances and covenants will increase as we return to the
temple often with the attitude of learning and contemplating the eternal truths
taught.” (3)
This
makes me think of the instruction that we are given to continually read our
scriptures. Every time we read we are
blessed with more knowledge. Yes, they
are the same words that we are reading, but we read them as a different person
each time. The first time we come
knowing little and just feeling the spirit as we read the words. The next time, maybe, we are dealing with a
different stage of live and trying to figure out how to make it through. Different parts will stand out, and will
guide you. Then we read them again, this
time having gained a better understanding of them. We are able to read through those parts we
understand better and focus on another part of the scriptures. After we have a basic understanding, we are
prepared to have a deeper understanding.
Reading the scriptures the first time is amazing! So is going to the temple. But just like the more we read the scriptures,
the more of a role they play in our lives; the more we are blessed by
them. So it is with the temple, the more
often we return, the more we understand the more of a role it plays in our
lives; the more we are blessed!
This leads into the second type of blessing. It is
very personal and affects each person differently. “In the temple -- we may also receive
revelation directly from God. Our contact with him in that setting is sweet,
sacred, and personal.” (2)
There is no other place on earth that we can be
nearer to God then within the walls of His home.
We are blessed to live so close to so many of his
beautiful homes here on earth; we see them daily as we go about our
business. Do you notice them? At times I am so caught up in the everyday
hustle of life. I miss the big huge
beautiful mountains that tower over us, I miss the song of the birds around me,
and I miss the peace of the temple. I
have to be reminded and focus on it. When #1 Girl was a little girl, before she could talk she signed. Every single time we stepped out of our
basement apartment she would say, “bb” and begin to sign ‘bird.’ It wasn’t until she signed it that I was
reminded the birds were out. They would
be singing loudly, but I had tuned them out.
I didn’t hear them until I had that reminder. After repeatedly stepping out the door and
seeing #1 Girl sign ‘bird’ I started to also hear them the moment the door
opened. I began to let that beauty back
in my life. That is what we need to do
with the temples! We might need
reminders or someone helping us to get there for a while, but hopefully we will
get to the point that we open the door and let the beauty of His temple enter
back into our lives.
“The temple
is truly a place where you are “in the world and not of the world.” When you
are troubled and have crucial decisions that weigh heavily on your mind and
soul, you can take your cares to the temple and receive spiritual guidance.”
(1)
I love the example of Hannah in the scriptures. She wanted a son. She had longed for a son
for so long. Then she went to the
temple. “And she was in a
bitterness of
soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.” (1 Sam. 1:10) She was praying for a son. As she prayed her lips moved but no words
came out. The priest Eli wondered if she
was drunk but she told him she had been praying. He then “answered and said, Go in peace: and
the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of
him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman
went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” (1 Sam.
1:17 -18) Hannah had found peace in the
moment and later received her son, whom she dedicated to the Lord.
Elder
Packer taught us that "At the temple the dust of distraction seems to
settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we
were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not
previously known." (4) We have the chance to clear our view, to
find a path through our trials. I think
as the Second Coming gets nearer, the way will be harder. We will need extra strength. That strength and guidance can be found
within the temple. No wonder President
Hinckley pushed forward the work of building temples. They are needed more and more for each one of
us! President Monson said, "As
we touch the temple and love the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As
we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and
overcome each temptation."
We
are also taught “If we worship [in the temple] often, we will know better how
to prepare our children. But we cannot have its spirit if we don’t go
regularly.” (2) Isn’t that something
that each of us as parents wants and need
as we help prepare our children in this ever challenging world. We look for help in raising our children in
books, on the internet, and by asking other parents. They are good resources. I have used all of these at different times
in my life helping me to figure out how to raise my children. However, none of these know all the
challenges they will face. Heavenly
Father does and He loves them dearly! He
has placed these children in our watchful care.
He knows how best to prepare them for the challenges they are facing or
will face one day. He loves each of us!
Heavenly Father wants to bless each one of us. He wants to lead us and guide us. Through attending His Holy House we can be
eternally blessed. Prepare yourself for
these covenants! Go to the Temple! Live righteously! Then go again to the temple! And again!
And again! As you continually go
to the temple you will be blessed again and again and again! I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ, Amen.
Quotes:
(1)
Blessings of the Temple - Elder Robert
D. Hales – Oct. 2009
(2) Four
Blessings of the Temple – Harold Glen Clark – Oct. 1983
(3) Holy
Temples, Sacred Covenants - Silvia H.
Allred - Oct 2008
(4)
The Holy Temple - Boyd K. Packer - Oct. 2010
(5)
Blessings of the Temple —Thomas S. Monson – Oct. 2010
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