Talk on: Temple and Family History
One time when I was out hiking with my kids, my oldest son
came up to me from behind and said, “Mom, when you’re wearing that baseball cap
and that sweatshirt, I swear you look just like a teenager from behind. But, I’m
sorry, from the front you don’t.” He saw my expression and added, “I’m not
saying you look old or anything, I’m just saying, well, that you’re face has
more experience on it.”
He’s not wrong and I have gained some experience, so I hope
some of my experience will be helpful as I share some of it today.
As a child, my grandparents lived next door to the temple. I
enjoyed many Christmases looking at the Christmas lights. We’d spend Sunday
afternoons walking around the temple grounds.
As a young woman, I had the opportunity to go to the temple
to do baptisms, and I enjoyed the peace that I found in the temple.
As a young adult, I still enjoyed baptisms, and I pondered
often about what it would be like to go through the temple to receive my own
endowment.
As a young mother, I find amusement in the memory I have of
my young son who while amid taking pictures with my newly married brother and
sister in-law, dropped his drawers and “watered” the bushes. There is now a
picture of his backside with his pants around his ankles, we were
potty-training at the time, and I was so embarrassed. I was certain that my
efforts to teach about the holiness of the temple were failing.
I recently shared a more spiritual experience last fast and
testimony meeting. The experience was one in which I had a literal, and very
immediate answer to prayer. I’d like to start off my talk with one more experience
that is similar in nature.
I have always been a stalwart member of the church. In my
newly married years, I struggled to understand why my testimony of the temple
was so tender, when so many other aspects of my testimony of the restored
gospel were quite firm and mature. I was afraid to talk about my insecurities
because it appeared that everyone else already had it figured out. Luckily, my
insecurities did not stop me from going to the temple, and over time my
testimony of the temple has ripened and grown. Going often has made it more familiar.
But let’s pause for a moment and reflect on that time period when I was younger
and less experienced.
I think in my younger years, my opportunity to go the temple
was not presented as often as I would have liked (due to having young children
at home, living in Ohio without a close temple nearby etc.). This lack of
opportunity caused some of my insecurities. I never truly felt comfortable
going to the temple alone. I was afraid I’d make a mistake or not know where to
go. I was especially nervous about messing up some lines that I believed a
stalwart member of the church should have memorized by the age I was. As a
result, I always found myself seeking the comfort of company to go to the
temple with. Usually, I sought to go with my husband, when he wasn’t available,
I sought to go with my mom or sister. It was outside my comfort zone to go by
myself.
No one but my husband knew about my reservations. So, my mom
could not have possibly known how scared I was when she cancelled our temple
date last second. I had a choice to make, I either go alone or be a chicken and
give into my anxiety. I chose to go alone. I prayed throughout the whole
ceremony and felt better, but then the time for those memorized lines was fast
approaching and my heart began to race. It was a large session, so about 15
little, white-haired ladies filed into the room and took their place at the veil.
As they filed in, I picked out one lady out of the large crowd and I told
Heavenly Father, “she looks nice, make sure I’m with her.” And that’s all I
said. You can imagine the flood of love that I felt when out of all fifteen or
so of those ladies, I was paired with the one that I had pretty much told
Heavenly Father He needed to give me. I knew at that moment that it wasn’t just
a coincidence. Heavenly Father heard my prayer and the Holy Ghost helped me to
know that He answered it. Although others may not understand why it was a big
deal to go to the temple alone that day, He did. And, He took my offering and
He made it sufficient and whole.
If you find yourself with similar apprehensions or thoughts,
you’re not alone. Go often to the temple, in time it will become familiar, and in
time your love for the temple with grow.
President Nelson cautioned: “We can be inspired all day long about
temple and family history experiences that others have had. But we must do
something to actually experience the joy (for) ourselves.” He then invites us
to prayerfully consider what kind of sacrifice we can make, preferably a sacrifice
of time –to do more temple and family history work.
There are many blessings to be had in the
temple. In 2018, Elder Renlund said: As we participate in family history and
temple work today, we also lay claim to “healing” blessings promised by
prophets and apostles.6 These blessings are also breathtakingly amazing
because of their scope, specificity, and consequence in mortality. This long
list includes these blessings:
·
Increased understanding of the Savior and His atoning
sacrifice;
·
Increased influence of the Holy Ghost7 to feel strength and direction for our own lives;
·
Increased faith, so that conversion to the Savior
becomes deep and abiding;
·
Increased ability and motivation to learn and repent8 because of an understanding of who we are, where
we come from, and a clearer vision of where we are going;
·
Increased refining, sanctifying, and moderating
influences in our hearts;
·
Increased joy through an increased ability to feel the
love of the Lord;
·
Increased family blessings, no matter our current,
past, or future family situation or how imperfect our family tree may be;
·
Increased love and appreciation for ancestors and
living relatives, so we no longer feel alone;
·
Increased power to discern that which needs healing
and thus, with the Lord’s help, serve others;
·
Increased protection from temptations and the
intensifying influence of the adversary; and
·
Increased assistance to mend troubled, broken, or
anxious hearts and make the wounded whole.9
Temple work binds and seals on earth as in Heaven. We are
connected through saving ordinances. President Eyring said, “It is in the
temple that we can receive the assurance of loving family connections that will
continue after death and last for eternity.
I’ve been pondering about the scripture, “Stand ye in holy places
and be not moved”. The temple is a holy place, church is a holy place, our
homes can be holy places, when we strive to live righteously and place our
Savior at the forefront of our thoughts and actions, we can enjoy temple-like
peace in the walls of our own homes. But, taking it a step further, our very
lives, our bodies which house our spirit can be, and should be a holy place. So,
no matter where we are, or where we find ourselves, we can stand in holy places
and have access to that heavenly power, especially when we are endowed with
power in the holy temple.
Hasn’t Heavenly Father promised us that He will go before our
face? That He would be on our right hand and on our left? Hasn’t He promised us
that His spirit will be in our hearts and that His angels will be round about
us to bear us up? D&C 84:88
If we stand in holy places, those loving ancestors, many of whom
we associated with in this life and enjoyed close relationships with, will come
to us in our times of need. They are the angels that will be round about us,
and they are cheering us on.
This next experience I share with tenderness and with permission.
There is a family in our ward who is close to my thoughts and close to my
heart. We know and love the Palmer’s. I am Julie’s friend; I am also her ministering
sister and Jon Mark is one of their ministering brothers. We have been able to
witness faith and perseverance this family displays when faced with hardship.
One day, not too long ago, Julie asked if I would house-sit for
her. She and Nathan had to run off to an appointment and the man they had hired
to tune their piano was not done yet. She asked if I would sit until he was
done and then lock up the house before I left. I came over and went up the
stairs so that I wouldn’t be in his way and to avoid the awkwardness of me
being there while he worked. I sat down on the couch and pulled out my phone to
pass the time. But I didn’t end up getting on my phone. Instead, I had this
overwhelming feeling rush over me, and I began to feel the way I feel when I sit
and ponder in the Celestial Room of the temple. The spirit was strong, and I
didn’t want to ruin it by jumping onto social media. As I sat and listened to
the piano tuner and enjoyed the spirit I was feeling, I had the distinct
thought of, “wow, surely angels are attending here.” After all was done and I had
locked up the house, I sent Julie a text message and told her that I had felt
as though I was in the presence of angels.
She responded back with these words, “thank you for this sweet
message. This past week was so hard for me. I don’t think that I have ever been
so lost and alone. Last night Nathan gave me another blessing and in the blessing,
he was prompted to ask for my grandparents by name to come and watch over me,
to be with me, to stand at watch with me so I don’t have to feel alone. I have
been at peace, and I know those angels you felt in my home are an answer to a
blessing. The power of the priesthood is real. The entire blessing, I just kept
thinking to myself… it only takes the grain of a mustard seed of faith to receive
these blessings, and I think yesterday that’s about all I had left. Thank you
for being my earthly angel to comfort me as you testify of those heavenly angels
sent to strengthen my home, my family, and me.”
When I read her words, I felt a confirmation of the spirit that I
needed to feel her home that day, there were several little things that
happened to make it so that I needed to be there. Both Julie and I later talked
about those little things that played together to make it so that I was there,
and we both agree that it wasn’t a coincidence. I needed to be there so that I
could be a second witness of this miracle. I was so thankful for this experience;
this experience deepened my love for my Savior. This experience helped me see
quite clearly that Heavenly Father always keeps His promises. And, once again,
I realized that our angels who come to us, are those who loved us and love us
still.
There is peace when we stand in holy places. We are blessed when
we do so. In the world today, loud voices mock and ridicule. Loud voices would
have us believe what is right is wrong, and what is wrong is right. It seems
that wickedness abounds and there is no peace on earth.
And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth I said,
for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth good will to men. Then
rang the bells more loud and deep, God is not dead, nor does He sleep. The
wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth good will to men.
There is peace on earth. When we stand in holy places and be not moved,
we will have peace in our homes, we will have peace in our hearts. And, there
is indeed peace in our temples. God has not left us alone. He has given us
temple ordinances and he has bestowed the power of the priesthood upon us.
Consider these prophetic words from Elder Bruce R. McKonkie from
April of 1980:
As we ponder these things and count our blessings, we seem to hear
a voice acclaim, “Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place whereon
thou standest is holy ground” (Ex.
3:5).
We know that our work is in the living present and our glorious
destiny lies ahead.
But what we can see causes us to rejoice and to tremble. We
tremble because of the sorrows and wars and plagues that shall cover the earth.
We weep for those in the true Church who are weak and wayward and worldly and
who fall by the wayside as the caravan of the kingdom rolls forward.
We rejoice because of the glory and honor that awaits those who
come forth out of all this tribulation with clean hands and pure hearts
(see Ps.
24:4)..
We see temples in great numbers dotting the earth, so that those
of every nation and kindred and tongue and people can receive the fulness of
the ordinances of the house of the Lord.
The vision of the future is not all sweetness and light and peace.
All that is yet to be shall go forward in the midst of greater evils and perils
and desolations than have been known on earth at any time.
As the Saints prepare to meet their God, so those who are carnal
and sensual and devilish prepare to face their doom.
As the meek among men make their calling and election sure, so
those who worship the God of this world sink ever lower and lower into the
depths of depravity and despair.
We see evil forces everywhere uniting to destroy the family, to
ridicule morality and decency, to glorify all that is lewd and base. We see
wars and plagues and pestilence. Nations rise and fall. Blood and carnage and
death are everywhere. Gadianton robbers fill the judgment seats in many
nations. An evil power seeks to overthrow the freedom of all nations and
countries. Satan reigns in the hearts of men; it is the great day of his power.
But amid it all, the work of the Lord rolls on. The gospel is
preached and the witness is born. The kingdom grows and prospers, for the Lord
is with his people.
Amid it all, there are revelations and visions and prophecies.
There are gifts and signs and miracles. There is a rich outpouring of the Holy
Spirit of God.
Truly the world is and will be in commotion, but the Zion of God
will be unmoved (…) the little stone will continue to grow until it fills the
whole earth.
I add my testimony to his. There is peace to be had when we stand in holy places and be not moved. Come to the temple and claim your blessings, and help others who have gone before claim theirs. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
