So it has been almost a full two months since you have heard from me. It has been a rough few weeks personally. I have personally been struggling with quite a few stuff and its hard to get out of my own head. However, I was asked to speak in church so here is my talk for those of you that would like to read it. Hope to talk to you all soon and I will try to write as soon as possible.
I am
very excited because I was asked to speak on Temples. I could not be more
excited to speak about temples because they definitely hold a very special
place in my heart.
We
live in a time of turmoil and confusion and heartache. This world can be a very
tiring and hard place. Everything that we face on an everyday basis can be very
hard to deal with. The faith and love you feel in the temple is what helps us
to overcome all of the other things in our lives. They provide a safe guard and give us a
comfort we cannot find anywhere else.
“
The world can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. We are
often surrounded by that which would drag us down. As you and I go to the holy
Houses of god, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more
able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred
sanctuary we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified.” Thomas S.
Monson
So
much of why the temple gives us so much peace and allows us to bear every trial
is because of our Heavenly Father. He is the key to our eternal exaltation.
That is why it is so important that we strengthen our relationship with him. No
matter who we are or where we come from in the church we can always improve our
relationship with the savior and strengthen ourselves to become more like him.
One of my favorite places to draw closer to heavenly father and strengthen my
testimony is in his Holy House. Rosemary Thackeray of BYU stated, “ Being
strengthened by the lord is an individual experience. We qualify for it individually,
and individually we receive strength.” One of the reasons I love the temple so
much is because of how personal it is. Even though the ordinances and covenants
we make there are the same, the revelation and the answers we receive in that
holy place are so different. Each of us go through the temple and have our own
personal experiences that we take with us.
President
Thomas S. Monson said it so perfectly when he quoted, “I think there is no
place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy
temples.”
The
temple is such an amazing place. We are so lucky to live in a time and place
where we have so many temples so readily accessible to us. The temple is such
an amazing place where we are safe guarded from the everyday trials we face as
individuals. And even when we are not faced with trials, temples provide us
with a way to be strengthened by the hand of the lord. As we find in D& C
it reads, “ thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power and
that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine
angels have charge over them.” I have felt this same blessing from the temple
numerous times throughout my life.
I am
very lucky because I have had many opportunities and trials in my life that
most people will never have to dream about going through however, I could not
consider myself luckier. I am so blessed to be able to have gone through all of
the things that I have in my lifetime. And because of those trials I was able
to choose to turn to the lord throughout my life. This has blessed me with the
opportunity to use the power of the temple so many times throughout my life.
However,
it all started when I was just 3 months old and my parents had just got in an
argument. My dad put me in the car and drove him and me to the bountiful
temple. When we got there my father picked me up in his arms and in front of
the temple gave me a fathers blessing. I obviously do not remember that or any
of the words that were shared in that blessing; however, I can tell you that
ever since that moment I have shared a special relationship with both my
earthly father and my heavenly father. I
love this gospel more than anything and I am so grateful for those two
wonderful fathers I have in my life who are there for me each and every single
day. As I grew up and turned 12 my dad
and me made it a goal to attend the temple at least once a month. Those monthly
trips to the temple were amazing and hold a special place in my heart. And because
of all those months of attending the temple I found it to be a habit as I grew
up and am attending college. I try to attend at least once a month. It is in
that house that I am able to feel the love from my heavenly father more than
ever. I love everything about the temple and the special opportunities it
provides to us to strengthen ourselves and draw ourselves closer to god. We are
never lost when we can see the temple.
In
the October 1976 general conference it was stated, “ Is not the greatest need
in all of the world for every person to have a personal, ongoing, daily,
continuing relationship with the savior? Nothing can make a greater difference
in our lives as we come to know and understand our divine relationship with
god.” When attending the temple we are allowing ourselves to come unto Christ
and we are giving ourselves the opportunity to find knowledge, understanding,
and joy. The first presidency quoted” The ordinances of the temple help us
place the savior at the center of our lives. That eternal perspective gives us
greater peace of mind, more purpose for life, and a powerful motivation to live
the commandments.”
However, that closeness and
peace we feel inside the temple will carry through with us even outside the
temple. That is why the more often we can attend the more permanent that
closeness and relationship will become outside the temple. Every time we attend the temple we take new
experiences with us when we leave.
A
great example of this in my life was June 11th 2011. It was one year
after we had adopted my little brother and sister Carter and Kyree. They were
only 3 and 1 at the time. I remember entering the temple and being taken to the
children’s room with my brother and sister.
I was 13 at the time. I remember playing and watching my brother and
sister while waiting for what felt like forever. Eventually my siblings and I
got all dressed up in our temple outfits and were escorted to one of the
sealing rooms. There in front of me were my parents and so many familiar faces
including extended family and friends. There I was able to watch my sibling be
sealed to my parents for time and all eternity. However, what happened next was
truly unique and special. After they had been sealed to my parents and everyone
was seated the sealer took me by the hand and led me to where I sat with him on
the alter. He talked with me as if no one else was in the room and it was only
us for probably a solid 10 minutes. While we were talking he asked me what my
favorite temple was the Draper Utah temple. He then proceeded to ask me if I
wanted to be married in the temple someday. He then told to find a picture of
that temple and place it somewhere in my room where I would see it every single
day to remind me to always live each day in a way that I would always be worthy
to enter its sacred doors when the day came for me to be sealed with my eternal
husband. That moment for me will always be very near and dear to my heart. I
truly could feel the love from the savior and his desire for me to remain
worthy to enter the temple just from speaking with this man I had never met
before. I could not be more grateful for
that cherished moment in my life and several times I have been told that it was
such a rare opportunity because people have never seen that happen in all there
years of service in the temple. That is
why it makes it that much more amazing when I tell you how he was asked to be
our sealer that day. My parents had
originally asked a longtime family friend to do the sealing. However, on the
morning of the sealing as we were all in the temple my parents started worrying
because the sealer had not shown up yet. My grandparents at the time were
working at the temple. My grandma told my dad that she would call the sealer to
see where he was. While on the phone the sealer he told my grandma that he had
wrote down that it was the following week and that he was out of town and could
not do the sealing. So at that moment my grandparents had to rush and try to
find someone who would be able to do the sealing. At that exact moment a sealer
who was not scheduled to work at the temple that day walked in and said that he
had gotten a very strong prompting to come to the temple to do a sealing. I
truly believe that everything happens for a reason and I am so thankful that he
was worthy and willing to not only receive that prompting but to act on it and
drive to temple so that he could seal my parents to my siblings and so that I
could have the opportunity that I had.
As quoted by Thomas S. Monson, “ The
all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the church are those
blessings which we receive in the temples of god.” We have such a wonderful
tool given to us in our life to link ourselves directly with our heavenly
father and receive the blessings he has for us.
In
April general conference of 2011 it was stated, “Temples are more than stone
and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials
and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.” If we attend
the temple often and with a sincere and worthy heart we will be able to build
our testimonies with the faith that surrounds those holy houses of the lord. We
will be able to strengthen ourselves and draw ourselves closer to our loving
heavenly father. May you make it your own personal goal to make yourself worthy
to enter the temple as often as you can to gain the blessings the lord has waiting
within those temple doors.
I
just want to end with a section from a letter I was given when I was a little
girl that is written as if from our heavenly father, “ You my faithful child
are my hope. It is through you that my work must proceed. You haven’t much time
there is so much to be done. I beg you to get started. Accomplish the mission I
gave you before you left me. I’ll help you. I’m never too busy or too far away
to come to you. I’m nearer to you always than you might suspect. I’d love to
take you in my arms, but I too, must wait patiently, that time will come. Till
then, I leave you with my peace, my blessing, my love, and never forget I am
nearby If you need me. I love you and miss you very much, and oh, how I am
looking forward to your joyous return again to me. All my Love, your Heavenly
Father.”
May we all strive to attend the temple often to
become the very best versions of ourselves and so that we will be able to
become more like our savior. So that when that joyous reunion occurs we will be
able to wrap our arms around our heavenly father and know that we have done all
that we could. I know that the savior loves us. I know that as we draw closer
to him and become perfected in him we will be able to draw closer to
exaltation, which is our destiny. I know that he died for each and every one of
us and that we have a prophet here on this earth today to lead us back to him.
May we be diligent in keeping the commandments and serve the lord with all our
heart, might, and minds. I know that the plan of salvation is real and
everlasting. I am so thankful that I will be able to be reunited with 3 perfect
brothers again. I love my heavenly father and these things I leave with you in
the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
