Temple Talk Sep 2010

Monday, March 7, 2011

Temple Talk

Saturday, September 04, 2010
12:37 PM

Temple Dinner:

Brothers and Sisters,

We are so appreciative of you. Of your faithfulness. Of your desires to be in the temple. Of your good example before the people to do what's right. We pray for you each Sunday as you preside over your wards, your quorums and groups. We hope that there is a spirit of unity in your quorums and that a testimony of the savior and his atonement is deep and motivating all to act in all righteousness.

We are grateful to be here together in the temple. Some of you are temple workers. Can we talk just a few minutes before we go to the chapel meeting about this sacred work?

In 1823, the angel moroni appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. In his bedroom, out by his fence, and on the hill cumurah. The purpose of that visit was to get the boy started on his historic journey of the restoration of the gospel.

He told Joseph a number of things. But in essence he taught Joseph that the coming forth of the Book of Mormon would initiate a progression of events that would lead to the Second Coming, where the wicked would be destroyed and the righteous would reign on earth with Jesus Christ.

There is much the angel moroni could have taught the prophet. But isn't it interesting that of all the doctrines, all the principles, all the instructions on how to govern the church that was to be restored, of all that the Angel could have taught, he quoted these verses from Malachi:

“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. … “And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming”

President Gordon B Hinckley said of this momentous meeting in the boy's room:
QUOTE -"it is tremendously significant to me that this declaration, this repetition of the wondrous words of Malachi concerning the work for the dead, was given to the boy Joseph four years before he was allowed to take the plates from the hill. It was given before he received either the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, before he was baptized, and well before the Church was organized. It says much concerning the priority of this work in the plan of the Lord. It would be 1836 before Elijah came with the keys of this work. Little could be done concerning it for some years after that. But can anyone doubt the importance with which it is regarded by the Almighty, who, in His infinite wisdom, had a plan under which the full benefits of the atonement wrought by His Beloved Son might be made available to all of the sons and daughters of God of all generations of time? And without this work, the Lord indicated, the whole purpose of creating and peopling the earth would be frustrated, would be wasted (see JS—H 1:39)." ENDQUOTE

Brothers and Sister - what a privilege it is for each of us, to be seated in this sacred place, about to perform the eternally significant endowment work for our ancestors. A house of god where covenants are made, promises are given, and sacred signs, tokens, and keywords are shared in fulfillment of the words of the Angel Moroni less than 200 years ago.

The temple affords us many wonderful blessings. Pres. Ezra Taft Benson described 6 blessings which come to us for attending the temple.
1. You will receive the spirit of Elijah, which will turn your hearts to your spouse, to your children, and to your forebears.
2. You will love your family with a deeper love than you have loved before.
3. Your hearts will be turned ot your fathers and theirs to you.
4. You will be endowed with power from on high as the Lord has promised.
5. You will receive the key of the knowledge of God. You will learn how you can be like him. Even the power of Godliness will be manifest to you.
6. You will be doing a great service to those who have passed to the other side of the veil in order that they might be 'judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to god in the spirit.'

This year our focus as a Stake is on our fathers. We have challenged each member to work on one or more of these 3 family history projects. First to get 4 generations of family identified, and get their temple work completed. Second, we've challenged each to start a personal history. And finally we've challenged each to compile some of the best stories from their ancestors into a family history. Imagine the blessings that will come to each of us, as we do this work, as we visit the temples to finalize the work for each of those we discover. What a great blessing we will experience as this spirit of elijah permeates the stake.

With each name we bring through the temple, we are doing something of great historical significance. With each name we identify, and then bring through the temple, we are one step closer to uniting the entire family of God back to him, sealed and prepared for eternity.

So one last thing - Why is this work so vital?

Alma explained it.

“Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves! And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted” (Alma 26:5).
The sheaves in this analogy represent newly baptized members of the Church. The garners are the holy temples. Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained: “Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should be gathered is the holy temple” (in John L. Hart, “Make Calling Focus of Your Mission,” Church News, Sept. 17, 1994, 4). This instruction clarifies and emphasizes the importance of sacred temple ordinances and covenants—that the sheaves may not be wasted.
“Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them” (Alma 26:6).


President Benson said in regards to this great work and the blessings that come from engaging in it,
"God bless Israel! God bless those of our forebears who constructed the holy temples. God bless us to teach our children and our grandchildren what great blessings await them by going to the temple. God bless us to receive all the blessings revealed by elijah the prophet so that our callings and election will be made sure."

I pray that we might carry this spirit, into our daily lives. May we rejoice in our covenants and promises that we have made, and may we rejoice and be humble that we are able to share this work with our loved ones beyond the veil.

In the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen