Saturday, 05 November 2011
Stake Conference
Adult Session
Temple Ordinances:
Our greatest strength comes from our temples.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:22
"And we ask thee, Holy Father that 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;"
Men grow mightier and women grow stronger through the temple. It will shape and refine us spiritually, for if we are worthy to attend the temple then we are worthy to gain exaltation.
For the longest time in my life, the temple was the only place that I could feel peace and seek sanctity. However I was unable to attend most of the times because our temple was six hours away. Living here in Provo, I have been blessed to have a temple only a couple of miles from where I live. Just stepping on temple grounds provides me with a place in which I can go and sit to rest and think about life and bounce ideas off of my loving Father in Heaven.
Doctrine and Covenants 109:12-13
"That thy glory may rest down upon thy people, and upon this thy house which we now dedicate t thee, that it may be sanctified and consecrated to be holy, and that thy holy presence may be continually in this house;
And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord;s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness."
There will soon be temples in operation all around the world that run night and day.
We must go to the temple and claim the blessings that are rightfully ours. Be worthy to attend the temple so that you can gain the ultimate goal of exaltation.
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If you listen with the Spirit, you will receive revelation about your ancestors.
Malachi 4:6
"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
Doctrine and Covenants 138:47
"The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers,"
What do temple ordinances mean to you?
I have not received ordinances in the temple yet, but I feel so lucky to be able to to baptisms for the dead. Every time I go in to do baptisms and confirmations, I can feel a sense of happiness wash over me, as if they have truly accepted the gospel. It is the best feeling in the world.
We must be a Savior to others by building a temple on Mount Zion.
Our greatest responsibility is to provide redemption for our dead. They are on the other side waiting for us to do their work because they cannot do it themselves.
We ourselves cannot do everything, but we can do something!
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If we go to the temple, we will not only be blessed, but we will be empowered. My mom and dad had been wanting to have children ever since they had gotten married, but after three years of trying the still had not gotten pregnant. Both were discouraged, but one evening when Mom and Dad were attending the temple in Anchorage, Alaska, they arrived a few minutes early and were able to ponder before the session started. My mother began praying, asking Heavenly Father why they had been unable to have children, while sitting there, listening and pondering, she heard a voice, crystal clear telling her to have faith. After trying for so long, she wasn't sure if she could continue to have faith, and voiced that. Again she received the impression to have faith, for where there is faith there is hope. After the temple session, my mom went and talked with my dad about it and discussed what that possibly meant. The next morning my mother found out that she was pregnant and nine months later my little brother was born. I remember being so excited, but I cannot imagine what my parents felt, after so long they finally were able to have a baby. 18 months later, my little sister was born and I know my parents have felt so blessed to have both of them.
Doctrine and Covenants 121:45
"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven."
When we go to the temple, we are providing ourselves with the confidence to stand in the presence of the Lord.
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At the temple, we can feel loved, beautiful (or hansome), and of worth. It is the only place in which I can forget all of the things that have happened, whether it is going on right now or it has happened in the past. I can feel Heavenly Father's love raining down upon me.
You need the Spirit and the ordinance. Ordinances are the most important thing we can receive in this life.
There was a lady who was sleeping one night, when she had a night vision (night visions move us to do something, whereas dreams are something that we forget). In her dream she saw an Indian chief, clothed in typical chieftan garb. He asked her to find out who he was and perform the temple ordinances for him so that he could teach his fellow tribesman and they could be baptized as well. She went to the Harold B. Lee's family history section and began to look through different books. After getting discouraged and not finding any information, she felt impressed to grab a book from a stack that was sitting on the table. While flipping through it, she stopped on a page, for there was the Chief from her dream; she gathered all the necessary information so that the temple ordinances could be started for him as well as his fellow tribal members. After all this had been accomplished, the same lady was sleeping again one evening and she had another night vision with the same Chief in it, but this time he was dressed in white; he thanked her for her help.
The temple is a holy place, our lives will change after going.
All of the symbols and images that are in the temple have meaning and can be personalized for the location of the temple. In the Anchorage, Alaska temple, the chandeliers were in the shape of Forget-Me-Nots.
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The wearing of garments properly is a reminder of how we should behave as endowed people. We should dress now as if we wore garments. This will make the transition easier and it will also make us more modest in the process.
If our garments are not white and pure, we cannot be saved.
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We must be in the right place, doing the right thing, by the right authority, and at the right time for us.
We will be protected from the intensifying presence of the adversary by going to the temple.
Be worthy to be in the temple, desire to go to the temple and you will truly be blessed!
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