My Thoughts
I
am so grateful for the blessings of the temple. Having the knowledge of eternal
families, being sealed to my own, and one day being able to be sealed to my
future family, is such a comfort to me. I could not imagine going through life
without my family, let alone eternity. I am thankful for a loving Father in
Heaven whose masterful plan includes this wonderful blessing. I am also
thankful for the opportunity to aid those who have passed on before me receive the
same blessings I am able to receive. God is no respecter of persons and I see
this when it comes to the temple. He loves all of His children equally and made
a way that every single one of them can have their work done. Not only does my
temple attendance help my ancestors, but it also helps me. The spirit and
guidance I receive in the temple is worthwhile. I feel uplifted and renewed and
my life is blessed greatly because of it.
Quotes
"The temple endowment was given by revelation. Thus, it is best understood by revelation, prayerfully sought with a sincere heart. President Brigham Young said, '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' (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 416)."
"You younger men might not be aware that the standards set by the Lord in the temple recommend questions are very similar to the standards found in For the Strength of Youth."
"May we each dedicate ourselves anew to the service of the Lord.
"Say the word temple. Say it quietly and reverently. Say it over and over again. Temple. Temple. Temple. Add the word holy. Holy Temple. Say it as though it were capitalized, no matter where it appears in the sentence.
"Temple. One other word is equal in importance to a Latter-day Saint. Home. Put the words holy temple and home together, and you have described the house of the Lord!
"May God grant that we may be worthy to enter there and receive the fulness of the blessings of His priesthood."
"If we can look back through the generations, we see those who helped us to get where we are now—those who forged the way before us, whether they were members of the Church or not. And in the restored gospel we realize even more deeply our responsibility to link them to us through the ordinances of the temple. In a letter from the Prophet Joseph Smith to the members of the Church, we read: 'These are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over. . . . For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, . . . they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect' (D&C 128:15; see also verse 18)."
"Consider the spiritual connections that are formed when a young woman helps her grandmother enter family information into a computer or when a young man sees the name of his great-grandfather on a census record. When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves. Our inborn yearnings for family connections are fulfilled when we are linked to our ancestors through sacred ordinances of the temple."
"The Church continues to grow and to move forward. The building of temples is an indication of such growth. . . . We will continue to build temples throughout the world as our membership grows. Each year millions of ordinances are performed in the temples for our deceased loved ones. May we continue to be faithful in performing such ordinances for those who are unable to do so for themselves."
"I love the words of President Joseph F. Smith as he spoke of temple service and of the spirit world beyond mortality. Said he, 'Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their [people] here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties' (in Conference Report, Oct. 1916, 6)."
“My brothers and sisters, we have built temples throughout the world and will continue to do so. To you who are worthy and able to attend the temple, I would admonish you to go often. The temple is a place where we can find peace. There we receive a renewed dedication to the gospel and a strengthened resolve to keep the commandments.”
“Our covenants supply strength—they produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord. Our willingness to take upon us the name of Christ and keep His commandments requires a degree of faith, but as we honor our covenants, that faith expands. In the first place, the promised fruits of obedience become evident, which confirms our faith. Secondly, the Spirit communicates God’s pleasure, and we feel secure in His continued blessing and help. Thirdly, come what may, we can face life with hope and equanimity, knowing that we will succeed in the end because we have God’s promise to us individually, by name, and we know He cannot lie (see Enos 1:6; Ether 3:12).”
“It matters tremendously what we do in relation to those who have gone before, because they live today as spirits and shall live again as immortal souls, and that because of Jesus Christ. We believe His words when He said, ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’ (John 11:25).”
"When you come to the temple you will love your family with a deeper love than you have ever felt before. The temple is about families. . . . It extends to parents, brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, forebears, and especially our grandchildren! This is the Spirit of Elijah, which is the spirit of family history work; and when inspired by the Holy Ghost, it prompts the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers. Because of the priesthood, husbands and wives are sealed together, children are sealed to their parents for eternity so the family is eternal and will not be separated at death."
“Under the definition of ‘Temple’ in the Bible Dictionary, we read the following: ‘It is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth,’ followed by this insightful statement: ‘Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.’ For me this suggests a sacred relationship between the temple and the home. Not only can we turn the doors of our homes to the temple, or the house of the Lord; we can make our homes a ‘house of the Lord.’ ”
