I spoke in Church the Sunday following Thanksgiving. I was supposed to speak the week before, about gratitude, but we found out we had visitors from the stake, who gave really wonderful talks. I accepted the invitation to speak the following Sunday on the topic of temple blessings. This week was a treat because our ward had a young elder return from his mission and speak about his faith building experiences in the mission field. One of the young women I used to work with also spoke, and she shared great on the importance of temple work. I was fortunate to jump right up after and piggy back on the testimonies of two wonderful young people. Because flexibility with time constraints while public speaking is not a skill that I have, I wasn’t sure how to cut 15 minutes of prepared material down to 6 minutes. During a musical number, I skimmed through and highlighted what I felt prompted to share. And then ended up reading those parts of talk directly from my phone. Here is that content, give or take and my testimony. I love the temple.
President Monson said, “As I think of temples, my thoughts turn to the many blessings we receive therein. As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and respite from the cares of our lives.
Well doesn’t that sound lovely right now? Beauty and order? Rest and respite? Sign me up!
One October day, I went to the temple with the specific intention of receiving this very comfort and peace to aid me through a trial I was experiencing. I felt that I had done or was doing everything I should, but just couldn’t seem to get to a place of resolution on my own about the problem. I was exhausted, but hopeful.
So I entered the temple doors knowing both by faith, and from past experiences, that this peace and respite I craved could surely come.
But I went with the expectation that my conversation with the Lord would go something like this:
Me: hey This is really hard and I am weary. I know that you see me. I know that you love me. I know that you hear my prayer. Now, please take away this trial. Please and Thank you in advance, Amen.
Well the answer came, as I knew it would, but was obviously not exactly what I’d had in mind. I will never forget it.
Instead of the warm fuzzy comfort and pat on the back, I felt an almost strict instruction to do 5 very specific things.
A to do list intercepted all thoughts and I could no longer focus on anything else, let alone my self pity.
I repeated each of the tasks in my mind as I sat there in the temple, until I was confident I could remember everything. When I came out to greet my family, I quickly wrote down the instructions I received, in the order they had come to me. To my surprise, seeing the to do list written out on paper, the first letters of each task in the list stacked to form an acronym, which helped me to remember what I needed to do.
I do not have a crystal ball that could have told me what the next year would look like following that day in the temple. There is no way I could have known what my family would need from me. I was pretty unaware that specific physical and spiritual reserves in my life needed fortification to get me through some of the difficult experiences I would face and hard things I would have to endure.
Over the following year, as I worked on each of the things I had felt prompted in the temple to improve, I saw how each instruction would act as a safety net for myself or for my children when circumstances beyond our control were frustrating or painful.
The acronym was S-E-T-U-P and I know that following the instructions that they stood for indeed were a “set up” to prepare me for the trials of this past year.
The temple is a place to understand and perfect our personal ministry.
President Monson said,
“As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart.
We will grasp the true meaning of the words of the Savior when He said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
I testify that this is true.
The scriptures describe the temple as a place of refuge, thanksgiving, instruction, and understanding, “that [we] may be perfected … in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth
Instead of a break from my trial and peace that everything would get easier, I received peace in the temple through the reminder that Heavenly Father gave me this trial for my growth. I felt peace when I remembered that He has faith in my ability to learn long suffering, and patience, and resilience, and obedience, and sacrifice, and unconditional love. I received a break in the temple, not from the trial, but a mental break-through so I could see and trust beyond my doubts and fears that had clouded my vision. The blessing of the temple, for me, were refuge, Thanksgiving, instruction, and understanding. I could not see what trials lay before me, but the Lord set me up with a perfectly detailed survival kit. I do not believe there is anywhere outside the temple where I could have had the clarity to tune in so clearly to the Lords will for me.
Elder Cook said:
“My brothers and sisters, in our lives we will have temptations; we will have trials and challenges. As we go to the temple, as we remember the covenants we make there, we will be better able to overcome those temptations and to bear our trials. In the temple we can find peace.
My challenge is for each of us, wherever we live, to see ourselves in the temple. President Monson has stated: “Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not [yet] obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.
I testify of the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that Satan uses doubt and fear to alter our perspective and lose understanding of how powerful and effective the Atonement can be in our lives. Satan tried to convince us that change is not possible, that our goals are unattainable, and that we are not worthy of the Saviors love or help.
When we attend the temple, one of the greatest blessings is the peace and clarity that can be felt in the absence of worldly distractions.
We can all start today to work on necessary changes that will make us worthy to attend the temple, and have a more enriching experience there as we make sacred covenants and receive the blessings that are waiting for us. May we each spiritually prepare our hearts and homes to receive the blessings of the temple.
