Sunday Report: Stake Conference

March 20 & 21, 2010    Quotes echoing the Theme of Temple Worship at the Saturday Night Adult Session of Stake Conference

Making Time for the Temple: How can we make Temple worship a priority in our lives?

“All members of the Church should prepare to receive the blessings of the temple. Members' responsibilities for doing this are outlined in the Family Guidebook (31180). Leaders can help members prepare to receive temple blessings by teaching them about the temple. Leaders are to encourage members to live worthily to obtain and always have a valid temple recommend and to receive their temple endowments and temple sealing ordinances where reasonable. A worthy person is one who has entered into covenants with the Lord, such as the baptismal covenant, and is striving diligently to keep these covenants.” Priesthood and Auxiliary Leaders' Guidebook

“Every temple that this Church has built has in effect stood as a monument to our belief in the immortality of the human soul, that this phase of mortal life through which we pass is part of a continuous upward climb, so to speak, and that as certain as there is life here, there will be life there. That is our firm belief. It comes about through the Atonement of the Savior, and the temple  becomes, as I have indicated, the bridge from this life to the next. The temple is concerned with things of immortality. We wouldn’t have to build a temple for marriages if we didn’t believe in the eternity of the family. We build it so the family may be eternal. All of the ordinances which take place in the house of the Lord become expressions of our belief in that fundamental and basic doctrine. The   temple therefore becomes the ultimate in our system of worship and therefore is of great and significant importance to us” (interview with Vern Anderson of the Associated Press, 20 Apr. 1999). Inspirational Thoughts, Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, April 2002

“Live worthy to hold a temple recommend. There is nothing more precious than a temple recommend. … Whether you can go there frequently or not, qualify for a temple recommend and keep a recommend in your pocket. It will be a  reminder to you of what is expected of you as a Latter-day Saint” (meeting, Guam, 31 Jan. 2000). Inspirational Thoughts, Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, April 2002

“What a different world and Church this would be if every Latter-day Saint sister excelled at making, renewing, and keeping covenants; if every sister qualified for a temple recommend and  worshipped more often in temples; if every sister studied the scriptures and doctrines of Christ and knew them so well that she could teach and defend those doctrines at any time or place. Think of  our combined strength if every sister had sincere prayer every morning and night or, better yet, prayed unceasingly as the Lord has commanded. If every family had family prayer daily and had a family home evening once a week, we would be stronger. If every sister was self-reliant enough to be able to give freely of her knowledge, talents, and resources and if every sister’s discipleship was reflected by what she said and what she wore, we would be immovable in that which is correct.” Julie B. Beck, “What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable,” Ensign, Nov 2007, 109–12

We should go not only for our kindred dead but also for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety that are within those hallowed and consecrated walls. Let us make the temple, with temple worship and temple covenants and temple marriage, our ultimate earthly goal and the supreme mortal experience. A Temple-Motivated People, Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Feb 1995

"I urge all who have not yet received these greatest of all blessings within the walls of the temple to do whatever may be necessary to qualify to receive them. To those who have received these blessings, I invite you to prepare yourselves to savor again the experience of being within the sacred premises of the holy temples of God and have the visions of life eternal open again to your hearts, minds, and souls." James E. Faust, "Eternity Lies before Us," Ensign, May 1997, 20

“It is not only a matter of receiving a recommend to enter the temples of the Lord, but it is also a matter of one having a pure, sweet, and repentant spirit as well. When we enter the door of the house of the Lord, we might well remember a theme that was mentioned in the Washington Temple:

Enter this door as if the floor within were gold;
And every wall of jewels all of wealth untold;
As if a choir in robes of fire were singing here;
Nor shout nor rush but hush … for God is here. (From “Words of Life,” p. 45.)”

Spencer W. Kimball, “The Things of Eternity—Stand We in Jeopardy?,” Ensign, Jan 1977, 3

photos from my visits to the DC Temple.