I attended a Stake Enrichment Meeting on Saturday. The theme was Temples. I had looking forward to it for about a month. I guess it's been awhile since I attended an Enrichment Meeting. Do you ever have those times in your life where you're just "thirsty"? That's how I've been feeling lately. I've felt like I'm coming out of spiritual drought and I'm thirsty all the time. It's unquenchable. I can't get enough. Anyway, I was literally giddy all last week about my upcoming Saturday. I knew I would be going to the enrichment meeting and then later that day we had plans to attend the Draper Temple Open House.
The Stake Enrichment did not disappoint me. Let's face it. You never quite know what you're going to get with these things. It's like a movie that everyone tells you about- you're afraid to get too excited so it won't let you down. As parched as I was, I doubt I could have been let down, but it was fabulous!
The first speaker, Sis. Hepworth, shared passages that we should read before going to the Temple and while at the Temple. I wanted to share them.
Before going to the Temple: Read, study and understand (may take a lifetime): Exodus 26:29, Leviticus 8, 2nd Chronicles 6, Moses & Abraham.
While at the Temple (in the chapel prior to a session, etc.): D & C 109
She also shared that those going to the Temple for the first time should be familiar and be able to define the following:
Anoint
Atonement
Christ
Covenant
Fall
Sacrifice
Temple
Another concept that she talked about was "berith" or binding ourselves to God. She talked about us being in an undesirable form but once we "berith" ourselves to God, he can guide us, lead us, teach us to go where He needs us to go. I plan on studying this concept more fully- it fascinates me.
I also wanted to paraphrase a story she told about the Logan Temple. The details are a little foggy but I think I'll be able to communicate the "gist" of the story. I think it came from an Apostle or Temple President. One day (and this may have been a dream or vision... not sure...), a pack of horsemen arrived on the grounds of the Logan Temple. They tied up their horses and began congregating around the Temple.
The Temple President went out to greet them and said, "What are you doing? Who is your leader?"
The leader of the group responded, "I am Lucifer and we have come to keep your people out of the Temple. We will remain here until the Temple Work is stopped."
The righteous leader said to him, "You cannot stop the work. It is the Lord's work and we will keep doing it until he tells us it is done."
The leader then commanded Lucifer and his group to leave and while they were leaving, Lucifer told him that he would distract his people and slow the work down.
The Logan Saints had a hard time for about a year after that getting to the Temple. A brother would arise every morning and announce, "I'm going to the Logan Temple today." But without fail, every day that he announced that farm equipment would break, cows would get out, and major farm troubles would ensue. He finally got smart. He stopped saying it out loud that he was going to the Temple. He would wake up as early as he could and get all of his work done. After he finished milking his cows he would drop his bucket and run to the Temple.
"Drop your bucket and RUN!"
Run to the Temple- that was the message of the story. I'm sure I slaughtered it but I doubted anyone would have a frame of reference if I just told you to drop the bucket and run.
Simple sentence..... but not simple to do. I'm going to try it though. And I do think Satan works as hard on us, if not harder, than he did the Logan Saints so long ago. He doesn't use physical problems with farm equipment and cows and stuff but he uses distractions. Subtle distractions that we don't even know are distracting us from doing what the Lord would have us do.
I'm going to the Temple this week. I'm not going to tell you what day or when. But I'm going. And in my case, it's "Drop the computer... and Run!"
