Finding Joy & Meaning in Temple Worship

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!"

Draper Temple Open House

We attended the Draper Temple Open House with the Woods on Saturday. It was such a great experience. Of course, "great" is a relative term meaning the best that could be expected when you're waiting for 2 hours with 10 children. It would have been 11 children but Alex went and stayed at Grandmas house because he was really sick. (He and I are going to the Temple tomorrow morning so he can have a chance to see it).

Us 4 adults did so good staying calm during all the meltdowns and the kids reported the following day what their favorite rooms in the Temple were. The most popular answers were the Celestial Room, the Baptismal Font, the Sealing Room and the Bride's Room. (What little girl doesn't just fall in love with the bride's room, huh?)

It was a special day for me (see next post) and I will definitely be increasing my Temple attendance this year.

A Favorite Quote and a Bold Prophet

I taught the lesson, "Leading the Lord's Way" from the Joseph Smith manual yesterday in Relief Society. It was one of my favorite lessons so far and the whole time I was preparing, I kept thinking of one of my favorite quotes:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson

I kept thinking that the Prophet Joseph was bold and he was strong. He didn't play small to avoid hurting other's feelings. He led and taught with the Spirit. And because he did this, others had the courage to let their lights shine as well. I know that all of our talents and gifts come from our Father in Heaven and we should use them every day to uplift those around us.

Close Call

A storm rarely slows me down.

Most of the time, it never keeps me from doing what I had originally planned.

Today was not any different- although it could have changed my outlook forever.

Ed and I made plans with his parents about 2 weeks ago to attend "A Christmas Carol" playing at the Hale Center Theater in Orem. We had given them a gift certificate last Christmas which we were sure they hadn't used yet so we invited them to go with us.

Today it snowed most of the day and we ended up with 8 or 9 inches of snow (just a rough guesstimate). We traveled to the show as planned, leaving more than an hour before the show started to give us plenty of time.

The roads were icy in parts and traffic was thick but we arrived in safety. The play was excellent and we had a great time.

On the way home, probably since it hadn't been snowing for awhile, the interstate was dry and we made our way without much adaptation in driving speeds, etc.

Between the University Ave. exit and the first Springville exit, the car directly in front of us braked and spun around. It crashed into the median directly in front of us and ricocheted off headed straight for us. It barely missed us. As Ed tried to slow down to offer assistance and I started to dial 911 for help, he looked in our rear view mirror where he saw cars skidding and trying to get control. 2 cars missed us by inches- one on the left and one on the right.

I think the driver of the car hitting the median was okay but I still called 911 to give them her location. I explained that we tried to stop to offer assistance but the black ice was so slick that we were unable to stop safely.

I'm so grateful that we were protected and spared from an accident. And it humbled me enough to learn that even though you are most careful, do everything right, educated about how to drive in rough weather, accidents will still happen. And while you can't rearrange your life (especially in Utah) around the snowfall- it is still wise to be prepared and cautious.

It also reminds me, even though I had no such feeling or prompting tonight, that we should listen and give validity to the promptings we have to reschedule or cancel certain events. And that we should remain close to the Spirit so that we may receive those promptings when they will keep us out of harms way.

Who's on the Lord Side?

I happened upon a blog while I was doing some research for my lesson. Here is the link if you're interested: http://the-exponent.com/. At a quick glance, it appears to be a blog where several LDS women blog about church lesson helps, politics, and other items that affect LDS women.

On the right hand column of the page, there are post teasers that they call "chatter". One of them caught my eye. It said, "Prop 8 Fallout: where do we go from here?" I really enjoyed the post and could sympathize with the writer even though I didn't actively campaign for Prop 8. I am grateful to the church members in California for their hard work and service and I feel that Prop. 8 would not have passed without their efforts.

The comments on the post leave a lot to be desired. A lot of the comments are from "active LDS members" who opposed Prop. 8 and want to let the world know that not all Mormons want to take away other's civil rights. Some comments talk about how it's within their right to disagree with the Prophet and still get a Temple Recommend. The comments criticize the way the church is ran and how church resources (namely $$$) are distributed.

I wanted to post so badly my thoughts on this but I knew it wouldn't come out nice so I refrained. As I read down the comments, I did read a few opinions from those that held my same opinion. I do not think it's right to openly criticize the church and openly disagree with our Priesthood Leaders.

I have struggled with doctrine in the past. I have struggled with local ward leader's decisions. And I have even been guilty of gossiping about these struggles in an attempt to win other's favor and nods of agreement. Misery loves company.

I have learned that my behavior of gossiping about it and creating contention doesn't do anyone, least of all myself, any good. Now when I question something or have a hard time, I first go to Father in Heaven in prayer. Second to my husband and close friends who won't judge me for my opinions. It's during these conversations with Ed and my friends that my heart if softened, my mind is open, and my mouth is closed. I appreciate my friends who can help me find peace with doctrine and help teach me to not feed my rebellious soul.

I didn't feel that the people who wrote these posts were trying to find peace. I felt like they were spreading contention by trying to convince others that their opposition of Prop. 8 was justified. And as I read down the comments, I felt that this contention snowballed out of control. I feel sad for those who don't agree with Prop. 8 but hope that they can find the peace and freedom that comes with obedience.

As I talked about this with Ed- he read me a passage in the book, "50 Signs of the Times" by David J. Ridges. It is long but I wanted to share it:

The book is organized by stating the sign and the category of the sign (as in "Been Fulfilled, "Currently being fulfilled" and "Yet, Future")

Sign #29

"People will refuse to believe obvious truth and will instead adhere to fables and falsehood. Category: Being Fulfilled

This prophecy of conditions shortly preceding the Second Coming of Christ needs little explanation. When people get sufficiently wicked and selfish, they no longer think rationally.

Indeed, wickedness does not promote rational thought. In the face of social trends and political posturing which, to the the rational mind, will obviously lead to the destruction of society as we know it, with its built-in safeguards for human freedom and use of agency, such people stand aghast at truth and moral principles. They flush in anger at those who advocate the standards of the Bible and the gospel of Christ as the basis for the survival of society.

Paul, the Apostle, prophesied in Timothy: He said, 'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables.'

We often apply these verses to the gospel and the tendency of the spiritually blind and deaf to reject its teachings and blessings. This is certainly the case. However, no doubt these verses can be applied also to common sense and rational thought processes in all matters relating to the governing of nations and communities as well as to standards to which the media should be held accountable. The "teachers, having itching ears" and "fables" mentioned by Paul can certainly include the peers of those who would have us pass unrighteous or unwise laws, as well as the peers and fans of Hollywood and other media production centers who insist on the "anything goes" philosophy of entertainment."

I don't post this to be on a high horse or self-righteous. I post this
#1) to remind myself to stay committed to the Gospel of Christ and to not be deceived,

#2) the Second Coming is getting nearer every day and we are in the process of being separated- time to get off the fence, and

#3) to make a stand. Prop. 8 is not about civil rights. It is about the true definition of marriage. I believe that marriage should only exist between a man and a woman. I believe that by stating this that I'm following the Prophet and other leaders of the church, and more importantly, Jesus Christ.

I wonder that in the future, if the Church will make a stand that I struggle to support. I wonder if I have the strength to be obedient. I wonder that while I feel I'm on the Lord's side of the Prop. 8 issue, what will come along to make me tempted to stand on the other side?

AND.... most importantly, do I have the strength to deal with ALL OF THIS while at the same time leading, teaching, caring for, loving and nurturing my own little family?

Solemn Assembly

I don't typically wax spiritual on my blog (not intentionally really- just don't do it often) but I wanted to mention what an awesome experience this morning's session of General Conference was for me and my family. Usually on Saturday's we half-heartedly listen because we are taking care of Saturday chores, shopping, etc., but this weekend I wanted to make sure we sat down as a family for the sustaining of our new prophet, Pres. Monson.

I felt the spirit so strong when I was asked as a member of the Relief Society to stand up and sustain him. It also gave me a chance to bear that testimony to my children as Hannah and Haylee were asked to stand and sustain him as well. What a wonderful gift we are given to have the Holy Ghost to testify of truth and what a wonderful blessing to have a living Prophet! I'm grateful for my Savior and for the restored Gospel.

And on a lighter note, I'm grateful to have a break from church twice a year!