Day 5
I am grateful for Temples, Houses of the Lord
Holiness to the Lord, The House of the Lord
The Temple is the most sacred place on the earth today. There are over 170 Temples currently operating in the world, and many many more are planned. The Temple is a sacred place where I can worship my God and feel His presence. Within the Temple I have made sacred Covenants with my God that bind me to Him. I love the Lord, I love Jesus Christ, and I love the Holy Ghost. Within the walls of the Temple I can feel their presence unlike anywhere else.
The Covenants and Ordinances within the Temple are opportunities to be connected with the Savior. The Savior, in the Father’s plan, plays an amazing and large role. To add to the Atonement, the Covenants and Ordinances of the Temple are integral for our Exaltation and connection to the Lord. And it is through Jesus Christ that we can participate in such Covenants.
Not only can we have a chance at Exaltation, we can also give that chance, and the chance of Salvation, to our kindred dead. Yesterday I talked about my ancestors and love for them. I mentioned that in this Plan of Happiness we all have the chance to hear the Gospel and to accept it no matter what generation we were born to or what area of the world we live. This is achieved by the Temple. Within the Temple we participate in many Covenants for ourselves, but only once. When we have done the work for ourselves we can do the work by proxy for the dead.
This is how we can be saved by our dead. By being able to go over and over again to the Temple to learn more and more about the Covenants made by doing them for the dead. I recently had the chance to work for about a year in the Nashville, Tennessee, Temple. It was a great experience and I was able to go every other Saturday. It was humbling to know that God trusted me enough to serve there, in His House. I was able to assist patrons in their Ordinances and occasionally participate in them myself.
There were several occasions where the Spirit overwhelmed me. I know that what I have done within the Temple will mark me forever. I am grateful that I can help bind the world together through serving the dead. I love my ancestors and I can honor them by serving in the Temple as often as possible. One day I shall meet them in the spirit world and I shall be glad to see them, my kin, and know that I was able to help them. I will not stop helping them in life or in death. The Temple is a wonderful place.