I See More Clearly My Place
“The mighty perspective of eternity is unraveled before
us in the holy temples; we see time from its infinite beginning to its endless
end; and the drama of eternal life is unfolded before us. Then I see more
clearly my place amidst the things of the universe, my place among the purposes
of God; I am better able to place myself where I belong, and I am better able
to value and to weigh, to separate and to organize the common, ordinary duties
of my life, so that the little things shall not oppress me or take away my
vision of the greater things that God has given us.” (Elder John A. Widtsoe, Conference
Report, Apr. 1922, pp. 97–98)
Temples
Are Places of Personal Revelation
“I testify that temples are places of personal revelation.
There have been times when I have been weighed down by problems or difficulties
and have gone to the house of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers.
These answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways. Now, by virtue of the sacred priesthood in me vested, I
promise you that, with increased attendance in the temples of our God, you
shall receive increased personal revelation to bless your lives as you bless
those who have died.” (President Ezra Taft Benson, Frankfurt Germany Temple
Dedication, Cornerstone: August 28, 1987; “The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine
and Covenants,” Ensign, May 1987, 85)
We Would
Be a Better People
“If every man in this church who has been ordained to the
Melchizedek Priesthood were to qualify himself to hold a temple recommend, and
then were to go to the house of the Lord and renew his covenants in solemnity
before God and witnesses, we would be a better people. There would be little or no infidelity among us. Divorce
would almost entirely disappear. So much of heartache and heartbreak would be
avoided. There would be a greater measure of peace and love and happiness in
our homes. There would be fewer weeping wives and weeping children. There would
be a greater measure of appreciation and of mutual respect among us. And I am confident the Lord would smile with greater
favor upon us.” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, October 1995 General Conference,
“Of Missions, Temples, and Stewardship”)
There Is
Rest for Our Souls
“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 a respite
from the cares of our lives. 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.” (President Thomas. S. Monson,
April 2015 General Conference, “Blessings of the Temple”)
A
Temple-Motivated People
“Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a
temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have
every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult
member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if
proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it. Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people.
Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal
circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also
go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety
which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a
place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the
house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.”
(President Howard W. Hunter, The Ensign,
October 1994, “The Great Symbol of Our Membership”)
Make More
Difference in the World
“Temple work is not an escape from the world but a
reinforcing of our need to better the world while preparing ourselves for another
and far better world. Thus, being in the Lord’s house can help us to be
different from the world in order to make more difference in the world.” (Elder
Neal A. Maxwell, Not My Will, p. 133)
The Dust
of Distraction Seems to Settle Out
“When members of the Church are troubled or when crucial
decisions weigh heavily upon their minds, it is a common thing for them to go
to the temple. It is a good place to take our cares. In the temple we can
receive spiritual perspective. There, during the time of the temple service, we
are ‘out of the world.’ Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems, and
there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot
think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to
settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we
were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not
previously known. The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance
work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service.
We will be blessed in all of our affairs” (President Boyd K. Packer, The Ensign, “The Holy Temple,” Feb. 1995)
A Little
Piece of Heaven on Earth
“I will never
forget the moment when we arrived at the Swiss Temple and I saw it in its full
beauty for the first time. The next day, early in the morning, we waited at the
temple door to be ready as soon as it opened. I had a wonderful, unforgettable
spiritual experience coming to the temple for the first time, and especially
being sealed as a family. We came back to the temple as often as we could…It
was really like a little piece of heaven on earth.” (Sister Harriet Uchtdorf,
February 9, 2014 devotional for Bountiful Utah Temple Workers)
Secure
Holiness of Character
“The days of our
lives will be greatly blessed as we frequent the temples to learn the
transcending spiritual relations we have with Deity. We need to try harder to
be found standing in holy places. Temple ceremonial covenants and observances
are means to help secure holiness of character. In our desire to create in our
people more commitment to the holy work of the temples, we must urge them to
look deeper to the profound spiritual meaning to be found there.” (President James
E. Faust, April 2005 General Conference, “Standing in Holy Places”)
We Will
Be Able to Bear Every Trial and Overcome Each Temptation
