Picture Above: Gilbert Temple Construction Update
This was my sacrament meeting talk today.
In Mosiah 15: 16-18, Abinadi testifies “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace!
And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!
And behold, I say unto you, this is not all. For O how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people; yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people.”
As I read these scriptures, I feel they are symbolic of the way the Savior stands with us in holy places. What places and things do we surround ourselves with to stand in Holy Places with the Savior, making our feet beautiful upon the mountains?
Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander
Amidst the bustle of the secular world, with its certain uncertainty, there must be places that offer spiritual refuge, renewal, hope, and peace. There are indeed such places. They are both holy and sacred. They are places where we meet the divine and find the Spirit of the Lord.
Three times in the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord counsels His people to “stand in holy places” (see D&C 45:32; D&C 87:8; D&C 101:22). The context of His counsel is all the more significant as we look at the current condition of our world. Desolating disease, persecution, and war have an all-too-familiar face and have imposed themselves into our daily experience. In the face of such perplexing problems, the Lord counsels, “Behold, it is my will, that all they who call on my name, and worship me according to mine everlasting gospel, should gather together, and stand in holy places” (D&C 101:22).
Great personal preparation is required for us to receive the spiritual benefit of standing in holy places. Holy places and sacred space are also distinguished by the sacrifice they require. Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught that “the word sacrifice means literally ‘to make sacred,’ or ‘to render sacred’” (“The Law of Sacrifice,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 8; Liahona, Mar. 2002, 13). The words sacred and sacrifice come from the same root. One may not have the sacred without first sacrificing something for it. There can be no sacredness without personal sacrifice. Sacrifice sanctifies the sacred.
HOMES
One of the first places I identify as holy is my home – past and present. Within the home sacrifices are made to let go of worldly wants to maintain a sacred, holy place. Family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening are events that establish home as a holy place.
FAMILY PRAYER
President Heber J. Grant
“I am convinced that one of the greatest things that can come into any home to cause the boys and girls in that home to grow up in a love of God, and in a love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, is to have family prayer. … I believe that there are very few that go astray, that very few lose their faith, who have once had a knowledge of the gospel, and who never neglect their prayers in their families, and their secret supplications to God.”3
President Monson:
“As a people, aren’t we grateful that family prayer is not an out-of-date practice with us? There is no more beautiful sight in all this world than to see a family praying together. There is real meaning behind the oft-quoted ‘The family that prays together stays together.’”
Prayer Bell in a home of 7 children
I grew up in a home founded upon family prayer. As the youngest of 7 children and 2 working parents, keeping the commitment to family prayer was not always the easiest. If fact, my parents have a prayer bell on the mantle we would ring to gather everyone together. My nieces and nephews like to take part in this job today. I have fond memories of these moments we share together when the hustle was not in control. It was a time to counsel, visit, and laugh together. By example, my parents taught my siblings and me to pray for each other by name according to life’s concerns. I believe this is a practice we all continue today. Though distance separates us, we are connected through the gift of prayer.
Commitment with flexibility & creativity
Keeping the commitment of family prayer requires flexibility and creativity. Growing up, family prayer sometimes came in shifts – my parents praying with the older children before school followed with a second prayer with the younger children.
Many of my brothers have busy work schedules that take them away from the home in the early morning hours to after bedtimes some nights. In such cases, my sisters have been creative to call their husbands when it is time for family prayer. Everyone in the family is included with the advances of technology – praying over the phone and/or with Skype.
President Hinckley
The end result is worth whatever sacrifices we make to build the habit—and often these are no more than small sacrifices of time. President Hinckley has said: “I know of no single practice that will have a more salutary effect upon your lives than the practice of kneeling together as you begin and close each day.”
Following the devastation and terrible destruction that occurred after His crucifixion in the Old World, the Savior appeared to the Nephite people and comforted them with the counsel to “pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed” (3 Ne. 18:21). What simple yet powerful direction to a people who had lost and suffered so much. What peaceful direction to all who suffer and need guidance in their families today.
President Monson:
My beloved brothers and sisters, communication with our Father in Heaven—including our prayers to Him and His inspiration to us—is necessary in order for us to weather the storms and trials of life. The Lord invites us, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me.”7 As we do so, we will feel His Spirit in our lives, providing us the desire and the courage to stand strong and firm in righteousness—to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved.”8
Family prayer enables us to stand in holy places as the spirit is welcomed into our home.
FAMILY HOME EVENING
President Hinckley
“We have a family home evening program once a week [Monday night] across the Church in which parents sit down with their children. They study the scriptures. They talk about family problems. They plan family activities and things of that kind. I don’t hesitate to say if every family in the world practiced that one thing, you’d see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world” (interview, Boston Globe, 14 Aug. 2000).
“[The Lord] expects us to have family home evening—one night a week to gather our children together and teach them the gospel. Isaiah said, ‘And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord.’ That is the commandment: ‘All thy children shall be taught of the Lord.’ And the blessing: ‘And great,’ he said, ‘shall be the peace of thy children’ [Isa. 54:13]” (meeting, Nouméa, New Caledonia, 17 June 2000).
“In 1915 President Joseph F. Smith asked the people of the Church to have family home evening. My father said we would do so, that we would warm up the parlor where Mother’s grand piano stood and do what the President of the Church had asked.
“We were miserable performers as children. We could do all kinds of things together while playing, but for one of us to try to sing a solo before the others was like asking ice cream to stay hard on the kitchen stove. In the beginning, we would laugh and make cute remarks about one another’s performance. But our parents persisted. We sang together. We prayed together. We listened quietly while Mother read Bible and Book of Mormon stories. Father told us stories out of his memory. …
“Out of those simple little meetings, held in the parlor of our old home, came something indescribable and wonderful. Our love for our parents was strengthened. Our love for brothers and sisters was enhanced. Our love for the Lord was increased. An appreciation for simple goodness grew in our hearts. These wonderful things came about because our parents followed the counsel of the President of the Church” (“Some Lessons I Learned as a Boy,” Ensign, May 1993, 54).
Personal FHE Memories
Like family prayer, I have tender memories of family home evening growing up. It was a time of lessons, games, ice cream outings, picnics, and simply being together. Family home evening does not just include traditional families of mother, father, and children. It includes everyone despite family circumstance.
Family Home Evening Strengthens Families – Pres. Faust, Ensign June 2003
When I hear of a family breaking up, I question if family home evening and family prayers have been regularly held in that home. Surely, the most important ingredient in producing happiness at home for members of this Church is a deep religious commitment to God and His gospel. In family home evening, such commitment can be nurtured in children by the wise, mature supervision of parents. Couples can strengthen and sustain each other in living and understanding gospel principles. Single members can gather under the direction of their priesthood leaders in small groups for gospel discussions and appropriate activities. Devotion to God developed in these settings seems to forge the spiritual moorings and stability that can help families and individuals cope with the complexities of life. Some may say this is an oversimplification of a very complex problem, yet I believe the answers lie within the framework of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
TEMPLE
Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander
The temples, with “Holiness to the Lord” inscribed on them, are among the most sacred of all places on the earth. They stand as evidence of God’s love to all His children, past and present. The blessings of the temple are intertwined and inseparable from significant sacrifice. The ordinances performed therein provide access to the full expression of the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. This alone would qualify the temple as holy and sacred. However, personal sacrifice is also required. We sacrifice time in search for our ancestors and time to attend to our temple responsibilities. We also strive to live the highest standards of personal worthiness, which qualify us to enter the sacred space of this most holy place.
I have made a personal commitment to attend the temple as often as I can. I love remembering special moments of my wedding day and taking out my endowments each time I attend the temple. The temple is a sacred place of learning while continuously reviewing temple prayers, blessings, and ordinances.
I love the peace of the temple that is found therein. As you walk into the temple it seems the care of the the world behind, expanding the heart's ability to find peace, hope, and renewal.
In nursery, we are learning about temples and families. It is touching to watch the children sing "I Love to See the Temple." I love to see the temple, go inside to feel the holy spirit, to listen and to pray.
The Example of John Rowe Moyle President Utchdorf Oct. 2008 General Conference, “Lift Where You Stand”
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Rowe Moyle. John was a convert to the Church who left his home in England and traveled to the Salt Lake Valley as part of a handcart company. He built a home for his family in a small town a valley away from Salt Lake City. John was an accomplished stone cutter and, because of this skill, was asked to work on the Salt Lake Temple.
Every Monday John left home at two o’clock in the morning and walked six hours in order to be at his post on time. On Friday he would leave his work at five o’clock in the evening and walk almost until midnight before arriving home. He did this year after year.
One day, while he was doing his chores at home, a cow kicked him in the leg, causing a compound fracture. With limited medical resources, the only option was to amputate the broken leg. So John’s family and friends strapped him onto a door and, with a bucksaw, cut off his leg a few inches from the knee.
In spite of the crude surgery, the leg started to heal. Once John could sit up in bed, he began carving a wooden leg with an ingenious joint that served as an ankle to an artificial foot. Walking on this device was extremely painful, but John did not give up, building up his endurance until he could make the 22-mile (35-km) journey to the Salt Lake Temple each week, where he continued his work.
His hands carved the words “Holiness to the Lord” that stand today as a golden marker to all who visit the Salt Lake Temple.5
John did not do this for the praise of man. Neither did he shirk his duty, even though he had every reason to do so. He knew what the Lord expected him to do.
Mind and Heart
Holy places can be found in more than dedicated buildings. Standing in holy places occurs anywhere with a heart of love.
Sister Sharon G. Larsen:
“A holy place is where we feel safe, secure, loved, and comforted. That’s how it was in our heavenly home. Standing in holy places and being in good company bring feelings of how it must have been in that home we left behind, the home that seems so far away at times. Two and a half years after the Church was organized, the Lord warned Joseph Smith of wars and famines and plagues that would come because of wickedness. Then He told us how to be safe in such a world: “Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come” (D&C 87:8). In holy places we are protected from the almost overwhelming commotion of the world. Angels can be our companions and support (See D&C 87:8).
A few years ago, I experienced a time in which I was totally separated from my family and loved ones. Although many around me felt hopelessly alone, I was blessed with the knowledge that God’s love surrounded me no matter where I was. On my first night alone, fear of the new experience overwhelmed me. However, as I and my family at home offered prayers, I felt God’s love envelope me. My new surroundings became a hold place as I felt safe, secure, loved, and comforted. The feelings of comfort from my first night repeated in other moments I felt lost, lonely and afraid. He never left me.
President Monson:
“Our Father in Heaven is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The prophet Mormon tells us that God is “unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.”3 In this world where nearly everything seems to be changing, His constancy is something on which we can rely, an anchor to which we can hold fast and be safe, lest we be swept away into uncharted waters. . . .
As the winds of change swirl around us and the moral fiber of society continues to disintegrate before our very eyes, may we remember the Lord’s precious promise to those who trust in Him: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”9
The storms will still beat at our doors from time to time, for they are an inescapable part of our existence in mortality. We, however, will be far better equipped to deal with them, to learn from them, and to overcome them if we have the gospel at our core and the love of the Savior in our hearts. The prophet Isaiah declared, “The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.”5
I know that by sacrificing for the sacred in our homes and personal lives, God blesses us with strength, love, and His spirit. As we stand with the Savior, our feet become beautiful upon the mountains with His. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
