The Keys of the Kingdom of God
President James E. Faust once spoke at BYU and based upon a question that a visitor asked him in SLC: “Where is the church of the Mormons?” He pointed out various buildings associated with the Church and the man went on his way, but it caused President Faust to reflect upon this question. He noted what President Boyd K. Packer had once said when visiting the Kirtland Temple: “We do not have that building. When our people left, they took with them that which was important. They preserved the keys of the ordinances, the covenants, and the sealing power. They took with them all the essentials which we have today.” President Faust then commented, “So the Church cannot, in and of itself, be the temples, magnificent as they are, because the temple buildings alone do not bless. They are the exquisite containers for the pearls of great price administered therein by the priesthood of God.” The Church is not a building, for buildings will come and go but what is essential—the keys of the priest...