Plant in the Hearts

I have continued to think about President Nelson’s question in the Priesthood session of the most recent general conference, “What have you learned in the past two years that you always want to remember?” One of the things that comes to mind is how much I need the temple—how I miss the ability to worship in the temple! I have learned again and again that time in the temple brings an added measure of the Spirit and increased abilities to tackle the challenges of life. I wrote in my journal after one temple visit in 2019: “When I go to the temple I feel added strength and encouragement and am going to keep moving forward.” The pandemic has taught me even more that I need the temple and I have missed the added strength and direction that comes from worship there. This past general conference has also shown us that the Church is absolutely committed to temples and making it possible for members to serve and worship there as twenty additional temples were announced. President Nelson also highlighted that ground was broken for 21 temples in 2020, an amazing figure. After announcing the new temples he summarized, “Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness. Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way.” I know that I need to focus more completely on remembering my temple covenants and turning the hearts of my children towards the house of the Lord so they too can receive His strength there.

                Malachi’s famous statement in the final chapter of the Old Testament is this: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:5-6). So how do we help in that effort to “turn… the heart of the children to their fathers” in our own lives? Surely at least part of that means that we must focus our children’s hearts on the temple itself. To come to serve their fathers in the most powerful way, they must enter into the house of the Lord to perform ordinances for them. Though this verse says that it is the role of Elijah to turn their hearts, we are also implicated as the Lord invited us in a revelation in our day: “Seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:16). Another version of Malachi’s statement uses the word plant, such as in the first chronological section of the Doctrine and Covenants: “Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers” (2:1-2). Surely that is our role as parents with our children, to plant the seeds that encourage love for the temple and a desire to serve their fathers there. President Joseph F. Smith spoke of it this way: “The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers, Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the temples of the Lord in the dispensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the sealing of the children to their parents” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:47-48). So we should plant in our children’s hearts the promises of the scriptures which will inspire them to participate in the “great work” that is done in the temples. Throughout the pandemic I have not focused on the temple as I should have, but surely I have learned this past year as much as ever that my family needs the temple. I hope we can respond to the Prophet Joseph Smith’s statement to let “your works be redoubled” regarding the temple and fulfill this wish of President Nelson: “I pray that your desire to worship and serve in the temple burns more brightly now than ever” (Doctrine and Covenants 127:4).