Armed With Thy Power

In his first address as the president of the Church, President Nelson spoke from the Salt Lake Temple and said this: “As a new presidency, we want to begin with the end in mind. For this reason, we're speaking to you today from a temple. The end for which each of us strives is to be endowed with power in a house of the Lord, sealed as families, faithful to covenants made in a temple that qualify us for the greatest gift of God, that of eternal life. The ordinances of the temple and the covenants you make there are key to strengthening your life, your marriage and family, and your ability to resist the attacks of the adversary. Your worship in the temple and your service there for your ancestors will bless you with increased personal revelation and peace and will fortify your commitment to stay on the covenant path.” That focus on the temple has not changed in these nearly six years since he was called, and he has certainly proven his commitment to temples through the explosion of temple building that he has instigated in the Church. Clearly, he truly believes in the blessings of the temple and has invited us again and again in general conference to fully partake of that power that comes from the House of the Lord. 

           This past general conference was no different, and this weekend President Nelson surprised us again by announcing 20 new temples, tying his record for the number of temples announced in one general conference. Of his 12 general conferences as the prophet, he has now announced 153 temples (with 1 of those, Ephraim Utah, technically announced outside of conference but we will count that with the April 2021 conference). That puts his average at 12.75 temples per conference or 25.5 per year. There is also a definite trend upwards; in the first three years he averaged 8.17 per conference and in the most recent three years he has averaged announcing 17.33 temples per conference:  

Another interesting fact is that of the 153 temples he has announced, exactly 100 have been outside of the United States, thus matching his desire to bring uniformity across the Church and the blessings of the temple to everyone. He has not gone a general conference without talking about the temple and clearly has put the Church’s resources behind his teachings about the importance of the temple for each of us.  

            President Nelson taught this on Sunday: “Spending more time in the temple builds faith. And your service and worship in the temple will help you to think celestial. The temple is a place of revelation. There you are shown how to progress toward a celestial life. There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power. There you are guided in solving the problems in your life, even your most perplexing problems. The ordinances and covenants of the temple are of eternal significance. We continue to build more temples to make these sacred possibilities become a reality in each of your lives.” That promise of gaining access to the power of the Savior echoes the dedicatory prayer of the Prophet Joseph Smith at the very first temple of this dispensation: “And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them; And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22-23). That has always been the promise of the temple: that we can obtain there power from on high to overcome life’s challenges and do the great work of the Lord in this dispensation. With all of these temples that President Nelson is building across the globe we see indeed the fulfilment of the promise of one beloved hymn: “The knowledge and power of God are expanding; The veil o’er the earth is beginning to burst.”