In His Holy Temple

Elder Gerrit Gong opened the most recent general conference by speaking about the House of the Lord. He started with this statement: “Why did the temple workers cross the road? To help the people on the other side.” During this recent Halloween season the house directly across the street from the temple I attend put out a skeleton holding a sign with that joke written on it. It reminds us that our purpose in going to the temple is not for ourselves only but to be of service to those who we cannot see. We seek to serve those who cannot perform saving ordinances for themselves without expectation of anything from them in return. President Joseph F. Smith saw in vision what is happened there on the “other side” and described it in these words: “And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel. Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.” He also made this statement about his predecessors: “The Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work, Including the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead, were also in the spirit world” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:31-33, 53-54). Essential to the work that Joseph Smith and the early prophets did was to build temples and provide a place for the ordinances of the temples and the redemption of the dead. The Prophet Joseph put it this way: “The Church is not fully organized, in its proper order, and cannot be, until the Temple is completed, where places will be provided for the administration of the ordinances of the Priesthood.” Another person quoted the prophet this way: “Joseph said the Lord said that we should build our house to his name, that we might be baptized for the dead. But if we did it not, we should be rejected, and our dead with us, and this Church should not be accepted.” We cannot truly be His people unless we fulfill His command to build temples and perform ordinances for our dead in them.  

            Elder Gong invited us with these words, “Please, dear brothers and sisters, wherever we live, let us always be grateful for the gifts of eternity sacred temples bring. Look for the miracles. New converts sometimes testify family on the other side of the veil led the missionaries to find and baptize family on this side of the veil so their family could be united…. Whatever generation you are in the Church, in the chain of your eternal family, please be a strong link.” The Prophet Joseph showed us what that kind of gratitude for the ordinances of salvation available through temples looks like when he wrote a letter to the Saints, now Doctrine and Covenants 128, while hiding from his enemies. He exclaimed, “Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel, who hath ordained, before the world was, that which would enable us to redeem them out of their prison; for the prisoners shall go free.” His exultation continued with these words, “Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!” He rejoiced over the ordinances of the temple, and his words should inspire us to better appreciate the incredible privilege that we have to worship in the house of the Lord today.

The Prophet Joseph invited the Saints then and all of us today in these words, “Let us, therefore, as a church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness; and let us present in his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:22-24). That book is being written one ordinance at a time where “in each temple, by authority and in the name of the Lord, ordinances and covenants are truly and faithfully performed and properly recorded.” That record is a part of the largest book that will ever have been written—FamilyTree—and surely there is much more writing for us to do.