Capstone Practicum
Temple Service
1) Hundreds of
thousands of faithful members participate in the unselfish service we call “temple work,” which has no motive other
than love and service for our fellowmen, living
and dead. The same unselfish service is given by
legions of officers and teachers in our stakes and wards and branches. All are
uncompensated in worldly terms but committed to Christ-like service to their fellowmen.
Dallin
H. Oaks – “Unselfish Service” Apr. 2009 General
Conference
2) Some degree of sacrifice has ever been associated with
temple building and with temple attendance. Countless are those who have labored and
struggled in order to obtain for themselves and for their families the
blessings which are found in the temples of God.
Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive
the blessings of the temple? Those who understand the eternal blessings which
come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy,
no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never
too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much
discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in
the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an
eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on
high are worth every sacrifice and every effort.
Thomas
S. Monson – “The Holy Temple – A Beacon to the World” Apr. 2011 General Conf.
3) To enter the temple is a tremendous
blessing. But first we must be worthy. We should not be rushed. We cannot cut
corners of preparation and risk the breaking of covenants we were not prepared
to make. That would be worse than not making them at all.
In
the temple we receive an endowment, which is, literally speaking, a gift. In
receiving this gift, we should understand its significance and the importance
of keeping sacred covenants. Each temple ordinance “is not just a ritual to go
through, it is an act of solemn promising.
Russell M. Nelson – “Personal Preparation for Temple
Blessings” Apr. 2001 General Conference
4) “Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
(see John 3:5) Vicarious baptism can mercifully provide this essential
ordinance for all worthy deceased who did not receive it in mortality.
This glorious doctrine is another
witness of the all-encompassing nature of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He
made salvation available to every repentant soul. His Atonement conquered
death, and He permits the worthy deceased to receive all ordinances of
salvation vicariously.
In an epistle written over 150 years ago, Joseph Smith stated: “The
Saints have the privilege of being baptized for … their relatives who are dead
… who have received the Gospel in the spirit, through … those who have been commissioned
to preach to them.” (History of the Church, 4:231.) Later he added, “Those Saints who neglect it
in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own
salvation.” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph
Smith (2007), 471–72.)
Richard G. Scott – “The Joy of
Redeeming the Dead” Oct. 2012 General Conference
5) Many faithful Saints have done the work of researching their
family lines and are using the reserve feature of FamilySearch to hold the
ordinances for their own family members to serve as proxy. The intent of
reserving names is to allow a reasonable period of time for individuals to
perform ordinances for ancestors and collateral lines. There are currently 12
million names and millions of corresponding ordinances that are reserved. Many
names have been reserved for years. Ancestors who have been found are no doubt
anxious and thrilled when their names are cleared for ordinances. They,
however, may not be very happy when they have to continue to wait for their
ordinances to be performed.
We encourage those of you who have a large
reservation of names to share them so that members of your extended family or
ward and stake can help you in completing that work.
Richard G. Scott – “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead” Oct. 2012 General Conference
6) If you have received temple ordinances but do not now visit
the temple, even when there is one nearby, with all the tenderness of my heart
I invite you to come back to the temple. There are many reasons. It is a place
of peace, solitude, and inspiration. Regular attendance will enrich your life
with greater purpose. It will permit you to provide deceased ancestors the
exalting ordinances you have received. Go to the temple. You know it is the
right thing to do. Do it now.
The temple
ordinances are so imbued with symbolic meaning as to provide a lifetime of
productive contemplation and learning. Ponder each word and activity in the
temple. Study how they interrelate. As you ponder the significance of those
matters, think of them in light of your relationship to the Savior and His to
our Father in Heaven.
Richard
G. Scott – “Receive the Temple Blessings” Apr. 1999 General Conference
7) The restoration of the sealing authority
by Elijah in 1836 was necessary to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming and initiated a greatly increased and
worldwide interest in family history research.
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:
“The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek
after our dead. … For it is necessary that the sealing power should be in our
hands to seal our children and our dead for the fullness of the dispensation of
times—a dispensation to meet the promises made by Jesus Christ before the
foundation of the world for the salvation of man. … Hence, God said, ‘I will
send you Elijah the prophet’” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 475).
Joseph further explained:
“But what is the object of [the
coming of Elijah]? or how is it to be fulfilled? The keys are to be delivered,
the spirit of Elijah is to come, the Gospel to be established, the Saints of
God gathered, Zion built up, and the Saints to come up as saviors on Mount Zion
[see Obadiah 1:21].
“But how are they to become saviors
on Mount Zion? By building their temples … and going forth and receiving all
the ordinances … in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead … and herein is the chain that binds the hearts
of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, which fulfills
the mission of Elijah” (Teachings: Joseph Smith, 472–73).
David A. Bednar – “The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn”
Oct. 2011 General Conference
8) Elijah
came to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the children to
the fathers. (see D&C 110:13-16) With that, natural affection
between generations began to be enriched. This restoration was accompanied by
what is sometimes called the Spirit of Elijah—a manifestation of the Holy Ghost
bearing witness of the divine nature of the family. Hence, people throughout the world,
regardless of religious affiliation, are gathering records of deceased
relatives at an ever-increasing rate.
Elijah came not only to stimulate
research for ancestors. He also enabled families to be eternally linked beyond
the bounds of mortality. Indeed, the opportunity for families to be sealed
forever is the real reason for our research. The Lord declared through the
Prophet Joseph Smith: “These are principles in relation to the dead and the
living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For
their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, … they without us
cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect.” (see D&C 128:15, Matt. 5:48)
Russell M. Nelson – “A New Harvest Time” April 1998 General
Conference
9) Jesus Christ gave His life as a vicarious atonement.
He resolved the ultimate question raised by Job. He overcame death for all
mankind, which we could not do for ourselves. We can, however, perform
vicarious ordinances and truly become saviors on Mount Zion (Obadiah 1:21)
for our own families in order that we, with them, might be exalted as well as
saved.
Quentin L. Cook – “Roots and Branches” April 2014
General Conference
10) Our
work for the dead bears witness that Jesus Christ will come again to this
earth. In the final verses of the Old Testament, Jehovah declared, “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.” (Mal. 4:5-6;
see also 3 Ne. 25:5-6; D&C 2:1-3 ).
In an inspired
commentary on this scripture, the Prophet Joseph Smith stated, “The earth will
be smitten with a curse unless there is a welding link of some kind or other
between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other—and behold
what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead.” (D&C 128:18)
The vicarious
ordinances we perform in temples, beginning with baptism, make possible an
eternal welding link between generations that fulfills the purpose of the
earth’s creation. Without this, “the whole earth would be utterly wasted at
[Christ’s] coming.” (D&C 2:3; JS-H 1:39). Elijah has, in fact,
come as promised to confer the priesthood power that turns hearts and establishes
the welding links between the fathers and the children so that once again what
is bound on earth “shall be bound in heaven.” (Matt. 16:19; see also Matt.
18:18; D&C 132:46.)
When he came,
Elijah declared, “The keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands;
and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near,
even at the doors.” (D&C 110:16)
D. Todd Christofferson – “The
Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus” Oct. 2000 General Conference
Temple Service
Temple service; What a joy – more a blessing than it’s work!
So why do I not go there more? I guess I’m just a jerk!
We have a temple on the way within a year or two
And that will cut our travel down and they’ll need workers
too.
Right now, we go to lovely Boston’s temple in the east.
I try to go two times a month and spiritually feast.
I ride up with my brother who’s a worker there right now.
For months I’ve planned to join him as a worker there
somehow.
When first I asked I was informed, though wrongly it would
seem
That till I’ve been divorced five years, I can’t fulfill that
dream.
True, there are things I cannot do, but there are things I
can.
I’m going to start working there – at least that is my plan!
This way, when Hartford’s temple’s done, a fifteen minute
drive,
I’ll be prepared for service there! Excited?
Man alive!
(That would be YES!)
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