Becoming Spiritually Resistant to Sin

It is a blessing for Sister Chambers and I to be on this extraordinary campus with you wonderful students, faculty, and staff. We love BYU-Idaho and support its mission to “Develop disciples of Jesus Christ who are leaders in their homes, the Church, and their communities.”

We express our love and gratitude to you for your consistent and ever-growing support of the Rexburg Idaho Temple. We enjoy seeing you and being with you in that sacred and holy place.

I begin my remarks to you today with a video clip.

One of my favorite outdoor tools is a leaf blower.

Here, you see my leaf blower attempting to remove a small leaf from our driveway. The leaf blower is less than three feet away from the leaf and is generating a wind force of 170 miles per hour. And yet, this machine, generating the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane-force wind, cannot seem to move it.

You will need to ask your physics professor to give you a more detailed explanation as to why a leaf can be so resistant to such a powerful force, but in layman terms: the leaf is positioned so that it is aerodynamically resistant to the wind. Let me say that again. The leaf is positioned so that it is aerodynamically resistant to the wind.

I emphasize that point because, drawing a lesson from the leaf, each of us can and should position ourselves so firmly in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we become spiritually resistant to sin and the mortal temptations that seek to blow us away from our Heavenly Father and lead us, as the prophet Nephi taught, to “[wander] in strange roads” [1] “[leading us] away to destruction.” [2]

I mention just two items that I believe can make the biggest difference in our becoming spiritually resistant to the forces of evil.

1. Choose Heavenly Father, and; 
2. Stay connected to the temple.

First, choose Heavenly Father:

I will highlight three important truths in helping us to choose Heavenly Father.

1. God’s plan is our exaltation.
2. This plan requires each of us to use our moral agency to choose God. And,
3. The Savior provides us the perfect example of how to choose God.

The Plan of Redemption is the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, designed to bring about man’s immortality and eternal life. It includes the Creation, Fall, and Atonement, along with all God-given laws, ordinances, and doctrines. This plan makes it possible for all people to be exalted and live forever with God. [3]

Our exaltation is our Heavenly Father’s principal objective and the reason we are living on this earth today. Scripture teaches us that the work of God is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” [4] This simple statement tells us that among all God’s creations, it is our exaltation that brings Him glory, honor, and happiness. [5]

For God’s children to be exalted, His Plan of Redemption requires that we use our moral agency to “choose Him.”

In the book of Moses, we learn about Enoch’s experience when his city was taken up into heaven. On that joyous occasion, Enoch witnessed the God of heaven weeping. Enoch asked God, “How is it that thou cans’t weep?” [6]

We learn that He wept for the residue of the people that were left behind. He explained to Enoch that He created “these thy brethren” and gave them knowledge and agency and that all He asked was that “they should choose me, their Father” and that “they should love one another.” Why did God weep? Because the residue of the people had no affection for Him, and they hated their own blood. [7]

Our Heavenly Father’s greatest joy comes when a humble soul chooses Him and expresses a desire to become like Him by receiving the required ordinances and making the associated covenants. His greatest desire is to pour blessings down upon us as we faithfully keep His commandments and the covenants we have made with Him.

There is a scriptural example that teaches us how to choose God. I read to you from Moses 4:1-4.

We learn about the pre-earth counsel in heaven where God presented his plan of redemption for us and the two responses brought forward to His plan. As I read this first verse, providing Satan’s response to God’s plan, notice the number of times he uses the personal pronouns of “I” or “me.”

It is clear that his desire to redeem all mankind had nothing to do with his love for us, or his desire to do the will of the Father; it was about him. It was about his usurping God’s power.

In the next verse, listen to the Savior’s response to Heavenly Father’s plan. Again, pay attention to the pronouns:

“But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” [9]

For the Savior, it was about us and his love for us. It was about subjecting His will to that of the Father’s. We learn from Him that when we choose the Father, we should likewise subject our will to His and love our brothers and sisters. It also means that we remain true and faithful to Him even when we do not get what we think is best for us.

Consider what we learn from Satan’s behavior in this next verse when he did not get his way:

“Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.” [10]

This is how Satan became the devil. He rebelled against God. He was not made to rebel; he chose to rebel. He was not made to deceive and to blind the hearts of men and women, to lead them captive; he chose this path. If Satan can teach us anything of value, it is that we become what we choose.

In summary, God has a plan to provide for our eventual exaltation. In our preparation to become exalted sons and daughters of God, we must choose Him and decide to truly follow Him. We choose Him by doing what the Savior taught us; we subject our will to His, and we love our brothers and sisters. We must also remain true and faithful to him even when we do not get what we think is best for us. [11]

Now, let me briefly discuss our: staying connected to the temple.

Here, I will highlight two important truths in helping us stay connected to the temple:

1. Our connection to the temple becomes a sign to God of our love for Him.
2. Our connection to the temple becomes a sign to God of our love for others.

To be connected to something means to be “brought together or into contact so that a real or [intentional] link is established. [12]

When we are connected to the temple, it becomes an important part of our lives, a part of who we are and, it provides the vision for who we can become.

In May of last year, President Meredith, in his devotional, taught us that, “the temple is evidence of God’s matchless and eternal love for all of His children.” [13]

I testify to you that this is true. We connect to the temple to experience this love our Heavenly Father has for us. We stay connected to the temple as a sign to our Heavenly Father that we love Him and recognize the blessing He has given us in the physical presence of the temple and the ordinances available to us in this holy place.

It is also true that our connection to the temple is a sign to God of our love for our others.

Anthony and Cindy Sweat, in their book, The Holy Sealing: Uniting The Eternal Family of God, wrote, “Motivated by love, we vicariously do for others what the dead can’t do for themselves, performing necessary ordinances in their behalf that open the door of salvation. This is how we become ‘saviors on Mount Zion.” [14]

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “But how are they to become saviors on Mount Zion? By building their temples, erecting their baptismal fonts, and going forth and receiving all the ordinances, baptisms, confirmations, washings, anointings, ordinations and sealing powers upon their heads, in behalf of all their progenitors who are dead, and redeem them that they may come forth in the first resurrection and be exalted to thrones of glory with them; 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.” [15]

There is no greater work taking place on the earth today than that being done for both the living and the dead in temples. Redeeming the dead is a work of love for our ancestors and for God. The temple is a gift to us; a gift we are asked to share with those who cannot receive temple blessings in any other way but through us.

There is one other way that our connection to the temple is a sign to God of our love for others. Only two commandments in all the scriptures require us to love with all our heart. “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart” [16] and “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.” [17] The temple allows for the greatest of all expressions of love for another, that of being sealed together.

On the day that Robin and I were sealed together, in the Salt Lake City temple, I awoke with a fever that tipped the thermometer at 104 degrees. Physically, I felt terrible. Emotionally, I was on cloud nine. The most beautiful girl in my world had agreed to be sealed to me and I was not going to let a fever, or how I felt physically, keep me from that temple appointment.

At the time we were married, it was not uncommon to have couples kneel at the altar while the sealer delivered counsel prior to performing the actual sealing ceremony. On our special day, I don’t know how long we had been kneeling at the altar, but it was long enough for me to know that I was not going to make it through his instruction in an upright position. As the room around me began to spin, I could hear my father say, “catch him, he’s going . . .,” and then I lost consciousness.

When I came to, I was lying on the floor, with a group of concerned faces hovering over me. To my horror, I realized that I was not just lightheaded, but sick to my stomach. My father, seeing what was happening, told me to stop trying to hold it in and that I needed to let it go. But I was determined not to be sick, in that way, in the temple. In that moment, my brother ran over to my mother, grabbed her purse, emptied it into her lap, and ran it over to me. I was forever grateful for that kind act and for the sacrifice of my mother. As I regained strength and got to where I could sit in a chair, I began to search the room for Robin. She was still kneeling at the altar, and she was quickly turning as white as her beautiful dress. Before I could get any words out of my mouth, she slipped to the floor. The heat, the kneeling, the situation, all collided together causing her, too, to pass out.

Well, we did get sealed that day. I did regain my health. And we have now been married for almost 44 years. Our wedding day was not what either of us thought it would be. But we came to appreciate from a very real experience that it was not the dress or the tuxedo that mattered. It was not the flowers, the cake, or the reception hall that made the wedding day special. It was that on that day, as messy as it was for us, we received the sacred sealing ordinance binding us together for eternity. We were able to show our Heavenly Father that we knew what it meant to love another, besides Him, with all our heart. And I think He smiled. It brings joy to Him when we learn how to choose Him and to love others. Perhaps especially, the one we give ourselves to in the temple.

The temple is a sacred and joyful place of spiritual rejuvenation, sanctification, and sealing. It makes me happy to be a part of this holy work with each of you.

I testify that we can spiritually position ourselves to be resistant to sin and to mortal temptations as we choose God and stay connected to the temple. I pray that each of us will do so, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Notes

[1] 1 Nephi 8:32.

[2] 1 Nephi 15:24.

[3] 2 Nephi 2; 9.

[4] Moses 1:39.

[5] “The Remarkable Book of Moses,” Ensign, Feb. 1997, 21.

[6] Moses 7:23-29.

[7] Moses 7:28-33.

[8] Moses 4:1.

[9] Moses 4:2.

[10] Moses 4:3-4.

[11] Moses 7:33.

[12] Google English Dictionary, under "Connected," accessed March 17, 2026.

[13] Alvin F. Meredith III,“The Temple, An Evidence of God’s Love,” Brigham Young University-Idaho devotional, May 7, 2024, byui.edu.

[14] Anthony and Cindy Sweat, The Holy Sealing: Uniting The Eternal Family of God, Deseret Book Company, 2025, 74.

[15] History of the Church Volume 6, 183-84, Desert Book Company, byustudies.byu.edu.

[16] Doctrine and Covenants 42:22.

[17] Matthew 22:37.

About President Robert E. and Sister Robin C. Chambers

Robert E. Chambers and Robin C. Chambers began their service as president and matron of the Rexburg Idaho Temple in September 2025. President Chambers is a temple sealer, former Area Seventy, mission president in the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission, stake president, and bishop. He retired from teaching in the Religious Education Department at BYU–Idaho in January 2024.

Sister Chambers’ previous callings include service as a mission president’s companion, ward Young Women president, Primary president, Relief Society presidency counselor, and a temple worker.

The Chambers have five children and 21 grandchildren.