As a new General Authority one of my first assignments was to serve in the North America Northeast Area. The area included the eastern portions of the United States and Canada and was under the supervision of Elder M. Russell Ballard. During my period of service a decision was made to hold a training meeting for all of the stake and mission presidents, together with their wives, serving in the area. Under the leadership of Elder Ballard permission was obtained from the Reorganized Church, now known as the Community of Christ church, who are the owners of the Kirtland Temple building, to hold a sacrament meeting in the temple which would be presided over by Latter-day Saint Melchizedek Priesthood holders. This permission came with some reluctance on the part of several influential members of their church and with the stipulation that monitors from their church would attend the meeting to insure that nothing would occur which might be out of harmony with its sacred nature. I was later told that never before had such permission been granted, which meant, if correct, that this was the first time since the Church moved from Kirtland in the late 1830s that a meeting of our Church members under our priesthood authority had been held in this temple.
On the day of the meeting the hall filled to overflowing. The General Authorities who had been invited to attend were present on the priesthood pulpits located on the west end of the main floor assembly room. We sang the hymn "The Spirit of God," one of the hymns sung at the original dedication of the temple in 1836. The sacrament was administered and invited testimonies shared. It was evident that this was no ordinary meeting. Eyes filled with tears. Testimonies were uttered with emotion packed voices. Something different and unusual was happening. My own emotions were almost overpowering. The presence of the Savior, to me, seemed a reality. It was so real I could not bring myself to open my eyes during the sacrament. I felt as though I could reach out and touch him. It was one of those rare, powerful experiences that stays with you a lifetime and is always remembered with the same clarity as though it had happened yesterday. Following the meeting I talked with several who had similar experiences and heard one General Authority say, "Something special happened there."
A friend of mine who lives in Kirtland shared a letter he received not long after the meeting. It was written by one of the Priesthood leaders in attendance. I quote a portion of that letter:
From the very moment I stepped in the door, I felt the spirit all around us as if this was a key moment in the history of the world.... The testimony meeting proceeded and from beginning to end it was a nonstop spiritual high, and a feeling that can only be described by saying it actually felt as if [we] were in heaven in the presence of our Lord and our Heavenly Father, and I think we might have been. During this time I felt no wrongs. I knew no evil, and thought of no wrong thoughts. Indeed one might say that Satan was bound while we were in that building.... At that time I began to cry, not tears of anger or sorrow but of extreme happiness and love.
My Kirtland friend also shared with me notes from his journal describing a talk given by a man we will call Will, a member of the reorganized Church and one of those assigned to monitor the meeting: Again, I quote only portions of that journal entry:
Will was bitter about permission being extended to LDS leaders to hold a sacrament meeting in the Kirtland temple.... He complained to his leaders, even objecting four times to Wallace Smith, the president of the RLDS Church.... Finally he was told to cease objecting. He had to accept the decision. He didn't want to be there Saturday. As he sat there he said he was physically ill. As the General Authorities each stood up and spoke, he could tell that the congregation was having a deeply moving spiritual experience, but he couldn't feel it because he was so bitter about them there. At that point he recognized the spirit and received a "spiritual spanking" of the type he never wanted to receive again. An audible voice came to him with these statements: "William, this is not your house. This is my house. These are my Saints. This is an acceptable activity in this sacred place."
Can you now see why I love the Temple? It is the Lord's house and we are his guests. Things of eternity can open to us in the Temple. Revelation does come. Peace rests upon us and comfort graces our lives. It is indeed a sacred place!
I saw that same love for the temple in Bangkok Thailand while Sister Kofford and I accompanied President and Sister Hinckley on a visit to that country. A special meeting had been called by the Prophet so that he could speak to the Saints and see a few old friends. He had been associated with that part of the world in an earlier assignment and had dedicated the land of Thailand to the preaching of the Gospel. He arrived early to the meeting only to find the hall filled to overflowing. All waited in reverence and silence. The President moved around the hall, speaking to old friends, saying hello to the aging sister who had translated the Book of Mormon into the Thai language and listening to their concerns. I was aware that the thing foremost on their minds was having a temple of their own. As the meeting progressed the Prophet began to talk about temples. It was obvious that he could feel their love for the temple. Their eyes glistened, their attention focused on every word. And then, for no apparent reason he looked into their eyes and said something like: "I know you want a temple and I promise you that if you will be faithful you will in time have one."
It was clear to him as it was to all of us in his company that the Thai saints love the temple. They attend other temples as often as their time and money allow. The beautiful thing is that while they wait for their temple they love the temple and they love the Lord. Their thirst for temple worship is evident and someday the prophet's promise will come true.
The story was much the same in Kathmandu Nepal where I met with a humble branch president, his wife, and daughter. They too wanted to go to the temple. Their love for the temple was real. It was genuine and it was complete. While they had very little hope of ever getting to the temple, their love sustained them in total obedience to the Lord's commandments. Their love brought them peace, it brought them revelation, it brought them hope but they knew as you know that without the ordinances of the House of the Lord eternal life cannot be obtained. You will be interested to know that through personal sacrifice and a miracle of generosity they were able to attend the House of the Lord and realize their dreams. Yes, they love the temple.
Finally, let me tell you about a Hong Kong, China, couple and their love of the temple. They fell in love and wanted very much to be sealed in the temple but it appeared impossible. Non-member parents did not offer encouragement and were not willing to assist in financing the trip. Knowing that the closest temple was some distance away they felt helpless. They were in love. They desperately wanted to marry. They discussed all possibilities. All alternatives were considered and rejected. Their love of the temple was stronger than all of the obstacles. Ultimately, they came upon an idea. They decided to become engaged and begin saving their money. To hasten that day they adopted a plan. They would arrange for a date, but instead of going out they would each put the money they would have spent on the date and any other extra money they might have into their temple fund. They waited about five years before they finally were married in the temple. Yes, they loved the temple.
True love of the temple like true love of anything good must be nourished and tended. Like all things worthwhile, it comes and is maintained at a price. Just as love for another withers and may die without being tended, so too does true love of the temple. May I now offer five steps that if taken help you obtain or maintain true love for the temple.
First, understand the Importance of the Temple to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
Temples are essential to the success of our Heavenly Father's Plan. He has said with simplicity for all to hear: "My work and my glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses: 1:39). That is the reason the earth was created. It is the reason for mankind to be upon the earth. It is the reason He has labored with His children from the time of Adam to now. Two goals (or if you are a purist two parts of one goal) the first, immortality for everyone and second, eternal life for those who qualify. The first required the Atonement. The second requires ordinances administered in His Holy House.... A temple and obedience to all of God's commandments. The simple fact is that without these ordinances there cannot be eternal life. If the Temple fails, God's plan fails.
We gain great insight into the Lord's feelings about His house from the following recorded in Church and individual records concerning what occurred on the afternoon of the day the Kirtland Temple was dedicated: "a noise was heard like the sound of a rushing mighty wind which filled the Temple, and all the congregation simultaneously arose, being moved upon by an invisible power; many began to speak in tongues and prophesy, others saw glorious visions, and beheld the Temple was filled with angels. ... Others saw angels hovering over the temple and heard heavenly angels singing."[1]
To me that description sounds like Heaven itself was filled with joy and happiness because there was now a House of the Lord on this earth.
One final thought to help you understand the Lord's love of the temple. On April 3, 1836, as recorded in section 110 verses 6 through 9 of the D&C, the Lord appeared in an area of the west end pulpit of the main floor and among other things said:
Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted this house and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house. Yea, the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
Are you now able to understand the importance of the temple? Can you see how our Heavenly Father and our Savior feel about the temple? If they love it as much as they do would it not be well for us to love it also?
Second, understand the price paid by others to bring us Temples
Many of you here today are descendants of those who gave of their meager belongings along with their time and energy to build the first Temple in this dispensation. The story of the untold hardship and sacrifice endured by these faithful members is among the greatest stories in this world's history.
Eliza R. Snow wrote: " Had it not been for the assurance that God had spoken,.... An attempt towards building that temple, under the then existing conditions, would have been.... pronounced preposterous.[2]
Karl Ricks Anderson a preeminent authority on the Kirtland era has said of this enterprise: "The cost of the building, estimated at about $40,000, was a staggering sum for the 1830's. Relative to the meager resources of the Saints at that time, the Kirtland Temple is probably the most costly temple ever constructed by the Church."[3]
Brigham Young recorded that the church members were "too few in numbers, too weak in faith, and too poor in purse, to attempt such a mighty enterprise.... A mere handful of men, living on air, and a little hominy and milk.... with the laborers on the walls, holding the sword in one hand to protect themselves from the mob, while they placed a stone and moved the trowel with the other"[4]
At the time of the commencement of work on the Kirtland Temple my great-great-grandfather, Artemus Millet, was a wealthy construction contractor living in the area of Toronto, Canada. He was also a non-member of the Church. It has been said that he was surprised to find Brigham Young at his door saying that he had been sent by Joseph Smith to convert him to the Church and that he was to leave his business and come to Kirtland to assist in the construction of the temple. Brigham also said that Joseph wanted him to bring $1000 so they could buy supplies. Artemus was baptized, left his business in the hands of employees, and went to Kirtland where he worked tirelessly on the temple. Accidents and fatigue weakened him physically, he gave liberally of his funds and in the end had little of economic worth left. His wife died leaving him with four children. In short he, along with numerous others, gave everything he had to the building of the temple. He later followed the Saints to Nauvoo where he again worked on the temple, giving all that he had and more. Is there any doubt in your mind that Artemus loved the temple? It is probable that most of you have ancestors about whom a similar story could be told. It almost seems improper to even raise the question: do you think they loved the temple?
This same spirit of consecration and sacrifice can be found in the construction of all of the earlier temples of the Lord.
When you find yourself looking for reasons to love the temple, think of those who went before you and contemplate what they gave that we might enjoy the profound blessing of temple worship.
Third, understand the eternal significance of baptisms for the dead
In 1840 while speaking at a funeral service for a Nauvoo high counselor named Seymour Brunson, Joseph Smith announced the doctrine of baptism for the dead.[5] The announcement was electric. The saints promptly joined together in the Mississippi River to participate in the ordinance. Clarification of the central role of Baptisms for the Dead came the following year in what is now the section 124 vs. 29 and 30 of the Doctrine and Covenants, where the Lord instructed:
For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead — For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.
In that same revelation the Lord, noting that there was not a baptismal font upon the face of the earth, instructed his people to build a temple.
A letter from Joseph to the Saints dated September of 1842 set forth in detail the record keeping and certifying requirements imposed by the Lord on such baptisms and then, as if to underscore the great importance of Baptisms for the Dead, the Lord gave a revelation now found in section 127 in which he states at verse 18:
... It is sufficient to know. In this case, that 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. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also....
There it is in simple concise language:
- First, Jesus Christ has commanded us to be perfect.
- Second, He has said we cannot be perfect without baptisms for the dead and the welding link it forges.
- Third, baptisms for the dead can only be performed in the Temple.
Can you see now why love for the temple is so important?
Fourth, understand the sacredness of the temple endowment.
In May of 1842 the Prophet Joseph invited a small group of men, including Hyrum Smith and Brigham Young, to meet with him in the upper room of his red brick store in Nauvoo. In two years he would be dead and vital ordinances needed for eternal life had not yet been revealed. In the period preceding this meeting Joseph had enlisted the aid of priesthood holders in rearranging the room to "approximate the interior of the temple as much as circumstances would permit."[6] There followed a most amazing period of instruction in which the manner of conducting the endowment ordinance was explained and its purpose revealed. Brigham Young would later record that he learned the ceremony by heart while listening to the Prophet so that when the Nauvoo Temple opened he was able to instruct in the proper administration of the ordinance.
A few months before the dedication of the Kirtland Temple the Prophet had advised the Twelve: "The endowment you are so anxious about you cannot comprehend now, nor could Gabriel explain it to the understanding of your dark minds."[7] In straight forward language he essentially said "you are not yet spiritually ready". Referring to the upper room meeting he would later say that what he had taught: "... were of things spiritual and to be received only by the spiritually minded". He added that these same truths would be taught to all of the Saints "as soon as they are prepared to receive and a proper place is prepared to communicate them". The proper place was the temple!
An explanation of the endowment was given by President Brigham Young: "Your endowment is to receive all of those ordinances in the House of the Lord which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell."[8]
Expanding greatly on the doctrine of work for the dead, the prophet also taught that it is the privilege of those who have received their own endowment to go to the temple and participate in the ordinance as proxy for deceased persons.
Sadly Joseph did not live to see the completion of the House of the Lord in Nauvoo nor the first endowment session ever held in this dispensation but his revelation of this ordinance can only be described as monumental.
Reserved, protected, and held in sacredness until the people were spiritually minded enough to receive it thus being enabled to pass by "the angels who stand as sentinels," this incomparable gift from the Lord has been made available to all who love His house and enter therein.
Fifth, understand the blessings of the sealing ordinance
The end of the Prophet's life was just a little over a year away when he first publicly taught the doctrine of the sealing ordinance, frequently called temple marriage. To me it is appropriate to view this ordinance as the capstone ordinance of the gospel. In May of 1843, a little over a year after the endowment was explained, it first appeared almost as a headline. Found today in section 131 of the D&C it reads with elementary simplicity:
In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; and if he does not he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.
But, the Lord was not yet finished. Joseph's assignment to restore the fullness of the gospel required still one more revelation relating to temple marriage. That revelation, found in section 132, is as profound and deep as section 131 is simple and direct. Here doctrine which is best taught by the Spirit is set forth. Here only the spiritually prepared may enter.
The Holy Temple, home to this magnificent ordinance, holds the power and authority to bind a man and a women together in the bonds of holy marriage and their children to them in an eternal family unit not only for this life, but for eternity. Family relationships can last forever. No longer does the loss of mortal life need to include the loss of eternal families.
Can you imagine the import of what this means? Even here, even now, can you not feel in your heart and soul the joy that comes to those who qualify and become heirs to the blessings of the sealing ordinance?
And so, here we are today, a beautiful temple in our midst. A House of the Lord home to all that our Heavenly Father and our Savior love and desire for us. Home to the memory of the sacrifice and tribulation of those who have gone before. Home to baptisms for the dead. Home to the sacredness of the endowment. Home to the blessings of the sealing ordinance and I pray that it may also be home to your love, your heart and you.
Notes:
[1] History of the Church, 2:428; Backman, Heavens Round, 300
[2] Jenson A., (1889) The Historical Record; Anderson, K., Joseph's Kirtland, 155
[3] Andersen, K. R. Joseph Smith's Kirtland, 155
[4] Young, B. (1855) Journal of Discourses, 2:31
[5] History of the Church, 4:231
[6] Deseret News, Semi Weekly, 15 Feb. 1884, 2; History of the Church in the Fullness of Times 254
[7] History of the Church, 2:309. 8 Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1941), 416