Stand Ye in Holy Places

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STAND IN HOLY PLACES
Susan Bednar
Women's Week Message
March 22, 2002
©2002 by BYU-Idaho. All rights reserved I'm pleased to be here today and grateful for the support of family. My mom and dad and two sisters are here with me today. Thank you so much for coming. I want you mothers to know it's the warmest day of the whole year! God must love mothers! I also want you to know that your children--who are highly educated, have been identified as college material, and are projected to do well at this university--wear sandals with no socks and no coats on days when it's minus 17 degrees. Because it is so warm today, I know you won't believe me; but I have seen it with my own eyes. I'd like to say thank you to the Associated Women Students on campus. Girls, could you stand--those of you who are wearing red jackets and helping with Mothers' Weekend? You see them scattered throughout the congregation. I wore a red jacket today because I want to be like these girls. I'm a wannabe; I want to be like you. Your dedication, your hard work, and your example as beautiful women of God are extraordinary. Thank you for all you have done. I hope you mothers will enjoy the weekend these young women have planned for you. They've worked hard. Our theme for Mothers' Weekend is "Stand in Holy Places." How can we define the term "holy place"? The Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual suggests that "a holy place is any place where a man enjoys the spirit and presence of Divinity" (p. 196). I've been reminiscing about opportunities I've had to stand in holy places. I hope as I share some of these personal moments with you today that the Spirit will touch your heart and bring to your remembrance times when you have stood in holy places. Then perhaps you can share these special memories that will come to your mind with your son or daughter while you are here together this weekend. I hope the first memory you mothers will have of standing in holy places is the day you held your precious son or daughter in your arms for the first time. Remember the thrill, the love, the awe you felt as you participated in the holy miracle of his or her birth? That was a long time ago, and now my husband and I have the opportunity here at BYU-Idaho to observe another miracle taking place as we watch your sons and daughters engage in the process of anchoring themselves in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Opportunities are afforded almost every day for our students to stand in holy places. Just ten days ago the basketball arena in the Hart Auditorium was transformed into a holy place as we prepared for our devotional speaker, President Boyd K. Packer. At the conclusion of President Packer's remarks, he invoked a blessing on both the parents and the students. Did you mothers know you were blessed by an Apostle of the Lord here at BYU-Idaho last week? This chapel is a holy place. I remember sitting here on the stand the day the Taylor Building was dedicated by President Faust. Since that time I have noticed a peace and tranquility associated with this chapel that you don't feel anywhere else on campus. The students use this area as a quiet place to meditate, ponder, and read their scriptures. I pray the Spirit of the Lord will be here with us today as we ponder about holy places. Could an airplane be a holy place? It was the day my husband and I flew back to the United States with our son who had just completed his mission in Finland. As the plane took off from the runway, we looked across the aisle to notice a tear running down our son's cheek as he peered out of the plane's window and reflected on his two years of faithful service in a choice land with people he had grown to love. Imagine a football stadium being a holy place. On July 24, 1997, our family attended the Pioneer Sesquicentennial Spectacular in Cougar Stadium at Brigham Young University. The extravaganza, complete with fireworks, light show, music, dance, and song, depicted the journey of faith of early pioneers. The stadium was packed with tens of thousands of Church members celebrating the courage of pioneer forefathers who had sacrificed all for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hearts were touched as each person contemplated the legacy of devotion and commitment handed down from generation to generation and the responsibility we have now to take the gospel to all the world. As the Tabernacle Choir began singing "Faith in Every Footstep," President Bednar turned to me and said, "Susan, the missionaries are lining up in the corners of the stadium." I was incredulous. Could it really be? Our son who had been called to serve a mission in Bolivia was at the MTC. Would he be there with us? The audience arose to their feet and cheered in awe at the scene of 4,000 young men and women missionaries entering the stadium singing Called to Serve. Though we never saw our son that night, this is a portion of the letter we received from him a few days later:

Well, last Thursday and Friday nights were by far the highlights of my MTC experience so far. The best word I can think of to describe it is "electric." It was so incredible to march toward the stadium and see row after row of missionaries--a sea of white shirts ahead of me and behind me. I think I have a little bit of a glimpse of how it felt to march with the 2,000 Sons of Helaman. Then, as we walked in and started singing, it was such an incredible feeling. I thought of you, Mom, as I saw all those people and tried to imagine what your reaction was. I figured you probably got a little weepy, and I did too. But I was so excited and so happy to be out there. I realized for the first time what an incredible calling we have as missionaries. I think the reason people were so excited that we were there is because we truly are representatives of Christ, taking His gospel to all the world. I've always known that, but Thursday and Friday night helped me start to "catch the vision."

A football stadium truly was a holy place that night. The connection between catching the vision of missionary work and standing in holy places was made by Wilford Woodruff when he proclaimed, "What the Lord requires at the hands of these Apostles, and Elders and Latter-day Saints is to warn the world, to preach the Gospel, to build up Zion, to carry out the purposes of the Lord, and to prepare ourselves to stand in holy places while the judgments of God work in the earth" (Wilford Woodruff, October Conference, Oct. 9, 1892). The home can be a holy place. President Faust reminds us, "As we recall the commandment to stand in holy places, we should remember that beyond the temple, the most sacred and holy places in all the world should be our own dwelling places. Our homes should be committed and dedicated only to holy purposes" (James E. Faust, To Reach Even Unto You, p. 83). Since our children have grown and matured and left our home, we've started a tradition during the times we are gathered back together as a family. At these special times of reunion, we hold a daily devotional where family members choose the day they would like to share a new insight they have gained from their own personal scripture study. What a thrill it has been for us to see the depth of spiritual insight each child has gained from his own scriptural inquiry. I must admit I thought this could never happen as I remember the struggles we've experienced through the years trying to have meaningful family scripture study. But these exceptional devotionals have been the sweet and delicious fruit of our labors. President Packer expressed this thought: "I have always felt that we stand in holy places when we are given entrance to the hearts of those we teach" (Boyd K. Packer, Teach Ye Diligently, p. 303). Gospel discussion in our home has facilitated entrance into each other's hearts. We have stood in holy places as we have tutored each other and witnessed the "power of the word." A foreign land can be a holy place. This past summer Elder Bednar and I had the opportunity to take my parents with us on a trip to Switzerland. After attending a most memorable temple session in the Swiss Temple, we drove just a few kilometers out into the nearby countryside to explore several tiny alpine villages where our ancestors had lived so long ago. I wondered if my great grandfather could have ever imagined a temple of God gracing the landscape in such close proximity to where he had grown up as a boy. We contemplated the commitment and dedication to gospel principles of our ancestors who had forsaken family and friends, wealth and prosperity, and all they possessed to seek refuge "far away in the West." And we could sense we were standing on holy ground. Perhaps the most obvious of all the holy places in which we stand is the temple. Almost a year ago our immediate family had the opportunity to be together in the celestial room of the Idaho Falls Temple for the first time, just days before our youngest son left for his mission. As I looked into the faces of three worthy sons and a daughter-in-law, I felt so blessed the Lord had allowed me the opportunity to be their mother. We felt a bond of love made possible by covenants that will enable us to be a forever family. We discussed how the celestial room of a temple, wherever it might be, would always be a place where we could feel that family closeness. Two weeks after this temple experience we received our first letter from our missionary son who had just arrived at the Missionary Training Center in Preston, England. He wrote:

The Preston Temple is so beautiful both inside and out. I want you to know that I am not homesick, but I thought about you while I was in the temple. I felt so close to you in the celestial room even though you were so far away. It was a special feeling of love and gratitude, and I am grateful the Lord has given us a place on earth where we can feel like we are back home--and I don't mean Idaho.

I'm reminded of a quote from President Benson:

There is a power associated with ordinances of heaven--even the power of godliness--which can and will thwart the forces of evil if we will but be worthy of those sacred blessings. . . . Our families will be protected, our children will be safeguarded as we live the gospel, visit the temple, and live close to the Lord. (President Ezra Taft Benson, Atlanta Georgia Temple Cornerstone Laying, June 1, 1983).

How grateful we should be for holy temples! As I conclude with my testimony, I desire to take you back with me to a holy place where I stood several years ago. It's a place you may have experienced too--the Sacred Grove. In the quiet, peaceful stillness of a beautiful summer day, the Spirit reaffirmed to me once again that God lives; that Jesus is the Christ; that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the gospel; and that we are led today by a prophet of God. May the way we live always reflect our desire to stand in holy places is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.