Mormon Life - Temple tag

LDS Church year in review: Looking back on 2011

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 10:25:00 -0700

source: ldschurchnews.com

TEMPLE NEWS

Beginning April 2, the Ogden Utah Temple was closed for extensive renovations including the changing of the temple's entire exterior. Following the renovation, the temple will be rededicated.

President Thomas S. Monson announced April 2 three new temples to be built in Meridian, Idaho; Fort Collins, Colo.; and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The temple in Meridian will be the fifth in Idaho; the temple in Fort Collins will be the second in Colorado; and the temple in Winnipeg will be the ninth in Canada. The announcement brought the number of operating temples to 134, with 26 announced or under construction.

Temple patrons are assisted by special fund

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:59:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: This article gives some of the history behind the fund, of which most members only recently became aware. Elder William R. Walker — of the Seventy and executive director of the Church's Temple Department — learned early of the blessings that can be realized when faithful members have access to the temple.

In 1965, Elder Walker was a young full-time missionary serving in Japan. A temple did not exist then in that Asian nation and few of the local priesthood leaders had received temple ordinances. Under the direction of Elder Gordon B. Hinckley of the Quorum of the Twelve, a fund was organized to allow many of the local Japanese leaders to travel to Hawaii and receive their own temple blessings in the Laie Hawaii Temple.

The Church in Japan, said Elder Walker, was never the same.

RS/MP Lesson 30: “Temple Work and Family History” (Gospel Principles Manual)

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:37:00 -0600

source: feastuponthewordblog.org

I’ve struggled with what to say about this lesson. I’ve decided to primarily refer readers to Joe’s excellent and related post post, “Elijah and the Restoration of the Sealing Keys” (Lesson 26 in the Joseph Smith manual). First, however, I will offer a passages of commentary by Walter Brueggemann on Malachi 4:5-6, which I see as the scriptural backbone of this lesson.

As a lifelong member of the Church, I’ve heard Malachi 4:5-6 frequently quoted, but I’ve never understood the importance that (other) Christians have attached to this verse, as the concluding words of the Old Testament.

To summarize one Christian point of view, I’m going to simply quote from Walter Brueggemann at some length (An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian Imagination, p. 259-260).

New Testament Lesson 33: "Ye Are the Temple of God"

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:03:00 -0600

by Ted L. Gibbons
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: What a blessing if we could remove the graffiti from our spirits and souls as easily and proficiently as cleaners do from buildings. INTRODUCTION:
Someone has called Corinth the Las Vegas of the Ancient World. It was a city of 250,000 citizens who owned 400,000 or so slaves. It was located just off the Corinthian Isthmus, and was a crossroad for travelers and traders. It was a city of typical Greek culture; its people were interested in Greek philosophy, and placed a great value on wisdom.

We have been told that the city had at least 12 temples, although they may not all have been in use in Paul’s day. The most famous of these temples was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, where worshipers practiced ritual prostitution. The temple was served by more than 1000 pagan priestess-prostitutes. The immorality of Corinth was so widely know that the verb “to Corinthianize” meant “to practice sexual immorality.”

Paul had seen some success in this city, and yet he received word while staying at Ephesus that there were great problems among the Corinthian Saints. The letter of 1st Corinthians was sent to address those problems.

During the summer after my appointment as principal of a seminary in Utah, but before I assumed my duties, I received a Sunday morning call from the police telling me that the Seminary had been vandalized. I drove to the building and found the walls covered with spay-painted obscenities directed at the Church, the Mormons, and at Deity. Someone, in the middle of the night when no one was standing guard, came to the structure and attempted to deface it.

We made contact with professionals who came with pressure hoses and appropriate chemicals and cleaned the wall so well and so quickly that I was amazed. What a blessing if we could remove the graffiti from our spirits and souls as easily and proficiently as they did from that building. I suspect that it takes more effort than I saw that morning for most of us to cleanse the filth from our lives and return our spiritual structures to purity and beauty. But there is no doubt that Lucifer and his associates run around with spray cans of sin, temptation, and iniquity, looking for unguarded moments to deface our souls.

Paul had received word that many members of the Church in Corinth were in a state of awful filthiness. First Corinthians was his attempt to induce them to become clean once again.

I. AVOID CONTENTION AND BE UNIFIED (1 Cor.1:10-13; 3:1-11)

Note that Paul is writing to “them that are [or should be] sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints . . .” (1:1) This message of repentance is for people who ought to know better, who have been taught better. And the central message of the first chapter is a call to unity.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Cor 1:10)

What would happen to your faith, if each time you attended church in a ward or branch different from your own, you heard a different slant on the Gospel. What if you had to make that kind of choice? What if the ordinance of the Sacrament or the blessing of babies or the ordinations to priesthood callings were done in significantly different ways in different areas of the Church? I think you must have noticed how carefully the Brethren safeguard the ordinances so that things are done in the same way in every area of the Church. Such management is much easier now than in the days of Paul when distances and time made it impossible for leaders to supervise closely, with the result that churchwide unity became most difficult to maintain.

In Corinth, divisiveness seems to have fractured the fellowship of the Saints. People had divided into factions, apparently based in part on the missionary who baptized them.

11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

The evidence of this worldly focus of the Corinthians is found in 1 Cor. 3:3: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”

Paul sends a solemn warning to those in Corinth, and he sends that same warning echoing down the ages to the saints of the latter days. I have laid the foundation of Jesus Christ for you, but be most careful how you build thereon. (See 1 Cor. 3:10, 11) What kind of edifice would we rear on a foundation of the Rock who is Christ? Would we build with “. . . gold, silver, precious stones, [or] wood, hay, stubble”?

Imagine building on that divine and sanctified foundation a structure of wood or hay or stubble. C.S. Lewis understood this concept. He knew that when we try to build without divine direction and inspiration, we will never make anything of ourselves as grand as God can make.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently, He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace." (Mere Christianity [New York: Macmillan, 1960], p. 174.)

This palace is the “temple of God” Paul mentions in 3:16, 17. We defile that temple by the materials with which we build it, and by making it impossible for God to make us of what he wants us to be. And so very often this happens because we depend more on our own intellect than on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

II. RELY ON THE SPIRIT RATHER THAN ON THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD (I Cor. 1:17-31; 2:1-16)

The source of the doctrinal divisions in these various groups (they don’t “all speak the same thing” - - 1 Cor. 1:10) seems to be an effort to understand the complexities of the gospel with man’s wisdom. Notice how many times some form of the word foolish appears in these verses.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1:18)
For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (1:21)
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; (1:23)
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1:25)

The fact is that those who measure life only with the intellect will always find the gospel of Christ ridiculous. The idea of angels and gold plates and revelation and healings and visions and prophets will bring an indulgent smirk to the faces of hard-hearted intellectuals. These are those who whom the Lord said in Moses 6:27, “. . . their hearts have waxed hard, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes cannot see afar off.” It was only after Enoch had washed the dirt (the world) out of his eyes (see Moses 6:35) that he was able to see “things which were not visible to the natural eye.” (Moses 6:36)

Those things invisible to the natural eye are the things Paul speaks of in I Cor. 2:9.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

These are the things we can only behold with the eye of faith, by the influence of the Spirit. D&C 76:10 promises

For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will--yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

The imperative nature of this counsel is emphasized by Paul’s declaration that “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). The man who neglects the whisperings of the Comforter will never comprehend the salient truths of the universe. Locked tightly in a world of his own construction, he will reject anything that does not fit the pattern he has created.

One of the great discourses on the importance of the Holy Spirit was given by Wilford Woodruff at the Weber Stake Conference in Ogden, Utah on Oct. 19, 1896. Review the following quotes:

“One morning, while we were at Winter Quarters, Brother Brigham Young said to me and the brethren that he had had a visitation the night previous from Joseph Smith. I asked him what he said to him. He replied that Joseph had told him to tell the people to labor to obtain the Spirit of God; that they needed that to sustain them and to give them power to go through their work in the earth” (Collected Discourses, Vol.5, Wilford Woodruff, October 19, 1896).

“The night following this Joseph and Hyrum visited me, and the Prophet laid before me a great many things. Among other things, he told me to get the Spirit of God; that all of us needed it.”

“Brigham Young also visited me after his death. On one occasion he and Brother Heber C. Kimball came in a splendid chariot, with fine white horses, and accompanied me to a conference that I was going to attend. When I got there I asked Brother Brigham if he would take charge of the conference. "No," said he, "I have done my work here. I have come to see what you are doing and what you are teaching the people." And he told me what Joseph Smith had taught him in Winter Quarters, to teach the people to get the Spirit of God. He said, "I want you to teach the people to get the Spirit of God. You cannot build up the Kingdom of God without that."

“This is what I want to say to the brethren and sisters here today. Every man and woman in this Church should labor to get that Spirit. We are surrounded by these evil spirits that are at war against God and against everything looking to the building up of the kingdom of God; and we need this Holy Spirit to enable us to overcome these influences” (Collected Discourses, Vol.5, Wilford Woodruff, October 19, 1896).

This inclination to intellectualism may be the reason why God has called so many boys and young men into his service. As Paul said, “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty . . .” (1 Cor 1:27)

In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord said it this way: “Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thrash the nations by the power of my Spirit . . .” (D&C 35:13)

III. BE MORALLY CLEAN (1 Cor 3:16, 17; 5; 6:9-20)

Elder Hugh B. Brown, speaking of the importance of chastity, made the following wonderful comment:

Much self-respect and happiness are lost forever [through immorality]. Dr. Henry A. Bowman, a renowned U. S. expert on courtship and marriage says:

When all is said and done, there is nothing gained from premarital adventure except immediate pleasure and that at tremendous risk and exorbitant cost. No really intelligent person will burn a cathedral to fry an egg, even to satisfy a ravenous appetite. (Hugh B. Brown, The Abundant Life, p.67)

What a powerful image! It brings to mind a poem by Shakespeare.

What win I if I gain the thing I seek?
A dream, a breath, a froth of fleeting joy?
Who buys a minute's mirth to wail a week
Or sells eternity to get a toy?
For one sweet grape, who will the vine destroy?
Or what fond beggar but to touch the crown
would with the scepter straight be stricken down?

Indeed! Who would burn a cathedral to fry an egg, no matter how hungry? And yet we see this very thing happening constantly in the media and the world, even in the highest halls of government, and, sadly, among our own people. Paul again sends a warning through the ages to the Twenty-first Century.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor 6:9,10).

President Benson recognized the monumental danger to our society of this preoccupation with promiscuity. He said,

“Recently, a young man commented that if he quit reading books, watching television, seeing movies, reading newspapers and magazines, and going to school, there was a chance he might live a clean life. This explains, in large part, the extent to which the insidious evil of sexual promiscuity has spread . . .” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.409-410).

I fear sometimes that we invite the sins of Corinth into our own homes. It is all for entertainment, of course. We know it is wrong. But we offer our resources to pay people to persuade us that immorality is acceptable, and that the only standard is a personal one. It seems that many believe what I read in a pamphlet at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1968, “Whatever feels good, is good.”

CONCLUSION

Paul’s final two verses will suffice:

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Cor. 6:19, 20)

Young Men Lesson 32: Preparing for the Temple Endowment

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:04:00 -0600

source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: By following the commandments we can prepare to enter the holy temple. Discussion Questions
    •    What is the purpose of the endowment?
    •    What are the blessings that come from receiving the endowment?
    •    What can you do now to prepare to receive your endowment in the temple?

Supplement from "Come to the Temple," by President Boyd K. Packer

Around the turn of the twentieth century two missionaries were laboring in the mountain region of the southern part of the United States. One day as they were walking along a ridge in the hill country, they saw people gathering in a clearing near a cabin some distance down the hillside.

They discovered that there was to be a funeral. A little boy had drowned. His parents had sent for the minister to “say words” at the burial of the little fellow. The elders stayed in the background to watch the proceedings. The little fellow was to be buried in the grave already opened near the cabin. The minister stood before the grieving father and mother and the others gathered and began his funeral sermon. If the parents expected to receive consolation from this man of the cloth, they would be disappointed.

He scolded them severely for not having had the little boy baptized. They had put it off because of one thing or another, and now it was too late. He told them very bluntly that their little boy had gone to hell. He told them that it was their fault, that they were to blame—they had caused their son endless torment.

After the sermon was over and the grave was covered, the friends, neighbors, and relatives left the scene. The elders approached the grieving parents. “We are servants of the Lord,” they told the sobbing mother, “and we have come with a message for you.”

As the grief-stricken parents listened, the two young elders unfolded to their view something of a vision of the eternities. They read from the revelations, and they bore to these humble, grief-stricken parents their testimony of the restoration of the keys for the redemption of both the living and the dead.

*To read the full article, click here.

August 2011 LDS Primary Sharing Time Helps and Ideas

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 11:02:00 -0600

source: sofiasprimaryideas.blogspot.com

Mormon Life says: A week-by-week Sharing Time guide for this month's theme, "My Body Is a Temple." Monthly Theme: My body is a temple of God.

Monthly Scripture: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ...The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” 1 Corinthians 3:16–17

Week 1 My body is a temple.

* Personal reading for you about this week's theme... yes you. I'm talking to you. Not your dad. Read "Ye Are the Temple of God," by Elder Bednar. See. Aren't you glad you read that?

* Pres. Boyd K. Packer (I heart Boyd) says, “Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit” (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled [1991], 211). Bring in a variety of different instruments. Divide into groups and let the children come up with a song or a chant. You can give groups topics like, "How do I treat my body like a temple." or "I love my body because...." or "Bodies are like temples because...." Let them play instruments during their songs.

August 2011 Sharing Time: My Body Is a Temple

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 00:05:00 -0600

by Shauna Gibby
source: MormonLife.com

This sharing time will engage the children in an activity that teaches them to take care of their minds and bodies.

Preparation: Print out a large version of the boy and girl paper dolls and their clothing from the image provided. Cut them out, keeping the shoes as one item. Write the corresponding song, quote, or scripture (see below) to the back of each piece or on an attached slip of paper. Post the boy and girl on the board at the front of the room. Place the clothing pieces in a box or basket. Have magnets or tape available to attach these pieces to the paper dolls.

Boy shirt: “Prophets of God have always counseled His children to dress modestly. . . . Immodest clothing includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and other revealing attire.” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 14-16)

Boy pants: “Never let Satan or others lead you to think that breaking the Word of Wisdom will make you happier or more attractive.” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 37)

Boy shoes: “Have the courage to walk out of a movie or video party, turn off a computer or television, change a radio station, or put down a magazine if what is being presented does not meet Heavenly Father’s standards. Do these things even if others do not. Let your friends and family know that you are committed to keeping God’s standards.” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 19)

Boy scripture case: “Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.” (Moroni 7:14)

Girl sweater: Sing “Heathly, Wealthy, and Wise.” (Children’s Songbook, p. 280) [Note: this song is a very easy to learn and fun to sing in a round.]

Girl skirt: “Do not disfigure yourself with tattoos or body piercings. If girls or women desire to have their ears pierced, they are encouraged to wear only one pair of modest
earrings.” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 37)

Girl shoes: “Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and get enough sleep. When you do all these things, you remain free from harmful addictions and have control over your life. You gain the blessings of a healthy body, an alert mind, and the guidance of the Holy Ghost.” (For the Strength of Youth, p. 36)

Girl scripture case: Sing “Choose the Right Way.” (Children’s Songbook, p. 160)

Presentation: Show the children the boy and girl paper dolls at the front of the room. Tell them that they represent each of the boys and girls in Primary.

Have a child read the following excerpt from 1 Corinthians 3: 16–17 (Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? . . . The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are). Discuss what this scripture means then sing “The Lord Gave Me a Temple,” Children’s Songbook, 153.

Explain that they are now going to have an activity to dress the paper dolls as they learn more about how to take care of their bodies/temples.

Have a child pick an article of clothing from the basket. Have them read the scripture or quote on the back (have them repeat it after you if they can’t read yet) or help lead the music if it is a song. Briefly discuss the quote or song as needed, then have them place the clothing in the appropriate place on the paper dolls. Repeat this process until all the clothing items have been used.

Bear testimony that you know they are children of God and that He wants them to keep their bodies clean and healthy.