Mormon Temples

St Paul MN Temple

What are temples?

1. They are sacred buildings.
2. Each one is called the house of the Lord.
3. We learn many things about Heavenly Father’s plan for us in temples.
4. Inside temples, we make special promises or covenants to Heavenly Father, and Heavenly Father makes special promises to us.

St Paul MN Temple

• How did you feel as you looked at the temple?

- I remember as I grew up going to the Washington DC temple which always took my breath away. It wasn't until later that I learned about the symbolism in that structure and in the other temples.

- In temples we commune with the Holy Spirit. It is the house of the Lord, and there really is no place that you feel closer to him than in the temple. This is the symbol of the Washington DC temple. It represents the everpresent cloud and pillar of light that followed the tribes of Israel as they fled Egypt and journeyed in the wilderness. We likewise go to the temple to be close to the Lord, the temple is always there, and we are always able to benefit from the Holy Ghost as members of the House of Israel (followers of Jesus Christ).

- Like Moses and the Israelites, we benefit from the presence of the cloud and pillar of light in our surroundings, only our cloud and pillar of light is living worthily so that we can have the presence of the Holy Ghost in our lives, and the blessings of the temple in our homes also.
- I love to go to the temple now, because when I see the temple it makes me think of my family. I think of the possibility of living with them forever in celestial glory. I think of my ancestors and I am excited to know that I can live with them again.

- By seeing the temple, I gain more faith in the plan of salvation, and the possibility of knowing Christ becomes more real.

Primary

I am now serving in the primary, so the content of this blog might become a little more watered down. But someone once told me that the elder's quorum usually needs the gospel in its most watered down form as well.

I hope you continue to enjoy the postings and thoughts.

Henry Eyring (Priesthood Conference)

Be Ready

As priesthood holders, we need to be ready at all times to act in Christ's name by:

(1) Faith
- that God lives
- in the power of the priesthood that we hold
(2) Confidence
- That we can live up to the blessings
- God is ready to help us and those we "bless by the laying on of hands"
(3) Be motivated by Love
- For those you are serving
- For the Lord

Dieter Uchtdorf (Priesthood Session)

Two Principles for Any Economy

Principles that help his family though hard times:
1. Work

• Following WWII his family had been refugees twice.
• His parents had to take on lots of odd and difficult jobs
• Menial labor got them through the hard times.
• "By the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread."
• The Lord loves the worker
• "Don't compare efforts, just do the best you can"
• Develop a reputation of excellence

2. Learn

• Love to read
• School: "it is not a filling of a bucket, but a lighting of a fire."
• Joseph Smith loved learning and accomplished much with very little schooling
• Intelligence learned here in this life will go with you into the next life.

**It is during adversity that character is made**

Yoo Hwan Choi (Priesthood Conference)

I Love Loud Boys
- Taught nine young men
- The boys listened to church leaders who cared about them
- The Lord will bring his chosen to the faithful
- As members we should encourage youngmen to attend church
- Teaching is cyclical - the youngmen that Elder Yoo taught are now teaching his children
- "These young men are all of our sons"

Walter Gonzalez's Conference Talk (Priesthood Session)

Becoming More Powerful Priesthood Holders
The sons of Alma teach us many lessons, but most importantly they teach us: to rescue lost sheep; to serve others; and to be christlike.

Three activities to empower us while we read the Book of Mormon:

(1) Feast upon the words of Christ
(2) Apply in our lives all of the attributes of Christ that we find.
(3) Teach others from the words of the book
(a) Memorize scriptures
(b) Read with others directly from the pages of the Book of Mormon.

Elder Ballard's Priesthood Conference Talk

Fathers and Sons: A Remarkable Relationship

- Thru priesthood families are sealed together
- Father son conservations are important for the progress of both parties
- None of us have arrived at our final destinations. We are still progressing to our final goal and need to help each other along the way.

Sons can improve their conversations with their fathers by:

(1) Trusting their fathers.
(2) Taking interest in their father's life.
- Watching how their father interacts with their mother.
(3) Ask their fathers for advice.
- It shows them that you care about their knowledge and experiences.

Fathers can improve their conversations with their sons by:

(1) Listen to your sons
- Choose a private and appropriate setting: fishing, working in the yard, by the side of their bed at night.
(2) Pray with and for your sons.
(3) Dare to have the important conversations.
- You cannot afford to have them misunderstand how you feel about certain values.