#31 "Sealed...for Time and for All Eternity"

D&C 131:1-4; 132:4-33
Come to the House of the Lord by Elder David B. Haight,
(Ensign May 1992); Spencer W. Kimball’s “The Importance of Celestial Marriage” (Ensign Oct 1979); f. Burton Howard “Eternal Marriage” (Ensign May 2003)
*All my information comes from most of these articles, therefore I won’t say quote or quote the whole time, just know, most of this is found in conf. talks!

I’m going to read you a poem I want you to answer 3 questions.
1-What place is the poem speaking of?
2-What should we take with us there?
3-What should we be getting out of our experience every time? I counted 6.
Answers:
1-Temple
2-A Pure Heart
Elder Haight gives us great advice for achieving this before we come to the temple, “We should examine our relationships with our brother, or sister, or wife, or husband, or child, or parent, or anyone else who might have ought against us.” We should repair and strengthen any damaged relationship, then come to the temple. The truly humble and obedient take this preparation step further. They clear their hearts of any feelings which may be out of harmony with the sacred environment and sacred experiences they will encounter in the temple. They will be mindful that feelings of anger, hostility, fear, frustration, haste, or any preoccupation with matters outside the temple will interfere with their ability to fully partake of the feast available within the temple-which is a feast of the spirit. Those kinds of feelings are left outside the temple when we enter.”
3-A Feast of information, facts about heaven (how they communicate there peoples roles etc), about Christ (His role, how He operates, how He deals with us individually etc) receive keys, join new babies to ancestors, the way to perfection. This comment goes well with the gaining perfection, when we come from the temple “endowed with power from on high-a power which enables us to use our gifts and capabilities with greater intelligence and increased effectiveness in order to bring to pass our Heavenly Father’s purposes in our lives and the lives of those we love.”

POEM:
Hearts must be pure to come within these walls,
Where spreads a feast unknown to festive halls.
Freely partake, for freely God hath given,
And taste the holy joys that tell of heaven.
Here learn of Him who triumphed o’er the grave,
And unto men the keys, the kingdom gave;
Joined here by powers that past and present bind
The living and the dead perfection find.

In that poem I also loved the line, “for freely God hath given,” there are so many things we can get out of the temple, so many blessings we are given that we can walk out of the temple with so that we can use them as we go back out into the world. This poem illustrates 6 but there are so many more!

I want to discuss that through the ordinances of the Endowment and the Sealing, there are so many things we can take from them, however we don’t always recognize them, or maybe we just don’t know how to put them in place throughout our everyday lives.
To help see what we can do to apply the temple blessings into our lives, I have asked 3 couples and one of my dear single friends to join me at the front of the room, so that we can discuss the blessings we can walk out of the temple with and how to use them everyday.

*I invited an older married couple, a middle aged married couple, a young newly married couple and 1 single sister (who had a temple marriage and is now divorced, and not bitter) I called them before hand and gave them these questions with scriptures and asked them to address them with each other or alone and think of experiences they have with the scriptures suggested.
(the questions will have an * by them, but I am presenting this lesson as it was discussed)
*1- Tell us about your courtship (very briefly)
*Single sisters question (SSQ) What can you do or what kinds of things can you be doing now to prepare yourself for a temple marriage?
First a quote for the singles: “There is more to a foundation of eternal marriage than a pretty face or an attractive figure. There is more to consider than popularity or charisma. As you seek an eternal companion, look for someone who is developing the essential attributes that bring happiness: a deep love of the Lord and of His commandments, a determination to live them, one that is kindly understanding, forgiving of others, and willing to give of self, with the desire to have a family crowned with beautiful children and a commitment to teach them the principles of truth in the home.”

First comes the courtship then the marriage, and not just any marriage, one that brings about the same feelings as these brethren expressed after their sealing:
Parley P. Pratt (keeping in mind he was a great poet and writer) “I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved-with a pureness-an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would loft my soul…I felt that God was my heavenly Father indeed; that Jesus was my brother, and that the wife of my bosom was an immortal, eternal companion…In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also” (Autobiog. Of PPP)

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve: “The sweet companionship of eternal marriage is one of the greatest blessings God has granted to His children. Certainly, the many years I have shared with my beautiful companion have brought me the deepest joys of my life. From the beginning of time, marital companionship of husband and wife has been fundamental to our Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness. Our lives are touched for good, and we are both edified and ennobled as we savor the sweet blessings of association with dear members of the family” (conf. rep. Oct 1997)

To those of us who have been married: I know you are thinking, it must have been a perfect day in their relationships for them to write such beautiful words. How does a couple get to that point?
I personally relate with this one: “I was just sure the first 10 years would be bliss. But during our 1st year together I discovered…there were a lot of adjustments. Of course, they weren’t the kind of thing you ran home to mother about. But I cried into my pillow now and again. The problems were almost always related to learning to live on someone else’s schedule and to do things someone else’s way. We loved each other; there was no doubt about that. But we also had to get used to each other. I think every couple has to get used to each other.” Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley
My question is this: to our couples.

*2-What things have you learned from the temple ceremonies that you have put into practice, so that you can feel greater love for your spouse, even if and especially when you feel as sister Hinckley did at first?

*SSQ-What things have you taken from the temple that bring peace and contentment to your life, and how have you applied them in everyday settings?(D&C 132:16)
I love the quote from Dallin H. Oaks that puts the panic about marriage and the “what will happen to me if I don’t marry” into perspective, “We know that many worthy and wonderful Latter-day Saints currently lack the ideal opportunities and essential requirements for their progress. Singleness, childlessness, death, and divorce frustrate ideals and postpone the fulfillment of promised blessings. In addition, some women who desire to be full-time mothers and homemakers have been literally compelled to enter the full-time workforce. But these frustrations are only temporary. The Lord has promised that in the eternities no blessing will be denied his sons and daughters who keep the commandments, are true to their covenants, and desire what is right. “Many of the most important deprivations of mortality will be set right in the Millennium, which is the time for fulfilling all that is incomplete in the great plan of happiness for all of our Father’s worthy children. We know that will be true of temple ordinances. I believe it will also be true of family relationships and experiences’ (conf. rep. Oct 1993)

*3- What blessings have you received as you attend the temple and are looking forward to, as you keep your covenants? (D&C 131: 1-4; 132:19-20)
*SSQ-As you know in D&C 131:1-4 it says that unless one is Sealed in the temple they cannot enter into the highest degree of glory, however D&C 132:44 explains that if a person remains faithful than he/she shall be given to another, if they desire to be if not then 132:16-17 says they can enter the Celestial Kingdom, not the highest degree, but can enter the Celestial kingdom as one of the Lord’s ministering angels “forever and ever”
Knowing this, how does that help you in your every day life?
“May your hearts be lifted by my testimony that your faithfulness to your endowment and sealing covenants assures you a fullness of the blessings promised. The infidelity, sin, or indifference of a spouse need not adversely affect your faithfulness to your covenants. I testify that no matter how long and difficult the road, you can, with the support of loving leaders and the constant love of our Savior, arrive at your eternal destination. (Spencer W. Kimball)

*4-What are some things that we can take from the temple to help you keep your love for each other and the Lord strong?
*SSQ-What are some things that you take from the temple that help keep your love for the Lord strong and secure?
“You will come to know our Lord there. As your relationship with Him grows and deepens, you will grow increasingly confident in His love, in His compassion for your difficulties, in His power to bear you up and bring you back into His presence. As you avail yourself of that divine assistance, you will come to know that there can be no challenge, no difficulty, no obstacle in your life which you and He together cannot overcome.”

The Lord asks us to bring one thing to the temple, a pure heart, we are allowed to take from the temple as much as we desire, in hopes that we will use those blessings and knowledge for good. I leave you with my testimony of the good, wonderful power that can come from the temple when we live up to the covenants we make through our endowment and sealing ordinances, I have felt them in my life. I also leave with you one final quote from F. Burton Howard, “if you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.” In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.