Proclamation Series: Come to the Mountain of the Lord-the holy temple

"Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally." The Family: A Proclamation to the World

This week on  Family Proclamation on Fridays I want to focus on the  importance of temples. 

 The ordinances we make and keep are sometimes referred to "saving" ordinances.  Why?  Because they will literally save us and enable us and our families to return to the presence of God. They are that important.

As Mothers Who Know, we know the importance of making and keeping covenants.

" Mothers who know honor sacred ordinances and covenants. I have visited sacrament meetings in some of the poorest places on the earth where mothers have dressed with great care in their Sunday best despite walking for miles on dusty streets and using worn-out public transportation. They bring daughters in clean and ironed dresses with hair brushed to perfection; their sons wear white shirts and ties and have missionary haircuts. These mothers know they are going to sacrament meeting, where covenants are renewed. These mothers have made and honor temple covenants. They know that if they are not pointing their children to the temple, they are not pointing them toward desired eternal goals. These mothers have influence and power." -Julie B. Beck, Mothers Who Know October 2007 Ensign

Our Young Women recite this in their theme every Sunday:

"We believe as we come to accept and act upon [these] values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation. 

If you want a powerful read, read Julie B. Beck's talk on the Doctrine of the Family 

She refers to the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement as the Theology of the Family.  The Creation of this earth, was the creation of an earth where a family could live.  The Fall provided a family.  Without the Fall, there would have been no family.  And the Atonement makes it possible for us to live after this life, with our Father in Heaven, as families......The Theology of the Family.  This is what it is all about.

Doctrine and Covenants 2 : temple blessings and covenants. 

1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of ^aElijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and ^bdreadful day of the Lord.

2 And ^ahe shall plant in the hearts of the children the ^bpromises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.

3 If it were not so, the whole ^aearth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

September 21, 1823. Angel Moroni, the last prophet of the Book of Mormon appeared to Joseph Smith as a resurrected being. He came in light and he had a very important message from the Lord to Joseph Smith and to the world.

The message Moroni had was D&C 2  about preparing the world to receive the blessings of the temple. Three times during the same night and one more time the next morning, the angel Moroni delivered the exact same message to Joseph Smith.

This is the only scripture that is quoted in all four standard works. The promises of the children made to the fathers was that their hearts would turn to their fathers . Who are the fathers? Julie B. Beck said, “The fathers were Adam, Abraham,Isaac, Jacob, Noah—those ancient prophets who understood the doctrine of eternal families. The temple provides the saving ordinances and covenants of eternal life, without which “the whole earth [would be] utterly wasted.”

This message was so important, it was given to Joseph Smith BEFORE he received the plates, BEFORE the Book of Mormon was translated, BEFORE he received the priesthood, and BEFORE the church was organized. 

Moroni was the one to deliver the message AND he is delivering a message to us every day.

I love what Sister Elaine Dalton said in our YW General Conference last week,

"  I have a spectacular view of the Salt Lake Temple. Every day I see the angel Moroni standing atop the temple as a shining symbol of not only his faith but ours. I love Moroni because, in a very degenerate society, he remained pure and true. He is my hero. He stood alone. I feel somehow he stands atop the temple today, beckoning us to have courage, to remember who we are, and to be worthy to enter the holy temple—to “arise and shine forth,”¹ to stand above the worldly clamor, and to, as Isaiah prophesied, “Come … to the mountain of the Lord”²—the holy temple.

See other posts on temples {CLICK HERE}