My Foundation: Receive Temple Ordinances—Maximum Time: 20 Minutes

Ponder:What are some of the things that matter most to you?

Watch:“Doing What Matters Most,” available at srs.lds.org/videos. (No video? Read page 197.)

Doing What Matters Most

If you are unable to watch the video, read this script.

Narrator: A plane crashed in Florida one dark night in December. Over 100 people were killed. It was just 20 miles from safety.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out lightbulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic death of over 100 people.

Of course, the malfunctioning lightbulb didn’t cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most.

The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens not only to pilots but to everyone. We are all at risk. … Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment or on things that matter most?

(“We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 59, 60)

Back to page 196.

Discuss:What insignificant things distract us from progressing? How can gospel ordinances help us?

Read:Doctrine and Covenants 84:20 and the quote by President Boyd K. Packer (on the right)

“In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.”

Doctrine and Covenants 84:20

“The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs. We will be eligible to have the Lord take an interest in our affairs both spiritual and temporal.”

Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (1980), 182

Discuss:As we seek self-reliance, why is it important to be temple worthy?

Activity

Step 1: With a partner, read the quote by Elder Quentin L. Cook (on the right) and the following scriptures. Underline the promised blessings for those who worship in the temple.

“We would do well to study the 109th section of the Doctrine and Covenants and to follow President [Howard W.] Hunter’s admonition ‘to establish the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of [our] membership.’”

Quentin L. Cook, “See Yourself in the Temple,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 99; quoting Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter (2015), 178

“Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” (D&C 84:20).

“And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing” (D&C 109:15).

“And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house” (D&C 109:21).

“And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them” (D&C 109:22).

“We ask thee, Holy Father, … that no weapon formed against them shall prosper” (D&C 109:24–25).

Step 2: Individually ponder, “What do I need to change in my life to participate in temple ordinances more often?”

Commit:Commit to do the following actions during the week. Check the box when you complete each action:

• If you have a temple recommend, set a date to attend the temple.

• If you don’t have a temple recommend, meet with your bishop or branch president to discuss how you can prepare to receive your temple ordinances.

• Share what you’ve learned about temple ordinances with your family or friends.