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 https://churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/self-reliance-videos. (No video? Read the transcript for “Doing What Matters Most.”)

Doing What Matters Most

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

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

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?

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

Discuss:

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

Read:

The following scripture passage and statements by Church leaders:

“In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:20).

“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).

“The end for which each of us strives is to be endowed with power in a house of the Lord, sealed as families, faithful to covenants made in a temple that qualify us for the greatest gift of God—that of eternal life. The ordinances of the temple and the covenants you make there are key to strengthening your life, your marriage and family, and your ability to resist the attacks of the adversary. Your worship in the temple and your service there for your ancestors will bless you with increased personal revelation and peace and will fortify your commitment to stay on the covenant path” (Russell M. Nelson, “As We Go Forward Together,” Ensign, Apr. 2018, 7).

Discuss:

How could temple worship and family history work increase our emotional resilience?

Activity (5 minutes)

Step 1: With a partner, read the quote by President Boyd K. Packer and the scripture passages below from the Kirtland Temple dedication prayer. Underline the promised blessings for those who worship in the temple.

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

“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” (Doctrine and Covenants 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22).

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

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

Commit:

I will set a date to attend the temple if I have a temple recommend. If I do not have a temple recommend, I will set a meeting with my bishop or branch president to renew my recommend or discuss how I can prepare to receive my temple ordinances.