“Chapter 16: The Temple: A Source of Power and Blessings,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Thomas S. Monson (2020)
“Chapter 16,” Teachings: Thomas S. Monson
Chapter 16
The Temple: A Source of Power and Blessings
“It is in [temples] that heaven and earth meet and our Heavenly Father gives His children His greatest blessings.”
From the Life of Thomas S. Monson
Throughout his service as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as a counselor in the First Presidency, and as President of the Church, Thomas S. Monson sought to extend the blessings of the temple to Church members around the world. Temple building increased dramatically during these years, as President Monson summarized in the April 2016 general conference:
“When I became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1963, there were 12 operating temples in the entire Church. With the dedication of the Provo City Center Temple [in 2016], there are now 150 temples in operation throughout the world. How grateful we are for the blessings we receive in these holy houses.”1
Temples were also important to President Monson in personal ways. He said, “In my own family, some of our most sacred and treasured experiences have occurred when we have joined together in the temple to perform sealing ordinances for our deceased ancestors.”2 Performing these sealings “enhanced the love we have for one another and the obligation which is ours to live worthy of our heritage.”3
When President Monson was serving as a bishop, one of his ward members was Augusta Schneider, a widow from the Alsace-Lorraine area of Europe. One day she gave him a treasure that was close to her heart: a beautiful piece of felt to which she had pinned the medals her husband received as a member of the French forces in World War I. Bishop Monson suggested that she give the medals to a family member, but she was firm in wanting him to have them. “The gift is yours,” she said, “for you have the soul of a Frenchman.” Augusta Schneider died soon afterward, and he often wondered about her gift and her words.
Many years later, President Monson felt impressed to take the medals with him when he accompanied President Ezra Taft Benson to dedicate the Frankfurt Germany Temple. “In a French-speaking dedication session, the temple was filled,” he said. “I saw from my conducting notes that the session included members from the Alsace-Lorraine area.
“During my remarks, I observed that the organist had the name of Schneider. I therefore related the account of my association with Augusta Schneider, then stepped to the organ and presented the organist with the medals, along with the charge that since his name was Schneider, he had a responsibility to pursue the Schneider name in his genealogical activities. The Spirit of the Lord confirmed in our hearts that this was a special session. Brother Schneider had a difficult time preparing to play the closing number of the dedicatory service, so moved was he by the Spirit which we felt there in the temple.
“I knew that the treasured gift—even the widow’s mite, for it was all Augusta Schneider had—was placed in the hand of one who would ensure that many with the souls of Frenchmen would now receive the blessings the holy temples provide, both to the living and for those who have passed beyond mortality.”4
“Temples … are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.”
Teachings of Thomas S. Monson
1
The saving ordinances of the temple are worth making every effort to receive.
Temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.
The first temple to be built in this dispensation was the temple at Kirtland, Ohio. The Saints at the time were impoverished, and yet the Lord had commanded that a temple be built, so build it they did. Wrote Elder Heber C. Kimball of the experience, “The Lord only knows the scenes of poverty, tribulation and distress which we passed through to accomplish it” [in Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball (1945), 67]. And then, after all that had been painstakingly completed, the Saints were forced to leave Ohio and their beloved temple. They eventually found refuge—although it would be temporary—on the banks of the Mississippi River in the state of Illinois. They named their settlement Nauvoo, and willing to give their all once again and with their faith intact, they erected another temple to their God. Persecutions raged, however, and with the Nauvoo Temple barely completed, they were driven from their homes once again, seeking refuge in a desert.
The struggle and the sacrifice began once again as they labored for 40 years to erect the Salt Lake Temple. …
Some degree of sacrifice has ever been associated with temple building and with temple attendance. Countless are those who have labored and struggled in order to obtain for themselves and for their families the blessings which are found in the temples of God.5
May I share with you the account of Tihi and Tararaina Mou Tham and their 10 children. The entire family except for one daughter joined the Church in the early 1960s, when missionaries came to their island, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of Tahiti. Soon they began to desire the blessings of an eternal family sealing in the temple.
At that time the nearest temple to the Mou Tham family was the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) to the southwest, accessible only by expensive airplane travel. The large Mou Tham family, which eked out a meager living on a small plantation, had no money for airplane fare, nor was there any opportunity for employment on their Pacific island. So Brother Mou Tham and his son Gérard made the difficult decision to travel 3,000 miles (4,800 km) to work in New Caledonia, where another son was already employed.
The three Mou Tham men labored for four years [to save] enough money to take the family to the New Zealand Temple. All who were members went except for one daughter who was expecting a baby. They were sealed for time and eternity, an indescribable and joyful experience.
Brother Mou Tham returned from the temple directly to New Caledonia, where he worked for two more years to pay for the passage of the one daughter who had not been at the temple with them—a married daughter and her child and husband.
In their later years Brother and Sister Mou Tham desired to serve in the temple. By that time the Papeete Tahiti Temple had been constructed and dedicated, and they served four missions there.6
Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive the blessings of the temple? Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort. …
If you have been to the temple for yourselves and if you live within relatively close proximity to a temple, your sacrifice could be setting aside the time in your busy lives to visit the temple regularly. There is much to be done in our temples in behalf of those who wait beyond the veil. As we do the work for them, we will know that we have accomplished what they cannot do for themselves.7
2
The temple provides purpose for our lives and brings peace to our souls.
In the temple, the precious plan of God is taught. It is in the temple that eternal covenants are made. The temple lifts us, exalts us, stands as a beacon for all to see, and points us toward celestial glory. It is the house of God. All that occurs within the walls of the temple is uplifting and ennobling. …
As we … love the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God.8
“The temple lifts us, exalts us, … and points us toward celestial glory.”
No person can go to the temple for himself or for another without learning something. As we learn, we come to know, and when we come to know, we come to do, and that is our purpose—to serve our Heavenly Father and help others along the way.9
As we enter through the doors of the temple, we leave behind us the distractions and confusion of the world. Inside this sacred sanctuary, we find beauty and order. There is rest for our souls and a respite from the cares of our lives.
As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart. We will grasp the true meaning of the words of the Savior when He said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. … Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” [John 14:27].
Such peace can permeate any heart—hearts that are troubled, hearts that are burdened down with grief, hearts that feel confusion, hearts that plead for help.10
3
When we do family history and temple service, we become saviors on Mount Zion.
Great service is given when we perform vicarious ordinances for those who have gone beyond the veil. In many cases we do not know those for whom we perform the work. We expect no thanks, nor do we have the assurance that they will accept that which we offer. However, we serve, and in that process we attain that which comes of no other effort: we literally become saviors on Mount Zion. As our Savior gave His life as a vicarious sacrifice for us, so we, in some small measure, do the same when we perform proxy work in the temple for those who have no means of moving forward unless something is done for them by those of us here on the earth.11
The Lord has never … indicated that His work is confined to mortality. Rather, His work embraces eternity. I believe He is hastening His work in the spirit world. I also believe that the Lord, through His servants there, is preparing many spirits to receive the gospel. Our job is to search out our dead and then go to the temple and perform the sacred ordinances that will bring to those beyond the veil the same opportunities we have. …
The Lord expects you and me to perform our family history work well. I think the first thing we must do if we are to perform our work well is to have the Spirit of our Heavenly Father with us. When we live as righteously as we know how to live, He will open the way for the fulfillment of the blessings that so earnestly and diligently we seek.
We are going to make mistakes, but none of us can become an expert in family history work without first being a novice. Therefore, we must plunge into this work, and we must prepare for some uphill climbing. This is not an easy task, but the Lord has placed it upon you, and He has placed it upon me.
As you pursue family history work, you are going to find yourself running into roadblocks, and you are going to say to yourself, “There is nothing else I can do.” When you come to that point, get down on your knees and ask the Lord to open the way, and He will open the way for you. I testify that this is true.
Heavenly Father loves His children in the spirit world just as much as He loves you and me. … There are millions upon millions of spirit children of our Heavenly Father who never heard the name of Christ before dying and going into the spirit world. But now they have been taught the gospel and are awaiting the day when you and I will do the research necessary to clear the way so that we can go into the house of the Lord and perform for them the work that they themselves cannot perform.12
“As you pursue family history work, … ask the Lord to open the way, and He will open the way for you.”
The Light of Christ will shine on all—even those who have gone beyond. President Joseph F. Smith (1838–1918), speaking of work for the dead, declared, “Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their children here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties” [Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith (1998), 247].13
4
In the temple we receive the crowning blessings of membership in the Church.
How far is heaven? I testify that in the holy temples it is not far at all—for it is in these sacred places that heaven and earth meet and our Heavenly Father gives His children His greatest blessings.14
To you who are worthy and able to attend the temple, I would admonish you to go often. The temple is a place where we can find peace. There we receive a renewed dedication to the gospel and a strengthened resolve to keep the commandments.
What a privilege it is to be able to go to the temple, where we may experience the sanctifying influence of the Spirit of the Lord.15
If you have not yet been to the temple or if you have been but currently do not qualify for a recommend, there is no more important goal for you to work toward than being worthy to go to the temple. Your sacrifice may be bringing your life into compliance with what is required to receive a recommend, perhaps by forsaking long-held habits which disqualify you. It may be having the faith and the discipline to pay your tithing. Whatever it is, qualify to enter the temple of God. Secure a temple recommend and regard it as a precious possession, for such it is.
Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer. The all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God. …
I express my undying gratitude to my Heavenly Father … for all of our temples, wherever they are. Each one stands as a beacon to the world, an expression of our testimony that God, our Eternal Father, lives, that He desires to bless us and, indeed, to bless His sons and daughters of all generations. Each of our temples is an expression of our testimony that life beyond the grave is as real and as certain as is our life here on earth. I so testify.
My beloved brothers and sisters, may we make whatever sacrifices are necessary to attend the temple and to have the spirit of the temple in our hearts and in our homes. May we follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who made the ultimate sacrifice for us, that we might have eternal life and exaltation in our Heavenly Father’s kingdom.16
Suggestions for Study and Teaching
Questions
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President Monson taught that “some degree of sacrifice has ever been associated with temple building and with temple attendance” (section 1). What are your impressions as you review President Monson’s accounts of sacrifice associated with temples? How can we more fully enjoy the blessings of the temple?
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Review the many blessings of temples, as outlined in section 2. How can temple attendance help us bear our trials? How can it help us overcome temptation? How has temple attendance helped you find peace in a time of trouble? What has the temple helped you understand about the purpose of life?
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What does it mean to be “saviors on Mount Zion”? (section 3; see also Doctrine and Covenants 128:5–18; 138:47–48, 53–54, 57–58). What are your feelings as you receive temple ordinances for those who have died? How have family history and temple service helped turn your heart to family members, both living and dead? How have you been blessed as a result of doing family history work?
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President Monson emphasized that in the temple, we receive “the crowning blessings of membership in the Church” (section 4). In what ways has receiving and participating in temple ordinances blessed you and your family? Why is it important for us to attend the temple often, where possible? How can we increase the influence of the temple in our own lives?
Related Scriptures
2 Samuel 7:4–6; Matthew 21:12–13; 2 Nephi 5:16; Doctrine and Covenants 97:12–17; 109:1–26; 110:7–8
Study Help
“Acting on what you have learned will bring added and enduring understanding (see John 7:17)” (Preach My Gospel [2004], 19). Consider asking yourself how you can apply gospel teachings at home, at work, and in your Church responsibilities.