We are using extraordinary modern techniques to shore up the foundation of the Salt Lake Temple. In like manner we should each be taking unprecedented measures to shore up our spiritual foundations—including perhaps things we have never considered doing before.
As he talks about unprecedented challenges in our day and the need to build on a foundation of Christ the thought comes that the reason the foundation of Christ is sufficient for unprecedented challenges is that “unprecedented” does not mean “unanticipated”. The foundation of Christ has been prepared for all challenges whether those challenges have a precedent or not.
If circumstances prevent you from attending the temple regularly for a time, set aside a regular time to review the covenants you have made in the temple.
The safest place to be spiritually is living within your temple covenants.
I marvel at what the pioneers accomplished. I am totally in awe when I consider that they built this magnificent temple with only tools and techniques available to them more than a century ago.
These many decades later, however, if we examine the foundation closely, we can see the effects of erosion, gaps in the original stonework, and varying stages of stability in the masonry.…The foundation of any building, particularly one as large as this one, must be strong and resilient enough to withstand earthquakes, corrosion, high winds, and the inevitable settling that affects all buildings. The complex task of strengthening now underway will reinforce this sacred temple with the foundation that can and will stand the test of time.
It is telling that regardless of whether the building ever sees earthquakes, corrosion or high winds there is always the ever-present effect of constant gravity to deal with.
My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
So I ask each of you, how firm is your foundation? And what reinforcements to your testimony and understanding of the gospel are needed?
President Harold B. Lee explained why procedures, policies, and even the administration of temple ordinances continue to change within the Savior’s restored Church. President Lee said: “The principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ are divine. Nobody changes the principles and [doctrine] of the Church except the Lord by revelation. But methods change as the inspired direction comes to those who preside at a given time.”
Sometimes we forget what is eternal and what is presently possible or expedient.
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have often asked the Lord if there are better ways to take the blessings of the temple to His faithful children. We seek guidance regularly on how to ensure worldwide accuracy and consistency of temple instruction, covenants, and ordinances despite differences in language and culture. …
Current adjustments in temple procedures, and others that will follow, are continuing evidence that the Lord is actively directing His Church. He is providing opportunities for each of us to bolster our spiritual foundations more effectively by centering our lives on Him and on the ordinances and covenants of His temple. When you bring your temple recommend, a contrite heart, and a seeking mind to the Lord’s house of learning, He will teach you.
Should distance, health challenges, or other constraints prohibit your temple attendance for a season, I invite you to set a regular time to rehearse in your mind the covenants you have made.
I should do what it takes to go to the temple regularly. I am failing at that.
If you don’t yet love to attend the temple, go more often—not less. Let the Lord, through His Spirit, teach and inspire you there. I promise you that over time, the temple will become a place of safety, solace, and revelation.
With Laura’s experience it is easy to want to dispute the counsel to “go more, not less” but I think that the real problem is that Laura was focused on her feelings about the doctrine rather than the feeling of peace in the temple.
To each of you who has made temple covenants, I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.
My dear brothers and sisters, when renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are completed, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple.
Likewise, whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants!
We’re doing better at that than we were for a while but we can still do better.
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