Easter and the Temple

There’s been a few Easter Sundays in my life when I wrote the Easter program or was the main speaker, so I was immersed for weeks in the Easter story. It is a glorious and enriching experience. This year I hardly remembered it was Easter.

Instead, I have been preparing to lead a discussion in our RS study group this week on understanding the temple. So on this Easter Sunday I thought about the connection between the temple and the Savior.

When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was rent, signifying that the Holy of Holies, the hope of entering into God's presence, was now open and available to all men--because of Him.

That's why it is the temple and not the cross that is the symbol of our Church membership.

Today we ponder His atoning sacrifice, his suffering, and his triumph over death that bring us life. But it is his power and his priesthood, the blessings and glories of the temple, that bring us Life Eternal, back into the presence of God.

I think that alone deserves a Hosannah shout!

From the Rooftop

“Their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.” D&C 1:3

I don’t understand why people willfully sin, because it seems like every time I make a mistake it gets shouted from the rooftops. Some little imp sees every little slip I make, grabs a megaphone, runs to the roof, and shouts it to the world.

That happened to me again. I had a normal, casual conversation with someone this week, and then this conversation turns up on an internet newsletter that goes to all the sisters in the biggest ward in our stake—not even my ward! It came across as an announcement from me, and quoted me several times.
I’ll admit I probably shouldn’t have been blabbing about this subject, but no one would consider it abnormal or inappropriate given the privacy of the situation. How does this happen?
It’s the little imp.

I don’t need the threat of jail, or of a fine, or even of ending up in the newspapers to keep me honest. Even Hell doesn’t scare me.
I know that whatever I do, however private or hidden I think a thing is, it never is. And even if it is hidden from the world for a time, Someone knows. And I know.


I’ll try harder to remember the proverb:
Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Prov. 21:23


Meanwhile, don’t kill the imp. He’s just the messenger.

Testimony

What a glorious General Conference! Manna from heaven, for sure.
I have other things I need to do, but by way of letting you know I am alive and well, I will leave you the brief testimony I bore last week, nothing extraordinary, but how I felt:


When I was younger my sisters and I used to talk about the fact that we knew God heard and answered prayers—for other people. We weren’t so sure about ours. The past couple of weeks I’ve had occasion to think about the times and the particular ways the Lord has answered my prayers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life it’s that our prayers are heard and answered, even mine. And I love Heavenly Father so much for that—for being aware of our very thoughts and feelings, our desires and our needs, and for caring about them, and responding to them in very individual ways. I don’t know how to thank Him for that. I hope that by sharing my love and testimony today my gratitude to Him might be magnified.

I know that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son, the Savior and Redeemer of mankind. I know that He is my Savior as He saves me from hopelessness and despair. I love Him for that, for all He has done and is doing and will do for my personal happiness, and yours.

I have tender feelings about Joseph Smith and the part he played in the restoration of the gospel. I have no doubt at all that this is the Lord’s Kingdom, that this is His work we are involved in. Every day of my life I am grateful to live in a time and place where we can enjoy the fullness of the blessings of the gospel and of the Church.

I have no words to express my gratitude for the Holy Spirit, that bears witness to the truth of these things, that guides and directs us and keeps us on the path that will lead us to our fondest dream, that of returning to that Heavenly Father who loves us so much and so well, of Whom I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ.




"To write the love of God ... would drain the ocean, though the sea was ink, and the earth paper and every stick a pen and every man a scribe. When I try to praise Him in beauty, honor and magnify the name of God, I find I have no language at my command that will do justice to the case, but when I lay aside this weak, frail body I expect to praise Him in beauty and holiness." --Sarah Studevant Leavitt


"...because of the love which he has to my testimony I, the Lord, love him."
Doctrine & Covenants 124:20