Cook - See Yourself in the Temple - April 2016

Elder Cook talks about preparing ourselves to receive temple blessings for ourselves and for our ancestors.

• My challenge this morning is for each of us, wherever we live, to see ourselves in the temple.

Temples bless our lives and provide us spiritual protection from the world.  With the number of temples that dot the earth and the technology to do family history work, we are literally fulfilling the sacred prophesies to the saviors on Mount Zion.

• The combination of increased numbers of temples and advanced technology to fulfill our sacred family history responsibilities for our ancestors makes this the most blessed time in all history. I rejoice in the extraordinary faithfulness of our youth in indexing and finding their ancestors and then doing the baptism and confirmation work in the temple. You are literally among the prophesied saviors on Mount Zion.

In order to prepare ourselves for the temple, we should be working with our Bishop to prepare ourselves to answer the temple recommend questions.  One of the hardest aspects of answering the questions is to be able to forgive ourselves for the many mistakes we have made.  The Savior wants us to use the atonement to forgive ourselves and qualify and participate in the ordinances of the temple.

• It is our great desire that members of the Church will live to be worthy of a temple recommend. Please don’t see the temple as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal. Working with their bishop, most members can achieve all righteous requirements in a relatively short period of time if they have a determination to qualify and fully repent of transgressions. This includes being willing to forgive ourselves and not focus on our imperfections or sins as disqualifying us from ever entering a sacred temple.

Elder Cook says that the auxiliaries of the church help organize the Lord's kingdom on the earth.  In the temple, the Lord organizes eternal families.

• Church leaders organize stakes, wards, quorums, Church auxiliaries, missions, and so forth in our chapels and other buildings. The Lord organizes eternal families only in temples.

Elder Cook invites all people to work to qualify for temple blessings.

• Please know how earnestly we desire that everyone make any necessary changes to qualify for the temple. Prayerfully review where you are in your life, seek the guidance of the Spirit, and talk to your bishop about preparing yourself for the temple. President Thomas S. Monson has said, “There is no more important goal for you to work toward than being worthy to go to the temple.”

He concludes with encouragement to strive to receive temple blessings.

• Brothers and sisters, I pray that each of us will honor the Savior and make any necessary changes to see ourselves in His sacred temples. In doing so, we can accomplish His holy purposes and prepare ourselves and our families for all the blessings the Lord and His Church can bestow in this life and eternity.

Elder Cooks invitation to see ourselves in the temple is a personal invitation to all of us to live a more righteous life.  He invites us to receive the blessings that come from worshiping in the temple.  Attending the temple and making sacred covenants is an important step to receiving exaltation with Heavenly Father.  As we prepare ourselves to attend the temple, qualify for the sacred ordinances that will be performed there, and seek direction on how we keep those sacred covenants after we attend, the Lord will bless us and help us find peace and strength to overcome the world and live a righteous life.  Today is a good day to start making the necessary changes we all should be making in our lives.  Let's dedicate or rededicate our lives today to be worthy to enter the temple.