In the British classic Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Brontë and published in 1847. The main character, Jane Eyre, is a penniless, teenage orphan who exemplifies what it means to be true. In this fictional account, a man, Mr. Rochester, loves Miss Eyre but is unable to marry her. Instead, he begs Miss Eyre to live with him without the benefit of marriage. Miss Eyre loves Mr. Rochester as well, and for a moment she is tempted, asking herself, “Who in the world cares for you? or who will be injured by what you do?”
Quickly Jane’s conscience answers: “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God. … Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this. … If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth—so I have always believed. … Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations, are all I have at this hour to stand by: there I plant my foot."
While most of us were in the Seminary Meeting this past Sunday, Lauren was teaching the Beehives about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. She shares this story from the lesson:
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The small island kingdom of Tonga lies immediately next to the international dateline, so it is the first country in the world to greet the Sabbath day. It is a small country and, in the counting of the world, a poor country. But years ago a wise Tongan king decreed that the Sabbath would be kept holy in Tonga forever.
Modern civilization has come in many ways to Tonga. If one goes to the capital of Nuku’alofa on a weekday, he finds the usual heavy traffic of trucks and cars and the bustle of thousands of shoppers making their regular purchases from well-stocked stores and markets. One sees people line up to view the latest movies and to rent videos. One can watch modern buses whisk tourists off to catch their jet planes, or observe the speed and clarity of a satellite call to the United States. The streets are crowded and business is good. You might wonder, “What is so different about this town from hundreds of others like it throughout the world?”
But when Sunday dawns on the kingdom of Tonga, a transformation takes place. If one goes downtown, he sees deserted streets—no taxis or buses or crowds of people. All the stores, all the markets, all the movie theaters, all the offices are closed. No planes fly, no ships come in or out, no commerce takes place. No games are played. The people go to church. Tonga is remembering to keep the Sabbath day holy.
It is significant that the first country in the world to greet the holy Sabbath keeps the Sabbath holy.
Has the Lord blessed them? Maybe the world cannot see his blessings, but in the ways that really count, he has blessed them abundantly. He has blessed them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a larger percentage of the population there belongs to the Church than in any other country.
Simple, well-kept chapels dot the land. Clean, smiling local missionaries are found everywhere. A beautiful, exceptionally well-attended temple stands in Tonga in fulfillment of promises made years and ages ago. And, as would be expected, their attendance at meetings and faithfulness intithing are very near the top. Recently the Saints have been blessed with some fairly intense opposition that is having the effect of further sanctifying the true seekers of eternal life.
Does the Lord love and bless those who keep the Sabbath day holy? I testify that he does in eternally meaningful ways. I further testify that when we eventually see things through the proper perspective of eternal truth, we will be amazed at how much we were blessed in important—though often unperceived—ways through keeping the Sabbath holy; and to our sorrow we may sense how many blessings we kept from ourselves by not consistently keeping the Sabbath day holy.
There is a direct correlation between the proper observance of the Sabbath and true reverence for God, which includes obedience to his other commandments.
We can’t all live in Tonga, but we can all keep the Sabbath day holy and receive the blessings that come therefrom—and they come to us wherever we live, personally as well as collectively.
This past Sunday we talked about what it means to be a virtuous woman. We discussed the Law of Chastity and standing firm in our faith. We listened to Elaine S. Dalton's talk, "Be Not Moved." The talk is beautiful, it points out that our small (or large) decisions can have eternal significance not just for us but for those we come in contact with. One of my favorite parts is when Sister Dalton talks about how our body is a temple, "because it has the capacity to house not only your eternal spirit but also the eternal spirits of others who will come to the earth as part of your eternal family." When I was growing up my Dad used to tell me that I was worth more than rubies in reference to Proverbs 31:10 that says, "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." Our sweet young women are wonderful and they too are priced far above rubies. Remember that always! In connection with being virtuous women, I would ask that you work on one of two different value projects for Virtue. 1) Virtuous living “at all times and in all things, and in all places” qualifies you for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. When you are baptized and confirmed, you are given the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide all aspects of your life. Since the Holy Ghost does not dwell in unclean tabernacles, living a virtuous life is a prerequisite to having the companionship of the Holy Ghost and receiving the blessings of temple ordinances. Read the following scripture references and identify the promised blessings: John 14:26–27; 15:26; 2 Nephi 32:1–5; and Doctrine and Covenants 45:57–59; 88:3–4; 121:45–46. In your journal record what you have learned, and write about a time when you felt the guidance of the Holy Ghost. 2) Prepare to be worthy to enter the temple and to participate in temple ordinances. Read Alma chapter 5. Make a list of the questions Alma asks. Answer the questions for yourself, and make a list of the things you can and will do to prepare yourself to be pure and worthy to enter the temple and receive all the blessings our Heavenly Father has promised His beloved daughters. Be Not Moved!
Tonight I stand in a holy place at this pulpit, in the presence of prophets, seers, and revelators and royal daughters of God. This is a magnificent time to be on the earth and to be a young woman. You are the elect daughters of our Father in Heaven. I hope you sense your identity and how beloved you are of our Father in Heaven. He loves each of you, and I do too.
On the desk in my office, I have a bronze replica of a sculpture of a young woman whose name is Kristina. The original life-sized sculpture of Kristina stands on a pier in Copenhagen, Denmark, positioned so that she is looking out over the sea toward Zion. Her decision to join the Church and leave her home was not an easy one, and you can see that the opposing winds are blowing fiercely against her. She is standing firm, doing a very hard thing but one she knows to be right. Her descendants placed this sculpture there on that pier as a tribute to Kristina, for her decision that day had eternal significance for generations.
For me this sculpture of Kristina represents each one of you. Like Kristina, you are standing on the edge of many important decisions and making choices daily, some of them difficult, that will shape not only your future but also the destiny of generations. You too are facing gale-force winds of opposition, adversity, peer pressure, and moral pollution. And yet you are standing immovable and living the gospel in the face of these raging storms in our society. Like Kristina, you are led by the Holy Ghost. You are making correct decisions. You are loyal, and you are royal.
I can think of no more important counsel from a loving Heavenly Father than His admonition for each of you to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved.”1 He is saying: Stand firm. Be steadfast.2 “Stand for truth and righteousness.”3 Stand as a witness.4 Be a standard to the world. Stand in holy places. And so my message to each of you is a simple one: Be not moved.
First, be not moved in choosing right. In these latter days, there are no small decisions. The choices you are making right now are of critical importance. Agency, or the ability to choose, is one of God’s greatest gifts to His children. It is part of the plan of happiness you and I chose and defended in our premortal existence. Live your lives in such a way that you can listen to and hear the Holy Ghost, and He will help you make correct decisions. In fact, He will tell you “all things what ye should do.”5
Several weeks ago I returned to my old high school for the first time in years. I was visiting a stake conference that was being held in the school’s auditorium. As I walked down the halls, a flood of memories began to pour into my mind. I remembered exactly how I felt when I attended high school as a young woman—insecure, unsure of myself, self-conscious, and so, so desirous to fit in. I went into the auditorium. Again a flood of memories came to mind. I was familiar with every detail of that auditorium. Only one thing had changed—me.
That day I had the opportunity to stand on the stage as I had done in high school many times as a student officer. I even saw some of my former classmates in the audience—some I had dated! But this time, instead of conducting an assembly, I had the privilege—there in my high school auditorium—to “stand as a witness”6 and bear my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Young women, make sure your relationships with others are such that 40 years from now, you will not be embarrassed. No amount of peer pressure, no acceptance, no popularity is worth a compromise. Your influence on the young men will help them remain worthy of their priesthood power, of temple covenants, and of serving a mission. And who knows? Forty years from now, you may even have one of them walk up to you, there in your high school auditorium, and thank you for helping him remain worthy to fulfill his priesthood duty to serve an honorable mission. And who knows? You may even receive a letter from one of those young men’s wives, thanking you for the influence you had on her husband and their future family clear back in your high school days. Your choices matter. Your choices now not only affect you, but they also affect others. They are of eternal significance. Be not moved!
Second, be not moved in your desire and commitment to remain virtuous and sexually pure. Cherish virtue. Your personal purity is one of your greatest sources of power. When you came to the earth, you were given the precious gift of a body. Your body is the instrument of your mind and a divine gift with which you exercise your agency. This is a gift that Satan was denied, and thus he directs nearly all of his attacks on your body. He wants you to disdain, misuse, and abuse your body. Immodesty, pornography, immorality, tattoos and piercings, drug abuse, and addictions of all kinds are all efforts to take possession of this precious gift—your body—and to make it difficult for you to exercise your agency. Paul asks, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”7
Your body is a temple. Why? Because it has the capacity to house not only your eternal spirit but also the eternal spirits of others who will come to the earth as part of your eternal family. Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught, “The power to create mortal life is [an] exalted power.”8 Your role is an exalted role. God has given you a sacred trust! You are preparing to be future mothers of generations to come. Keep yourselves pure and worthy, and guard that which is “most dear and precious above all”—your virtue and chastity.9Heavenly Father’s wise counsel to you personally, His elect daughters, is to “walk … the paths of virtue.”10
Virtue is the golden key to the temple. So, third, be not moved in being worthy to make and keep sacred covenants. The covenant you make at baptism will tether you to the path of virtue and happiness as you renew that covenant each week by partaking of the sacrament. As you keep your baptismal covenant, you will look different, dress different, and act different from the world. Keeping this covenant will enable you to be guided by the Holy Ghost. Stand in holy places, and do not even go near those environments or music, media, or associations that might cause you to lose the companionship of the Holy Ghost.11 And as you keep your covenants, you will remain worthy and prepared to enter the Lord’s holy temples.
Last, be not moved in your acceptance of the Savior’s Atonement. The Atonement is for you and for me. It is an enabling and a redeeming power. If you are not feeling worthy to stand in holy places, do not carry this burden one day longer. In mortality, we will all make mistakes. Be assured that the Savior loves you so much that He made it possible for you to change and to repent if you make a mistake. Satan does not want you to think you can change.12 He will try to convince you that all is lost. That is a lie. You can return. You can repent. You can be pure and holy because of the Savior’s infinite Atonement.
Now let me close with one of the greatest love stories ever told. You might ask, “What does a love story have to do with standing in holy places?” It has everything to do with standing in holy places. This is the story of a young woman named Rebekah.13
As this story unfolds, Abraham charges his servant with finding a worthy young woman to be his son Isaac’s wife. She must be one who qualifies for a covenant marriage—virtuous and pure and worthy. And so he sends his servant on a long and dangerous journey to a place called Haran. The reason he must go there is clear—holy men need holy women to stand by their sides. As the servant approached the city of Nahor, he stopped at a well to water his camels and he prayed that he would be led to the right young woman and that he would recognize her by her offer to get water for him and his 10 camels. Now, I have ridden a camel, and this much I know—camels drink a lot of water!
In Genesis we read that Rebekah not only went down to the well and got water, but she “hasted,”14 or hurried, to accomplish this task. The servant then placed bracelets and jewelry on Rebekah and asked if there was room in her father’s home for him to stay. I am sure the jewelry helped! The scripture reads, “And the damsel ran, and told them of her mother’s house these things.”15 Rebekah must have been a runner!
The servant told Rebekah’s family the purpose of his long journey, and Rebekah agreed to become Isaac’s wife. The servant desired to leave the very next day with Rebekah, but her family entreated her to stay with them at least 10 more days. Then they asked Rebekah what she wanted to do, and her response was simply “I will go.”16 Does that response sound familiar to the response of thousands who resolutely responded, “I will go; I will do”17 when our prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, announced the opportunity for young men and young women to serve missions at a younger age?
Now the moral and ending of this love story: Rebekah was prepared and worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and to become a covenant wife of Isaac. She did not have to wait and prepare herself. Prior to her departure from her family, she was given a blessing, and the words are stirring to me, for she was promised that she would become “the mother of thousands of millions.”18 But the best part of this love story is when Rebekah first saw Isaac and he first saw her. It doesn’t say this in the Bible, but I think it was love at first sight! For “virtue loveth virtue; [and] light cleaveth unto light.”19 When Isaac went out to meet the caravan, Rebekah “lighted off [her] camel.”20 And then it says, “And he loved her.”21 This is where I sigh!
For both Rebekah and Kristina, standing in holy places was not easy. Being not moved was not easy. The winds blew fiercely, the water from the well was heavy, and departing from their familiar homes and former lives certainly was not easy. But they made correct choices. They were guided by the Holy Ghost. They were virtuous, and they prepared themselves to make and keep sacred covenants. The Savior descended through Rebekah’s lineage. Did she know then that this would happen? No! Do your choices now matter? Yes!
Young women, generations are depending on the choices you make, your purity, and your worthy lives. Be not moved. You have a great destiny before you. This is your moment! I truly believe that one virtuous young woman, led by the Spirit, can change the world!
I testify that the Savior lives! He will be with you. He will enable you. And in difficult moments, His “angels [will be] round about you, to bear you up.”22 In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
In July we talked about Covenants and Ordinances in the church. The last lesson was about taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ.
We discussed how when we are baptized, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. What does this mean? We can look to the sacrament scriptures for the answer.
"...that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember Him and keep His commandments which He has given them; that they may always have His Spirit to be with them. Amen."
Part of taking upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ is to remember Him in all that we do. When we do this our thoughts and actions suddenly change, we see things differently. We might widen our gaze by having that eternal perspective that is talked about so much. It takes effort to remember Him before we say or do things but it allows us to become closer to Christ and to know Him and understand Him. Part of getting to know our Savior is reading about His life and His ministry in the scriptures, it is praying, and it is acting. On our journey throughout this life we are called upon to act and sometimes we are unsure of what to do. If we stay close to the Lord, our decisions become easier to make. Our minds are geared towards acting in a more Christ-like way and we are always ready to receive inspiration.
As President Monson states in the video below, sometimes we might feel alone in our convictions as a Latter-day Saint but if we look around us, we are one of many.
This Sunday we had a lesson given by Lindsay on the importance of temple covenants and ordinances. The lesson started off with a quick little quiz on temples to see how well we knew our temple trivia (see below to test your knowledge). Next we had a visual aid of a winding path drawn on the chalkboard, along with pictures of the steps and ordinances we need to take in our journey to the temple and beyond. The class was asked to select the steps and ordinances and put them in order, as best they could. Once the step or ordinance was selected we were able to discuss the importance of them and how they have blessed our own lives.
We also enjoyed watching this video which amazing illustrates the importance of temples in our lives:
Although we may not all follow the same path to the temple, what is important is that we strive in all that we do to be worthy to enter the temple and enjoy the blessings that come from regular temple attendance.
______________________________________ TEMPLE POP QUIZ
1. Where was the first temple built in this dispensation?
a. Nauvoo, Illinois
b. Salt Lake City, Utah
c. Kirtland, Ohio
d. Manti, Utah
2. Which temple was the second multipurpose temple (both a meeting house and a temple) of the church, following the Hong Kong China Temple?
a. San Diego, Ca
b. Washington D.C
c. San Paulo, Brazil
d. Manhattan, NY
3. Which country other than the United States was the first to have more than one temple?
a. Mexico
b. Germany
c. England
d. Brazil
4. The Manhattan, NY temple was dedicated on:
a. 13 June 2004
b. 09 January 1981
c. 28 April 1890
d. 8 October 1999
5. How many oxen hold up the baptismal fonts in latter-day temples?
a. 6
b. 12
c. 10
d. 20
6. Which temple is the tallest?
a. Los Angeles California
b. Salt Lake Temple
c. Washington D.C. Temple
d. Manti Utah Temple
7. How many years was the Salt Lake Temple under construction?
a. 10
b. 25
c. 40
d. 30
8. Where was Solomon's Temple?
a. Turkey
b. Greece
c. Jerusalem
d. Egypt
9. Door handles found throughout the Manhattan, NY Temple are shaped like:
a. Subway Cars
b. Statue of Liberty torch
c. Empire State Building
d. Apples
_________________________________________
Answers: 1. c, 2. d, 3. b, 4. a, 5. b, 6. c, 7. c, 8. c, 9. c
For the month of July we are learning about Ordinances and Covenants. Lindsay taught our first lesson this past Sunday, discussing why ordinances and covenants are important in our lives. D&C Section 84 is a wonderful of example of the power of God being manifest through the ordinances of the Priesthood. Verse 19-21 state:
19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20 Therefore, in the ordinance thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh.
What a privilege to be part of building up the kingdom of God!
This past Sunday, Cara taught us about the duties of the Priesthood. She referenced Elder Ballard's Talk "This is My Work and My Glory" from this past General Conference. Below is a quote from Elder Ballard and the link to the entire talk. It only takes about 5 minutes to read the full text, if you have those minutes to spare, reading the talk is a great way to spend them.
"...the power by which the heavens and earth were and are created is the priesthood. Those of us who are members of the Church know that the source of this priesthood power is God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ. Not only is the priesthood the power by which the heavens and the earth were created, but it is also the power the Savior used in His mortal ministry to perform miracles, to bless and heal the sick, to bring the dead to life, and, as our Father’s Only Begotten Son, to endure the unbearable pain of Gethsemane and Calvary—thus fulfilling the laws of justice with mercy and providing an infinite Atonement and overcoming physical death through the Resurrection." Elder Ballad' Full Talk
