Preparing for the House of the Lord

Jan 2012
by Elder Anthony D. Perkins of the Seventy
Asia Area President

The question the Asia Area Presidency is asked most often as we travel among the Saints of Asia is: “When will we have a temple in our country or city?”

We commend you for your love of the Lord’s house. You understand President Thomas S. Monson’s counsel that “the all-important and crowning blessings of membership in the Church are those blessings which we receive in the temples of God.” ¹

May I suggest an answer to this question? We will have a temple in your country or city when the Lord reveals through His servant, the prophet, that we as a people are prepared for temple covenants and blessings. The key to temple building is our personal and collective preparation.

In 1838, the Lord told Joseph Smith: “I command you to build a house unto me, for the gathering together of my saints, that they may worship me. And let there be a beginning of this work, and a foundation, and a preparatory work.” ²

Each of us can undertake three “preparatory works” to lay the foundation for additional temples in the Asia Area. I testify and promise that each of these preparatory works brings rich blessings into our lives.

1. Keep Baptismal and Priesthood Covenants

Our first preparatory work is to keep the covenants we made with Jesus Christ when entering the waters of baptism and when receiving His priesthood. By keeping our first covenants, we demonstrate our preparedness to enter the temple and make higher covenants with God.

The temple focuses on Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and we prepare by worthily partaking of the sacrament every week. In the weekly sacrament ordinance we renew our baptismal covenants to take upon us the name of Christ, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. ³

The temple is the Lord’s University, and we prepare by participating in gospel teaching and learning on Sundays, as well as in weekday Seminary and Institute. As engaged gospel learners, we keep our covenant “to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life” and to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” ⁴

The temple is a place where we serve our deceased ancestors, and we prepare by serving our living neighbors through Church assignments. When we magnify our callings, ⁵ we keep our baptismal covenants to “bear one another’s burdens,” “mourn with those that mourn,” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” ⁶

A temple requires many workers from several stakes to assist patrons in performing temple ordinances, and we prepare by inviting family and friends to come unto Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. As member missionaries, we keep our baptismal covenant to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death.” ⁷

I invite you to examine your conduct and take action to better keep your baptismal and priesthood covenants. When you do, I promise that the Holy Ghost will be your constant guide. I know that as you honor and keep your covenants, you will be “greatly blessed in mortality and become eligible for exaltation” through temple ordinances. ⁸

2. Pay a Full Tithe

Our second “preparatory work” is to pay a full and honest tithe. When we return to the Lord one-tenth of what He has already given us, we express our gratitude for His goodness and gifts. We also demonstrate our desire for His eternal blessings above our want of worldly things.

In our day, the Savior revealed to Joseph Smith the importance of tithing for those who desire to enter the temple. The Lord said, “Behold, this is the tithing and the sacrifice which I, the Lord, require at their hands, that there may be a house built unto me for the salvation of Zion.” ⁹ Each person who seeks and holds a temple recommend must affirm – in complete honesty before God’s designated priesthood leader – that he or she is a full-tithe payer.

Why should members worldwide, many of whom may not have enough for their daily needs, be encouraged to keep the Lord’s law of tithing? As President Hinckley said in Cebu in the Philippine Islands, if members “even living in poverty and misery… will accept the gospel and live it, pay their tithes and offerings, even though those be meager, … they will have rice in their bowls and clothing on their backs and shelter over their heads. I do not see any other solution.” ¹⁰

I invite you to pay a full and honest tithe. Repay the Lord first before paying your other expenses. I repeat Jesus’ promise to the Nephites that He will “open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” ¹¹

3. Sacrifice to Receive Temple Ordinances

Our third “preparatory work” is to sacrifice to receive temple ordinances and renew our covenants. By doing so, we demonstrate to the Lord our sincere desire to return to His presence.

Nine months ago, our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson declared: “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.  … Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive the blessings of the temple? 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.” ¹²

The details of your sacrifice to receive temple ordinances will differ depending on your age and life circumstances, but the spirit of sacrifice will be the same.

For every young man, and interested young women, your temple sacrifice will be to serve a full-time mission. You will prepare yourself spiritually, keep yourself morally worthy, and make as large a financial contribution to your mission as you can. After receiving your mission call from the prophet of God, and either before departing for an MTC or while living in an MTC, you will be endowed “with power from on high” in the House of the Lord. ¹³ I extend to you President Monson’s invitation from the October 2010 General Conference when he said, “Young men, I admonish you to prepare for service as a missionary.”¹⁴ I promise you untold spiritual, temporal, and family blessings from this full-time service in the Master’s cause.

For single young men and women contemplating marriage, your temple sacrifice will be to forego incorrect traditions regarding marriage. Rather than spend enormous sums of money on a dowry or lavish gifts and a fancy civil wedding with many family and friends, both member and non-member, you will register your marriage or hold a small civil ceremony as required by local law. You will have saved money and planned your travel to a temple immediately following your marriage registration or very simple civil ceremony. You will make the temple sealing for time and all eternity the focus of your marriage plans, not an afterthought. After returning home, you may hold a simple reception at a meetinghouse where your family and friends can celebrate your temple marriage. I extend to you single members the invitation of the prophet Spencer W. Kimball, “We hope that young people will be willing to sacrifice the pomp and show and pageantry of the civil weddings so that they… can go to the holy temple for their marriages.” ¹⁵ I promise you that generations of your posterity will rise up and call you blessed for making this decision and sacrifice.¹⁶

For members living near an operating temple in Taipei or Hong Kong who have already received your own temple ordinances, our beloved prophet’s invitation is that “your sacrifice could be setting aside the time in your busy lives to visit the temple regularly.” ¹⁷ I promise that “no combination of wickedness shall have power” over you and your family if you are a frequent guest in the House of the Lord. ¹⁸

Temples are Built of Trials and Testimonies

I know that surely the day will come when the Lord reveals to His prophet additional locations to build temples in Asia. But we must remember President Monson’s recent testimony. He said, “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.” ¹⁹

I testify that the key to temple building is our personal and collective preparation. We prepare by keeping our baptismal and priesthood covenants, paying with gratitude a full and honest tithe, and sacrificing to receive temple ordinances. Such preparation reflects the depth of our conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ and our desire to receive Heavenly Father’s crowning blessings. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ■

NOTES

1. President Thomas S. Monson, “The Holy Temple—a Beacon to the World,” Liahona, May 2011, 93.
2. D&C 115:8-9.
3. See D&C 20:77; Mosiah 18:10.
4. D&C 84:43-44.
5. See D&C 84:33.
6. Mosiah 18:8-9.
7. Mosiah 18:9.
8. Handbook 2, 2.1.3.
9. D&C 97:12.
10. President James E. Faust, “Opening the Windows of Heaven,” Ensign, November 1998, 54.
11. 3 Nephi 24:10.
12. President Thomas S. Monson, Liahona, May 2011, 92.
13. President Thomas S. Monson, “As We Meet Together Again,” Liahona, November 2010, 6.
14. D&C 95: 8; also D&C 43:15-16; 105:10-11.
15. President Spencer W. Kimball, “Marriage—The Proper Way,” New Era, Feb. 1976, 6.
16. See Proverbs 31:28; Luke 1:48; D&C 107:54; Abraham 2:10.
17. President Thomas S. Monson, Liahona, May 2011, 92.
18. D&C 109:26; see 24-26.
19. President Thomas S. Monson, Liahona, May 2011, 92.