Skip to main content

"This Is My Sacred Duty"

One Sunday, my husband was teaching the young men a lesson on preparing for their missions. One young man replied, "I don't need to learn that yet. I have a few years before I go on a mission."

Too many youth have that terribly wrong perception. Preparation for a mission--most essentially, the temple--is a lifelong pursuit. It starts at childhood, not the year (or month for most women) before entering the temple.

Two Primary songs emphasize this point:

While I am in my early years,
I'll prepare most carefully,
So I can marry in God's temple for eternity.

("Families Can Be Together Forever," Children's Songbook, p. 188)

I love to see the temple.
I'm going there someday . . .
I'll prepare myself while I am young;
This is my sacred duty.

("I Love to See the Temple," Children's Songbook, p. 95)

"Someday" comes sooner than you think. And it's hard to break years of bad habits and repent of years of sins in just a few months.

"For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God," Amulek warned us (Alma 34:32). We prepare to meet God by receiving and keeping sacred temple covenants. And we prepare for that right now. The only change we should have to make upon receiving our endowments is the underclothing we wear--not our language, not our clothes, not any Church standards we should already be keeping. The commandments apply to all members, whether or not they have gone through the temple.

If we already are endowed, we still need to prepare every time we go to the temple or renew our recommend, and we are to remember and honor our covenants every day. The temple isn't a destination we arrive at but a vital pit stop we go to continually for spiritual fuel and direction on the journey back to our Heavenly Father.

As a parent, the moment a baby is born, it is our responsibility to set that child on the right track to the temple. We should be examples to our children of attending the temple regularly, keeping our covenants, treating our garments respectfully, and having high standards as a family, especially of modesty.

President Kimball advised, “It would be a fine thing if … parents would have in every bedroom in their house a picture of the temple so [their children] from the time [they are] infant[s] could look at the picture every day [until] it becomes a part of [their lives]. When [they reach] the age that [they need] to make [the] very important decision [concerning going to the temple], it will have already been made” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball, 1982, 301).

Challenge: Prepare yourself and your children to make and keep sacred covenants.
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Such a very true point. I would also say, that just as college we should talk about when a child goes to the temple and not if. Set the expectation as one would college, a mission, etc. When you go to the temple.....
August 5, 2012 at 10:39 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mormon Messages

 ldsmediatalk.com  On the Church Web site, at the bottom of the home page and on the right sidebar, are featured videos called Mormon Messages. They are short clips from General Conference talks with music, photos, and background videos added to them. My favorite is the one entitled " Prayer ." Mormon Messages is a great way to share short and uplifting stories, testimonies, and counsel with family and friends, whether they are LDS or not. Above the featured video on the Church Web site is a toolbar allowing you to post the video or link on various social networking sites, such as Facebook. Mormon Messages also has a channel on YouTube, with videos in Spanish, to which you can subscribe. Share the light! Sharing Time: Which Mormon Message is your favorite?
3 comments
Read more

"Far above Rubies"

Certain TV shows and previews reminded me of a quote from Sister Margaret Nagauld : "Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." We need to be classy women--women with manners, discipline, integrity, virtue, sincerity, and charity. Sister Nagauld isn't the only one to have said this: 1. "It is, unfortunately, all too easy to illustrate the confusion and distortion of womanhood in contemporary society. Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens—all while being celebrated by the world...
5 comments
Read more

Put Down the Gavel

My friend posted on her blog an article about being a single LDS woman . Both ladies made many good points I will not reiterate here. Instead, I would like to discuss the motivation behind these posts: judgment. And judgment applies to all situations, not just to being single. In fact, once one of these women gets married, the judgment won't stop. The next nosy question she will be asked is, "When are you going to have children?" Then, "When are you going to have another child?" Then either, "Why aren't you going to have more?" or "Don't you think you have enough?" Then there will be comments and questions about her parenting choices and so on. Elder Neil L. Andersen shared this example in his October 2011 general conference talk : President J. Scott Dorius of the Peru Lima West Mission told me their story. He said: “Becky and I were married for 25 years without being able to have [or adopt] children. We moved several times...
4 comments
Read more