Temple Names

This is a short and simple post. Yesterday morning we were in the Provo Temple waiting for our session to begin. I noticed the man next to me who took out a pen and wrote down the information for the name he had that day (the name was provided by the temple).

I don't know why he wrote the name, but it sparked a couple of ideas in my own mind:
1. What if we were to take a few minutes after the temple to research the name of the person who we just did the work for? Maybe we wouldn't find anything, but what if we were able to actually learn who the person was? Wouldn't that make the experience more personal?

2. I don't know if this idea would really be worth it, but I wonder if it would be interesting to keep the names, birthplace, and birth date on an excel spreadsheet? Wouldn't that be interesting to go back after 10 years and look at all the different names, dates, and locations where they lived?

I wanted to post that observation, it was interesting and I hadn't ever thought about doing something like that before.

The Mountains...A Sacred Place.

I was at lunch with a good friend several months ago and he rhetorically asked, "Where is your sacred grove?" I've actually thought a lot about that question.

With that question in the background, it's always been refreshing and inspiring to retreat to the mountains, especially on a mild Spring or Fall day - both seasons have their distinct beauty.

There is something special about being out in nature and the spiritual closeness that seems to happen there, it becomes a type of temple. Is it any wonder that the word "mountain" is often referred to or compared to a temple...e.g. "get ye up to the mountain of the Lord."? Is it any wonder that some of the most memorable experiences for young men or young women in the church are during their trips into nature?

Reflect on those who were ministered to by Christ after retreating to the mountains: Nephi, Abraham, Moses, Enos, Ether, Joseph Smith, and so on.

I've always loved the words of Nephi, "I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and did oft pray unto the Lord, wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things."

Today I rode up on the mountain with my 4 wheeler and took these two pictures with my phone. It takes about 20 minutes to get to this area from our house. It's serene, peaceful, humans rarely leave their mark there, and it's quiet. The only noise are the insects, birds, and wind blowing across the ridge. It really does feel like a temple and has become a "sacred grove" in certain ways.

I would encourage anyone who wants a special experience to take some time and go into the mountains (or some place of nature if there aren't mountains nearby). There is a special closeness when we ponder and pray in the mountains. Remember, this is where many of the ancients had the veil parted.

P.S. I added a picture from two days ago that I took in our backyard. Spring is such a beautiful time of year...rebirth and renewal!

A Pre-Requisite to Progress

King Benjamin goes on to teach his listener's something critical to their spiritual progression. As the people listened, "They had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men." (Mosiah 4:2)

Viewing themselves in their own carnal state, less than the dust of the earth, was a significant step in the mental and spiritual transformation for these people who were already disciples, at least to a certain degree (because they at least made the effort to come up and pitch their tents towards the temple).

After the people had spoken those words, the Spirit of the Lord came upon them and they were "filled with joy and had a peace of conscience." (Mosiah 4:3)

King Benjamin then taught that if we continue to view ourselves in our own carnal state and look to the Lord in all things then (Mosiah 4:10-14):
- We'll no longer have a mind to injure one another.
- We'll be filled with the love of God.
- We'll retain a remission of our sins.
- We'll grow in the knowledge of the glory of him who created us.
- We won't suffer our children to go hungry or quarrel one with another.

If you've read my posts, you'll know that I always apply these teaching to myself and use these teachings as an opportunity to ask introspective questions. I pose this question:

- Do we REALLY see ourselves in our own carnal state?
If not, what actions can we take to see ourselves in that true state?

For the people who listened to King Benjamin, this was the beginning of a wonderful spiritual manifestation and transformation for them. This is what can really help us draw near to God and bring about the same experience for us today - when we realize that without him and the Atonement, we really are nothing.

The law and the Atonement

King Benjamin taught something so applicable and important to his people.  What he was teaching over 2000 years ago, applies to us today and is vital to understand if we expect to be fully converted to the Lord.

In Mosiah 3:15, he teaches something the Pharisees never grasped, "Many signs, and wonders, and types, and shadows showed he unto them, concerning his coming; also the holy prophets spake unto them concerning his coming; and yet they hardened their hearts, and understood not that the law of Moses availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of his blood."

A few years later, Abinadi asked the Priests of Noah a pertinent question, "Does salvation come by the law of Moses?" (Mosiah 12:31)  

Abinadi went on to answer his own question saying, "There was a law given them, yea, a law of performances and of ordinances, a law which they were to observe strictly from day to day, to keep them in remembrance of our God and their duty towards him. They did not all understand the law; for they understood not that there could be no man saved except it were through the redemption of God." (Mosiah 13:30-32).

Both King Benjamin and Abinadi taught that although they kept the law to be obedient to the commandments of the Lord, it was the atonement of the Lord that brings redemption.

I pose a couple of introspective questions: 

1. Do the current commandments and ordinances we live and obey have the power to save (sacrament, temple ordinances, etc.)?

2. Do we obey the law simply to obey the law?

These are great questions that I ask myself personally. I would suggest that part of the answer is that we as a people tend to hearden our hearts and rely on the ordinances and commandments as the answer. Sometimes I (we) fail to remember that those laws and ordinances are there to point our hearts to Christ.

What he really wants is my (our) heart!  Rather than following a checklist of what I'm doing and not doing, he simply wants a loving, charitable, and willing heart from me as an individual.

If I (we) am fully converted to him, then living each of these commandments becomes a simple byproduct of my fidelity, love and obedience to him. 

This is what King Benjamin was teaching his people. Salvation comes through the atonement and it is through the atonement we are saved. We keep the laws because we're obedient, but it's a constant search of how we can give our heart to the Lord and be filled with his love - his love roots out all evil and has the power to save!