FAITH
"Priceless Blessings of the House of the Lord"
Chapter 13 Lesson - Ezra Taft Benson
Doctrine:
“It is in the temples that we obtain God’s greatest blessings pertaining to eternal life. Temples are really the gateways to heaven.”
Increased temple attendance leads to increased personal revelation.
"I make it a practice, whenever I perform a marriage, to suggest to the young couple that they return to the temple as soon as they can and go through the temple again as husband and wife. It isn’t possible for them to understand fully the meaning of the holy endowment or the sealing's with one trip through the temple, but as they repeat their visits to the temple, the beauty, the significance, and the importance of it all will be emphasized upon them. I have later had letters from some of these young couples expressing appreciation because that item was emphasized particularly. As they repeat their visits to the temple, their love for each other tends to increase and their marriage tends to be strengthened." - Ezra Taft Benson
I promise you that, with increased attendance in the temples of our God, you shall receive increased personal revelation to bless your life as you bless those who have died.
In the peace of these lovely temples, sometimes we find solutions to the serious problems of life. Under the influence of the Spirit, sometimes pure knowledge flows to us there. Temples are places of personal revelation. When I have been weighed down by a problem or a difficulty, I have gone to the House of the Lord with a prayer in my heart for answers. These answers have come in clear and unmistakable ways.
Prayers are answered,
Read, study, or listen to the entire lesson here:
To learn more about LDS temples visit this website:
I also love the talk President Monson gave in the April Conference regarding the temple:
FAMILY
While searching temples on Pintrest I ran across a pin from someone explaining temple sealing's perfectly. I thought it would be a great reminder or fun lesson for Family Home Evening.
The empty jar:
“My wife often cans peaches and pears in the fall. A great deal of work is necessary just to prepare the fruit. Then, once it is prepared, she puts it into jars, places the seals on, twists the lids tightly into place, and sets the jars in boiling water. Then she waits for the seals to set.
She has performed this operation dozens of times with hundreds of jars. In all that time I have never seen her seal an empty jar. Unless the jar is loaded with fruit, a seal is not placed. I doubt if anyone, among the thousands who can fruit every year, has ever sealed an empty jar. There must be something to preserve or the seal has no significance.
The sealing of temple covenants is similar. When we are married at the altars of the temple, the Lord, from one point of view, gives us an empty jar. Then he instructs us to fill it with the wonderful fruits of righteous marriage. We fill it with love and compromise and forgiveness and joy and peace and shared trails; we fill it with all the things of life, all the good fruit. As we keep our covenants, returning often to renew them as we work for the dead, the jar begins to fill. As we grow older and our love deepens, we desire to preserve forever all the good we have stored.
Our abiding in the covenant allows the Lord to place the seal on our covenant relationship and preserve the fruits of our righteousness for all eternity. This is the same for all temple covenants. Nobody seals an empty jar; neither does the Lord seal empty covenants. First there must be fruit to preserve.”
Eternal marriages are not made at the altar. They are made by the things that you will do together and for each other every day thereafter.
May you spend your lifetime filling your jar with all of the sweet things of your life together.
RELIEF
“I hope that home teachers and visiting teachers will experience two things: first, the challenge of the responsibility that is in their great calling, and second, the sweetness of results from their work, particularly with those among us who are less active.”
Gordon B. Hinckley, “Instruments of the Lord,” Ensign, Mar. 1997, 27
How can I better teach the gospel as I serve as a home teacher or visiting teacher?
If you are a home teacher or a visiting teacher, you are a teacher of the gospel. In addition to overseeing the welfare of those you teach, you are also responsible to present a message to the families or sisters assigned to you.
You have the responsibility to select the message you will share. Home teachers usually present the First Presidency’s message that is found in the Ensign and Liahona each month. Visiting teachers usually present the visiting teaching message that is also found in these magazines.
Present the message as carefully as you would present a lesson for a Church class. Counsel with your companion about what each of you will contribute to the presentation. Make the lesson interesting and applicable to each family member.
SWEEPING THE EARTH AS IF A FLOOD:
"Tonight I would like to consider two important responsibilities we carry: first, consistently adding gospel light and truth to our lives, and second, sharing that light and truth with others.
Do you know how important you are? Every one of you—right now—is valuable and essential in Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. We have a work to do. We know the truth of the restored gospel. Are we ready to defend that truth? We need to live it; we need to share it. We must stand firm in our faith and lift our voices to proclaim true doctrine."
“We need more of the distinctive, influential voices and faith of women. We need them to learn the doctrine and to understand what we believe so that they can bear their testimonies about the truth of all things.” - Elder Russell Ballard
"Can you find yourself in the following words of this document, “The Living Christ”? “He entreated all to follow His example. He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead.”
We, sisters of the Church, do not walk the roads of Palestine healing the sick, but we can pray for and apply the healing love of the Atonement to a sickened, strained relationship.
Though we will not cause the blind to see in the manner of the Savior, we can
testify of the plan of salvation to the spiritually blind. We can open the eyes of their understanding to the necessity of priesthood power in eternal covenants.
We will not be raising the dead as did the Savior, but we can bless the dead by finding their names for temple work. Then we will indeed raise them from their spirit prison and offer them the path of eternal life.
I testify we have a living Savior, Jesus Christ, and with His power and light we will be enabled to push back the darkness of the world, give voice to the truth we know, and influence others to come unto Him."
Read or listen to Sister Marriot's talk here:
Relief Society Announcements:
Reminders:
Congratulations to the Wasden family on the birth of their beautiful baby girl.
*Please remember to pray for the Sisters you visit teach!
Announcements:
*For our Relief Society Activity in the month of July, we invite you to choose a day to invite someone to attend the Temple with you. That may be your spouse, or a friend, your visiting teaching companion, or the sisters you visit teach. You may want to attend a session, do sealings, initiatory work, or Temple baptisms. We just invite you to make an effort to go sometime in the next month and to invite someone to go with you!
Calendar:
July 12th - Ezra Taft Benson - "Priceless Blessings of the House of the Lord"
July 21st - Ezra Taft Benson - "Marriage and Family - Ordained of God"
July 26th - Teachings For Our Time -
Recipes on the blog:
If you have a recipe you would like to share send them to: drbennett1@hotmail.com or call or text them to 208-351-7083. We would love to have your favorite holiday recipes!
Visit the ward recipe blog: www.burton4threcipes.blogspot.com
Visit the Relief Society blog: www.burton4thrs.blogspot.com
Visit the Relief Society blog: www.burton4thrs.blogspot.com
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