Month: March 2009

Mormon Thoughts on the Temple – Round #2

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A few days ago I posted a request for thoughts on the temple.  I’ve received a few messages from some readers, but not as many as I would like.  We’d really like to hear from more of you.  I think this could be a very powerful missionary tool for all of us.

What does the temple mean to you?  Why do you go to the temple?  Do you have a short experience you’d like to share?  Do you have a testimony of the temple you think others could benefit hearing?  Does the temple have an important place in your life?  What have you learned about the temple that you’d like to teach others about?  Is the temple a blessing to you?  How has the temple changed your life?  What is it that makes the temple different from the rest of ordinary life?  Have you been privileged to do temple work for your ancestors?  What was it like?  Are you grateful for the temple?  Why?  Has the temple brought you closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ?

Here is an excellent example from a convert who has been a member of the Church for 11 years, and who has a genuinely powerful testimony of the temple.  Press the play button below:

Thank you, brother, for sharing with us your witness and testimony of the temple and the Holy Ghost.  You’ve blessed my life today.

What could you share with us about the temple?

The method is the same.  Just click the “Call Me” button below, enter in your name (or “anonymous”), your phone number, select “keep number private,” and then click “Connect.”  You will receive a phone call and be connected straight to the TempleStudy.com voicemail where you can share with us your message (3 minute limit). In a few days I’ll select some to share with everyone.

Feel free to be a missionary today and share what the temple means to you.  It’s easy and you could make a positive difference in someone’s life by something you share.

Liveblogging Mormon Studies Conference and General Conference

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This upcoming Thursday and Friday (April 2-3, 2009) there is a going to be an annual event — the Mormon Studies Conference at Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah.  I just became aware of this a few days ago, and it looks like it’s going to be very good.  The theme of the conference is “Mormonism in the Public Mind: Perceptions of an Emerging World Faith.”  The keynote address will be given by Michael Paulson, Pulitzer Prize winning religion reporter for the Boston Globe, on the topic “Far From Zion: Meeting Mormonism on the Religion Beat.”  Other participants will include [Read more…]

The Temple is a Fortress of the Lord

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Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone

Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone

Note: Below is an excerpt from a book entitled “The Incomparable Christ: Our Master and Model” by Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, that he entitled “Holiness to the Lord.”  The book was published in 1995.  It is powerful in its vision of the future need of temples as a refuge from a wicked world.  After being released from the Seventy, Elder Featherstone served as the president of the Logan Utah Temple. (The emphasis below is my own.)

The season of the world before us will be like no other in the history of mankind. Satan will unleash every evil scheme, every vile perversion ever known to man in any generation. Just as this dispensation of the fulness of times brought the restoration of all that is good and holy, so also did it bring the fulness of evil. As parents, spouses, children, and members of Christ’s church, we must find safety. Unfortunately, many will struggle mightily before recognizing this bitter truth: there is no safety in this world—wealth cannot provide it, enforcement agencies cannot ensure it, even membership in the Church will not guarantee it.  [Read more…]

The Sacred Hosanna Shout!

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Between 30,000 and 50,000 people gathered to shout "Hosanna!" for the capstone-laying ceremony of the Salt Lake Temple in 1892. Photo by Charles Ellis Johnson.

Between 30,000 and 50,000 people gathered to shout "Hosanna!" for the capstone-laying ceremony of the Salt Lake Temple in 1892. Photo by Charles Ellis Johnson.

This last Sunday as I participated in the Hosanna Shout at one of the dedication sessions of the Draper Utah Temple, I thought that it might be interesting to research this form of praise and worship, and how it’s been used in the past. During the services President Uchtdorf related some of the occasions on which this shout has been given, such as when Jesus rode into Jerusalem triumphantly (Matthew 21; Mark 11; John 12), or when Christ appeared to the people in the Americas in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 11). But when else has this shout been given, particularly in the latter days, and under what circumstances?  [Read more…]

Mormon Thoughts About the Temple Using Google Voice

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google-voiceSo, we’re going to try something a little different and creative, something that I haven’t seen done anywhere else on the internet, and certainly not in the Bloggernacle, so we’re setting a new precedent here.  You get to hear so much from me, but we don’t often get to hear from you, the readers, except very briefly in the comments or sometimes in private emails with me.  I’d like to hear more of your thoughts, insights, stories, feelings, testimonies, things you’ve learned, good books you’ve found, and experiences about the temple.  What does the temple mean to you?  I want to hear your voices!  You all have so many rich things to share that could add to our understanding of the temple, and I want to tap into that treasure-trove of faith and cumulative voice.  [Read more…]