Stake Temple Week, Day 4

Dear Young Women,

Elijah the prophet appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836 in the Kirtland temple and conferred upon them the sealing authority, which is essential for priesthood ordinances to be valid and binding both in heaven and in earth.

Elijah the prophet stood before Joseph and Oliver and said:

“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

“To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

“Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors” (D&C 110:14-16).

The restoration of the sealing authority by Elijah in 1836 was necessary to prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming and initiated a greatly increased and worldwide interest in family history research. 

From Elder David A. Bednar, The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn, General Conference October 2011

"I now invite the attention of the young women, young men, and children of the rising generation as I emphasize the importance of the Spirit of Elijah in your lives today. My message is intended for the entire Church in general—but for you in particular.

Many of you may think family history work is to be performed primarily by older people. But I know of no age limit described in the scriptures or guidelines announced by Church leaders restricting this important service to mature adults. You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family.

 The Lord has made available in our day remarkable resources that enable you to learn about and love this work that is sparked by the Spirit of Elijah. For example, FamilySearch is a collection of records, resources, and services easily accessible with personal computers and a variety of handheld devices, designed to help people discover and document their family history. These resources also are available in the family history centers located in many of our Church buildings throughout the world.

It is no coincidence that FamilySearch and other tools have come forth at a time when young people are so familiar with a wide range of information and communication technologies. Your fingers have been trained to text and tweet to accelerate and advance the work of the Lord—not just to communicate quickly with your friends. The skills and aptitude evident among many young people today are a preparation to contribute to the work of salvation.

 I invite the young people of the Church to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. I encourage you to study, to search out your ancestors, and to prepare yourselves to perform proxy baptisms in the house of the Lord for your kindred dead (see D&C 124:28-36). And I urge you to help other people identify their family histories.

As you respond in faith to this invitation, your hearts shall turn to the fathers. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will be implanted in your hearts. Your patriarchal blessing, with its declaration of lineage, will link you to these fathers and be more meaningful to you. Your love and gratitude for your ancestors will increase. Your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary.

 As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives.

Parents and leaders, please help your children and youth to learn about and experience the Spirit of Elijah. But do not overly program this endeavor or provide too much detailed information or training. Invite young people to explore, to experiment, and to learn for themselves (see Joseph Smith History 1:20). Any young person can do what I am suggesting, using the modules available at lds.org/familyhistoryyouth. Aaronic Priesthood quorum and Young Women class presidencies can play an important role in helping all youth become acquainted with these basic resources. Young people increasingly need to be learners who act and thereby receive additional light and knowledge by the power of the Holy Ghost—and not merely passive students who primarily are acted upon (see 2 Nephi 2:26).

 Parents and leaders, you will stand all amazed at how rapidly your children and the youth of the Church become highly skilled with these tools. In fact, you will learn valuable lessons from these young people about effectively using these resources. The youth can offer much to older individuals who are uncomfortable with or intimidated by technology or are unfamiliar with FamilySearch. You also will count your many blessings as young people devote more time to family history work and temple service and less time to video games, surfing the Internet, and Facebooking.

Troy Jackson, Jaren Hope, and Andrew Allan are bearers of the Aaronic Priesthood who were called by an inspired bishop to team teach a family history class in their ward. These young men are representative of so many of you in their eagerness to learn and desire to serve.

Troy stated, “I used to come to church and just sit there, but now I realize that I need to go home and do something. We can all do family history.”

Jaren reported that as he learned more about family history, he realized “that these were not just names but real people. I became more and more excited about taking the names to the temple.”

And Andrew commented, “I have taken to family history with a love and vigor I did not know I could muster. As I prepared each week to teach, I was often nudged by the Holy Spirit to act and try some of the methods taught in the lesson. Before, family history was a scary thing. But aided by the Spirit I was able to step up to my calling and help many people in our ward.”

 My beloved young brothers and sisters, family history is not simply an interesting program or activity sponsored by the Church; rather, it is a vital part of the work of salvation and exaltation. You have been prepared for this day and to build up the kingdom of God. You are here upon the earth now to assist in this glorious work."

(Read all of Elder David A. Bednar's talk here: The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn)

I have a testimony that Elder Bednar's testimony is real. He has become a good friend of my brother-in-law Sam and when they meet together he asks Sam to do family history work and promises him that it will bless his life. I also have a testimony that the sealing power is real. My grandmother, not a member of our faith, passed away 3 weeks ago. I was comforted to know that in a year, my sisters and I will be able to complete her temple work and because of the sealing power she can now be bound to us eternally.

 In July we have some fun activities planned as a young women's group that will hopefully instill in you, the Spirit of Elijah (which as Elder Russell M. Nelson has taught, is "a manifestation of the Holy Ghost bearing witness of the divine nature of the family.") And also prepare you to take a family name to the temple to be baptized and confirmed for. How special to perform temple work for someone of your own family!

Love, Sister Chambers

Stake Temple Week, Day 3

Dear Young Women,

I think we could all agree that temples are beautiful, outside and inside. When thinking of how beautiful and well-kept the temples are I am reminded of a story from when I was a little girl. 

When I was around the age of 10 my family visited a friend of my mom's, who lives in Utah. At night she would clean the Bountiful temple. She told us how it made her so sad to find candy bar wrappers shoved in couches and in the plants. She was disgusted by the way the bathroom was treated. She had gained a testimony of the temple as the Lord's house and was so upset to see it treated as just any other house or place.

Her favorite part about cleaning the temple was when she would stand on a ladder and clean the chandelier, each piece, one by one. As a little girl, and still as an adult, that sounds pretty neat to me!

Her love of the temple and her testimony of it's holiness remained with me and because of her I had a desire to get married in the Bountiful temple-which I did!

Temples are beautiful, amazing structures. Today for your temple experience I thought I would allow you the opportunity to see some temples you may not have ever seen before, and some that are still under construction!

Aba, Nigeria

Accra, Ghana

 Anchorage, Alaska

Apia, Samoa

Campinas, Brazil

 Cebu, Phillippines

Copenhagen, Denmark

 Hong Kong, China

Indianapolis, Indiana (under construction)

 Monticello, Utah

 Paris, France (under construction)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (under construction)

 Preston, England

 Reno, Nevada

Rome, Italy (under construction)

Sapporo, Japan (under construction)

The temple is a beautiful structure, dedicated to the Lord. I am reminded of a conference talk that was given to teach all of us the importance of that principle.

"While recently touring the beautiful Brigham City Utah Temple, I was reminded of an experience that I had while serving as the coordinator of the open house, rededication, and cultural celebration of the historic Laie Hawaii Temple.

A few months prior to the completion of the extensive renovation work, I was invited to tour the temple with the Executive Director of the Temple Department, Elder William R. Walker, and his Temple Department associates. In addition, various members of the general contracting firm were in attendance. The purpose of the tour, in part, was to review the progress and quality of the work performed. At the time of this tour, the work was about 85 percent completed.

As we moved through the temple, I watched and listened to Elder Walker and his associates as they inspected the work and conversed with the general contractor. On occasion I observed one man running his hand along the walls as we moved from room to room. A few times after doing this, he would rub his fingers together and then approach the general contractor and say, “I feel grit on this wall. Grit is not temple standard. You will need to re-sand and buff this wall.” The contractor dutifully took notes of each observation.

As we approached an area in the temple that few eyes would ever see, the same man stopped us and directed our attention to a newly installed, beautiful leaded-glass window. This window measured about two feet (0.6 m) wide by six feet (1.8 m) tall and contained an embedded, small stained-glass geometric pattern. He pointed to a small two-inch (5 cm) colored-glass square that was part of the simple pattern and said, “That square is crooked.” I looked at the square, and to my eyes it looked evenly placed. However, upon closer inspection with a measuring device in hand, I could see there was a flaw and that this little square was indeed one-eighth of an inch (3 mm) crooked. Direction was then given to the contractor that this window would need to be replaced because it was not temple standard.

I admit that I was surprised that an entire window would need to be replaced because of such a small, barely noticeable defect. Surely, it was unlikely that anyone would ever know or even notice this window given its remote location in the temple.

As I drove home from the temple that day, I reflected on what I learned from this experience—or, rather, what I thought I learned. It wasn’t until several weeks later when I was invited to tour the now completed temple that my understanding of the prior tour experience became clearer.

As I entered the completely renovated Laie Hawaii Temple, I was overwhelmed by its beauty and quality of finish. You can appreciate my anticipation as I approached the “gritty” walls and the “flawed” window. Did the contractor re-sand and buff the walls? Was the window really replaced? As I approached the gritty walls, I was surprised to see that beautiful wallpaper now hung on all the walls. My first thought was, “So this is how the contractor addressed the grit—he covered it.” But, no, I learned that it had always been the plan to hang wallpaper on these walls. I wondered why a little hardly detectable grit mattered if wallpaper was to cover it. I then eagerly approached the area where the flawed window was located and was surprised to see a beautiful floor-to-ceiling potted plant sitting directly in front of the window. Again I thought, “So this is how the contractor addressed the crooked little square—he hid it.” As I moved closer, I pushed the plant’s leaves aside and smiled as I saw that the window had indeed been replaced. The formerly crooked little square now stood neatly and evenly in the pattern. I learned that it had always been part of the interior design to have a plant in front of this window.

Why would walls with a little grit and a window with a little asymmetry require additional work and even replacement when few human hands or eyes would ever know? Why was a contractor held to such high standards?

As I exited the temple deep in thought, I found my answer as I looked up at the refinished exterior and saw these words: “Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord.”

The temples of this Church are precisely as proclaimed. These sacred buildings are built for our use, and within their walls sacred and saving ordinances are performed. But there should be no doubt as to whose house it really is. By requiring exacting standards of construction down to the smallest of details, we not only show our love and respect for the Lord Jesus Christ, but we also hold out to all observers that we honor and worship Him whose house it is."

Scott D. Whiting, Temple Standard, October 2012

Love, Sister Chambers

Mutual, April 2nd

Dear Young Women,

I am so sad that I had to miss mutual this week! I was very, very sick. 

I am so grateful for Sister Dutton taking over the mutual activity for me. It was so nice to be able to count on her! She texted me a picture of the work you girls did- the birthday sign looks even BETTER than I imagined! Great job everyone! I will be finishing it up tomorrow and then it will be ready for the next young woman's birthday!

Thank you, Marlee, for making the General Conference packets and journals. Marlee did that for a 10 hour personal progress project. 

I am excited for General Conference. I know that General Conference can answer any question that we might have. Pray before you watch and pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes I find that I receive an answer straight from a speaker. Other times, my answer has nothing to do with what the speaker has said- I have simply been earnestly seeking and put myself in a situation where the promptings of the Spirit can be felt more readily.

Last conference for mutual we talked about different things we do to prepare for conference. One thing my husband's parents taught me was to dress in church attire. The way you dress reflects how you act. I find that if I wear my pajamas and am snuggled up on the couch with a blanket, I can fall asleep... But if I wear nice clothes and sit on the couch, instead of lay, I am much more attentive. I remember many of your suggestions: praying beforehand, praying with family, fasting, writing impressions down in a journal.

Please take this opportunity to listen to what our Heavenly Father wants us to know!

I also heard that Miss Sara got an injury. Darn it! I am so sorry.

And finally... Happy 13th Birthday to Dallas!! I wish I could have been there to celebrate with you! I hope it was very, very special! I can't believe you are already 13! When I first moved into the ward I remember being your Primary teacher. I was so impressed with your knowledge of the scriptures. I was sure you knew some scripture stories better than me. We are so blessed to have you in our ward and young women's group.

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Chambers