March 8, 2013

In His Presence

Scripture of the Day:  "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths..." - 2 Nephi 12:3, The Book of Mormon

The mountain of the Lord is understood to be the temple.


There are many reason why we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints go to the temple.  This verse explains just two:  the temple is a place we can be taught of His ways, and we can walk in his paths.

Each of us, like the primary song suggests, is trying to be like Jesus.  By going to the temple often we are taught about His ways, and in turn can be more like Him.

The phrase "we can walk in his paths" seems very literal to me.  The temple is His house.  He is there. We are walking where He is walking, it is hallowed ground.

In the past Mr Medic and I have tried to attend the temple once a week.  If we wanted to we could walk to the temple, it is that close.  Since having children our attendance has not been so frequent.  But I would like to change that.

An online reference titled: "How Can We Make the Most of Temple Attendance?" tells us this:
When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple.
Ideally I would like to be going every week, but I think we may have to work back up to that.  So, with the help of Mr Medic we will be setting a goal of how often we will go and on what day.  I believe that when we make a specific plan we are more likely to stick to that plan.

If you know you have a birthday party to attend on a specific day, you do whatever it takes beforehand to be there, right?  Same principle is true for attending the temple.  If you set a specific day, you are more likely to plan your week or month around that special day that has already been set.

And, as if being able to learn of the Lord and walk in His paths isn't blessing enough from attending the temple:

...when we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, then come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent. (link here)
What a comfort to know that I have no reason to worry, no matter what happens.  I know that if I attend the temple I can have that peace and reassurance.



7 comments:

  1. Wow! Thanks for sharing all these fabulous thoughts. I have also been noticing that my gospel study takes a backseat after a full day of mommying- especially when my guy is sick! I have had that exact same thought, that my current personal best is acceptable to the Lord. At the moment, it's all I can do to read a conference talk (how I wish I even had time- or an extra hand- to highlight some of the wonderful passages that touch my heart) while I am nursing.

    I love your new blog format. Did you paint the sloth piece!? I LOVE IT!!

    You are an inspiration to me, "Chan,"( :) ) and I am so glad we've kept in touch!

    Keep doing what you do, You make a difference.

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    1. JESS-Thanks for calling me Chan!!!! We moms need to stick together. I think it's too easy to get stuck in our own little worlds, thinking we are the only ones who struggle while everyone else is getting along just fine. Not so! I'm glad to know that my personal best has been revealed to someone other than me. Doesn't the phrase 'in the mouth of two or three witnesses' make it doctrine? ;) hahaha I did not do the sloth piece (I wish I could draw/paint) but the amazing woman below, Ariel did! Isn't it wonderful? I hope you can hang on to the tender mercies that the Lord sends of letting us know he is satisfied. 'for it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do' and that's all that really matters. The Lord makes up the difference! Thank goodness. Let me know if you come across some great ideas or little tricks to make your studies more meaningful or consistent. I really do want to input. Love ya!

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  2. Great post Chandee! I totally agree. I attended every week with Q during our entire dating/engagement and the first year of our marriage. At one point, however, it became really stressful attending weekly..which probably means we were over scheduled in other areas of our lives. In order to make our temple attendance MORE meaningful, we decided to attend a little less often, and then really try to prepare for that temple trip with prayer and family history work. For us, that was really a blessing. Even thought right now our "best" isn't going as often as I'd like, thoughtful preparation can really carry me during the "inbetween-temple" times, and give me something to work towards and look forward to, and it also helps me have a more meaningful experience when I go.

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    1. Oh man! I can't even tell you how much your comment means to me. I remember telling Mr Medic that I felt like pushing to as often as what I thought was right, felt even worse than not going at all. I felt overwhelmed or disconnected sometimes, even once I was there, and knew I wasn't getting out of it what I should. I can 100% agree that we can make our experiences more meaningful when we are in the right frame of mind and more prepared. Sometimes that means taking a 'time-out' to refocus on our goals. I really like how you mentioned the things we can be doing in-between attending. I'd really like to get back to doing indexing. I loved that! Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Be grateful you live so close to the temple in your life now! We now live 4 hours from one and making the time, having the money for travel,finding a place to stay, & finding someone to watch our kids makes going quite challenging because it is an all day endeavor! Now that I am finally done nursing for a while (with a kid who never took a bottle), I might be able to go through an actual session WITH my husband! It's hard for moms to go sometimes. I find it interesting that you can't work in the temple (at least as an ordinance worker) if you have children still in your home because they consider that (your children) to be your highest priority. Although I still believe attending the temple as often as you can is very important, I also believe that we are doing just what the Lord wants us to. So, if you can't make it every week, I think it's okay. There are times and seasons for everything.

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    1. You know, we had a gal bear her testimony in our stake conference about this very thing. She said that she was home while her husband was working at the temple and she found herself feeling sad that she wasn't able to be there serving too. She said that she went about being a mom, but then all of a sudden had the overwhelming feeling that she was on hallowed ground, that she was performing a sacred service by being at home with her child. I think I could definitely work to feel more gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity I have to be a mother at home with my boys. It truly is one of the most noble callings. Thanks!

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  4. Wow, lOve that comment from the Dustin's. Amen!!

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