The Holy Temple--a Beacon to the World

by President Thomas S. Monson

• The bishop of the ward is given the responsibility to care for those in need who reside within the boundaries of his ward.

• Our desire is to make the temple as accessible as possible to our members.

• Temples bring joy to our faithful members wherever they are built.

• Temples are more than stone and mortar. They are filled with faith and fasting. They are built of trials and testimonies. They are sanctified by sacrifice and service.

• No sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort.

• Your sacrifice could be setting aside the time in your busy lives to visit the temple regularly.

• There is no more important goal for you to work toward than being worthy to go to the temple. Your sacrifice may be bringing your life into compliance with what is required to receive a recommend, perhaps by forsaking long-held habits which disqualify you. It may be having the faith and the discipline to pay your tithing.

• Until you have entered the house of the Lord and have received all the blessings which await you there, you have not obtained everything the Church has to offer.

• Always have the temple in your sights. Do nothing which will keep you from entering its doors and partaking of the sacred and eternal blessings there.

• I plead with you to teach your children of the temple’s importance.

• As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortified.

• Each of our temples is an expression of our testimony that life beyond the grave is as real and as certain as is our life here on earth.

For the complete talk, go here.