My sister lives just outside of Durango, Colorado, on a beautiful piece of property in a valley surrounded by mountains and plateaus covered with all manner of scrub brush and trees. She’ll send me pictures of wildlife wandering across their property to include Elk, Deer and even Bobcats. In turn, I’ll send her images of our property along with pictures of our dogs and cats. This is about the best we can do because her location is fairly remote and her telephone reception is terrible.
That said, she used her land line phone to call me
yesterday after having noticed a couple of voice mail messages I’d left on her
cellphone. She was excited for us;
having heard about the rare snow storm we’d had and wanted to know how much
snow had fallen in our area. I’d
actually measured the depth using the accumulation on the roof of our car, six
inches. It turns out we, here in
Buffalo, Texas, had gotten more snow than they’d gotten in southwest Colorado
from this same storm.
The conversation turned to our being without
electricity due to the storm and how we couldn’t watch shows on television with
the internet out; however, we have a wonderful collection of movies on DVD. I almost forgot; the DVD player wouldn’t work
without power either, that pesky electricity thing again.
She wanted us to recommend some movies to watch based
on our mutual criteria, movies that really are worth watching.
I’d mentioned that if my son gets excited about a
movie and recommends it to us, there’s a pretty good bet the movie isn’t worth
watching since it won’t have much of a plot while depending on plenty of
gratuitous sex and/or violence to carry the audience through it. My sister was laughing at my description of
the garbage being foisted off on the public as entertainment.
While this conversation was on going, we were looking
at our collection, some of the better movies we’d recommend watching, movies
that touched our hearts and minds enough to say they were of value. I won’t bore you with a list; but will say
that as we mentioned titles along with some of the key actors, my sister
quickly added her approval, acknowledging each as better than average,
outstanding or some similar recognition that we shared similar tastes and
qualifications when it comes to what we’ll recommend to each other.
That brings me to the assigned topic, Being
Recommended to the Lord, as we heard in last October’s General Conference talk
given by Elder Rasband. Many of you will
remember how the COVID-19 pandemic created the unusual situation whereby the
First Presidency of the Church came up with physical distancing directives
which included shutting down Temples to avoid spreading the virus.
We figured this would last only a short while; but as
weeks turned into months our ability to attend the House of the Lord becomes
more and more a memory of things past rather than something we can put on next
week’s calendar. Some of us haven’t
glanced at our Temple Recommends in quite some time; why bother since we can’t
attend…
Temple Recommends are issued with a two-year
expiration between required application for renewal. We look forward to meeting with our Branch
Presidents, Bishops and Stake Presidents for the opportunity to repeat our
commitment to live up to the standards the Lord has outlined in order to enter
His Holy House.
I say we look forward to this opportunity and yet,
since we can’t actually go to the Temple during these interesting times, some
of us don’t consider it all that important to make sure our Temple Recommends are
current and up to date.
A Temple Recommend isn’t simply a ‘hall pass’ that
let’s you get past the front door; no, it’s validation that you are on the
covenant path striving each day to be the kind of individual the Lord wants you
to be. He’s more than aware of our
struggles and daily failings; but understands these mortal frailties. He expects us to repent of our shortcomings
and move towards being worthy to hold the title Child of God.
During his Conference talk Elder Rasband shared the
following story.
“My father-in-law, Blaine Twitchell, one
of the best men I have ever known, taught me a great lesson. Sister Rasband and
I went to visit him when he was nearing the end of his mortal journey. As we
entered his room, his bishop was just leaving. As we greeted the bishop, I
thought, “What a nice bishop. He’s here doing his ministering to a faithful
member of his ward.”
I mentioned to Blaine, “Wasn’t that nice of the bishop to come
visit.”
Blaine looked at me and responded, “It was far more than that. I
asked for the bishop to come because I wanted my temple recommend interview. I
want to go recommended to the Lord.” And he
did!
That phrase, “recommended to the Lord,” has stayed with me. It has
put a whole new perspective on being interviewed regularly by our Church
leaders…”
I had a similar experience a few years ago when I went with
another priesthood holder to give a blessing to a dear friend, Scott Sulski. He had serious health issues which were life
threatening; his body was literally shutting down one organ at a time. During our visit this brother shared his
testimony of the gospel with us with such strength of spirit as to defy his
weakened physical state.
As we laid our hands on his head to give the blessing, we were
instructed to tell him his mortal life had reached its conclusion and that he
was going home. I had never been
prompted by Spirit to share such a blessing.
The look of serenity that appeared on this brother’s face assured me
that he was prepared to be taken home. Scott’s
Temple Recommend was current and so he would be entering the House of the Lord.
Elder Rasband emphasized the importance of the Temple Recommend.
“Your temple recommend reflects a deep, spiritual intent that you
are striving to live the laws of the Lord and love what He loves: humility,
meekness, steadfastness, charity, courage, compassion, forgiveness, and
obedience. And you commit yourself to those standards when you sign your name
to that sacred document.
Your temple recommend opens the gates of heaven for you and others
with rites and ordinances of eternal significance, including baptisms,
endowments, marriages, and sealings.
To be “recommended to the Lord” is to be reminded of what is
expected of a covenant-keeping Latter-day Saint. My father-in-law, Blaine, saw
it as invaluable preparation for the day when he would humbly stand before the
Lord.”
Did you catch that? “Your temple recommend opens the gates of
heaven for you…”
I have a Texas Driver’s License and keep it up to date; but that
only let’s me drive my vehicle on public roads.
An old friend of mine, Gary Lewis, wrote along these lines the other
day.
“I
am reminded of a 1965 Ford Fairlane 500 car, that my mother allowed me to
borrow during my later teen years. It was a treasured privilege, and I learned
to handle it responsibly and maintain it properly. Eventually, it wore out, and
would no longer function.
For a period of time, I was without a vehicle. I still had a
driver's license, and still had my driving skills, but I was on foot.
In the same way, we borrowed our mortal bodies for a season. We
each learned how to use it responsibly, and enjoyed its privileges. Eventually,
it will wear out, and we will walk in the Spirit World for a season.”
My Temple Recommend, while similar to a Driver’s License in that
it offers certain benefits, opens the gates of heaven. Is it important to have it up to date and in
my wallet regardless of whether or not I have the ability to attend a
Temple?
Getting back to the phone conversation with my sister…and having
recently watched an old classic movie, The Ten Commandments, with
Charlton Heston playing the part of Moses.
I’m pretty sure if I asked the Lord for a Recommendation of good movies,
The Ten Commandments, would be on His list.
Here’s what Elder Rasband had to say about Moses.
“Consider when Moses climbed Mount Horeb and the Lord Jehovah
appeared to him in a burning bush. God told him, “Put off thy shoes from off
thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”
Putting off our shoes at the door of the temple is letting go of
worldly desires or pleasures that distract us from spiritual growth, setting
aside those things which sidetrack our precious mortality, rising above
contentious behavior, and seeking time to be holy.”
{…}
I remember hearing President Howard W.
Hunter in his first general conference address as the 14th President of the
Church. He said: “It is the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of
the Church worthy to enter the temple. It would please the Lord if every adult
member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple
recommend.” I would add that a limited-use recommend will set a clear path
for our precious youth.”
In case you just walked in, or woke up…being the
holder of a current Temple Recommend should be of great importance to each and
every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you are in the process of becoming
eligible to obtain one, then strive to meet the requirements. If your Temple Recommend is up for renewal
then make sure to meet with your Branch President or Bishop in order to have
the necessary interviews.
I look forward to that day when we may once again
attend the House of the Lord without having to be concerned with physical
distancing. I leave this admonition with
you in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I've posted this after having delivered it to the Huntsville Ward of the Conroe, Texas Stake on January 17, 2021 (As for the interesting font adjustments and formatting changes that took place; I've no idea why Blogger does that.)
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