God Wants (and Needs) a Powerful People

On the fifth Sunday in September, the Bishop is in charge of the Priesthood/Relief Society meeting and they generally meet all together.  Because of our building and time circumstances we don't have a room where all of us can meet together.  So Bishop Roper asked if I would teach Relief Society.  He didn't give me a topic. For some reason I had a really hard time putting the lesson together.  I don't know why other than maybe I didn't want to just give a lesson.  I wanted to give what the Lord would have me give and I wanted it to be beneficial for the girls in our ward.  Because I have been reading the book by Sheri Dew, "God wants a powerful People" and it has made a huge impact on me, I decided to do the lesson centered around one of her chapters entitled, "How God Shares His Power."  I think I'm going to post this in 3 segments so it's not so long.  So here is the first part:

I have a dear friend.  The last year has been a difficult one for her.  Her husband has had employment problems the last couple of years and Cherie has been working full time to help pay the bills.  About 10 months ago her mother had a stroke and was left unable to take care of herself.  Cherie met with her siblings and they decided that they would sell their parents home, Cherie would quit her job and have her parents come and live with her.  With the money from the sell of the home they would give Cherie her salary and add a room for her parents on the back of their home.  Cherie's mother is a loving kind woman but after having the stroke she takes 24 hour care.  She isn't able to bath herself or take care of any of her personal needs.  Her father can be a little difficult.  Taking care of them 24/7 is no easy job, but Cherie has taken it on and has done it with no complaints.  About 6 months ago, her son and his wife announced that they were pregnant with triplets.  They have 2 other young children.  Cherie decided then that she would provide three meals a week for her son and his growing family.  Every time she makes a trip to Costco she buys them a box of diapers.  Two weeks ago her daughter-in-law gave birth to 3 tiny but healthy babies, who are still in the hospital.  Knowing Cherie, I am sure she will continue to help her son and his family with providing meals and any other support she can.  I know she babysits often for their other 2 kids.  Where does Cherie get her strength to carry the heavy load that she has been given?  From God.  

Mosiah 8:16 And Ammon said that a seer is a revelator and a prophet also; and a gift which is greater can no man have, except he should possess the power of God, which no man can; yet a man may have great power given him from God.

Matthew 9:  8 But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.

God does not want us to face our challenges alone.  He will give us the power we need.

What things has God given us that help us to be powerful?

Scriptures / word of God

Prophets & Apostles—General Conference

Church Leaders--Home Teachers, Visiting Teachers

Holy Ghost

*Commandments—obedience

Tithing

Purity--Our Virtue

*Temple

*Priesthood

Family & Friends

Atonement—allows us to have eternal life

Prayer

Patriarchal Blessings

Temple-covenants, blessings received from obedience

                        

Our ultimate goal is to go to the temple.  While reading different things about the temple this past week it donned on me the importance of the temple.  We often refer to baptism as the key or the gateway to enter into the celestial kingdom.  I see the temple as the pathway that leads us back to our Heavenly Father once we enter in through the gate.  We can't enter in without baptism and the Temple guides us through.  It gives us the knowledge we need. 

So you want to work towards receiving your endowment AND work towards being sealed to a GREAT young man (or woman if your a guy reading this)!

Brigham City Temple Dedication took place just a couple of weeks ago.  Everyone in the state of Utah was invited to participate in that dedication—

why was the whole state invited and encouraged to participate?

It shows the importance of having a temple in our midst—the importance of using it--the importance of understanding it!

Joseph Smith received the following revelation concerning the importance of building a temple for the Saints.

D&C 38:32 Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the ^acommandment that ye should go to the ^bOhio; and there I will give unto you my ^claw; and there you shall be ^dendowed with power from on high;

At the dedication of the Kirkland Temple, Joseph Smith prayed  these words:   And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power… D&C 109:22

Sheri Dew said:  "those who receive their endowment are endowed or gifted with poer, and  they emerge from the temple lcothed in and armed with that power.  From that time forward, if they keep their covenants, they are never alone, nor are they ever defenseless." (God Wants a Powerful People, pg. 40)—pretty powerful:

never alone and never defenseless—we have God’s power!

            When we go to the temple, we are taught God’s plan.  We are instructed and then we covenant with God to abide by his laws.  And when we do that, God gives us His power so that we can face the challenges of this world.

The early Saints NEEDED this power before they left Nauvoo.

"More than 5,000 Saints thronged the Nauvoo Temple after its dedication so they could receive the endowment and the sealing ordinance before embarking on their journey into an unknown future. They came to the temple all day and long into the night. President Brigham Young wrote that they were so anxious to receive their ordinances that “I have given myself up entirely to the work of the Lord in the Temple night and day, not taking more than four hours sleep, upon an average, per day, and going home but once a week.”"  pg.29 Daughters in my Kingdom

Brigham Young labored diligently endowing the faithful so they would be able to bear the burdens that faced them as they journeyed west to an unknown land.

Daughters in my Kingdom, pg. 133 it says:  “In the ordinances of the higher priesthood that the Saints received in the Nauvoo Temple, “the power of godliness [was] manifest.”  As the Saints kept their covenants, this power strengthened and sustained them through their trials in the days and years ahead.”  

Pg. 29-30 of Daughters in my Kingdom:   "The strength, power, and blessings of temple covenants would sustain the Latter-day Saints during their journey, when they would suffer cold, heat, hunger, poverty, sickness, accidents, and death. They were strengthened and empowered—spiritually prepared to leave Nauvoo on their arduous journey into the wilderness."

           

WHEN DO WE RECEIVE OUR ENDOWMENT TODAY???

Young men and women are endowed before they leave on missions for the church.  If sisters don’t go on missions, they are generally endowed when they get married.

ABBIE: My youngest daughter will be turning 25 in a couple of months.  She is single.  She just moved into a new ward.  When she met her new Bishop, he asked her if she had thought about or considered going to the temple and receiving her endowment.  It caught her off guard.  She hadn’t thought about it.  She had always just thought she would go to the temple when she marries. 

SO....with those 2 thoughts I ask:

WHY DO WE ENDOW YOUNG MEN OR YOUNG WOMEN BEFORE THEY GO ON MISSIONS?

WHY DO WE RECEIVE OUR ENDOWMENTS BEFORE MARRIAGE?

WHAT WOULD BE THE ADVANTAGE OR NEED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE NOW?

One sister who is a return missionary said that when she went through the temple before her mission that the temple matron spoke to them and said that going on a mission was going to be the most difficult thing they had ever done and receiving their endowment would give them the power and strength they would need to be good missionaries.  I added that that is soooo true, and that when getting married.... they would be doing the most difficult thing they have ever done and would need the endowment so they can be successful in marriage.

Even if you aren't getting married or going on a mission, if you are mature enough to take the temple and it's covenants seriously than maybe going to the temple NOW can help you make those ever important decisions that you young people have to make in life!  And it can help you be truly committed to living the gospel to it's fullest extent.

           

You have many decisions about life to make—you have Satan knocking at your door every day to try to lead you astray.  The purpose to receive your endowment is:

            To give you power

        To help you face the challenges that will come to you

        To help you understand God’s plan—knowledge is power

        To make covenants—which gives us strength to do what is right—which gives us power

I believe the trials we face today are every bit as difficult as the trials the pioneers faced.  They are very different and we need God’s power just as much as they did.  We need God's power to help us on this arduous journey of life through this wilderness.