First Sacrament Meeting Talks

This month both Alyssa and Xander were asked to give their first official Sacrament meeting talks. 

  Alyssa spoke on November 11, 2012 on The Temple:

I was asked to give a talk on temples. When Jesus Christ was on the earth, the only existing temple was known as the Temple of Herod. Jesus was often found in this temple. After Jesus and his apostles deaths there were no longer any temples on the earth for many centuries. Then in the 1800’s when the the gospel was restored the Lord commanded his people to build temples. D&C 109:8 it states, (“OPEN SCRIPTURES, READ SCRIPTURE). 

When I think of the temple I think of a holy, special place, that is beautiful and clean, a place that will bring peace unto our souls, where I can be sealed for all eternity and most of all a house of God. In Blessings of the Temple President Thomas S. Monson said, “I think there is no place in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples. He goes on to paraphrase a poem:

How far is Heaven? 

It’s not very far

 In the temple of God 

It’s right where we are.”

Why do we need to go to the temple? In order for the temple to bless our lives we need to go to the temple! We need to go to the temple to do ordinances for ourselves and for those who have never heard of the gospel. We also need to go there to feel the spirit and learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In the special Temple issue of the Ensign, October 2010 President George O. Cannon states, “Every foundation stone that is laid for a temple, and every temple completed...lessens the power of Satan on earth, and increases the power of God...”

Who can go to the temple? After a temple is built anyone can go inside and see the temple. A few weeks later the temple will be dedicated to the Lord and then only church members may enter. These members must be WORTHY members who are at least 12, have been a member of the church for at least one year and have had an interview with a member of the bishopric. In this special interview members are asked questions to determine if the member has a testimony of the Church, keeps the commandments, supports Church leaders, obeys the Word of Wisdom, pays tithing, and is honest.” Then they will be allowed to go inside.  I am excited to go to the temple this Friday. I have only been able to go to visit the temple on the outside and inside the lobby when had a primary activity. Since I turned 12 in October and have had an interview I am able to go inside. In Preach my Gospel it says, “...millions of people have died without having any opportunity to hear the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Through His loving grace and mercy the Lord makes salvation possible for everyone who did not have the opportunity to receive, understand, and obey the gospel during their mortal lives. The gospel is preached to these deceased people in the spirit world. Members of the Church, like me, on earth perform the saving ordinances in behalf of their deceased ancestors and others. Deceased persons living in the spirit world have the opportunity to accept or reject the gospel and the ordinances performed in their behalf.” I hope that the women who I am baptized and confirmed for accept the gospel! 

In President Monson’s April 2011 general conference talk, The Holy Temple A Beacon To The World, It states, “Now, my young friends who are in your teenage years, 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.

The world can be a challenging and difficult place in which to live. We are often surrounded by that which would drag us down. 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.”

I would like to bear my testimony that temples are a house of God and that the church is true. I am thankful that I will be able to go to the temple soon and feel the spirit there. 

How far is Heaven? 

It’s not very far

 In the temple of God 

It’s right where we are.

I say these things in the name of Jesus, Christ Amen.

 Xander spoke on November 25, 2012 on Service:

Good morning,  I was asked to talk today on service. Service is something that we do without being asked and not getting a monetary reward. Instead of money we get paid in blessings. We can give and also receive service depending on our circumstances. 

In Elder M. Russell Ballard’s talk, Be Anxiously Engaged, from the October 2012 conference  Elder Ballard says,  "Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us—our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens." What an awesome world we would have if we all made an effort to serve one another. 

Elder Ballard speaks in his talk about bees and beehives. He compares the task they do of collecting honey to serving their hive. All of them doing their job to collectively make a successful hive and honey. By itself it would be an insignificant amount of honey.

“Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.

Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive. The bees depend on each other. Work that would be overwhelming for a few bees to do becomes lighter because all of the bees faithfully do their part.” 

So if we all do our part to serve one another it makes life easier than doing it all by ourselves. In D&C 58:27 it states,  Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.”

I was able to watch a video called Helping Hands Rockaways, NY about how thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints volunteered to assist in the recovery efforts in communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. “On Sunday, November 11th, thousands of these church members cancelled their regular church services and then went out in NY to serve in this community. They arrived by air, bus and train from all across the country to help.” 

In the video it showed how important and helpful these people were in the clean up efforts of this town. The town was devastated and they would have never been able to do all of the clean up on their own. They put on their yellow helping hands vests and showed up ready to work! They became known in the community as people who just come in and help. One of the people in the video said, “It’s the gospel in action! It is what Christ taught. We are showing what we believe by helping other people. We are all brothers and sisters in need.”  The people were very grateful for the help they were given and even in a disaster situation felt extremely blessed. 

Going back to Elder Ballard’s talk he says, 

“Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The Savior taught that the first and great commandment is:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. …

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 22:37-39.

The Savior’s words are simple, we are to love God and to love and care for our neighbors as ourselves. What a wonderful example the Latter-day saints helping hand were of this. They showed the true of meaning of service. We all can serve we don’t have to wait for a major disaster- it can be something as simple as smiling and opening a door for someone, making dinner for a person who is sick or taking someone home. If we ask in our prayers how we can serve- Heavenly Father will provide us with an opportunity to serve. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.