January 9, 2014

     Today is another special day, since I was able to serve in the temple. Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a place of mystery for the world because how sacred it is. We are not supposed to talk about these sacred things in depth. I have been serving as an ordinance worker of the Oakland Temple for a couple years now. I am not exactly sure it if has been three years yet. All ordinances are performed with covenants in mind. Covenants are one of the most important things to take upon ourselves in mortality. They are one of the key parts of our judgment of our inheritance in the Kingdoms of Heaven. Covenants are given to man from God that we may return to his presence, for we lived with Heavenly Father before our mortal lives. He wants us to obtain eternal life; therefore, he gives us the task to be obedient to his will in order to fulfill the covenant to obtain the desired eternal life. Doing his desires will prepare us to be like God, which is eternal life. There are three covenants for the common man to obtain eternal life, and two of them are received in the temple. The third one is marriage, a sealing to make your marriage last through all eternity, if you are faithful to the covenant. Only by receiving all three can the children of the Heavenly Father of every human spirit, who is God, be given eternal life.

     There is a lot of work to do in the temples, and I was happy to say that the work today in the temple was only slowed by the patrons. Many times in the shift that I work in the Oakland Temple, we are understaffed. It is almost sad that it is so understaffed that I can walk in say that I would like to be an ordinance worker, and they will set me apart at that moment. I am an exception because I have experience, and they know me there. They said that I can go to Brigham Young University Idaho and return to work without going through the big process for the reasons that I just mentioned, and I did that today. In Rexburg Idaho, my temple work is average because the faith is so great there. I have applied twice to serve as an ordinance worker in the temple, and I get no feedback. The competition is so great. The Rexburg temple usually works at its potential, but the Oakland temple rarely does. I would encourage you to make a commitment to go serve in your local temple to make sure that the work of God in the temples are fulfilled at a greater potential.

     The ordinances in the temple are for the living and the dead, for the Latter-day Saints believe that every soul needs to be part of the New and Everlasting Covenant to fulfill God's plan for the salvation of his children. Every human is to be part of the covenant, so everyone can choose it for themselves. In the next life, people do not need to receive the ordinances; although, it is performed for them. Their agency is thus respected. One may think that it is impossible to be able to record and perform the temple ordinances for every person, but we have the Millennium, the final thousand years of the existence of this mortal Earth, which is led by the resurrected Christ himself. Jesus Christ provides the way to accomplish his work, and we cannot be saved without everyone joining the New and Everlasting Covenant. It is only through Christ that we can be forgiven from our sins through these covenants administered by God’s Priesthood power.

     As an ordinance worker, I feel the love of God, when I interact and maintain friendship with people. When I walk around, I try to follow the Holy Ghost. The promptings are so subtle for me, but I know that it comes from God. It takes effort to see where I can serve, but when I seek for opportunities to serve, I am led by God to be in places that I need to be. An ordinance worker was given the assignment to aid a man to participate in sealing for the dead. Although the man was old and was forgetful from dementia, the man cannot even remember his children, but he was prompted to speak in Hawaiian. The ordinance worker was surprised, asking him how he learned the language, and the man said that he learned it when he served in the Navy. The ordinance worker was Hawaiian, and at that moment he felt the love of God greatly. "I needed that." Expressing gratitude to the coordinator, he said.

     Some people may think that it is prideful to talk about yourself. My little brother served with me as an ordinance worker, and I think that he only told a few people. I don't tell everything about what I do. If you don't let people know about you, how will your posterity know you? My little brother went two whole years, serving a mission in Bolivia, and he did not keep a journal. I was so disappointed when he said that upon his return. All the knowledge and experience of his mission may be lost for future generations. Our faith supposed to bless nations; not be so humble that no one even knows what you stand for.