Thursday, June 23, 2011

Guest Blog: The Presents of the Lord

Our daughter Megan was married last week.  She and Josh were married in the LDS temple in Provo, Utah, where they are attending Brigham Young University.  It was a lovely day, a beautiful ceremony, and the spirit of the Lord was there.
With my thoughts on the temple, I was reminded of an email we received from Sister Davis (one of Megan's former missionary companions) during the final weeks of her mission.  In her weekly email she wrote:   "We went to the Temple this morning and it was amazing. I am amazed how we can feel the presents of the Lord there."  I smiled to myself as I read her typo, "presents" of the Lord. 
But upon further reflection, I realized that what she had written was true.  When we go to the temple with an attitude of worship, reverence, and readiness, we may be privileged to feel the Lord's presence.  But it is also true that the Lord's presents await us there.  In the Lord's temples the gifts of family relationships that will last beyond the grave are available.  The gifts of knowledge and understanding can also be opened in His holy temples.  There too we find the gifts of comfort and inspiration, peace and calm, a chance to be unhurried in a world obsessed with rushing to and fro.  
Unlike your birthday or Christmas gifts, these presents will not come to you automatically.  Rather, you must actively prepare yourself to receive them.  But then, what other presents can compare in their impact for good on your present--and your future? 

X-drive

1 comment:

  1. ha that typo is cute, but how true it is that there are so many presents from our Father waiting in the temple for us if we go prepared to receive them! those are some of the best presents!! and it is amazing how much more meaningful those presents are when we have worked to be prepared for them. it's always nice to receive gifts from someone you love, but when the gift comes at the condition of your fulfilling your part, it often has even more meaning. i remember when i was 10 and i read the Book of Mormon for the first time. one of the things i received upon finishing it was a magnet that said "i read the Book of Mormon". having been given that by someone i loved would have been nice, but since i went to the effort myself of reading the entire book and putting in all that time, it actually meant so much more to me :) so much so that i still remember it now!

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