Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Forty-Four
The Blessings of the Temple are Received One by One
All the blessings of the gospel are received one by one– When the Lord appeared to the Nephites he invited them to “feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth…” (3 Nephi 11: 14-15, emphasis added). Later that day Jesus “took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again” (Vs 19-22, emphasis added). Even though in both cases it would have taken many hours, Jesus wanted to bless them one by one.
From this we learn from the example set by the Lord himself that the blessings of the gospel are given and received one by one regardless of how long it may take and how much effort is required. This is a true principle of the gospel on both sides of the veil.
We know that our Father in Heaven and the Lord Jesus knows us individually by name. We learn this from the First Vision where the Father called Joseph by name. (Joseph Smith History 1:17). Jesus also called his Nephite disciples by name, one by one. (3 Nephi 11:18-22; Moroni 2:2).
In contrast government typically focuses on addressing societies needs as a whole all at once. Even though the intention is commendable it is far less effective. The gospel and other inspired approaches focus on improving the individual, one by one.
Family History and Temple Work – The covenants and ordinances of the gospel are given to millions of members of the Church one by one. In the sealing ordinance each partner while knelling together in the sealing room enter individually into the marriage covenant. There are many million members of the Church all of whom have individually, one by one, participated in some or all of the covenants and ordinances of the gospel.
In the spirit world there are and will be billions of people who will individually make covenants and by proxy receive the ordinances of the gospel. This work will take a thousand years to complete by those who live in mortality, but it will be done individually, one by one.
A great amount of time and resources are required to identify every individual, one by one, and then do the temple work for them. This also demonstrates the gospel is for individuals who are all children of Heavenly Parents and are known by Them.
Conclusion – When President Monson conferred the sealing power on me he specifically counseled that when I do sealings for the dead I should not rush. He said to speak in a way that each individual and family who was in attendance from the spirit world would feel the Spirit of the Lord and have their own special opportunity to receive this very important ordinance. The way President Monson spoke of this gave me to understand he knows that people from the other side are in attendance as their temple work is done. This is good counsel as we serve in the temple.
We should always remember that temple ordinances are very real and important to the people whose work we are doing. We should seek and pray to have a greater testimony of the reality and importance of temple work, which is performed for each individual, one by one.
Testimony – There have been “many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with the eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether 12:19). The blessing to be able “to truly see with [our] eyes the things which [we have] beheld with the eye of faith” will be given by a loving Heavenly Father to his children one by one as we are prepared to receive them.
Truly the saving ordinances of the gospel are administered to the living and dead, one by one.