RS Newsletter July 2011

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C o m e t o t h e T e m ple andCla im Your B less ings

Sisters, we are most blessed. The Savior stands

at the head of this Church. We are led by living

prophets. We have the holy scriptures. And we

have many holy temples throughout the world

where we can obtain the ordinances necessary

to help us return to our Heavenly Father.

We go first to the temple for ourselves. "The

primary purpose of the temple," explained Elder

Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve

Apostles, "is to provide the ordinances necessary

for our exaltation in the celestial kingdom. Temple

ordinances guide us to our Savior and give us theblessings that come to us through the Atonement

of Jesus Christ. Temples are the greatest university

of learning known to man, giving us knowledge

and wisdom about the Creation of the world.

Endowment instructions give guidance as to how

we should conduct our lives here in mortality ....

The ordinance consists of a series of instructions

on how we should live and covenants we make to

live righteously by follOWing our Savior."1

But our temple service does not end there.

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorumof the Twelve Apostles, taught: "Acting as proxy for

someone who has gone beyond the veil, you will

have reviewed before you the covenants that you

have made. You will have reinforced in your mind

the great spiritual blessings that are associated with

the house of the Lord.... In the covenants and

ordinances center the blessings that you may claim

in the holy temple."2

Come to the temple and then come again. Making

and keeping temple covenants will keep us on course

to the greatest of all blessings-eternal life.

Barbara Thompson, second counselor in the Relief

Society general presidency.

From th e S c ripturesIsaiah 2:3; 1 Corinthians 11:11; Revelation 7:13-15;

Doctrine and Covenants 109

Study this material and , as appropriate, discuss it

with [he sisters you visit. Usethe questions [0helpyou

strengthen your sisters and to make RetiefSociet y an

activepart ofyour own life.

W h a t C a n

I D o ?

1. What experi-

ence will I share to

strengthen t hose

I visit in their

determination

to "come to the

temple"?

2. How can I per-

sonally claim the

blessings of the

temple?

For more informa-

tion, go to www.

reliefsociety.lds.org.

F r om O u r HistoryThe Prophet]oseph often spoke to Relief Societysisters at their meetings. With the Nauvoo Temple

under construction, the Prophet instructed the sisters

in doctrine, preparing them to receive more knowl-

edge through temple ordinances. In 1842 he said to

Mercy Fielding Thompson that the endowment "will

bring you out of darkness into marvelous light."3

An estimated 6,000 Latter-day Saints received

temple ordinances before the exodus from Nauvoo.

President Brigham Young 0801-77) said, "Such has

been the anxiety manifested by the saints to receive

the ordinances [ofthe temple], and such the anxietyon our part to administer to them, 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."4 The strength and power of

temple covenants fortified the Saints as they left their

city and temple for a journey into the unknown.

NOTES

1. Robert D. Hales, "Blessings of the Temple," Liahona,Oct. 2009,14; Ensign, Oct. 2009, 48.

2. Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (1980), 170, 171.

3. Teachings of P residents of the Chm'ch: Joseph Smith

(2007),414.4. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young

(1997), 299.

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*Important Dates *

04 Independence Day

12 Relief Society Meeting, 6:30 pm

13 Relief Society Temple Trip, 1:00 pm.

Contact Sis. Vicki Staley or Sis. Carol Dovell

for more information. Or use this link:

http://lds.org/church/temples/ columbus-ohio ?lang=eng#tab=address

03 President's Message

10 Chapter 35 - Obedience

17 Chapter 36 - The Family Can Be Eternal

24 "Your Potential, Your Privilege" by

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, p. 58,May 2011 Ensign

31 Fifth Sunday Combined Meeting,

Branch Presidency

*Birthdays *

1 Jean Bauman 18 Chamane Standley

3 Krystal Cline 20 Shirley Stiles

3 Faith Payne 22 Diana Anders

4 Peggy Mosbacker 27 Audra Boggs7 Leona Cooper

(excerpts from)

The Constitution - A Glorious Standard

By President Ezra Taft Benson

Every Latter-day Saint should love the inspired

Constitution ofthe United States-a nation with a

spiritual foundation and a prophetic history-which

nation the Lord has declared to be his base ofoperations in these latter days.

The framers of the Constitution were men raised up

by God to establish this foundation of our

government, for so the Lord has declared by

revelation in these words:

"I established the Constitution of this land, by the

hands of wise men whom 1raised up unto this very

purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of

blood." m&C 101:80; italics added.)

Yes, this is a land fertilized by the blood of patriots.

During the struggle for independence, nearly 9,000

of the colonist forces were killed. Among thosefifty-six patriots who had pledged their lives, their

fortunes, and their sacred honor by signing the

Declaration of Independence, at least nine paid that

price with their life's blood.

In the final analysis, what the framers did, under the

inspiration of God, was to draft a document that

merited the approval of God himself, who declared

it to "be maintained for the rights and protection of

all flesh." m&C 101:77; italics added.)

When James Russell Lowell was asked, "How long

will the American Republic endure?" he replied:

"As long as the ideas of the men who founded it

continue dominant."

Constitutional government, as designed by the

framers, will survive only with a righteous people.

"Our Constitution," said John Adams, first vice-

president and second president, "was made only for

a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate

to the government of any other." (John R. Howe, Jr.

The Changing Political Thought of John Adams,

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press,

1966, p. 189.)

May God bless us to protect this sacred instrument.

In the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, "May

those principles, which were so honorably and

nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our

land, by our fathers, be established forever." (D&C109:54.) For this 1pray, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Ensign, May 1976

http://lds.org/ ensign/197 6/05/the-constitution-a-

glorious-

standard ?lang=eng&query=united+states+america