Stand in the Most Holy Places
The power and blessings of the temple will help you in the challenging and exciting days ahead.
Nauvoo Illinois Temple
As a young man, I remember my mother placing her and my father’s temple clothes on the kitchen table. She would then take a temple robe and carefully iron each pleat on an ironing board. She always took her time. This is one of my earliest memories as a youth.
At the time, I did not fully appreciate the temple, but as I watched my mother iron her and my father’s temple clothes, I could see how important the temple was to them. Their example taught me how sacred the temple is and how vital it is to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved” (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8).
President James E. Faust (1920–2007), my stake president when I was a young man and my spiritual mentor, encouraged Saints “all over the world, wherever possible, to strive to stand more often in holy places.” Our homes and chapels can certainly be holy places, but “our most holy places are our sacred temples.”
Standing in these most holy of places will give you access to God’s power and blessings to help you in the challenging and exciting days ahead.
Temples around the World
As Church leaders, we are often asked, “Why are you building so many temples?” Do you remember President Russell M. Nelson’s answer to that question in his October 2024 general conference address? He said we are building temples at such an unprecedented pace “because the Lord has instructed us to do so.”
One important reason for this is that temples are set apart by priesthood power so that the covenants we make and the ordinances we receive there are bound on earth and in heaven (see Matthew 16:19). When we follow the Lord’s instruction to build temples around the world, the power and blessings that temples provide are able to reach more of God’s children on both sides of the veil.
Promised Power
President Nelson taught that “each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples—and keeps them—has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ.”
This power was promised at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. The Prophet Joseph Smith prayed “that all people who shall enter … the Lord’s house may feel [the Lord’s] power” and “may go forth … armed with [His] power” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:13, 22; emphasis added).
This continues today. I had the honor to be with President Nelson for the rededication of the Manti Utah Temple in April 2024, where he prayed that we may understand “the power with which [we] are endowed [in the temple].”
President Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President, whom I’ve known since I served as her bishop in a university ward years ago, has taught that Jesus Christ will “lift us up to where He is and, in the process, enable us to become as He is” as we “experience deeper covenant relationship with Him” through the temple.
Ordinances and covenants draw us closer to the Lord, bind us to Him, and give us greater access to His power and blessings, which we all need. President Nelson taught that “Jesus Christ … , and He alone, [has] the power to lift you above the pull of this world.”
Blessings of Peace and Joy
Shortly after my call to the Seventy, I was assigned to serve in England. Sister Rasband and I took our two youngest children, Shannon and Christian, with us. We quickly realized what a sacrifice it would be for them, particularly for Christian. He was 17 years old and looking forward to his senior year of high school with his friends and the athletic competitions, which he would now miss back home.
To help Shannon and Christian adjust to this new place, we decided to go to the Preston England Temple to perform baptisms for the dead. We had not done this in our busy lives back home. The minute we walked into the temple baptistry, everything changed.
After performing the baptisms, Christian put his hand on my shoulder and sincerely asked, “Dad, why haven’t we ever done this before?”
Preston England Temple baptistry
I learned an important lesson that day. The temple had changed our perspectives, brought us peace and joy, and spiritually lifted us more than any football tournament or basketball game ever could. If you have a chance to attend the temple, I encourage you to go as often as possible. Take your ancestors’ names and perform baptisms and confirmations for them. Your experiences in the temple will bring peace and joy to you and others here and in the life to come.
An Invitation
If your parents, grandparents, or siblings have been to the temple, I invite you to observe how they regard the temple in their behavior and practices—just as I did with my parents. Look for opportunities to talk to your family, your bishop, and other leaders about the temple. They will help you.
I also invite you to always stay focused on the Lord and be worthy. Then as my dear friend, President M. Russell Ballard (1928–2023), once said, “You will be grateful when the day comes for you to attend the temple and you are prepared to receive all the marvelous promises and blessings the Lord desires to give you.”
I testify that Jesus Christ lives. Standing in His temples—our most holy places—through preparing for and then honoring sacred ordinances and covenants will bless you with peace, joy, and power now and throughout your life.