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Stay on Task, Receive Ordinances

Ponder:What keeps us from doing the things that matter most?

“Doing What Matters Most” (No video? Read the next page.)

Discuss:What are some insignificant things people do to waste their time? The Lord commanded Joseph Smith to build temples even when Church members were very poor. Why?

Read:Doctrine and Covenants 84:20; 136:4; 1 Nephi 18:2–3 (on the right)

“In the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.”

Doctrine and Covenants 84:20

“And this shall be our covenant—that we will walk in all the ordinances of the Lord.”

Doctrine and Covenants 136:4

“I did build [the ship] after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men. And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.”

1 Nephi 18:2–3

Read:“The Law of Soil Management” (on the next page)

Discuss:What did the Lord reveal to Elder Widtsoe in the temple? What did the Lord reveal to Nephi in the mount?

As we seek self-reliance, why is it so important to be temple worthy?

With a partner, read the scripture below. What does it mean to you that through temple worship we are prepared to receive every needful thing in our lives? Talk about what this means to your life and your goal of self-reliance.

“And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house may … be prepared to obtain every needful thing.”

Doctrine and Covenants 109:14–15

couple with Laie Hawaii Temple in background

Commit:Commit to doing the following actions during the week. Check the boxes when you complete each task:

• Practice being temple worthy every day.

• Teach this principle to your family. Teach them how temple attendance will help them succeed spiritually and temporally, and discuss with them what you must do to receive the Lord’s power that is found in temple ordinances.

• Continue to practice the previous foundation principles.

“The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs. We will be eligible to have the Lord take an interest in our affairs both spiritual and temporal.”

Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (1980), 182

Doing What Matters Most

If you are unable to watch the video, read this script.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

NARRATOR: A plane crashed in Florida one dark night in December. Over 100 people were killed. It was just 20 miles from safety.

PRESIDENT UCHTDORF: After the accident, investigators tried to determine the cause. The landing gear had indeed lowered properly. The plane was in perfect mechanical condition. Everything was working properly—all except one thing: a single burned-out light bulb. That tiny bulb—worth about 20 cents—started the chain of events that ultimately led to the tragic deaths of over 100 people.

Of course, the malfunctioning light bulb didn’t cause the accident; it happened because the crew placed its focus on something that seemed to matter at the moment while losing sight of what mattered most.

The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens not only to pilots but to everyone. We are all at risk. … Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment or on things that matter most?

(Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, 59–60)

The Law of Soil Management

ELDER WIDTSOE: For several years, under a federal grant with my staff of workers, we had gathered thousands of data in the field of soil moisture; but I could not extract any general law running through them. I gave up at last.

My wife and I went to the temple that day to forget the failure. In the third endowment room, out of the unseen, came the solution, which has long since gone into print. …

That is the gift that comes to those who enter the temple properly, because it is a place where revelations may be expected. I bear you my personal testimony that this is so.

(In Alan K. Parrish, Modern Temple Worship, 156–57)