In November 2011, I had the opportunity to marry my best friend in the House of the Lord for all time and eternity

It was an amazing wonderful experience all my and his family was able to come, all the family members that we old enough came inside with us and all the little kids waited inside in the nursery. I wouldn't change anything that day was perfect and I love being married to my husband and knowing that if he died tomorrow it wouldn't matter because I have him for forever and that my eternity will be spent with him. 

Ancient and Modern Temples

           Just as accient prophets built altars to worship God, we too have altars today. The Bible Dictionary defines altar as "Used for sacrifices and offerings and for sacred ordinances of the gospel..." Altars are then expounded and a temple is built where altars are used inside and outside the temple. Examples of temples in the ancient times are Solomons temple, Temple of Zerubbabel. Today there are over 120 functioning around the world. These temples are used to become closer to God, to do gospel ordinances like in ancient times.
       One of the special sacred ordinances done in the temple is marriage. A sealing between husband and wife to be with each other for eternity, making covenants with God that they will each do the best they can to help each other and be loyal. In Genesis 24 it explains that what God thinks about marriage.

• God loves covenant marriages
• First Rebekah married Jacob then he loved her
• covenants are the important part- love is a choice
• You choose whether to love or not
• As you grow together love will grow if you try
• Marriage should be in the covenant and the Lord will provide a covenant marriage, if you put your faith in Him and it will all work out
• We must do our part, then ask him to do His
• Specific prayers= specific answers 

    It was instructed by God that Jacob should not marry a Canaanite (someone outside of the gospel) God wanted Jacob to marry someone righteous in the covenant to raise righteous children and have them keep the covenant. 

     In Genesis 28: 12 Jacob tells of a dream where he sees a ladder on the Earth and the top of it went into Heaven, and Angels were traveling on this ladder. In Verse 13 He sees God sitting at the top of the ladder and gives Jacob a blessing of posterity, his children will be as many as the dust of the Earth. In verse 17 he realizes he is at a house of God. Jacob names the place Bethel. beth=house el=God, House of God. In verse 18 he makes a pillar to remember where it is so that he can come again and visit.

     Today anyone can go to the temple, however only those that are worthy can go inside.

Being worthy means

• Baptized by immersion into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Obeys the word of wisdom
• Keeps the commandments of God
• Obeys the law of Chastity 
• Has a testimony of this gospel and has faith in God and Jesus Christ. 

After temples are built, and before they are dedicated there is a space of time where anyone can go inside the temple worthy or unworthy and see what the temple is like inside and have a tour and learn more about the temple. These are called open houses, and every temple will have one for at least a month. This is a great time to learn more about the gospel and about temples and a chance to see the inside beauty and more about what goes on in the temple. 

Abraham and Isacc Video

Old Testament Abraham Video

Make sure your volume is up

Role Model Abraham

       

 There are three important promises that God made with Abraham.

• Promise one Abraham was promised the power of the priesthood for him and all of his posterity that is worthy of it. 
• The second promise is posterity, and that all nations will know his posterity. This promise is interesting because at the time it was given Abrahams wife Sariah couldn't have children and that his only son, Ishmael, was from Sariah's handmaiden. This is when Abraham learned that his wife would soon have a baby and that they would call him Isaac. 
• The third promise is property, Abraham was promised land for his posterity in Genesis 12:7 it says “unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” One of my favorite lessons from this story is that Abraham remembered to thank God for all of the promises that He gave him. 

        The first thing that he did when they came to a new place was built an altar, an olden day small version of the temple. Temples are Gods home on earth, it is a place where people can go to feel closer to Him, to talk to God, receive revelation, be spiritually fed and so much more then we understand. Abraham built altars and today we have temples, we have temples all over the world, just like Abraham had altars wherever he lived. It isn’t enough to go to the temple once we need to go as often as we can.
           Abraham had a nephew Lot, Lot chose to live on a hillside watching over Sodom, Sodom was a very wicked place. By living on a hillside he wasn’t living in Sodom and being part of the wicked, he just wanted to watch. Abraham on the other hand turned his tent away from Sodom and pointed it toward the temple. Every morning Lot would wake up and see Sodom first thing and that’s where his focus was most of the day, watching what they were doing. Abraham on the other hand woke up to the temple, towards God and paid no attention to Sodom. Abraham put God first in all he did and that’s why he was blessed with great promises.
            You can only look at Sodom for so long before you join it. One example was given in class about letting Sodom into our homes through television, we aren’t being a part of it we only want to watch it, just like Lot. But how long can you watch a show that swears without having a bad word pop into your head? A month? Year? Only a week? Satan gets to us through which we don’t think he can affect us. Television isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes what Satan shows on TV drives the spirit away and lets Satan sneak into our homes without us realizing it. The lesson I learn from Abraham and Lot is that we are blessed when we turn our tents towards the temple, when our focus is on God instead of the world God can teach us and help us become a better person. I want to be an Abraham. 

Resurrection

This week I had a passing of a loved one, he lived a long good life raising 3 children and loved several grandchildren but it is always sad to see them go. Even though this is a sad moment in time I know that I will see him again. When Jesus Christ was crucified he rose 3 days later,  in Matthew 27: 52-53 we read of other people that also we dead and awoke from their graves 

"And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the Saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

 We learn why this is possible in 1 Cor 15: 21-22 

"For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 

I know that because of my Savior Jesus Christ this life is not the end. That even though we may all die and be buried in our graves we will all see each other again. We will be with our families that have gone before us and those that we leave, I will see my loved ones again. Knowing this truth gives me hope and a light at times of sorrow like this. That even though his body lies in a grave and I can't see or talk to him right now this separation is only temporarily. I believe in my Savior Jesus Christ when He says 

"Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." Ezek 37: 12.

 I love several people that have already passed on and sadly I know there is more to come but this is not the end, I will see them again face to face and I will be able to embrace them and tell them how much I love them, and it will be an amazing day.