The House of the Lord

It's the day after Christmas, boxing day.  How are you doing?  Were you able to relax and enjoy time with family and friends?  Do you feel a bit let down after all of the hustle and bustle or getting ready?  Or has it been a trying time for you this year; perhaps most years?  Or are you still in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the holiday?  To tell the truth, I'm a bit tired, and I always feel a bit of a let down after all of the busyness of preparing for Christmas, trying to go about doing good, remembering to do all the things and reach out to all of the people.  This year has been harder than most as I know of several people who are going through difficult things that I can't do much to help or resolve.    The plan for this week after Christmas is usually to relax a bit, maybe read a good book, clean up a bit, and set a few goals, and do some service if I can.  Last night I was able to reserve a time slot to visit The House of the Lord this morning, and also last night I found this Instagram post where Elder David A Bednar encourages parents, and I would say all of us, to refer to our temples as The House of the Lord. 

We refer to the temple as the House of the Lord

"Now I have a recommendation for everyone who may be listening, that as often as may be feasible, we refer to the temple as The House of the Lord.  President Nelson, early in his service as president taught us the importance of using the correct name of the church and it feels different when you refer to the Church of Jesus  Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Now there's nothing wrong with the word temple, but it's different when you say The House of the Lord. So that very thing, imagine you're rearing a child and temple is the word they hear, but The House of the Lord is the phrase that they hear the most that will have an impact on them as they grown up."

David A Bednar

Here is another quote by Elder Bednar:

More than ever, we are in need of the power and strength that comes through our covenant connection to the Lord Jesus Christ.   We do not come to the temple to hide from or escape the evils of the world.  Rather, we come to the temple to receive the power of godliness through priesthood ordinances that enables us to confront and conquer the world of evil."

Elder David A Bednar, Facebook, May 23. 2022, facebook.com/davida.bednar

So has this morning's trip to the temple solved all of my worries, dissolved my post-Christmas blues, and removed the challenges from the lives of my family and friends?  No, it hasn't.  But it did feel good to visit The House of the Lord, and to feel welcomed there.  I love the Lord and enjoy every visit I make to his house. Though my service wasn't perfect, and my concentration and thoughts wandered at times, I was able to serve a distant relative who had never had the opportunity to enter The House of the Lord during her lifetime.   Hopefully that small bit of service has added some small bit of light to this troubled world.  This has been a good year for me with 39 opportunities to visit The House of the Lord.  I believe this has been a record year with more visits than other year since my first visit to the Salt Lake Temple 44 years ago.  I'm grateful for this blessing in my life.  

And now I will attempt to tackle some of my plans for the week, and attempt to go about doing some good.  Wishing you all a happy and peaceful boxing day.         

Marcy