President Howard W. Hunter pleaded with us to "look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of [our] membership." The importance of that statement cannot be overemphasized. Baptism opens the gate to the celestial kingdom, but the temple opens the gate to exaltation.
Sincere questions lead the earnest seeker to knowledge and revelation.
And though we typically use *receive* to mean "to acquire" something, the dictionary says that receive also means "to believe" or "to accept as true."
Priesthood keys are real. They unlock the power of God to all who serve under their direction. Priesthood power is real. It is not some theological theory. It is the power of God Himself.
For all the many times I've been to the temple, the depth and breadth of all the Lord has for us in His house---the covenants, privileges, promises, knowledge, and power--far exceed what my puny mind at present comprehends. But going there regularly puts me in the best possible position to grow, learn, and step completely outside the world into a place where I can be reminded abou things as they really are and really will be.
The temple isn't supposed to be easy to understand. It is a step-by-step ascent toward God--and there's nothing simplistic about that.
Gender is not, and has never been, a qualifier for receiving the blessings of priesthood power.
Charity is not an emotion or an action. It is not something we feel or do. Charity is who the Savior is. It is His most defining and dominant attribute. It is what enabled Him to endure the Garden and the cross for you and me. It is one of the things that makes Him God. Thus, when we plead for the gift of charity, we aren't asking for kind feelings toward someone who has wounded us. We are pleading for our very natures to be changed, for our character to become more and more like the Savior's, so that we literally feel as He would feel and do what He would do. This is why Mormon said that when the Savior appears, those who have been gifted with charity will be like him, for they will "see him as he is."
Though there are things about the priesthood as it relates to both men and women that I don't understand, this does not concern me, because wrestling with spiritual questions is a fundamental aspect of mortality. It is an exercise that strengthens our faith and spurs our growth, if we'll allow it to. Learning, after all, is integral to progression.
The Lord has blessed His daughters with certain distinctive, divine gifts--including, said Joseph Smith, "feelings of charity," which result in an innate ability and desire to nurture and love. The gift of charity is the culminating gift of the Spirit, for it embodies almost all others. And women are blessed with a propensity for this gift.
In any case, the things I don't yet understand do not negate what I do know: that Joseph Smith was a prophet, foreordained by the Lord to restore His gospel, and that we have a living prophet today; that the priesthood has been restored to the earth; and that priesthood keys literally unlock God's power in behalf of all of us.
In doing so, he maid it possible for those who become sons and daughter of Christ to receive the fulness of the blessings the Father has for His children, explaining that "there was nothing made known to these men but what will be made known to all the Saints of the last days, so soon as they are prepared to receive [them]."
It is the ultimate institution of higher learning. The best education in the world pales compared to what the Grand Schoolmaster will teach us if we are willing to submit to His curriculum taught in His House.
First, priesthood keys "are the authority God has given to priesthood leaders to direct, control, and govern the use of His priesthood on earth."
By definition, keys open things. Thus, those who hold priesthood keys open the flow of priesthood power in behalf of all who serve under their direction. they also have the right and authority to direct and govern the sue of the priesthood within their jurisdiction.
In short, men and women who are endowed receive privileges in the temple that open up the heavens for those who learn how to do so.
As women, we do ourselves an injustice if we assume that only men need to understand the priesthood. And we diminish God's power when we equate *holders of the priesthood* with *priesthood power.* Statements such as, "We would like to thank the priesthood for setting up the chairs," or "I'm so grateful to have the priesthood in my home" are not accurate and do not do the priesthood justice. Priesthood holders are men. "The priesthood" refers to keys, authority, and power--God's power.
Women are not required to hold the priesthood to enter the house of the Lord, though the ordinances performed there are priesthood in nature, whereas men are. Neither are women required to hold the priesthood to serve as leaders in the Church.
[He] counseled us about how to conduct the tours. "Less is more," he said. "When it comes to guiding people through the temple, the Lord likes to do His own teaching in His own house." And so He does.
Unity is a natural outgrowth of charity.
Knowing more enable us to do more and to do better.
The ultimate aim of the Melchizedek Priesthood is to enable men and women to be exalted. Exaltation is available only to a man and woman together, a couple who are sealed in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, who are true and faithful, and who qualify for a 'fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever'. No one will be exalted alone.
In the temple, we learn how to learn about the things of God.
President Howard W. Hunter pleaded with us to "look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of [our] membership." The importance of that statement cannot be overemphasized. Baptism opens the gate to the celestial kingdom, but the temple opens the gate to exaltation.