We live in marvelous times in the history of the world. Many of the promises our Heavenly Father, Elohim, gave to his children since the beginning of time , are coming to pass in our lifetimes. One of the promises is that temples, Houses of the Lord, would be built so that sacred ordinances could be performed. When I was young, there were only twelve temples. Now there are some 150 working temples with many more being built.

Along with the blessings of a temple comes heavy responsibility to us as members, to participate in the important work that has to be done during these winding-up days before the 2nd Coming of the Savior.

When we realize that every person who has ever been born on earth needs to have the opportunity to participate in so-called saving ordinances, many of which can only be done in a temple, it seems mind-blowing! These saving ordinances are, baptism, confirmation, initiatory, (washings and annointings) and the endowment and sealing of families together.

When the Church was restored, Jesus Christ commanded the Saints to build five temples while they were in the east, at Kirtland, Ohio, Independence, Missouri, Spring Hill at Adam-ondi-Ahman, Missouri, Far West, Missouri, and Nauvoo, Illinois. Because of persecution, only two were built, but sites and corner stones were dedicated for some. Independence was dedicated at midnight by twelve brethren who had been warned by persecutors they would be killed if they attempted to do it. Early the next morning, as they were leaving, one of the brethren knocked on the door of one of those who had threatened them, telling him what had happened, and walking away leaving the man stunned! Great story!

The Kirtland temple, built by great sacrifice of abjectly poor saints was the scenes of marvelous spiritual revelations. The dedication was March 27, 1836. Heber C. Kimball said that an angel appeared, and sat near Joseph Smith so that he was easily seen by the congregation. He had white hair, black eyes, was tall and wore a robe that went to his ankles, with sandals on his feet. He was there to accept and witness the dedication.

A few days later, April 3, 1836, a solemn assembly was being held in the temple, when Jesus Christ himself appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Read D&C 110. Then, Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared. There is a great story about Elijah! When the Hebrew people were slaves in Egypt for 400 years, God sent Moses and all those plagues to force Pharaoh to let the people go. The very last plague was when the Angel of Death swept through Egypt killing all the firstborn of humans and animals. To be saved, the Jews of each household were to sacrifice a perfect male lamb, daub some of the blood on the doorpost, and hold a feast of unleavened bread, roasted meat and bitter herbs. The angel would pass over the homes with the blood on the door. Every year, for thousands of years, even to this day, faithful Jewish people will celebrate the feast of the Passover. They were promised that Elijah would return, and so they set a place for him at their tables, and at a certain part of the ceremony, they open their doors so that Elijah can enter in. On April 3, 1936, the Jewish people were holding their Passover Feast and praying for Elijah to enter. Elijah did come...but not to the Jewish people. On April 3, 1836, Elijah came to the Kirtland temple to restore that long-awaited authority to do temple work!

When the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young struck his came into the desert land and said, "Here we will build a temple to our God." And they did!. We all should read the history of the building of this great temple. Amazing that these poverty stricken people, far away from civilization could rear a magnificent temple that would surpass any building in the United States at that time.

Boyd K. Packer wrote a wonderful and interesting history in the August edition of the Ensign, 1993 It is called, a Temple to Exalt. You will enjoy reading this. You might want to write this down. "A Temple to Exalt, August 1993 Ensign. Remember Ensign has a long 'I' sound. An Ensign is a banner, it isn't pronounced Ensun, which is a naval officer. Please read it as your homework assignment. There will be a test!

During the long, long 40 years required to finish the Salt Lake temple, three other temples were built and dedicated...St. George, Manti, and Logan. Each with their own amazing stories.

So here we are with over 150 working temples. What are some of the responsibilities that have been given to us. Of course, searching out the names of our ancestors is one. Promises were made to those who would be our ancestors, that since they would come to earth and prepare the way when they would have no chance to receive these ordinances, we are expected to turn our hearts toward them, find their names and do the work for them.

Also, we can help those who are too poor to go to a temple. Pres. Monson at General Conference in Oct. 2011 asked that we contribute to the General Temple Patron Fund, set up in 1992, to finance one trip for members outside the US and Canada, who can never afford to go. This fund will pay passage by air or other transportation to the closest temple. Each person will pay what they can for their own passports, if they go outside their country, some even having to save for several months, In addition, they will be provided seven sets of LDS garments so that they can keep their covenants the rest of their lives. We can donate by writing, "Temple Patron Fund" in the "Other" section of our regular donation slips, or online.

Here is a tender story of a group of poor saints helping each other to get to a temple. The branch members walked with them who could go, to catch a bus, for the hard, several-day trip to the closest temple, where they were housed for several days in nearby quarters. When they returned home, one of them said, "I have touched the temple. Would you like to touch my hand?"

Surely we sometimes don't realize how important and vital these ordinances are. Pres. Spencer W Kimball said, "If you understand the ordinances of the House of the Lord, you would crawl on your hands and knees for thousands of miles to receive them.

Parents need to teach children at an early age, the importance of the temples. Let me share with you how a couple of the ways we tried to do this. When our children were small, and we were teaching them to pray, we would have them repeat, "Please help me to be a good boy or girl so that when I grow up I can go on a mission and be married in a temple." We also bought eleven inexpensive unframed pictures of various temples at a book store, and laminated them. Each child chose one and put them on the wall near their beds as something they would see every day. Each child has been married in a temple, and nine of them have served missions. Two daughters who didn't serve missions, faithfully did what the Church suggests, that is they were married in a temple when that opportunity arose. We can't boast, because all we were doing was what the Church instructed us to do. We probably would not have thought of these things on our own. I just share these ideas as my testimony of the results of working like crazy to teach our children, and being obedient to our prophets' counsel.

Modern technology used wisely has made temple work so much easier. The great FamilySearch program can help keep the promises made to the fathers. Limited use recommends for our youth, the brand new chance for Priests to perform baptisms in the temple, and for Young Women to assist in the baptristy. We can print our family ordinance cards at home, and select only those ordinances we want to do that day. We can share the cards with family or with the temples. The wearing of white clothing standards have been relaxed in some cases, making it a little easier to participate. Pres. Monson has said, "Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple, know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult, in order to receive those blessings."