Temple Bound
God's children are searching in greater numbers for answers and hoping for miracles as they look to Jesus Christ for relief. On 'Temple Bound,' hosted by Will Humphreys, explore how temples offer not just solace but also powerful tools for navigating these turbulent times through faith in Jesus Christ.
Tune in every Monday to hear Will Humphreys engage with guests who bring inspiring stories, profound teachings, and insights into accessing divine guidance through temple service.
Each episode promises to enrich your understanding and strengthen your connection to the Savior in unique and transformative ways.
Whether you're seeking answers, yearning for peace, or in need of a miracle, 'Temple Bound' is your weekly spiritual refuge, helping you anchor your soul to the Savior. Join us on this sacred journey to deepen your faith and discover the blessings of temple worship.
Temple Bound
Steve Allred on Temple Covenants as Relationship
What’s your Temple WHY? In this powerful episode of Temple Bound, we sit down with physical therapist and dear friend, Steve, to unpack Emily Bell Freeman's profound talk, "Walking in a Covenant Relationship with Christ." Many of us view our temple covenants as mere requirements, but Steve helps us delve into the true "why" of the temple – a dynamic, ascending relationship with our Savior.
We explore:
- The "Why" of the Temple: Moving beyond a checklist mentality to understand the deeper purpose of our temple worship and how it connects us intimately with Christ.
- Covenant Path vs. Covenant Relationship: Shifting our perspective from a prescribed route to an ongoing, personal connection with the Lord, as beautifully illustrated in Emily Bell Freeman's talk.
- The Power of "I Am With You": How the promise of Christ's unwavering presence, as found in scriptures and hymns like "How Firm a Foundation," transforms our journey, especially during life's "dark nights of the soul."
- Condescension and Ascension: Understanding how Christ meets us where we are, broken and imperfect, and then lifts us to become more like Him through the temple.
- Stripping Out the Noise: Discovering how focusing on core truths—the Savior's Atonement, His love, and His will—helps us navigate life's complexities and find peace in the temple.
- The Temple as a Place of Refuge and Empowerment: Steve shares personal insights on how the temple offers strength, peace, and the power to make choices that draw us closer to God.
- Never Give Up: The crucial role of persistence and continually turning to Christ, even when we feel alone or discouraged.
As you listen, ask yourself: Why do I go to the temple? What does that really mean to me? Journal your thoughts and discover the unique "why" that fuels your covenant relationship with Christ.
Connect with us! Join the conversation on Instagram at @templeboundpodcast for additional insights and episode previews.
Welcome back to Temple Bound. Today's guest is Steve Allred. This is a dear friend of mine who's also a physical therapist, who used to have a private practice, and we're going to be talking about a fun talk from Emily Bell Freeman. I'm going to let him set it up, but essentially today's episode we're going to be talking a lot about the relationship aspect of the covenants we make in the temple. So many times we look at the things we do as checklists, but this is going to add such a great new layer of understanding of why we go. What is the why of the temple? And I'm going to ask you this now, like I ask it later why do you go to the temple? Ask yourself that question, listen to this episode and I can't wait to hear what results you get. Enjoy the show, all right. Well, steve, thank you so much for being on Temple Bound. The talk that you picked is one that I have read before, but this time it really hit differently. Could you introduce the talk and why you picked it?
Speaker 2:So it's Walking in the Covenant Relationship with Christ by Emily Bell Freeman. So it's Walking in the Covenant Relationship with Christ by Emily Bell Freeman. I love the talk because she just brought up topics that for me they're just. I hear things like covenant path and I'm like what is that?
Speaker 1:Right, it's kind of a cultural thing that we use a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we use a lot of different phrases that for me, i'm'm like I just don't even understand what you're trying to tell me. Yeah, and covenant path, I'm like, okay, well, I've been baptized, I've got the priesthood, I've been to the temple and okay, I'm done. And. And she explained it in a way I'm like, oh my gosh, I see this completely different. And you know, we I grew up in a home, great home, but it was kind of black and white of you know, this is what you do and this is what you just do.
Speaker 2:And you know, you just don't question it, you just don't, yeah, and and in, in this talk, um, she talks about garments and and making covenants and, and there was no about garments and making covenants and there was no. This is what you have to do. It was a. Well, this is why I do it. You get to choose why you do it. And to me, that opens it up and in it she talks about the covenant path is really a covenant relationship. You get to choose. You're going to walk this life relationship. You get to choose. You're going to walk this life, Right, you get to choose.
Speaker 2:Do you want to do it with Christ or do you want to do it alone? What do you want to do? Yeah, and if you do want to do it with Christ, well, here's how you do it. And I love that because it's an opportunity for me to engage and choose. I don't have to do it, and she explains why she does it. I'm like I get what the covenant path is now that it's walking life in a covenant relationship with Christ. Yes, and I get to choose. And, trust me, I have chosen enough times of doing things the hard way until I learned that you know that's just really not a good way to do it. So, anyway, that's why I loved it, because it just made all of that so clear and and to think about all of that in a completely different way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. You say that it's weird, because the first time I read the talk it didn't land in that way, but that's literally what I got. Differently this time was that it was a why driven discussion. Yes, why do we go to the temple? Why do we walk the covenant path? From a place of understanding what that is. The why is such an interesting concept. You and I both work in the physical therapy space. We both do coaching or have done coaching. We both do coaching or have done coaching and this is a big part of what we help business owners figure out is the why behind their company and their purpose and all these things. So I think it's not a coincidence that you and I gravitated towards that element of this talk, because the why isn't a business term, it's a deeper understanding of our motivation and the purposes behind what we're doing.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so, yeah, and it and and it's just what do you want? And you know, one of um, one of my favorite hymns is help from a foundation. And you, if you read the first couple of verses, it talks about um, you know, trusting in the word of Christ. But then he's saying, hey, whether it's in poverty and riches and health or sickness, I'm there. And she talks about this where she said, when she's talking about Jacob, that the Lord introduced himself to Jacob as a God of Jacob's father, and then says I am with you, I will keep you safe, I will bring you home again, I will not leave you, I will keep my promise to you.
Speaker 2:And in the hymn Help From Our Foundation, Christ is making that same promise. And then there's this phrase that says I am your God promise. And then there's this phrase that says I am your God. To me that is a covenant statement, that is a temple statement, in the way I read it. And in the end the last verse says I will never, no, never, no, never, no, never forsake you. And to me that is us making that covenant promise back to God.
Speaker 2:And that song is about a covenant relationship. And so to think that I can have somebody that's got my back, no matter what life throws at me. He's like I will be there and I have seen that and I have felt burdens lifted, Even if it's just enough for me to get my feet under me, and he says, ok, great, you got this here, you go back again. Figure, you keep working on this, but he's always there because I made the covenant. And what I love about this is that she uses this in analogy of her walking in Israel and she visits Israel. She's got this knee walker and I can you know I've had patients have those and I can envision her on her knee walker.
Speaker 1:I connected on that too, just as a recap for the people who are listening who may not remember this part of the story. She starts the talk talking about how she was so excited.
Speaker 2:She broke her ankle.
Speaker 1:She broke her ankle before this paid for trip to go to Israel and do the uh, what's it called the trail of Christ or something? Um, yeah, it's called the Jesus trail, the Jesus trail. And so she's like so she says it, I'm stubborn, I'm not giving up on that. So she brings her knee walker and you and I totally know what that's physical therapist. I remember thinking and I've been to Jerusalem, I know where she's, I know where she was walking I was like, oh, I can see why the person who was her guide, looked at her and said yeah, you can't do this?
Speaker 2:I mean that would be intense. And then she said I love her for believing I could walk the trail broken. There's no threshold that I have to hit before the power of Christ kicks in. I don't have to be a certain level of righteousness.
Speaker 1:and then it works Right. I don't have to be obedient to a point before Christ can kick in.
Speaker 2:And she said what I loved about and this is what hit with me the first time is that Christ is the mission of condescension, in that he meets us where we are, as we are. So I just have to basically say I'll show up, I don't care if it's a mess, I don't care if it's you know just this trail of wreckage. If I just stop and I said, okay, today I'm turning to Christ, he's like okay, I'm there, Right. And then he said and his, and she said his is a mission of ascension. Yes, Because he helps us to become like him, or to become where he is, so we can become like him. He doesn't leave us there. All we have to do is just say, hey, I'm in.
Speaker 1:It's so amazing to hear you talk about that as you're speaking about the condescension of Christ, as he's gone below all things so that he can rise above all things. I have this image of those waveforms that we learn in physics, the sine and cosine waves, as we see the ups and the downs and the frequency and how Christ really is. That frequency of love and what it is is this high, this very low, low.
Speaker 1:So there's nowhere we can go where he can't reach us and because he has been willing to go beneath all things, his love can overcome all things and rise us, above us if we're willing to hold on and join him, like he did with Jacob, and he gives that connection. Oftentimes we think of the Abrahamic covenant and the covenants he made with Abraham and Jacob and Isaac. We think of these as like biblical kind of but there's nothing more parental or intimate or relationship based than that promise, the covenants that were made at those times, and yeah, I love that you caught into that.
Speaker 1:As a quick side note, there's a really interesting talk that I read recently that talked about how that famous quote from the end of the Old Testament that talks about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and hurting the hearts of the children to the fathers, how there's really three groups of people that are involved in that promise to the fathers, how there's really three groups of people that are involved in that promise.
Speaker 1:You know the original promise is to Abraham, isaac and Israel, and so when we as the connectors, are doing what we're supposed to do in the temples, we are receiving those blessings for ourselves so that we can later give those blessings to our ancestors. Those are three distinct groups. We think of the hearts of the fathers to the children and children to the fathers being two individuals going back and forth, but in reality, it's the Abrahamic covenant coming to us so that we can then in turn be saviors on Mount Zion to pass it to our ancestors. And it's such a beautiful thing because, at the end of the day, like Emily Bell Freeman talks about, it's just about love, right, it's?
Speaker 2:just about love, right, yeah, and for me this strips out all the noise. It just strips out all the noise that we hear people talking about of what they like, what they dislike in terms of the church. And Elder Uchtdorf has a talk I think it was Nurture the Roots and Grow the Branches, something like that. Yeah, and he says you know, when basically life gets tough, reduce it to three things. And he said the Savior's atonement understand that, understand the Savior's love and then understand the Lord's will for you. And that's not general.
Speaker 2:Let me just go read the last conference talk. It's get on your knees and figure out exactly what the Lord wants you to do right now in your life. And to me it narrows everything down to just the most critical, important things. And in those three things I also include the temple and the rest of it. If I keep those three things in mind and the temple, whatever is going on in the news, whatever social issues you know around, what people think, what they like, what they dislike, it's just noise, it's just noise. And I get it. I get to say you know what lord will figure that out. I just got to keep these three things in the temple front and center and I'm going to be, and I'm going to be good, and so it just simplifies everything, and she explains it in a way that I'm like, okay, I can finally wrap my head around what these things mean, and now I know what to do.
Speaker 1:So powerful. If you're cool with it, I'd love to. I think you've referenced the hymn.
Speaker 2:So much Are you cool if I just read a verse or two of how Firm a Foundation.
Speaker 1:I think the audience can really get this in their hearts if they hear it. So the first verse is how firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say than to you he hath said who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior for refuge, have fled. And then the last verse let's get back to seven verses. Let's go to seven. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I cannot desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no, never. I'll never, no, never, I'll never, no, never. I'll never, no, never, never forsake, yeah, yeah, that connects that relationship that Emily Belfry discusses in this idea of what walking the covenant path is really all about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and later in her talk she's talking about Enoch and Enoch is slow with speech and that's all he sees. He just sees the slowness of speech and it's like, oh, I can't do this. And I said that's okay, just walk with me. Wow, just walk with me. That's all he's asking. Walk with me and he brings everything else. You know, I think in the Chosen I think it's Daryl Jenkins talks about you know, the Lord does impossible math. You just got to show up with your five loaves and a couple of fish.
Speaker 2:That's our job. The Lord's job multiplies it to feed the thousands. Lord's job multiplies it to feed the thousands. And so we just show up how we are, as we are, and let the Lord take the rest and make it into something that's truly beautiful. Wow, because I don't have to do that. And there's too many times that I thought, oh, I've got to do this, I'm like I can't, and I've come to realize, particularly with reading this, I don't have to. That's the Lord's job. I just got to show up and say, look, I'll walk with you. Here's what I got. It's not much, but I'll, I'll walk with you how humbling.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, I think there's no other other role than we can feel that expresses what you just said, more than being a parent. You know, yeah, yeah, you know we feel overwhelmed a lot in the church or in business or whatever it is that we're doing in life, but nowhere have I experienced more what am I gonna do? Type of experience than when I was a parent, as being a parent, and it's so powerful what you're saying, because it's just this, remembering that he's got our back, like you said earlier. Yeah, this idea that we, like emily bell freeman she just showed up with what she had this broken leg and and she was able to experience this wonderful journey because of the help and support that others were able to pull on that rope and get her around. I think in my case, it's not so much he's pulling on on my rope, is sometimes carrying me on his shoulder.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely and absolutely and, and I think the temple is a place where we can go Um, I was talking to a friend the other day and and she was relating that uh, is you know somebody in our ward who was relating their experience about cycling and, um, and how they were just battling that. That that mental of I should be doing. I should be going faster.
Speaker 2:I should be doing more and people are passing me and all that. And she said something that just really hit me. She said but I learned that the Lord does not track our speed. Huh, and I thought huh, here we are, we, we. We compare ourselves to others in the church, we compare ourselves to others in the church, we compare ourselves to others outside of the church and we think we should be doing more or we're not doing enough. Or you know, someone in my family is struggling and that means whatever it means to us, and the one place where we can go to, where we don't have to worry about any of that stuff, is to the Lord. And where do we go to be with the Lord? But the temple, right. We get to just let it all go. It's like and I love that we change clothes it's like we take all that stuff off and just go, stick it in a locker, right, and we don't have to carry that with us because we're in the temple.
Speaker 1:It's a beautiful thing, you know. We were talking in a recent podcast with Brandon Nielsen about how Moses, you know, as he's getting ready to be in the presence of God at the burning bush, he removed his shoes so that he could be prepared and how we do the same thing Right, and how we do the same thing and just like Moses, who was just a shepherd, was able to go and discover, through being reverent, who he really is, which is a prophet of a dispensation. Nonetheless, we too can go to the temple and see who it is, that we are really inside the kingdom of our Father Enoch. That whole thing about it's just amazing to me that the Lord chooses these very humble, worldly incapable individuals Joseph Smith, enoch, moses people who have inherent weaknesses, and what makes them powerful, of course, is the Lord's power, but the one commonality they all have is that they're just willing to walk the path Right. So what is that, steve? Like Steve, what is that path to you? Is it the covenant path? Is it something similar For you? What does that mean?
Speaker 2:It means I'm walking, I'm figuring out life, that the path is life. I'm figuring out life and I'm doing it with Christ by my side. And I keep Christ by my side by making and keeping covenants and coming back to those covenants when I find myself farther away from him, because it's never a straight path. We have our ups and downs and life hits us and you know, we have our struggles and we have our moments when we're thinking we're doing really good and then we have those moments when we go to that place where we just want to scream yeah but he's always there.
Speaker 2:So it's walking the covenant path, it's just walking life with christ, yeah, and you get to choose do you want him by your side or not? And he'd love to be there, but he's not going to force himself and we just keep him there by making and keeping sacred covenants, repenting and focusing on the things that are important. That's what it means to me now and just really working on that and never giving up, and just never giving up. That's the. I'll never forsake you.
Speaker 2:It's not that I think you know the end of that last hymn is not necessarily that I'm going to turn, I'll never turn against Christ, right, it's just I'm just never going to give up, just never going to give up. I'm going to keep coming back, as many times as it takes and as much effort as it takes, and realize that there are moments when it just doesn't look very good at all. Right, and that's okay. I keep coming back and I once had somebody I know and he says you know, if I were to parent over again, we were talking about the covenant path he said I think I would teach my kids how to find Christ and if they can, if I, if they know how to find Christ, then in their own time and in the Lord's time they will find him, and then that everything will be okay.
Speaker 1:Cause nothing else matters. It doesn't yeah.
Speaker 2:It doesn't so to me. That's what it means.
Speaker 1:What a great answer. You know this whole thing that we read in how From a Foundation. I'll never no, never, you know forsake my boys every day when they leave for school, and I've done this since they were little. We have this thing that we do. It is after I did like this business course about developing a company purpose and value set. So as my boys leave I did it this morning I'll hug them and then, before they leave, I just go. You know, go, fight when. Never give up. And it stands for something. I don't think they would even be able to tell you right now what it stands for, but go, go stands for. I will go and do. The Lord hath commanded. There's fight, there's win, there's a scripture tied to all three. But the biggest thing I say that I hope they never forget is to never give up as a parent. It's so vital, especially with the mental health challenges that our kids are facing, that they are it's distilled on them early that they're not alone, that the Lord loves them, that they're enough.
Speaker 1:And most importantly from their perspective, that they belong and, most importantly, from their perspective that they belong and I think that's where the adversary has worked his hardest and taken a lot of lives in the process is to get people isolated through their social media, through technology, whatever they're using, so that they don't feel like they belong.
Speaker 2:I'm different.
Speaker 2:I'm different I don't look like everybody else, my life isn't like everybody else, I don't belong here, and I think that's when he wins, is when we buy, start to buy into that. You know, you talked about Moses and and I always think about this one of the what's, one of the first things that the Lord did with Moses is when he came up on the Mount and he says Moses, my son, right, he instantly defined the relationship Moses, you are my son. And what does the adversary do? You are Moses, son of man, and I think we sometimes, when we forget that and so all of these things remind us who we are, so we can keep fighting. You know, go fight, win Right, and that we're not, that we do belong.
Speaker 1:We belong by definition because that's what God gave us. Yeah, there's nothing we have to do to earn that right Like, and I think as adults that's easier of a concept to understand. But how do we instill that in our children? I think it's something that Emily Bell Freeman hits really beautifully in the talk. What are some of your quotes from this talk that you just love?
Speaker 2:Um, she said, but there's nothing that prevents me from you know, when she's talking about going on, the, on this, this, this trail and and the, the guy's like you can't do that, um, and she says, maybe not, but there's nothing that prevents me from trying. And she gave me a slight nod and we began. And I love her for that, for believing I could walk the trail broken. That's one Another one. I expressed gratitude for my sweet guide who had helped me accomplish something I could have never accomplished on my own. To me that's a reference and kind of a nod to Christ.
Speaker 2:And then, referring to Enoch, a couple of paragraphs down later, Xenia is like how can I walk this path in this condition, this slowness of speech? And she said he was blinded by what was broken in him. How many times have we been blinded by what's broken in us, that we don't see what's right in front of us? And that is the Lord saying walk with me. We don't have to have it all together, we just have to be willing to walk with Christ. I think some other ones I read I quoted earlier. Just as he did for Jacob, the Lord will answer each of us in our own day of distress if we choose to tether our life with his. He has promised to walk with us in the way.
Speaker 1:In the way. Yeah, it's such a beautiful example when I hear, when we're talking about the covenant path, we're talking about relationships. This is something that you and I understand, especially in our professional world, that it's all about relationships Like how we grow a business, how do we develop ourselves as leaders? How do we find people to serve in physical therapy? Well, you develop relationships with doctors in the community. You develop relationships with other people who've been there and developed a company past where you've grown, and that's such a crude example. But it's universal, because when we're talking about walking that, you know, walking that covenant path it's all about the relationship. What I love, what she said in this and I'll use this quote from this is that she says this is what we call walking the covenant path, a path that begins with the covenant of baptism and leads to deeper covenants we make in the temple.
Speaker 1:Perhaps you hear these words and think of checkboxes and maybe all you see is a path of requirements, but a closer look reveals something more compelling. A covenant is not about a contract, although that is important. It's about a relationship, and so that relate all about relationships. President Russell M Nelson taught the covenant path is all about our relationship with God. And then she uses this analogy about marriage, and it's man. Do I relate to this? You know, if you go think of people getting married in a ceiling room, it's like yeah. If you're looking at a checkbox, it's like, oh, they did it Right, they've done all the things, but that's just the beginning of like, how do you, how do you, choose your spouse? 25, how many years have you been married?
Speaker 2:Almost, it'll be 30 in December.
Speaker 1:Congratulations 30 this year, 30 this year, yeah, so you, you can speak into this more powerfully than I can, um, but I still can relate to this idea of you. Know, what matters today, more than that day for me 26 years ago, is is what I'm choosing today with that relationship with Heather Right. That's. That's that's where that covenant path step is being taken, even though I've already performed the ordinance. It's what I'm doing today in my thoughts, in my actions and how I show up for her. That's, that's the covenant path as I'm walking it now. And and in that relationship, like any other, I can't, I couldn't possibly succeed without Christ right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, so yeah, I love that. So what other quotes did you find?
Speaker 2:in there. You know, his is a mission of ascension, you know, and I referred to this earlier to lift us up to where he is and, in the process, enable us to become as he is. And here's what I love he wants to help us become.
Speaker 1:This is the why of the temple. Yeah, let's talk about that for a little bit. That seems like a really big concept in this talk. Is that this is the why of the temple. So, in your own words, what is the why of the temple?
Speaker 2:It is to become as he is, so we can be where he is and we go. And if we open ourselves to understand and just be there, in time things will distill upon us about what it means and who we are and we have strength. There's power in that. I mean, if you just go to the temple and think about all the places that are symbolic of Christ, it's really, really powerful of what you're saying and doing right and and, and I'm still just barely beginning to understand. You know, I'm good, I've got it memorized. Now Maybe I'll begin to understand it, but it really is.
Speaker 2:There's a reason why it's called endowment. Yes, it's a gift of power that we are putting on ourselves and that we're embracing every single day. And you know, do I, do I partake of that power enough? Or to, or am I living below my privilege and I'm sure there's times that I'm very much living below my privilege of what I really could, because I'm, I'm, I'm really good say no, no, I got this. Yeah, you know I've done a lot of. You know I've done some mountain climbing, hiked the Grand Canyon. And a friend of mine says man, you're really good at suffering. There's nobody I know who can suffer more than you Sometimes. That's not a good thing, because I'll just keep beating my head against a wall instead of saying, yeah, this isn't working too well. Why don't I try something else, maybe? Why don't I get on my knees and I'm more like no, no, no, I got this. I got a few more head bangs in me before I'll learn, but there is that power that maybe we need to tap into that more and understand that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, steve, I love how you said that, the why of the temple being about who we can become like so we can be where he is. That was such a cool way of thinking about it. I love your description after that how the more frequently we go, the more that knowledge, light and grace distill upon our souls, souls. And to have that that like slow, gradual distilling of that knowledge is what helps us really kind of cast out all evil, darkness, pain. But it requires humility. It's interesting how there's different stages of life, just like we were talking about that sine cosine wave with crisis sending and descending, how, like for us, things are going well, typically, not everyone, but typically, at least for me I I become a little bit loose, a little bit lax, a little bit more like, oh, I'm doing this thing Right, and then, when things are hard, that reminder.
Speaker 1:I think the key thing is is, again, never giving up, but continue to continue to go, because I think when we're at the temple, if we need humility, when things are going great, we'll find it. When we're needing comfort and peace, when things are horrible, we'll find it. And all along, these are the paths that we, the steps that we take along, the path that makes us, that turns us into being more like our savior.
Speaker 2:You know, if this, if his mission, is a mission of ascension, and she says this is the why of the temple, think about that for a minute. I go to the temple not because I got it all together, not because I'm living, I mean, obviously, with the temple, recommend you have a certain there's a qualification. There's a qualification of just saying, okay, am I prepared to make these covenants? We don't take them lightly. Okay, but ascension assumes I'm not there yet. So it's okay that I'm still struggling. It's okay that I've got struggles, that I've got questions. It's okay that, as a parent, I'm thinking, man, I'm just not stepping up where I need to, instead of saying, well, I shouldn't be in the temple. It's like, no, the exact opposite.
Speaker 2:Get to the temple because that's where we ascend, because we take on that power of Christ so that when we come out we can do better. You know so, and that was a reversal of my thinking. It's like, you know, I had to live a certain way beyond. You know the basic, you know, because then I can go to the temple. But it's like, no, I go to the temple because I'm on that path and I'm ascending, yes, Wherever I am, as I am, and the Lord's saying come on, walk with me. That's what I love about that quote, and saying that's the why of the temple.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, she asked okay, you know, why should I walk a covenant path? Do I need to enter a house for making covenants? Why do I wear the holy garment? Should I invest in a covenant relationship with the Lord? The answer to these good and important questions is simple it depends. It depends on what degree of relationship you want to experience with Jesus Christ. You know, each of us will have to discover our own response to those deeply personal questions. And then she goes into, you know, her own reasons and she says this is why the covenant path, this is why I cling to covenant promises, this is why I enter into his house. This is why I wear the holy garment and because I want to live in a committed, covenant relationship with him. And that's her answer. We each get to choose our own and it's always there.
Speaker 2:There's, I don't know if you're familiar with uh la mesa yes, ministries, um, you know a local lutheran church and they do a tremendous work working with the homeless and the working poor and they have all these resources and they're just talking about at our state conference this last week and, as the director was explaining it, she says when they're ready to leave homelessness, we're there.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:When they're ready to embrace that, and I think of this covenant relationship, as always there, when we're ready to embrace it yeah, it makes me wonder what embracing looks like like.
Speaker 1:How can I be, how can I do a better job of embracing it right now? Because I think you know the the folly is thinking that it's a. It's a paradox. There's a folly in thinking that, like, I've got this right. There's also this, this weird thing called I am enough and I don't have to do anything to earn Christ's love. It's this balance. Those two things have to be true at the same time that I am enough, that I am not going because I am not enough. It's because Christ makes me enough and there's a never ending opportunity for me to like embrace and be ready for more, like you're saying To ascend, yeah to to like embrace and be ready for more.
Speaker 1:Like you're, saying you have to get to ascend. It's like there's degrees of Ascension. Right, we get, we ascend to our, our degree of readiness and our trust in Christ, and that's something that, as you're saying, that's what's coming to mind is I'm becoming, if I'm trying to become, like my savior? My ability to ascend is directly proportionate to my ability to lean on my Savior and want it.
Speaker 2:And I think that's embracing it. Yeah, it's not my ability to perfect myself and do it on my own power. Yes, it is my willingness and readiness to embrace that power and then to walk the path wherever you are. And so what does it look like? It's going to look different for you than it is for me and somebody else, because you and I right we're all in different places and we're all in different as we are where we are, and that's that's the beauty of it. I just have to turn towards it and then embrace the walk with me, and away we go. And as long as we keep turning towards that, I think that's embracing it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. You know a good thing that I was thinking about while you were saying that was more Christ in my life, Like what does it look?
Speaker 1:like. And then immediately my mind goes to a time when my mom had a, a lump that she needed removed. I was in high school. I remember we were so worried that she had breast cancer. I remember times where our one of our children's life was on the line and we were looking for a miracle. And I think back to my prayers and it's not hard to see, like when I wanted the savior with me.
Speaker 1:And just what would that look like if and again, not not in a way that's shaming anything else that I've done, but just kind of like as an analogy for the people who are listening, just this idea of like. What does it look like? To each of us it's, it's different, but when I want the savior with me, what does that look like for me and how can I just take it one step further? It's not necessarily this radical change in behavior, necessarily, but for me it's like what's the next thing? Is it a little bit more earnestness in my prayer? Is it a little bit more peace and calm afterwards? Maybe it's fewer minutes in the celestial room? Right, those little things add up Because, as you were saying, it's that con, it's that distilling, that light, gradual change that occurs over time.
Speaker 2:And I think it it's also what does it feel like? What does it feel like? What does it feel like when you turn to him so you stay a little bit longer in the celestial room? What does it feel like when you say you know what I need to do better ministering?
Speaker 2:Hello that's me. You know, what does it feel like when I just explore the scriptures a little bit longer, not because I've been given a challenge to read 30 minutes, right, but because I really want to understand that concept Right, but because I really want to understand that concept. Or what does it feel like when I say, you know what I want to read the conference talks from the last conference, not because it's one more thing to do, but because I just really want to tap into that spirit I felt before and whatever that looks like. And so part of it is what does it look like, part of it is what does it feel like? And I'm not sure if what, which one, precedes the other. Yeah, um, but for each person it's different and that's that's the beauty of it. That's okay. Yeah, where you are.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, it's so neat. Um cause I think in those moments when we're earnestly seeking for a greater light and knowledge, especially in the temple where we have been promised, we can have better and more revelation in those sacred walls, that we are reminded that when we make those little efforts, how immediately the Lord just rushes to us and increases his spirit in abundance and blessings upon us. You know part of going back to that covenant relationship that you mentioned at the very beginning of her talk. She calls it the five finger promise. I think is what she calls it.
Speaker 1:Like God promised Jacob that I am with you, I will keep you safe, I will bring you home again. I will not leave you. I will keep you safe, I will bring you home again. I will not leave you, I will keep my promise to you. And so anytime we make just a micro effort more, just want more to ascend, to lean on our savior, that relationship improves. And it's interesting because it's walking that step with him, that he supports us in in those steps. But it's in that being near him that makes us like him that makes us more like him.
Speaker 1:We can't. We can't be like someone that we don't spend time with.
Speaker 2:It's that whole environmental influence thing yes, and I'm gonna just say but there's a little but there for me, please, and that is there are you know, when you had your kids were toddlers, and you're right there and they're walking and they're walking towards you because they want you and you walk backwards to encourage them to keep walking. And I think there are times I know there have been times in my life and I've seen it in others where it's like you're turning and you're turning and you're turning and you're like where's God? Yeah, I've made these covenants, where is God? And there's been times when, for me, I'm like I'm at the end of my rope, sure, and for me, I'm like I'm at the end of my rope, sure, and I hear this little, I totally see you and I get that here's another 20 feet of rope, tie it on. You're not down where I need you, keep going. And, yeah, it's going to get harder, but hang in there. Or it's tie a knot at the end of the rope and just be there. But then there are those moments when I have felt, literally, physically felt, burdens lifted just to give me a pause.
Speaker 2:And so I think that there are times when, yes, we feel that we turn towards him and we feel that relief, we feel that closeness and we feel that blessing. And then there are those times, as I think Mother Teresa called it, the dark night of the soul, and sometimes it's because we need to understand something in that dark night of the soul that's critical to change us, or that, as we come out of it, we can sit with somebody else. That's why christ descended all because he is in my, my thinking. He is the only being, the only person that can truly sit with any person, truly sit with any person and say I get it. He's the only one that has the strength to sit with a mother who has lost a child, or somebody who's recovering from addiction, you know, or whatever pain that's been suffered. He can sit with us. And that's where we turn, and we just got to keep turning continually and never give up. And that's that last stanza of how firm a foundation.
Speaker 1:I will never.
Speaker 2:I'll never forsake thee, because I will always keep turning towards you and never quit, no matter how hard.
Speaker 1:I love that. It's um. I'm so glad that you brought that point up, that there are these moments in our lives, the dark night of the souls, that occur and it's not because we're not doing, we're not walking the path, if anything that is. I think we forget that sometimes walking the covenant path. That is part of it, that is a big part of it and, yeah, it's the changes that occur in those moments. It reminds me a lot of our patients. You know when you and I used to treat patients and people would come in. One of my favorite things about being a physical therapist, steve, was how we would get people after the darkest night of their lives. Sometimes they'd be in car accidents where they lost loved ones or you know, not always was it that dramatic, but sometimes it was right.
Speaker 1:Like we had to work with people who were just devastated by disease, devastated by injury, not knowing like what life will even be like, and we got to be, as therapists, the light of a new day in a, in a sense, because we would come in and we would love. Most people who become physical therapists, I believe, are very relationship focused. They love like nurturing relationships with their patients. That's why they're willing to pay, be paid so little, to spend so much time with people. And we could go through another episode.
Speaker 1:That's a whole nother podcast but it's one of those things where I can. I will never forget how beautiful it was to be with people in the in their darkest nights in some cases, and to see them change and turn to God and and and like. It's just such a humble reminder that everything is worth it in the end.
Speaker 1:Not that I want to minimize the pain and suffering that some of our clients went through, but this is the story I tell. I had this little girl I was working with by the name of America. She had myasthenia gravis and was almost completely paralyzed, almost died from it. She didn't. She was going to, she was going to make a full recovery but, like we were doing, she couldn't sit up on her own. So we were doing these side to side activities to help develop her core and her parents were there and her parents didn't know English. They came over to America illegally, had her there and they named her America because she was the hope for them of this new life in this new country.
Speaker 1:And, um, they were having a hard time and I know Spanish and I was listening to them while I was working with America and they were talking about how they didn't know how they were going to pay bills because, like, all these medical expenses were piling up and he was out of work and all these things, and they were talking about it in spanish. In the back door open and in comes mike, my new eval, at eight o'clock and he's in a wheelchair and you can tell he's been paralyzed four years and he had a tattoo of a woman's lips on his neck and as he wheeled himself in he said hi and he went. I said, okay, go to the front and check in. He was wheeling himself forward and I found out later that those lips tattooed were his wife, his wife's lips that passed away in the motorcycle accident that he was in that paralyzed him two years earlier, but again no one knew that he was just wheeling himself up to the front and the tone shifted so dramatically.
Speaker 1:America's dad turns to his, his, her mother and just says we're okay, we're going to be blessed, we have a daughter who's going to make a full recovery. We'll figure out the finances. That shift came from seeing, you know, a situation that was so humbling. But that's what I think the dark night of our lives does for us, when we have the savior near us, is that it changes us, but we just. It's a matter of being patient. Yes, what a virtue, what a virtue to be patient in those horrible evenings.
Speaker 2:And that is the hardest thing, because in that moment where we're saying, where's God? That's where we get to make a choice Am I going to be patient? Am I going to be patient or am I going to be brittle? Am I going to get angry? Am I going to get bitter? I've done both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've had some real interesting conversations in the car, by myself, as I'm driving, of just saying where are you? You said to go down this path, and I'm looking at dead ends every which way. I look right, what were you thinking? Why would you want me to do this? Right? And and sometimes there's a quick, there's an answer. It's like okay, okay, you know, just real humbling, and other times it's just quiet.
Speaker 2:But part of that, I think, is refining and defining. Will you sing? I will no, never, no, never, no, never forsake thee and I will always turn toward thee. Or will I get bitter, will I get angry in my pain, will I turn away? And and will you know, this is as well as I do.
Speaker 2:There are people out there who have suffered some just incredible amounts of pain, some pain that will never go away, sure, in this life, and I've seen people who have been bitter and turned away. And there are some people I know that I look at them and I'm like how? And it was a choice, it was, we are not going to let this break us. And so they turn. And there are people who have ministered to them to help them, but they keep continually turning back and it's a choice. Sometimes it's a choice every day, sometimes it's a choice every hour, but they keep making that choice and I'm I just like you guys are my hero just to watch that example and it's humbling, um, to see that kind of that decision and that choice. And and you know, that's again where that power comes in and where temples come in, and putting on the power of Christ, where that power comes in and where temples come in, and putting on the power of Christ so we can make those choices.
Speaker 1:Thank you, steve. I appreciate that. I feel like I need to ask the audience to contemplate something If you're making it to this point in the episode. First of all, congratulations, definite bonus points in my world. But I want you to just ask yourself what is your why? Why do you go to the temple? Why do you do it? Why do you go? Why do you wear a garment If you're endowed? And you wear your garments why and we talked about how Emily Bell Freeman talks about her, why and why she does it. And we talked a little bit about yours and there's overlap there, but I think there's something about the uniqueness about our why. Little bit about yours and there's overlap there, but there I think there's something about the, the uniqueness about our why. Steve, as we wrap up, um, you know this is something I do in every episode I give you a chance, the guest a chance to speak to their future generations, because we're creating a living document right now for your descendants.
Speaker 2:Would you?
Speaker 1:mind, sharing to your kids and your grandkids, as they listen to this, why you go to the temple and why you do those things.
Speaker 2:Wow, that's a good question. And because, you know, I've got five kids. They're all young adults and they're all at the stage where they get to choose why I go to the temple. Because I need that strength. I need that strength and that's where I get it. And I need those covenants, not because I'm good and I'm perfect or I've got it all figured out, it's exactly because I don't and I need those. And the temple is a place where I get to go, where everything just shuts down, all the worries, all the frustrations. It just shuts down two hours, it's just gone and and and. As, as my friend, god doesn't measure speed, I don't have to have my speed measured when I'm in the temple, and that's a great thing, and so that's what I love about the temple is just, it's a place of refuge.
Speaker 1:Thank you, steve. I sure appreciate you being on the show today. We are so grateful that you took the time to pick this talk and I just am so edified. I'm going to sit in my own why? For a little bit, and I'd invite all the listeners to do the same and write it down in a journal why do you do the things you do? Why do you go to the temple? What does that really mean to you? And I promise that as we focus on that and we want that, we will ascend, not because we're great, but because Christ is Right. Thanks Will. Thank you, steve. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of Temple Bound. If you enjoyed today's show, make sure to join us over on Instagram at Temple Bound Podcast to receive additional information as well as previews of our upcoming episodes. See you over there.
