Unlocking the Endowment, Initiatory & Eternal Marriage with Mark and Mandy Mathews

In this incredibly insightful episode of Temple Bound, we sit down with Mark and Mandy Mathews, a Stake President and veteran Seminaries and Institutes teacher, and author of the groundbreaking book, Understanding Your Temple Experience. Mark shares the passion that drove him to write this vital guide, the heartbreak of a newly endowed student who felt "confused" by the temple endowment.

Mark explains how his book, praised by the hosts as the book they wish they had before their first temple experience, addresses the modern generation's need for greater transparency and preparation regarding sacred ordinances.

We explore how to effectively prepare for the temple, focusing on Mark's core framework: the temple is the Lord's invitation to meet with us here and now.

Key Takeaways You'll Discover:

• Preparing for God's Presence: Mark outlines the ultimate purpose of the temple: everything is a journey back to the presence of God.
• The Initiatory as Preparation: Understand the three phases of the Initiatory—washing, anointing, and clothing—as a necessary cleansing from the "blood and sins of this wicked generation" and a spiritual coronation ceremony .
• The Garment as a Sacred Symbol: Deepen your appreciation for the temple garment as a literal symbol of being "covered by Christ" and a daily affirmation of your covenants, armed with spiritual power.
• Seeing Past the "Wrapping Paper": Learn how to focus on the gifts of the endowment rather than getting distracted by the "Old Testament wrapping paper" of unfamiliar ritual and symbolism.
• The Endowment as a Vision: Mark explains why the endowment session is essentially an opportunity to receive a "visual revelation"—a sacred, personal vision of the Plan of Salvation, much like Moses and Abraham.
• Temple Marriage is the Gate: Discover the profound doctrinal truth that eternal marriage is the "gate to exaltation," unlocking the capacity to become like our Heavenly Parents and receive a "continuation of the seeds forever."
• President Nelson’s Promise: The one key takeaway Mark shares to help any sincere seeker: "Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find him in the temple."

Whether you are preparing for your first temple visit or seeking to deepen your understanding after years of attendance, this episode will provide the framework, knowledge, and comfort you need to appreciate the sacred beauty and power of the house of the Lord.

Transcript

Meet Mark And Mandy Matthews

SPEAKER_00 0:05

If you're preparing to go to the temple for the first time, or if you're helping somebody else prepare to go for their first time, today's episode is a gold mine. Heather and I sat down with Mark and Mandy Matthews, and we discuss how to prepare someone to go to the temple by discussing the many elements of the temple together. Mark is a state president and a longtime seminary and institute teacher who has worked with the youth for years and decided to write a book to help people really get the most out of their temple experience for the first time. The book is called Understanding Your Temple Experience, and we are going to have a two-part episode discussing all the different elements. So even if you've been going to the temple for a long time, I promise you're going to learn things that you've never thought of before in these episodes. So today's episode is all about preparing your heart for the temple, what the endowment really means, why the initiatory matters, and how the Lord is inviting every one of us to meet him in his house. Let's jump right into part one. Well, Mark and Mandy, welcome to Temple Bound. Heather and I are so grateful that you flew all the way down from Pro to be with us today. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

So we met at Education Week, and you were, we just picked your topic. We didn't know you, and we came in and Heather and I were blown away. Um, you were doing a discussion on DNC 109 and 10, and I took like copious notes, and Heather and I Heather turned to me and she goes, We've got to get this guy on the temple bound. And so we immediately like ran right up to you afterwards, and I never would have dreamed that we would have the opportunity to have you here. It's a real privilege for all of us to have you. And this book that you just it just came out a month ago.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah, early September.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

So understanding your temple experience. Um, we were inspired by your speaking, but it we were like, well, he's got a book, let's read the book. I was really taken back by how amazing the book was. Uh, and so there's so many things we're gonna talk about today, but the main thing we're gonna focus on has to deal with preparing youth for going to the temple. Um, could you give us a little background, set the table a little bit of your calling and your experience with the youth, and we'll just go from there.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Yeah, I'd love to. So I you know, I serve as a YSA state president, so I prepare a lot of young single adults for the temple that are preparing for their missions and many that just want to be endowed. Uh, I've been teaching for seminaries and institutes for the last 20 years, and so this has been kind of a passion of mine to help people be prepared for the temple. And it all started many years ago. I I had a former seminary student who had just gotten married and moved into my ward. This is while we were living in Brigham City. And uh they needed helpers in in the nursery, so I ended up helping in the nursery that day. I was subbing, and and she had just been sealed, and so I asked her, How was your experience, you know, being sealed and being endowed? And and she said, Well, I really enjoyed the sealing, um, but I was really confused by the endowment. I didn't understand it. And she even used words kind of like strange or weird, something like that. And and of course, that just broke my heart because I you you want people to have a beautiful experience in the house of the Lord. And so I said, Well, what you know, what what do you mean? And and she kind of shared some of her confusion and concerns. I said, Well, let me start to explain it. And so I I went into you know teacher mode, and I that two hours, this is back when we had three-hour church, so I was two hours with her in the nursery and just opening up scriptures and explaining and and teaching uh a foundation to help her understand and just a kind of a framework to understand the temple endowment. And she concluded by saying, Wow, that was really helpful. That that changes the way I understand it. I can't wait to go back to the temple. And uh that really was, I think, a really powerful moment for me. I realized in that moment how many people are going to uh the temple and receiving their endowment uh very unprepared, that they just don't understand what they're going to receive. They don't understand what they're getting into. And so it it can be kind of unusual to them. They don't understand it. It's a lot of ritual that they may not be familiar with, and so it can be quite overwhelming. And and so from then on, it just kind of became this desire, this goal, this passion of mine to help prepare people uh for the temple endowment, for temple ceiling, so that they would have the experience the Lord wants them to have in the temple.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yeah, I love it. And before we get into some of the really cool concepts of the book, I want to say this on the front end of the episode while most people are still engaged. And it's like this idea of this book surprised me in how I wish this was the book I had read before I'd gone through the temple my first time. I wish that we'd had our sons read this book. I think it's a phenomenal book. We'll have the link for people to purchase it in the description, and we're doing a giveaway. You're you're kind enough to sign some copies of the book that we'll be giving away on Instagram. Um, so yeah, we were talking in the car on the way over here about how culturally we just didn't talk about the temple. Like this wasn't something that we grew up talking about in terms of detail. So we we kind of understand why, but the generation is so different now. This generation has a totally different concept of wanting to know transparently what they're getting into before they go in. And so, what have you seen in your world regarding the youth and how they're they're preparing for the temple or the need for the preparing the temple to help them get comfortable with it? Like, uh, how is it different now versus like when we were kids?

New Openness About Temple Teaching

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Great question. So there's just social media opens up a whole realm of information to them. And so they've heard about things and they see things and they see criticisms and attacks, and and for a long time, like you're mentioning, there was there was kind of a fear to say anything about the temple. And uh, and I appreciate Elder Bednar, you know, in the second page of my book, I quote when Elder Bednar in general conference opened up and said, quoting, quoting President Benson, gave a couple of guidelines about what we can share and what we can't share outside of the temple. Sure. And uh he said we may discuss the basic purposes of and the doctrine and principles associated with temple ordinances and covenants, and encouraged us to do so. And that to me was just a watershed moment in temple conversations. And so when he said that, it really opened the way for people to feel more confident and comfortable saying there's a lot we can talk about regarding the temple outside of the temple. And and so there there are more conversations. And this rising generation, I think, like I said, it's really important to them uh for them that we have those conversations because otherwise what they're going to get are critical sources on social media attacking and and mocking sacred things. And so it's important that we give them uh to counteract that, we give them, you know, good information, inspiring information, information that will that will prepare them to have the experiences that they need to have in the temple.

President Nelson’s Influence

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Yeah, and so that was the reason you wrote this book. You were having those experiences, you're obviously with the youth all the time. Um, and you know, one of the things that really stood out to me is you you quote a lot from President Nelson in this book. It was really evident to me that you have a great love for President Nelson. And at the time of this recording, he just passed away through a few weeks ago.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:04

Um, tell me a little bit about your love for President Nelson and how that influenced this book.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

You know, it's interesting. It was it was a friend of mine who pointed out how much I quoted President Nelson. I didn't really do it intentionally. President Nelson is just such a remarkable teacher. And I'll I'll just say by way of background about that, I I've taught now for 20 years in seminaries and institutes, and so I I have appreciation for good teaching. I don't think the church appreciates how great a teacher President Nelson was. He is a remarkable teacher. He has a way of taking a thought, you know, think celestial, uh, let God prevail, peacemakers want it, you know. He'll he'll he'll use these phrases and he'll he'll teach a whole concept behind it, a whole talk about it, and it all hangs on this catchphrase idea that just becomes so memorable and so powerful. And so I just think he's a remarkable teacher, but I I actually didn't set out to quote him. He just said so much about the temple that I ended up quoting it a lot. And it was actually a friend of mine, uh Tony Sweat at BYU, who read it and he said, Did you know that the most person the person you quoted uh by far the most in your book was Russell M. Nelson? And I and I didn't notice that until he pointed that out. And that's why you'll notice in the front of the book I dedicate the book to President Russell M. Nelson and to the Provo YSA six stake, where I serve as stake president because I I trained some of them for the for the temple. But anyway, that's why I dedicated it to him. But yeah, he's a remarkable teacher and had so much to say about the temple. Almost every talk, even if it wasn't directly about the temple, he brings up the temple in it and has just beautiful, powerful teachings about the temple in it.

The Temple As An Invitation To Meet God

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yeah. Great answer. All right. So, Mark, let's get right into the preparation piece. Give us an overview of how you'd recommend people can prepare themselves or parents preparing their kids to go to the temple and experience it for the first time.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

That's a great question. So when I have a young single adult in my state come in, there's a like reading assignments I give them to prepare and everything, and I ask them to kind of give me an overview of what we learn. We usually start with there, but when I really begin to prepare them is when I say, Look, all the information, all the things that you're gonna see and experience in the temple, I want to give you a framework to understand and hang all the information on. And then I just say, the main the main point that I want you to understand is this your Heavenly Father and your Savior Jesus Christ love you. And they want to meet with you. They don't want to wait till the the next life to do so. They want to meet with you here and now so that they can instruct and inspire you, so that they can love and comfort you, so that they can direct and help you in your life. And the temple endowment is the the means by which the Lord invites us into his presence. Because no unclean thing can come into his presence. We can't just come off the street and into his presence. We need to prepare ourselves properly. Everything in the temple endowment is to prepare you to meet with the Lord. And that's why the end of the endowment, it concludes with us entering the celestial room of the temple, crossing the veil so that we can be in the presence of God. And most of the people I've interviewed, I you know I ask them, even if they haven't been endowed, they're familiar with the celestial room. They've been to temple open houses and they familiar they're familiar with that idea. And I say, that's where the Lord wants to meet with you. And so everything leading up to that is to prepare you for that moment when you can come into the presence of God. And so if something seems unusual or strange or you don't understand some of the symbolism, don't get lost on the details. Understand that main framework. That's it. It's a journey back to the presence of God. And so it starts with you being washed so you can be cleansed for God's presence, with you being anointed and clothed so that you're properly clothed and prepared to come into God's presence, with instruction on God's plan of salvation of your journey back to his presence, of a series of covenants that you'll make to prepare yourself to be worthy to come back to his presence. All of it from beginning to end. It's a journey back to the presence of God. It's his invitation to come meet with him in his house. And when you understand that, then it allows you to not get worried and hung up on some symbol you don't understand or some article of clothing you you don't recognize and helps you see the big picture and helps you appreciate the overall experience. The Lord wants to meet with me. And this is my opportunity to meet with him, to come into his presence and to accept this holy invitation that he's offering. And I think when you understand that way, it becomes really beautiful, very intimate, very personal to come in and meet with the Lord.

The Initiatory: Washed, Anointed, Clothed

SPEAKER_00 11:53

Yeah, and you you really connect those pieces so beautifully in the book. There were some, I think, obvious things that I never knew before I read I read your book. And one of them was that the initiatory was the beginning of the endowment. And that there's three different phases of the initiatory. And kind of in the back of my mind, it was always like, hey, I've already been baptized. I know this is different, but you know, but there is a difference. And you talk about that in the book. Would you mind going through the initiatory a little?

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

And just talking about why do we need to be cleansed if we've already been baptized and then we'll just go from there.

SPEAKER_01 12:24

Yeah, wonderful. Well, as we all know, no unclean thing can enter the presence of God. And so this is an invitation to come in and meet with God. We've got to be clean. Now, baptism does wash away our sins, right? Through the ordinance of baptism and confirmation, as we keep that covenant, we are cleansed by Christ's atonement of our personal sins. And the washing, I suppose, washes away personal sins as well. But it's not only that, as Doctrine of Covenants 88 explains, it's to cleanse us from the blood and sins of this wicked generation. And so the idea is we live in a wicked world, and that just kind of puts a stain on us. And if we're going to come into the presence of God, we gotta be, we have to be cleansed from all of that. And so that ritual washing is the ordinance that the Lord has ordained for that purpose, to cleanse us from the blood and sins of this generation, so that we are prepared to leave the world behind. We're washing ourselves from the world, right? From the filth of the world that we live in all day, and to then enter his presence. And so that's the first step is we're washed. And then the second step is to be anointed. Um, the anointing is a beautiful symbolism to become kings and queens, priests and priestesses. Anciently, kings and queens were anointed, and this is a spiritual anointing to become spiritual kings and queens, to be the anointed servants of God. The word Christ or Messiah literally means the anointed one. So we're like being anointed to become like the Lord, to be his special servants. And then finally, we're clothed in temple garments and holy robes of the priesthood, so that we can, again, be properly clothed for the presence of God. In reality, it's it's very similar to like um a spiritual coronation ceremony where we're being crowned as kings and queens, priests and priestesses, to not only return to God, but to become like him as his heirs, as his children. And so that's what that ritual is all about. And of course, it has ancient origin. You can read about this in Exodus chapter 40. That same ritual was what Aaron and the sons of Aaron went through as they prepared and sanctified themselves. That's the word that it uses. It's a spiritual cleansing for God's presence. And so they would go through that, and of course, this is a restoration. And so these ancient ordinances have been restored and they're found in modern temples to prepare us for the same invitation, the same promise that we can come into and be with and meet with uh the Lord in his house.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

It's an interesting accumulation of all the the Old Testament and New Testament that goes into the the temple. You know, we're gonna talk a little bit about the wrapping paper of the endowment that can be very much in the Old Testament wrapping paper, as you said in the book. Um so it's interesting as you phrase it that way, because I am seeing the connection between, you know, the the Savior, Christ being the anointed one, and the Old Testament promises. And a lot of the temple goes back to that ancient uh ritualistic, you know, way of service that that ties in. And that's some of the newness I think that a lot of the younger people might need to understand a little bit before they get in, because like you say in the book, that could be a distracting point if they're not focusing on the gift itself. And so when it comes to the initiatory, if you don't mind, let's talk a little bit about the garments. Because you know, you break down the initiatory in those three phases of washing, uh anointing, and the garment. And so um talk a little bit about some of the things that you share in the book about the the importance of garments and what that means for us. Yeah.

Garments As A Symbol Of Christ’s Covering

SPEAKER_01 15:54

Of course, the first presidency has recently come out with a beautiful statement that that explains this, that now is read in every time someone renews their temple recommend. But this the simplest symbol of the of the temple garment is that it represents being covered by Christ. In Hebrew, the word atonement means to cover. And so the idea is you're being covered by Jesus Christ, you're taking his name upon you. And the earliest example, of course, with that is Adam and Eve, right? Adam and Eve, after their fall, they're covered in the coats or the garments of the sacrifice. We don't often read between the lines and catch that, but but what they were clothed, this is the first time something was killed on this earth. There was no death before the fall. And so immediately after the fall, an animal is sacrificed, most likely a lamb, and they're clothed in the skins of the lamb as they then go out in the lone and dreary world, symbolically showing that Christ has covered them and clothed them and prepared them to face those obstacles by the power of the lamb, right? By the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. And so it really is a beautiful sacred symbol that we that we put on the temple garment, that we're putting on Jesus Christ, we're putting on his atonement as we face the world. In fact, in some languages, as you know, we were talking, we both served our missions in Guatemala, but in in Spanish, it's called the investidura, is what they call the endowment, which means investiture means to be clothed. And so, like being clothed in the temple garment is like the great physical symbol of the endowment. All the covenants, all the knowledge, all that we gain in the temple endowment, the thing that we walk out of the temple with is that temple garment. And so it becomes kind of a symbol of the whole experience and the in the power that we're armed with power as we leave because of that temple garment and all that it represents. Not that it just specifically solely and exclusively, but all that it represents, all the covenants, all the ordinances, all the power that comes with it is what we walk out with. And we truly are armed with power. It's in a sense the spiritual armor of God that we're wearing.

SPEAKER_04 18:03

One thing I wanted to add to that I love is that you're talking about this preparation in terms of maybe like young adults, right, that are preparing to go to the temple, or anyone who's preparing to go to the temple for the first time is understanding that. But as somebody who has attended the temple many times, I actually loved that reminder of how the initiatory, I mean, walking into the temple and going into the dressing room and taking off your street clothes and then the initiatory, how all of that is connected to preparing us to enter the presence of God. Because as adults, when we go and we are acting as proxy, you know, we have taken slices of all of these ordinances and we're doing them in bits and pieces. And I actually really appreciated that reminder of like this is all part of one journey. It meant a lot to me to read that. So even as someone who, like I said, has been to the temple many times, seeing it together as all one journey was really, it felt really impactful for me. And it made me, it gave me that greater desire to go back to the temple again to see it from the lens of like, let's not like just look at this one ordinance, you know, or this one 45-minute window. Like, I can't wait to go back and to look at this all as like this is all one journey.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yeah. I I love that. I appreciate that. I, in fact, just a couple of thoughts about that. Number one, I think it's sad that many people get in the habit of just going and doing an endowment session and they never go back. I was talking to a teacher that I worked with, and he'd been married for and endowed for probably 15 years at the time, and he told me he'd never been back to the initiatory, which is sad because, like you're like you're explaining, it is. It's a journey. And when you see it that way, you realize, yeah, washing, anointing, and clothing in the temple garment prepares us to then to take on the full robes of the priesthood that we wear in the in the temple endowment ceremony, the additional covenants. And even then, you think about the promises that the endowment concludes with are promises that foreshadow temple ceiling. So even the temple ceiling is really an extension of the temple endowment, that all of it from beginning to end is to prepare us to not only enter God's presence, but to be exalted through his power by the atonement of Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah, it's it's so beautiful the perspective that you're sharing in what you said as well, Heather, the idea of how it's all continuous and how it's this arc of things. And I think if, again, I think if the youth could know that going into it and being like, hey, so this is an initiatory and here's what it is, and hear exactly what you just said, you know, I think that just would totally shift what the experience is for them, so that when they're in there, oh yes, this is that part. And and that's why we wear the garment. Because, like you said online, those are the peculiar things about our faith that are being exploited. Um, whether we mean to or not, if our kids have internet, they're getting access to that stuff, and it's being those very sacred things, the meat before the milk is being brought up so um crudely and so out of context that it it could make anyone concerned. And I think the Lord has countered that with this generation of just super authentic people who want to be in integrity and really understand things. It gives us the window that maybe our generation didn't have to be open to understanding that. So it's wonderful that the revelation is meeting the need for this generation.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just in general, our culture today, Western culture, doesn't really do a lot of ritual. And so just the idea of Old Testament ritual, just understanding that alone helps people understand the temple better and prepare for it and see, oh, this isn't something unusual, strange. This is just something old and ancient, and it's kind of foreign to my modern culture and world.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

Yeah.

Rituals: Ancient Roots And Modern Parallels

SPEAKER_01 21:50

But but it's but it's ancient and old, and it has beautiful, you know, roots into antiquity. And so I I think that's a powerful thing to help people understand. In fact, one thing I love to show them is uh the church art painting of Aaron being anointed by Moses right outside the tabernacle. I love to show that image because it has this bowl of water, this laver of water. He's just been washed, he's wearing his temple robes, and he's being anointed by his brother Moses in preparation to function in the priest's office in the presence of God in the tabernacle. And I just say, take a good look at this, right? The clothes he's wearing may seem unusual. That's the kind of clothing they wore in the temple anciently. Prepare yourself. That's the kind of clothing you'll wear in the temple today. This ritual of being washed, anointed, and clothed, sort of ancient ritual. And just understanding that, you go, oh, okay, this isn't some new, strange thing. This is something ancient and beautiful, and here's its purpose. And so it really can prepare them better. Because, like you're saying, our modern culture isn't very ritual focused, and and knowing where these things originated in the Old Testament help them see that, oh, this is all biblical, this is all ancient, this is all part of the process of temple worship forever.

SPEAKER_03 23:03

I think I think it's interesting. We do have some rituals in the world, but because they're so familiar, we don't notice them. We think like a graduation ceremony where we all dress up in caps and gowns and we walk across the stage and we shake hands. Like that's quite ritualistic. That whole thing of you turn your tassel and now you're graduated. That's but then we also see like when um the new King of England is anointed the king, that's so much ritual. It's very spiritual with the big robes and all the orb and like all the things that they do. It but but we come we become a little bit more familiar with those kinds of rituals because they happen more frequently. But I think if we did a better job of just pointing those out, you know, like you're not as unfamiliar with this sort of thing as you think you are. It's just a different context. And so when you go to the temple, if you're expecting a little bit more of that kind of ritual and it to be just a more old testament experience, I think it can still be really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Well, it's powerful that you say that because it's true. There's so much ritual around us, but we're just accustomed to the rituals that we have. But if you'd never seen a cap and gown or a graduation ceremony, and then you walked in and, you know, and no one prepared you for it, you know, and people were kind of painting it in a bad light, you could see it in a bad light as well.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Well, yeah, even even spiritual symbols, you know, if somebody had never witnessed a baptism or the sacrament, they might be confused at first. But but because those are symbols and rituals that we're familiar with, they don't seem out of place we've been we've grown up with them. Um but because people aren't very familiar with some of those Old Testament temple rituals, they do seem unfamiliar to them. And uh so I think that's definitely one thing we can do to help people prepare for the temple is just help them see these things that are already in the scripture. And that's why we're confident we can talk about them, because they're they're in the scriptures, these are things the Lord wants us to be talking about. They're they're not something that is exclusive to the temple that we can't talk about outside because they're contained and found and described in the scriptures themselves.

Five Covenants And Pure Hearts

SPEAKER_00 25:06

Well, yeah, you guys told the story about how early on you were at the pulpit giving a talk and you were sharing some things about the temple, and some of the older generation were gasping because the culture in our church has been like we don't talk about those things, but we like you said, it's in the scriptures, and this is what the youth need is that type of connection.

SPEAKER_01 25:23

Absolutely. It was during education week, and I listed the five covenants of the temple. And I was quoting President Ezra Tath Benson in a BYU devotional. He listed all five. But when I showed him on the screen, there there was this audible gasp as people thought we weren't supposed to talk about that, and there really was that feeling before. But now you'll find the five covenants in the general handbook. You know, they've been spoken in general conference by Elder Bednar, and and so we're we're much more open about it now to help people understand those covenants that they're going to be making. And and and that's as it should be. We want to understand those covenants so that we not only prepare for them, but so that we can continue to keep them as we understand them and strive to live those covenants of the temple.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

So, yeah, so what else would you say about the garment? I feel like we need to talk about that a little bit more.

Look For The Familiar In The Temple

SPEAKER_01 26:10

Well, you know, as you know, the the first presidency has official instruction on wearing the temple garment because there has been a big push on social media to discourage the wearing of the temple garment. In fact, in my last coordinating council meeting as a state president, this is one of the things that we talked about that what can we do to be a counteracting voice to encourage people to wear the temple garment the way that they're instructed in the initiatory ordinances. And and you know, beautiful statement by the first presidency um about the garment reminds us of the veil of the temple. When we put on the garment, we're wearing a sacred symbol of Jesus Christ. Beautiful statement that I would invite everybody to review. But um one of the statements from President Oakes in a recent general conference that I've appreciated, he said because covenants do not take a day off, to remove one's garment can be understood as a disclaimer of the covenant responsibilities and blessings to which they relate. In contrast, persons who wear their garments faithfully and keep their temple covenants continually affirm their role as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that really is profound because it is a symbol. It's kind of like wearing a wedding ring. Well, when a man goes somewhere and takes off his wedding ring or a woman takes off her wedding ring, that it does mean something, right? Often that that's that means something about what they intend to do. And so it is it is powerful to recognize that this is a similar symbol that shows our covenant relationship with the Lord. And we don't want to just take that off without good reason, as the this temple uh statement from the first presidency mentions. I love what Sister Emily Bell Freeman, uh Young Women General President, said. She said that uh our decision to wear the temple garment depends on what degree of relationship we want to experience with Jesus Christ. And that really is what it's all about. This becomes our symbolic connection to him, and uh to choose to take it off uh is something that we want to be careful about doing. We want to wear this as the temple instruction gives us as frequently as we can, and only take it off when it must reasonably be removed and then restore it as soon as possible. And so it it it is it's a powerful symbol of who we are, the covenants that we've made and our relationship with the Lord, and we wouldn't want to remove that or or take that off.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

Yeah, and I I thought that differently when I read that. Like it was interesting because I was looking at it as something I'm supposed to do, and I think that was a lot of our generation, you know. Like we didn't really question any of the nuancedness of the temple. We just went, okay, we're supposed to do this now, we're in. And I love the fact that generation's like, but why? But for me, it was like I was I've always worn them from a place of like, well, I need the protection, which is great. I think that's a good, like, level thing, but it's it's like doing the right thing for a good reason, but not the main reason, which is really showing my savior how much I love the comparison of the the wedding ring because when I wear my garments, it's like, yeah, I'm I want to keep him close to me. I'm reminding myself. It changes the way I approach it. And one of the things I thought of is yes, when I exercise, I I don't wear them. But you know, sometimes afterwards, you know, it takes a little bit longer than some days and others for me to put them back on. Like, no, I want to get there as soon as I can now, realizing how important that is because that's between me and and my savior. But that's just a little, a little thing that I can do to show him that I love him. And there's it's it's hard to do that for me, you know, because he loves me so much in abundance that I don't know what else I can do besides these obedience acts to show him how I love him, you know? So the garments is a really cool opportunity, and I love I love that piece of it.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

I just think in general, there's a growing push that. Not wearing your garments is very acceptable. Yes. And I I've even heard um of a lot of young adults who only wear them to the temple.

SPEAKER_02 30:10

Right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:10

And don't wear them in their daily life. And and I think they understand that they're important and so they do wear them to the temple, but they're not understanding that they're really missing out on the whole purpose of them by doing that.

SPEAKER_00 30:22

As we look at, you know, the the whole and receiving of the endowment, you know, I feel like after the initiatory, you've done a great job in the book of connecting the initiatory to the endowment and the endowment to the celestial marriage. Let's go into the endowment itself and talk a little bit more about um what you helped youth understand about that piece of it. You know, we've alluded to the clothing, and that's one of those pieces. I mean, and then you mentioned in the book the the keys and the tokens and those types of symbols. So how do you prepare the youth for for the endowment and keeping in mind all those different elements?

“Old Testament Wrapping Paper” Explained

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah, so so the next thing I would explain to them, you know, in the the Psalms it says, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. And so one element of prepare preparing for the temple is to have clean hands. That's kind of the ritual washing, the initiatory portion. The other part is to have a pure heart. Well, the way we purify our heart and pre become worthy before the Lord is through those series of covenants that we make in the temple. And in the temple endowment, of course, that is clear that it's a series of covenants, that they're related, and one build upon the other as you go from obedience to sacrifice, to the covenant of gospel living, uh chastity, and consecration. And these several laws that you covenant to keep prepare you and make you worthy to enter the presence of God. And so I would spend time talking about each one of those covenants. I've really given them reading. I like to give people an opportunity to read in advance, so then it's more like we're talking about rather than introducing something new. So I ask them, so what did you learn? What did you understand about the law of obedience? What did you understand about sacrifice? And so then it's them kind of sharing what they've learned about those covenants. Those keys then become the symbol that we are worthy, that we're clean, that we're true and faithful in all things. And therefore, we can, through those keys, through those symbols, access the presence of God and pray to the Lord in special temple prayers and gain that access and that privilege, that invitation to be in his presence through that.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Yeah, you know, Dennis Deaton, who was on this show before, he was really animate about this concept. I think it's DNC 93.1, this idea that like we're really meant to see God's face. Like our goal isn't like, hey, if I'm living righteously, if God chooses, we might be able to have that veil be thinned enough to where we connect across the veil. It's like that should be the whole point of us being here because, like you said earlier, he wants to be with us. And maybe we won't see his face, but we'll see and feel his presence. And there's comments in the book about how that sp that Holy Ghost and the presence of the Holy Ghost is is a profound way of being with God. And so um I think that's a great way of explaining it to you is that like this is all symbolic, but actually our our way of being back into the presence of our Heavenly Father so that we can be with our our eternal family again. And so, as as as you talk about in the book, one thing that you say that helps people when they're getting prepared to go is you help them look for the familiar. Can you talk a little bit about that? Because obviously there's there's five major covenants that we're making, but they're not brand new either. These aren't like the these words shouldn't any one of them be like a complete shock to the youth.

The Endowment As A Vision

SPEAKER_01 33:35

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, covenant of obedience is the first law that we coven to keep, but I mean every time they have taken the sacrament, they've covenanted to keep the commandments of the Lord. And so these aren't really new so much as we're being invited to live them in a higher and holier way. And so by entering into this covenant in the temple, that's what it is. It's an invitation to live a higher and holier standard as one who's been endowed in the presence of God in order to enter his presence and receive the fullness of his blessings, exaltation. And so, yeah, I think that's helpful in general to understand about the temple endowment is to look for the familiar rather than get distracted and focused on some element that you don't understand or may seem, you know, confusing or symbolic that you don't get. Um, focus on those general things that you do understand, right? And so, for example, you're anointed in the temple. Well, most of the youth have been anointed when they were sick. They received a blessing where they were anointed and blessed. Um, the same basic components of a temple anointing. Uh, and you know, the same spirit that they feel there is the spirit that they feel while taking the sacrament, or what they felt when they were doing baptisms for the dead. Um, some of the symbols of of you know the sacrament. You we there's gestures and motions that we make as we take the bread and water uh symbolize that we've entered into a covenant. So when similar things happen in the temple, that shouldn't shouldn't be confusing to us. And so, again, throughout, just look at our general experience of the covenants that we're making, the ritual we've already experienced, the spirit that we felt that we've done that. And the temple is just an extension of that. As President Nelson said, everything we do in the temple is to prepare us for the temple, or excuse me, everything we do in the church is to prepare us for the temple. And so it's just kind of having eyes to see that and go, oh, yeah, this is this is new, it's additional, but it's a it's a difference of degree, not a difference of kind. It's something that that we're extending from the experiences that we've already had to open up this opportunity for higher and holier gospel living with greater uh blessings and opportunities and privileges.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Yeah, I think that's huge. You started with like the idea of the why about entering back into God's presence and what it takes for us in that regard. And then the covenants we make are just deeper covenants of things that we've already done beforehand. I think just those two things alone would unlock for a lot of youth some comfort about it, you know, and then we prepare them for the things that might be nuanced, like the clothing or and how do you talk to the youth about temple clothes, like the robes of the priesthood? How do you talk to them about that piece? Or do you mention that when you're preparing the youth?

SPEAKER_01 36:16

Yeah, a little bit. Mostly I just like I mentioned earlier, I show that image of Aaron next to the tower. That's what that's how you do that. Yeah, that's how I do it. And I just say, not only is he wearing temple garments, but he's wearing temple robes here. Got it. And and so when you're dressed in the robes of the priesthood, you'll look similar to this. So don't let that surprise you. Please understand, you know, the symbol, the purpose of it is to be clothed in the power of God, right? Uh as Moses and Enoch show us in the book of Moses, that no unclean, not only no unclean thing, but if we're not clothed in God's glory, we're not physically fit and prepared to stand in his presence. We'd wither and die, Moses says. And so it symbolizes being clothed in his glory, clothed in his power and authority, so that we're fit to stand in his presence. Yes. And so it's a it's a beautiful symbolism. Uh kind of a simple casual, you know, way to look at it is you know, if you had some important guest coming over to your house, you'd probably dress up. You'd want to look your best, right? Similarly, it's the same idea, only in a in a spiritual realm. You're being clothed in his glory and power to be in his presence.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Yes, and I love that phrase again of using the Old Testament wrapping paper piece of it, you know, where it's just like this is these are ancient covenants. This is this goes back to the beginning of time. And so there's that little feel of that as we go through the ceremony that is so important and useful.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

We've mentioned that analogy, but I don't know that we've kind of explained it to the people listening. Yeah, please. Yeah, so that's the same thing. That's the problem of having a long conversation today. Please jump in. No, I um one of the points that I make in the book is that the endowment is a gift. The word endowment literally means gift, and maybe more uh especially it's a it's a series of gifts that we receive in the temple endowment. But part of the problem with receiving the gift for a lot of people is it's wrapped in Old Testament style wrapping paper, is the phrase I use in the book, to describe the idea that it's couched in these symbols and ideas and rituals that aren't familiar. And sometimes because we get caught up in the unfamiliar ritual, it's like being distracted by this unfamiliar wrapping paper so that you don't receive and appreciate the gift. You'd never want to give somebody a gift and they're so focused by, you know, some symbol or drawing or depiction on the wrapping paper that it distracts them so much that they don't appreciate the gift that it holds, right? And and that for a lot of people is what some of the ritual becomes, unfortunately. And so we want to be able to see past that and understand what the gift is so that we have the discernment to look past something that we might not understand, the some of the ritual assembly to understand the purpose, the the main gift the Lord is giving us. And that centers in the invitation to come into his presence.

A One-Line Charge Before You Enter

SPEAKER_00 38:56

You know, this is uh related, but not necessarily the exact same point. But I had to laugh when you were talking about you don't want the wrapping paper of the gift to distract too much from the gift itself. It reminded me of giving my wife presents. I cannot wrap a gift for the for the life of me. I've tried, I've I've paid people now to do it because I have bought her some very nice things, and it looks like a kindergartner has put those things together. And it's and it's true though, like on Christmas morning, she's like, she knows which present is hers because it's the only one that I wrap. And then she gets this like this. So, yeah, I mean, the wrapping paper, it can be a distraction, and I like that you use that analogy of you know, the gift is what matters.

SPEAKER_01 39:34

Well, absolutely. Anybody that's has kids has had the experience of giving a two-year-old a gift and they just are playing with the wrapping paper in the box and never appreciate the gift. So we don't want to do that with the endowments. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 39:45

I love that focus.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

So, in addition to teaching about the sequence of those laws and covenants that we keep to prepare us for the presence of God, to purify our hearts for his presence. Um, the the second thing I'd want them to understand about the endowment session is that they're essentially invited to have a vision. And a lot of times we don't really think of it that way. We think of it as like, oh, it's audiovisual, you know, it's modern technology, and that's true. But the way guide to the scriptures defines vision is it's a visual revelation. And when you understand it that way, when you watch the plan of salvation presented in the audiovisual component of the Temple Endowment, you watch that by the Holy Ghost, by the power of the Holy Ghost, you're essentially having a visionary experience. You're having the same experience Moses and Abraham had. In fact, that's what we're trying to achieve, right? That's what one of the purposes of the Temple Endowment is to give us that knowledge, that eternal perspective that Moses and Abraham gained in the presence of God by seeing the plan of salvation unfolded before them. And so that's what we get to see. And so we see from premortality about us as children of God. We learn about the war in heaven and our choice to follow Jesus Christ. We see especially focused on the creation and the fall and the atonement, these three pillar events that are foundational to the plan of salvation. And then we learn that after the fall, Adam and Eve had to then return to the presence of God. The Garden of Eden was symbolic of that presence. And so their journey back to God's presence is our journey back to God's presence, right? Um, we didn't start in the Garden of Eden like then. We were born in this fallen world, but we have that same journey to make. And so we follow their example and make those same covenants as we progress and advance and return back to the presence of God. And so I think that instruction, I think, is just so valuable. And of course, it concludes with some of our experiences here in this mortal world. In the in the general handbook and some of the temple instruction the church has, it explains that the temple endowment also teaches us about the apostasy and restoration. And my experience is a lot of people don't catch this because they're still just thinking of like Adam and Eve, and they don't realize that there's a portion of the presentation where it kind of fast forwards and it not isn't just talking about Adam and Eve day, but our day and the experiences we have, where we live in a world where Satan has great power, and uh scripture has been mingled with the philosophies of men, and we need the light and knowledge that the Lord wants to give us. And the key to doing that is finding the Lord's true messengers. And uh many of our apostles and prophets have identified that those true messengers are our living prophets and apostles. They're our modern-day Peter, James, and John. And as we give heed to their counsel, they will lead us on that covenant path back to God. And so all of that instruction, that vision you receive really ought to be life-changing information. You should walk away from the temple endowment knowing I am a child of God. I am a beloved son or daughter of God, uh, that our Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and that if I follow Jesus Christ, just like Adam and Eve did, if I make those covenants and keep them, I can return back to God. And one of those keys is giving heed to and following those living prophets, those modern apostles and messengers that he sent to us. And so it really is just beautiful information, knowledge, and that's one of the many gifts of the Temple Endowment is that knowledge, that eternal perspective that allows us to think celestial and just see the world differently when we come out of the temple and we return to the world. We have a vantage point. We've been up on the top of the mountain and we see the big picture, and we're gonna see the world and our choices differently because of that knowledge that we've gained.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Yeah, and that knowledge is truly the the gift, and it's cool because we know that the word endowment means gift. But I heard someone recently describe the why do we call it endowment and not gift? And it's because when you're giving a donation to a university, you know, if you give them two or three hundred dollars, that's a gift. But when you give them a large amount of money, it's an endowment. And it's so massive. The endowment is to describe the the size and the impact of that. And it's you know, in that analogy, they might name a library after you. Um, in this case, we get the name of the Lord in our hearts, yeah, in the fleshy tables of our hearts. And I think that's a really cool way to describe it is that you're coming in to receive a vision just like Abraham and Moses. But in our day, we have the ability to create it for all of the leaders of the Lord's army as they're getting ready to prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Savior. So I love the way that you describe that as a vision, and it it takes it away, it turns it from being a movie and turns it into something really um audio visual that is is meant to really learn at the deepest levels.

SPEAKER_03 44:44

Yeah, I actually I was thinking that same thing that thinking of it that way really takes it from being just the temple video that we sit in the dark and try and concentrate on to being this vision, this opportunity where we all get to see the same vision as Moses because of modern technology, we can receive this amazing experience that in the past only the prophet would have gotten to go up and see that, right? But now, because of that, we all get to receive that vision. So I like to think of it that way instead of just being a video.

SPEAKER_00 45:16

Yeah, and I love how you said that. That's so good. Yeah, and going along with that, the way that we're gonna get to here in the next episode is that we look at prophets of old, they have to ascend a mountain to see the vision, right? And we we do the same thing, we do the same thing, and like we'll talk about in the next episode, the structure of the old temples back in the old testament. There's so much similarity to what we do now. It's just a beautiful through line that tells us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's nice that we have that as a nice grounding piece there.

Temple Marriage: Gate To Exaltation

SPEAKER_04 45:44

I was just wondering, you know, you have you're around a lot of young adults, and a lot of them are doing a lot of this work in preparation and they're really studying and they're thinking about it. Outside of all of that, if you had the chance to, if you saw one of your young adults as they were about to walk into the temple, regardless of how much they had prepared or not, like what's like the one, like what's a one-line, what would you say to them as they were to go in if it you could give them like one line, one piece of advice, one thing. Just one. Yeah, like what would you, what would be one thing that you would want to say before like someone that you cared about was about to walk in the temple?

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Great question. Um, I love the phrase from President Nelson where he says, Here is my promise to you, every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find him in the temple. And that would be my invitation and advice for everybody. In fact, when I when I sign the book, if people ask me and describe it, that's usually I put some form of that in that in that inscription of the book, that if we seek the Lord, we can find him in the temple. That that really is the overarching purpose to not be distracted by anything else. Know that you're being invited to meet with the Lord. The Lord wants you to come visit him, and this is your opportunity to do so. So go visit the Lord, go meet him in his house. And uh, as President Nelson promises, if we're sincere, if we seek him, we will find him in the temple. And I just I love that invitation, I love that promise, and it's the heart and core to me of what temple worship is about.

SPEAKER_00 47:13

All right, so now in the book, we're at the point in chapter seven where we're talking about temple marriage, and man, Mark, it's such a cool connection that you've helped us see between the initiatory, even going in and changing clothes, like Heather said, and then the uh endowment. Now there's a continuation of this gift that continues into marriage. What do you tell that not just young people, but anyone who's going to get married in the temple? How do you prepare them for the significance of that temple marriage?

Sealed Up To Eternal Life

SPEAKER_01 47:39

That's a great question. You know, in general, my experience is people want to be sealed in the temple because they love the romantic idea of being with their loved ones forever. And that is one of the great beautiful promises of temple marriage and eternal families. But when you really understand eternal marriage doctrinally, you realize it's so much more than this. It is the gate to exaltation. And so it really is what opens up to us the fullness of our Heavenly Father's choicest blessings. And I think that's a really powerful thing to help people understand. So the way I typically do that is I take them first to Doctrine Covenants, section 131, where it says, in the celestial glory, there are three heavens or degrees. And I point out to them, you know, you might read that quickly and go, oh, three heavens or degrees, celestial, terrestrial, celestial. But that's not what it's saying. In the celestial glory, there are three heavens or degrees, meaning within the celestial kingdom itself, there are three levels or degrees. And in order to obtain the highest, it says, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood, meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom. And so it makes very clear that eternal marriage, temple marriage, is the gateway ordinance. In fact, in section 132 even calls that the gate to exaltation. That's what this ordinance opens up to us, is the fullness of our Heavenly Father's blessings as exalted beings. And so that is what this, this is the gate to exaltation. Now, sometimes when I've taught that, I used to teach ninth grade seminary many years ago, and I remember teaching this one time, and the students were super confused by this. They understood, you know, baptism as an ordinance to enter the celestial kingdom makes sense, cleanses you from sin, no unclean thing. But when they found out eternal marriage was necessary to get to the highest degree, they were like, what? You know, they it seemed like this random requirement uh to them. And so I remember the way I kind of led them to understand, I said, you know, that one of the kids that was leading the this you know this discussion, I said, okay, listen, last night when you knelt down to pray, you probably didn't call God God. What did you call him? And he said, Heavenly Father. I said, Good. So if you recognize that God is your literal heavenly father and you're literally his spirit son, you can't literally be the child of a father without there also being what? He's like a mother. I said, Okay, so what did you just learn? You have heavenly parents and they have an eternal relationship. And if you're going to become like them relationally, you can only do that through eternal marriage. You can't become like your eternal father and mother without first becoming eternal husband and wife. And so what eternal marriage opens up to you is the capacity to become like your heavenly parents. And you can kind of see the, you know, the the light bulb turn on and they get it. But I just I love this concept because it is so counter-cultural. We live in a world that discourages marriage, frankly. Uh, it tells people not to get married, and if they do get married, you know, don't have kids. They're they're just going to be a burden and they're going to prevent you from having fun and going on vacations. And and Heavenly Father is there saying the opposite. My highest blessings are achieved through eternal marriage. Of all the titles God could ask us to call him, the title he prefers is Father, because that is the heart and core of who he is and what he's all about and what he's trying to share with us. The joy, the happiness that he enjoys comes through these eternal marriage and family relationships. And so that is what the Lord offers us. And that's what section 131 begins to unlock. Section 132 of the Doctrine of Covenants is where the Lord continues this, okay? But in section 132 of the Doctrine of Covenants, the Lord reveals uh further about the ordinance of eternal marriage. And he starts the revelation, the verse by explaining in um in these words that he's talking about eternal marriage. He says, Again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise. Now, he doesn't come out and just say eternal marriage, but he's using all these synonyms, right? By my word, by my law, new and everlasting covenant, sealed, right? All of this is to indicate he's talking about eternal marriage, temple marriage. And then about two-thirds of the way down, he says, and if ye abide in my covenant, and I always like to emphasize with that with those young single adults I'm speaking to, because I want them to understand, look, the blessings I'm about to share with you don't just come from being married in the temple. You've got to keep the covenant. Just like just getting baptized doesn't automatically send you to the celestial kingdom, you've got to endure to the end. You've got to be faithful to the covenant. But if you abide in my covenant, this is what the Lord promises. He says, To their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. And I just love that because not only does it promise exaltation like we talked about earlier, but it says it's sealed upon their heads. And that is a term that a lot of people don't really catch. But if you listen carefully in a temple sealing, that's exactly the language that you're given. By the sealing power, which is the highest, strongest power of the priesthood, God is essentially assuring those who are sealed in the temple of eternal life and exaltation. Now, again, it's not unconditional, based on faithfulness, just like it makes clear in the temple ordinance itself, but the Lord is assuring you, he is sealing you up to eternal life through that ordinance. And again, that's really profound. He's creating not only a relationship between a couple, husband and wife, but he's binding them up. So it's not just this lateral relationship, it's a vertical relationship with God that you create in an eternal marriage. And it binds you to your Heavenly Father and to your exaltation and eternal life. Now, for practical reasons, um, this blesses you in the sense that President Iring made clear in a conference talk a little while ago. He talked about when the Teton Dam burst. I don't know if you remember that. And uh he go, they're they're stuck in Idaho Falls, they can't go back, they don't know what's happened to their family, and he falls asleep in the hotel room, and his wife is like, How? How can you be asleep at a time like this? You know, and and you remember what he what he said was because it occurs to me that that this ordinance that I've received has bound my family to me, and and there's no power that can take them away. And so that's kind of the practical meaning of that. But but it really is powerful to recognize that we're being sealed up to eternal life through our faithfulness through that ordinance. And then, of course, the final blessing that it lists is one that was kind of alluded to earlier, but it is that a continuation of the seeds forever and ever, that we get to have eternal family, that we get to have eternal posterity, like our Heavenly Father, through this ordinance. And then, if that wasn't dramatic enough, the Lord then concludes it by saying, Then shall they be gods because they have no end, therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting because they continue. Then shall they be above all because all things are subject unto them, then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. As used here, gods is a gender-neutral term, it applies to the man and wife that were mentioned in verse 19. So, as husband and wife, uh, we get to become like our heavenly parents. We get to become exalted beings, and that is what's unlocked through eternal marriage. And so I teach that to my young single adults to help them see, as beautiful as the promise is that you're going to be with your, you know, your partner forever, it's so much bigger than this. It's an order of the priesthood, it's an ordinance of the priesthood. You know, uh marriage is always a big deal, but we're taking marriage, which is already a big deal, and then we're like making it into like an ordinance like baptism and combining it all in one. And when you realize that, you realize why this, as Elder McConkey once said, is the single most important moment of anyone's life. Like this is what opens up all of God's blessing. All of eternity was to prepare us for this, right? And all of eternity depends on this. This is this is the purpose for why the earth was created. As as the you know, creation itself illustrates, uh, culminates with Adam and Eve being married, right? That is the purpose of the creation, it's the purpose of the plan, and it's the ultimate objective for all of us to become like that.

SPEAKER_00 56:21

So that is the ultimate. Are you gonna say something?

SPEAKER_04 56:24

No, that's that's amazing. Go ahead.

Closing And Preview Of Part Two

SPEAKER_00 56:26

That you know, the way you describe it is the ultimate end in mind. It's the end of ends in mind of why we exist in that regard. And so I love the way that we we can see through the temple, going back to the knowledge being such an important part of that gift, is that with that knowledge, that perspective of what marriage is really meant to be, how that changes the way we approach everything. Because, like you said, it's already a big deal that I'm spending the rest of my life with someone I love. It changes when I think we're meant to be together forever, and it changes even more that the that she allows me to be bound to God eternally and to open the door to become like him and for her to become like Heavenly Mother in a way that we could never have dreamed is possible. That's what the gift, the ultimate gift is. Thank you so much for joining us for part one with Mark and Mandy Matthews. I hope you felt what I felt. This deep reminder that the temple isn't meant to be confusing, it's just meant to be a place where we meet our Heavenly Father. In part two, Mark and Mandy take us even further. We're gonna go into ancient temples, the restoration, Kirkland and Navoo, priesthood keys, and how everything we experienced today connects back to the very beginning. Just remember to take a moment on what you understood from today. And when you're ready, join us for part two. We'll see you then.