How the Temple Changes Our Daily Lives With Brad Farr

In this episode of Temple Bound, we sit down with recurring guest Brad Farr to dissect the core themes of the most recent General Conference. This was a unique session, marking the first conference following the passing of President Russell M. Nelson.

We discuss the "shifting focus" of the Church—moving from the rapid announcement of new temples to the sacred work of getting members inside to receive their ordinances. From the construction sites in Sierra Leone to the power of Primary songs, Brad identifies four transformative themes that bridge the gap between our everyday struggles and the power of godliness.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why President Oaks and the Quorum of the Twelve are "slowing down" temple announcements.
• The personal impact of the recent change to the temple recommend questions.
• How to find power in the temple when you're in the "trenches" of parenthood or life.
• The profound connection between temple covenants and overcoming personal anger or doubt.

Featured General Conference Talks:

• The Power of Ministering to the One — Elder Peter M. Johnson
• Taking Upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ — Elder Dale G. Renlund
• The Lord Is Hastening His Work — Elder Quentin L. Cook
• Tune Your Heart to Jesus Christ — Sister Tracy Y. Browning

Subscribe for more deep dives into the Covenant Path. Follow us on Instagram: @templeboundpodcast

Transcript

Setting The Stage: A Different Conference

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Welcome back to Temple Bound. Today's guest is Brad Farr. Every six months, we have the privilege of reassessing General Conference through the lens of Temple and Covenants. Brad's mind is one of my favorites because he loves to look for these connections and themes. And he found four beautiful themes that were consistently talked about throughout General Conference that are going to be transformative. So as you're listening, try to remember the talks. And if you have any impression to go back and listen to those talks, I would invite you to do so. Enjoy the show. Well, Brad, welcome to Temple Bound again. I'm so excited. I look forward every six months to this podcast where we get to really analyze the most recent general conference for the Temple and Covenant type content. And this was a different general conference than typical because of the death of President Nelson. What was what was your initial experience of watching conference with that change?

President Nelson’s Passing And Tone Shift

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Uh it was uh, well, to be honest, I was on vacation with my family, which is probably why we're doing this uh, you know, later in the month than I probably would have liked. But um uh I was on vacation and so I was just listening. But I was curious going into it because you know, President Elson had just recently passed away, and President Oakes, assumedly I assumed would be the next one in line, and and you know, assuming everything was gonna go as as it normally had. So I was interested to see how it was just gonna be different and how it's gonna be the same.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Yeah, and he even mentioned at the beginning, right, that this is the first time in almost 75 years or something like that, where a prophet of the church had died just before conference. Yep. And it was different, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah. Yeah, it was. Um, but at the same time, it it was different in that it we just didn't know for sure, you know, like, hey, this is the prophet, even though we we know that he was our leader, but also like um it was also very much familiar and very much the same, right?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Yeah, it's interesting how these things work out. Oh, by the way, can you put the mic really close to your mouth? Oh, yeah. So just keep that. And you can move it around with your hand. You never have to stay there. So we have I was excited because your preparation for this podcast, you had identified four significant themes that were covered. But one of the first things that you and I were talking about before we hit record was just the analysis of of temples and covenants mentioned in this conference. It was significantly less than what we typically see. What did you what did you find on your end?

Fewer Temple Mentions, Why It Matters

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Knowing that we were going to be doing this, I was uh definitely had my ear tuned to temples and covenants and what are they what are they gonna say? What are they gonna teach? And then as I went through each talk, I was like, maybe they're not mentioning it quite as much as they as they had in the past, or at least compared to last conference.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

When I felt the same way since I've started Temple Bound, I felt like, well, there just wasn't as much mentioned, which you know is not necessarily significant, but just the volume of mentions had was different.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Yeah, I just and so just out of curiosity, I I went through the content from April and just with simple searches found that there were 179 mentions of the temple or the house of the Lord and um last time and only 154 in this conference, which is a 14% difference, which I really don't know if that's significant or not, but it was significant enough for me to just think about it and pause just a second to think about um, you know, what that might mean or if it has any meaning. And uh and immediately what came to mind was President Oaks's final address to the membership, where obviously no temples were announced. And all of us look forward to that moment. All of us are thinking, what's you know, where are they gonna go next? And and uh we get excited about that.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

It's not just a few number, like they they announce like a dozen or more every single six months, and it becomes this expectation of excitement because we all know what that means in gathering of Israel. Yeah, but yeah, it was just it just ended. And and we wondered, like, was that the plan before? Like, was this gonna stop? Was President Nelson not gonna announce something, or is this tied to that change? It's hard to know, but it was it was a difference for sure.

No New Temples And Oaks’s Emphasis

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Yeah, it was. Um, but I did love that he he mentions President Oakes mentions um it is appropriate that we slow down the announcement of new temples. So there's a hint there that you know that's gonna slow down a little bit. But he also says that um uh, you know, we won't announce any this conference, and we will now move forward in providing the ordinances of the temple to the members of the church throughout the world. And so that's obviously well, it seems to me that that's gonna be more his focus going forward. I don't know if that's totally true, but it got me thinking. Um, it got me thinking about well, what does it mean uh that let's move forward with getting these ordinances to the members of the church? What does that mean? And so it got me thinking about well, um, how many temples were dedicated when President Nelson was around? I mean, he announced 200 in his seven or eight years of prophet.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

All in his nineties, by the way. Like that's he announced 200 temples all in his 90s. I just anyway, very forward-thinking, you know, very advanced, you know, leader in that old age, right?

SPEAKER_00 5:31

So amazing. I mean, just an incredible man with an incredible vision. Yes, and really knew how to motivate us. I mean, just inspire us, I think better said, inspire us to be better because of his leadership and amazing. And so I looked at, okay, he announced um those 200 temples, and I got me curious. Well, how many were dedicated in that time? And there were uh, let's see, 51 temples dedicated in the seven, eight years that he was a prophet. And so that got me thinking, well, you know, that's um what how many temples have been announced, how many temples are currently like working and ordinances going, and then how long will it take us to get from to to close that gap essentially? And uh, you know, after doing some numbers, it's about 22 years if we go at the current current rate, right? Seven uh every seven years, 51 temples. If we go at that rate, it'll be 22 years before we um dedicate all the rest of the temples that have been announced.

Announced vs Dedicated: The 22-Year Gap

SPEAKER_01 6:40

It's an interesting comment because you know, we see these temples popping up, we hear the announcements, we get excited, but when we really look at how long it takes from the time it gets announced to the time it gets built, I mean that's a long time, seven years. So for 22 years that go by for us to get caught up in what we're doing, this does tie to what President Oakes was saying, like you said, yeah. Where maybe it's time to focus on getting these things, you know, finished and established and staffed with members of the church to run the temples, because they're little businesses in that organizational sense. They require staffing, they require organization. You and I both have friends who serve as uh temple workers. And I've heard that over and over again. Like, you know, you've got it's all volunteer and people take vacations. There's a lot of coordination that goes into these things.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

And and not just when the temple's up and running, there's a lot that goes into getting them there, right? Right. And so, and a lot of hurdles that have to be uh, well, I guess, yeah, hurdles that have to be jumped over to be able to get them there. And um, I mentioned uh at a previous time that my parents are currently serving as temple construction missionaries in the Sierra Leone temple in Africa. And so they've been there since January. But I thought that I would kind of go through when that was announced and kind of the hurdles that have uh uh and how long it's basically taking. Because this uh this temple, so it was announced the Sierra Leone Temple was announced in October conference of 2019, so about basically six years ago. And uh so in in December of 2021, then they knew the exact location. So that took a couple years before they even knew the location and got that all figured out. I'm sure that they had to clear that with government agencies and all the whole thing to be able to actually get the location. Then soon after it was dedicated, uh the ground was dedicated and the cornerstone placed. Um and uh so they did that in March of 2022 and as of right now, it's still under construction. I mean, it won't and it won't be on it won't be finished at least a year from now, at least is basically what it's projected to be. So so that's seven years essentially from announcement to then being built and ready to go.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

So what what do you just as a side note, what do your parents do as missionaries in the construction?

What It Takes To Build A Temple

SPEAKER_00 9:08

Are they out there with hard hats and they do have hard hats, but they're not swinging any hammers, they're not you know sawing anything. Uh they use temple construction missionaries to uh give the church data and to create a history. So they they every week they have a report that they send back to to the temple construction department on its progress, on any setbacks. Interesting. Any so anything that happens with regards to the temple and its timing and and even just um details of the project, which is why they like people who have a construction background, which my dad has. He has a construction background, so he'll he'll give very specific details, and this report is really long and it's every week. Wow. So they do that, and then they also keep a history by taking pictures, uh including stories, uh people that come to visit to like you know, see the grounds, they'll ask them questions and interview them oftentimes, and so they uh do lots of things that way, and at the end, they'll take all that information and make a book and it'll be electronic that um you know they can print it out, but the electronic kind of book that has the history of the building of the temple, uh, including including stories and pictures and who came and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

What a special mission. Yeah, to be able to be the person or people that are in charge of overseeing that concept and then recording it and compiling it. It's a great way to just have your spiritual stamp on church history in that regard as as you as we grow and expand. Yeah. So it's also it's awesome to see that. And you know, obviously, as the temples have have been growing, it's an interesting thought that with the recent passing of President Nelson, there might be this thing with President Oakes coming in where he's focusing on helping us get those things completed so that we can start delivering those ordinances. And so as these themes come into play here, how did how did um tell me about your experience of listening to the general conference and finding these themes? How did you find those?

Sierra Leone Temple Timeline Lessons

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Well, I wasn't sure how to go about uh this today. I wasn't sure how to go about today. Do you just go through and just every time it mentions temple, talk about it? Or do I try to figure out if there are uh ideas or topics that they're trying to get across to the membership that the Lord is trying to get across to us through the people that are talking? And so as I as I just went over the talks and re-listened to them and kind of uh scoured through the you know all the information, all the talks just by topic kind of thing, um, I kind of just started seeing that there were a couple themes um and a couple of them that I really uh just kind of kept coming back to my mind. And so I decided, you know what? I think that that's the approach I should take with this is just talk about each theme, and then we'll talk about, you know, the people that mention kind of uh information regarding that that theme.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

So yeah, and those themes were really interesting. We discussed this before we hit record, how these themes, there was a couple of that were very repetitive in nature and understandably so, and others that were pretty unique in a few ways. Yeah. Um, one thing that you mentioned here is you said it's obviously not the temple itself that we're here to talk about. The building is simply a building, but it is quote, in the ordinances thereof that the power of godliness is manifest as you're quoting DNC 8420. So you're just really emphasizing that it's what happens within the temple that matters, not so much the building. So we just kind of went through an analysis of these buildings and the number of times these are talked about, but in the end, it's really not about the building.

It’s The Ordinances, Not The Building

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Exactly. Yeah, with regards to that, um, you know, it's what it President Nelson had a great um quote. I can't remember, it's just coming off the top of my head. You know, I'll I'll probably butcher it. But basically, uh the temp building of temples isn't gonna change your life, but your time in the temple will, right? Yes. And so, and so that's President Oakes' focus as well, right? Let's get these ordinances to the people and uh and and that's gonna change their life. And speaking of life-changing experiences within the temple, I was just talking to a friend today. His son has been home from his mission about six months. He's a really good kid. He makes temple attendance a priority. He's at uh he's in Provo at school. Um, he has done what President Nelson has asked, where you make an appointment and you keep it, right? Right and you and you just go. Well, this past week, uh I think it was yesterday, maybe the maybe the day before, uh, and he typically goes with his roommates, well, which is awesome. He has roommates that will go with him and everything, and and they couldn't go for one reason or another. And he's like, Yeah, I'm gonna go. So he does, and um, he just goes and does some initiatories. And uh, as we all know, after in your stories, you're welcome to go to the celestial room. And so um he was invited to do that and kind of uh thought about that a minute. Well, I've got, you know, I like to go to workout in the morning, I've got school later, and it'd be nice to catch up with my roommates before we all head off our different directions and just kind of debated whether he should go and spend some time in the in the celestial room. We all we've all been there. Oh, for sure. So, and this time he just felt like he should. So he did. He went up uh into the celestial room and nobody was there, not even the temple workers were in there at the time. So he sat down and started just, you know, kind of closing his eyes and and and pondering and and thinking. And they felt somebody close to him, but at the same time was just kind of in and doing his thing, uh, pondering, and um and then he felt him getting a lot closer, and so he decides to open his eyes and look up at what's going on. And there's Elder Bednar and Sister Bednar, and it's just them three in this in the celestial room of the Orum Temple, and he got to have a short conversation with uh the Bednars. Elder Bednar shook his hand, thanked him for being there, and he had a wonderful experience being in the temple, being where he was supposed to be, you know, kind of as this commitment that he made to himself. And you know, as much as that's a really great experience, he will he will he won't remember he won't forget that experience, right? And and he also felt really good about the fact that you know what, I should do this, I should, I should go, I should spend time here. And he had uh an amazing experience with an apostle of the Lord. And so so those, I'm not saying that that's gonna be our experience when we go to the temple, but it can be. And uh we can have some okay experiences, we can have some amazing experiences. Every temple, every time we go to the temple is gonna be different.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, I and I think it comes from repetition again. I think when people, I will tell you that for me, when I went, I usually didn't feel much initially. I didn't. Over time, I started having little micro experiences and little things that would be parallel to that. And then over more time, these these coincidences started piling up to the point, as my son says on his mission, that after a while the coincidence, coincidences start looking so frequently that it makes more sense that there's something really behind it than not.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

Yeah.

A Quiet Celestial Room Miracle

SPEAKER_01 16:32

And he put that in his mission uh email one year in. And I thought, what a beautiful way to describe the covenant path of us going through these these experiences. I think what's beautiful about that story, Brad, is that it does relate to how the Lord works through people to be present with us. And so whether it's a general conference through the members of the, you know, first presidency, quorum of the twelve, and other general authorities, or whether it's like in the temple, I'll tell you I had a very similar story, just to briefly summarize it, is that I went to the temple once really looking for answers. It was one of those times where like I wanted to have a spiritual experience. I was truly seeking it out and I had been going consistently. And I prayed in the temple and I was waiting for my heart to burst, or like some sort of like spiritual pat on the shoulder or something. And I wasn't feeling it. And I was just very much like, Father, please. I, you know, I don't, I always assume it's just my fault, right? You know, it's like, well, please, what am I doing? And in that moment, I finally just said, just please let me know, you know, if you're even, if you're hearing this at all. Because no matter what people think of me as I'm speaking into this, I go through periods of just like, are you there? Yeah. Are you actually listening to me? And so many times, just like this story, it's through members of his, his, uh, of his chosen leadership. And an old state president that I hadn't seen in decades walked in, who was very near and dear to me. And he walked in and walked up right up to me and hugged me and just said, Man, I was looking for for the Lord to tell me something special. And I saw it in you. And I said, Well, that's what I saw in you. And he thought I was probably just being reverse complimentary, but that told me the Lord saw me, that he heard me. And it was an apostle. It wasn't an apostle. But I think what to your point, Brad, is we want to make sure we don't set the right expectation for when we're going with temple service of like having these dramatic expectations, but at the same time, we kind of should. Maybe we should have those expectations and faith that like he's gonna show up because we know DNC 93, that we will see the Lord's face if we're constantly trying. So it's maybe one of those like he'll show himself when I when when he knows I'm ready, but I'm never gonna give up and hope.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

And so I love that that happened to your your friend. And it's a great segue because it's through his anointed that we are we are instructed in the temple. So, what was the first of those four concepts that you saw as an important lesson uh at the general conference?

Finding Christ Personally In The Temple

SPEAKER_00 18:56

I don't know if it was the first one that well, it was the first one that I came to uh came to my mind is that the temple will help us come to know Jesus Christ and it connects us to him. There were two or there were basically three people that talked about this from General Conference and some really cool stories with with regard to that. But um Elder Ayer Ayer, I think that's how you say his name, um who you really are. He um talked about the powerful experience that Moses had um when he um had the grand visions of of the eternities, and then he had that experience with Satan, and then he was and Satan called him son of man, but you know, he was also called a son of God by by God. And so, you know, he had that power of a powerful experience, and so he wanted and in sharing about know who you really are, he came across uh here or he shares this um this experience uh with the general membership but of the church, but Later on in his talk, he uh talks about how there was a change in the temple recommend questions. And um, and this simple, small change really helps us focus on coming to know Jesus Christ. And the change was, it used to be um previously the question was asked in the temple recommend is uh if you had a testimony of Jesus Christ's role as savior and redeemer. But now it says if we have a testimony, it asks if we have a testimony of his role as your savior and redeemer. And that's a very small change, but it's it's significant for sure. For sure. Yeah. And so that's something that each of us can ask is is uh how have uh the savior's atonement, how do I have a testimony of that? And and how do I have a testimony of that? And it and how can I strengthen that testimony? And it's often through the temple and attendance there that we can do that.

SPEAKER_01 21:05

Yeah, as you were talking, Brad, I had this image of of how the pre the first question was like watching a movie. Like I'm sitting in the audience and I see Jesus on stage or in the film, and he's healing the sick, and he's called of God, and he descends into heaven at the end and resurrects and all these things, versus him being in my movie, where I am actively going through and he's an active um, you know, character in my life and maybe the star of my show. You know, or what there's a big difference between do you know Jesus as the Lord and Savior versus your Lord and Savior? Yeah, it's a big difference in that in that focus.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. That's that's that's perfect. It almost reminds me of that that old poem we used to see a lot in on uh people's walls, the the footsteps poem where there's two sets of foot footprints and and uh in the sand, and then there was only one set, and I that was a really hard time in my life, and that was when Christ was carrying that person, and and I think that that's that personal relationship there is is what Christ wants for us. And and like we talked about, uh our most recent general or sorry, state conference was all about, you know, every sincere seeker of Christ will find him in the temple, and and so that's where we can find him, is right there in the temple. I love that. Yeah. So um the next uh talk was by Peter M. Johnson, The Power of Ministering to the One. Um, I've really loved his talk. This was phenomenal. We need more talks like these. Vulnerable, just awesome talk.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Yes, yes. You know, how many times have you heard a general authority stand up and talk about what he talks about, which is the these doubts that happen and these frustrations, and like it was so humanizing.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

And like, oh, they go everyone goes through this together.

Ministering Through Doubt: Elder Johnson

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Yeah. And it's so cool that uh that we get to hear that, but but also there's just there's powerful, it's powerful to hear someone's real story and not just, you know, the oh yeah, everything's good story. But uh, you know, he talks about having feelings of anger and confusion and doubt and fear, and all of us do that, right? We all we all we've all been there. So how did he get out of that?

SPEAKER_01 23:23

And and just as a recap, yeah, give us some context on the story so that as he gets through that, the audience can remember.

SPEAKER_00 23:30

So um, you know, here he is talking at general conference. So you think, oh, this guy he's got to figure it out. But he it was um, I guess he was um baptized at 19. Yeah, baptized at 19 19 years old, one year later, serves a mission, so very new in the church. Yes, uh, as a black African American. And on his mission, he discovers this truth that uh there was a time, let's see, uh, that black African descendants uh were not allowed to enjoy all the blessings of worshiping in the house of the Lord. And he says learning this for the first time brought feelings of anger, confusion, doubt, fear. These feelings were intense. Um, so much so that he says that he lost the lost the ability to fill the Holy Ghost for a time.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

By the way, I just want to highlight something interesting about that, is that he responded in a very natural way.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Like for me, there I have nothing but empathy for his exact situation. And it's interesting that the Lord probably felt that on times 10, that he must have been like, oh son, I get it. I get why you feel this way. And it's still interesting that those feelings limit us from feeling the Holy Ghost. So usually we we see those things as like, oh, we're sinning, like we're distant from the spirit because we're bad. This was something of a process he needed to go through, but we recognize that anytime that we're distanced in that way, we're not, we're gonna be unable to feel the spirit's guidance in those moments because of our preoccupation of those moments. So I just thought it was an interesting observation because I really empathize with him when he when he shared that.

Love, Memory, And Covenants Restore Light

SPEAKER_00 25:10

For sure. And I just I can imagine like just cloud of, you know, just a cloud covering him where light is is difficult to get in uh because of these feelings that he have, which why wouldn't he have these feelings? You know, I can only imagine. It was just kind of like a side swipe. Uh, like, man, he just got uh hit from the side and didn't see it coming. Fortunately, he shares that he had a mission companion who just was patient with him, was kind with him, expressed love to him, and that helped disperse the cloud a little bit. It helped so that light could penetrate just enough so that um through his companion's love, he was able to turn to the scriptures. Uh, he turns, uh, it's he shares that he turned to section six, you know, about Oliver Cowdery, and sharing, hey, cast your mind on the night that you cried to me in your heart concerning the truth of these things. Did I not speak um peace to your mind? And so then there's a little more light coming through, and then he's able to reflect a little bit more on what it was that got him to where he was at currently on a mission, a member of the church, you know, why was he here doing all these things? And his mind was open to that. But obviously, there was there were a lot of things that helped him with this process, but the temple um is is one of them. So he says, as he read these verses from the Doctrine of Covenants, he remembered. And he remembered the day that he fasted and prayed to know that the Book of More was the word of God and Joseph Smith was a prophet of the restoration. And then he says, importantly, I remembered the covenants I made in the house of the Lord that connected me to Christ, Jesus Christ, in such a personal and intimate way. And then he began to feel of his savior's love and and mercy and the assurance that you know that Jesus that this is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, his kingdom on the earth, and so on and so forth. And so uh I think it's uh not by mistake that he was able to then remember that his uh remember his temple covenants, remember experiences that he had had in the temple, and uh also um you know with the spirit through fasting and prayer. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

So phenomenal that it the companion just loved him.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Every night, I love you. He like he didn't like go through and go, well, let me counter that point. But he also didn't, I don't know, just held a space for him. If anything, it sounds like instead of pulling him out of the mud, he tried to sit in it with him and just love him for where he was in that process. Because I don't know what I would have said. Yeah you know, that that's the only the only being that can speak peace to our souls is the spirit. And so for him to just invite the spirit through love, whether he knew it or not, was a genius move.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Because as that opening happened, uh it was powerful to me, like you said, where what really brought him back was remembering the temple covenants. Yeah. And that personal way that he was connected to the savior, which was the point that you you were finding, is that that through the temple we come to know Jesus Christ and we are connected to him. Yeah, that is probably one of the greatest powers we receive from from the knowledge of the temple is that we are his and we're connected to him.

Primary Songs And Temple Testimony

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Yeah, absolutely. It's so important. I love that one. I I loved his uh vulnerability and sharing uh such an awesome story, uh, you know, a difficult place in his life and time. And so I really appreciate him doing that. Um, the next talk that um that uh that brought this up was by sister Tracy Browning talking about primary, the primary music and yeah, how she didn't grow up listening to it, and but as she served in her capacity and served in different capacities, I guess, uh all through her uh time as a member, she can be has become familiar with the power that there is in in these songs that the primary sing. And so it's really cool. Uh although the tent the temple isn't mentioned hardly at all throughout the talk, she closes her talk with a testimony. And in the testimony is where he she mentions the church and and uh learning more of him and things, and so I'll just go ahead and quote what she said, but she says, I know that the Lord's temp the Lord's holy temples are his houses house here on earth. In them we make sacred covenants, receive eternal blessings, and learn more of him and feel more of his presence. The temple is a place of learning, peace, and preparation for our lives. And so definitely um a focus there of connecting with with the savior and uh a powerful testimony, honestly, after a really great talk about Christ and and connecting to Christ through music. And um you know, she shares several stories of of how a primary song in a moment of need later on in life can just tie you back to to Christ. And and I think that that's part of her testimony too, is that uh, you know, as you as you grow in the gospel, you make additional covenants and that those and they just all build on each other.

A Shift In Focus: From Prep To Presence

SPEAKER_01 30:31

Yeah, they're they're really it's a neat thing to think about how covenants we make in the church are paralleled, like we heard in a previous episode, like um, like rope. You get different strands, and they're not that different. You know, what we do in baptism versus when we're sanctified and ordained in the initiatory process, those things are very similar in terms of cleansing, but there's just a strengthening nature to it. There's a deepening of the blessings, a deepening of our commitment, a deepening of the relationship between us and our savior. And so I love that in the midst of all these things, it all comes back to the power and beauty of a primary song that helps us remember that word we use in the church more than anything else, right? Remember, remember who we are and why we're here.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

So that temple, you know, phrase and that comment about how it's it's to help us connect Christ is just something that we can keep with us at all times. But obviously, in the temple is where we strengthen that core relationship.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Absolutely. Yeah. So the next uh the next topic that I or focus, I guess, that I came across was that the temple and the ordinances of the temples should be our focus. Um and I had a a cool experience. I was doing some sealings in the Gilbert Temple, and I happened to join a session where Brother Bradshaw, our state patriarch, happened to be the sealer. And so it was great to be there, a familiar face, and and he's a great man. Um, and so after we were done with our session, I just thought, knowing I had this uh podcast to prepare for, I asked him what his thoughts were about the conference and about temples.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

I'm very curious about this. Brother Bradshaw is one of the most elect men I've ever known.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

I love talking to him because he has great insights. And um, and so we talked for a moment, and but it was interesting because he um he said that he had so many things on his mind uh while going through, you know, he gives many blessings, and I'm sure his preoccupation with making sure that he is prepared for each blessing is is very uh present daily. Um, but he shared an insight with me that I hadn't thought of. And um, but as I read through these talks, I came to realize that he was just spot on that it used to be in the church that we would almost talk about, he he makes this point that we almost would talk more about, you know, getting food storage and like physical preparation almost, uh, making sure we're just keeping the commandments and going to church and holding family home evening, or you know, more so than the focus is now. And the focus now is what's your relationship like with Christ?

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Uh-huh.

Elder Cook: Make The Temple The Focus

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Where's that foundation? Um, and how are you going to be able to get to the temple? And even if there's not a temple close by, can are you worthy of a temple recommend? You know, those kinds of things. And he pointed that out to me. And as I reviewed these talks, I definitely saw that that insight was spot on because I saw it all over this uh this conference. And just out of curiosity, I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go back to some conferences from when I was 17, 18. And so I went back to, you know, 97, 98 and just cruised up uh or like uh looked through some of those talks, and he was he was right on. I mean, the they used different phrases back then. Jesus Christ was definitely mentioned, but was not quite as focused as it is now. And uh, and so and and the temple, of course, is is a huge focus. And so uh I appreciated that insight. And that's that's a powerful one.

SPEAKER_01 34:29

You know, it's interesting too because it makes sense just when you think about it in the rear view mirror of how we end up talking a lot about temples and the depth of the meaning of the covenants because more and more of the world's population has access. I forgot the statistic, but there's a much larger percentage of members of the church who have a temple within at least a day's drive. Like they can get to the temple. No, yeah, not many are in the position of days and days journey like the old days. So, what we what did we focus on during those days? It was doing the basics, yeah, doing the routine things. It kind of reminds me of a football team in the sense that it's like, hey, before we can get to the NFL, before we get to the playoff game or whatever, we got to focus on just the basic rules, the fundamentals. And so the initial emphasis was on that, always leading towards the savior. But now that we have access to the temples, we have the capability of having a much deeper relationship to Christ, like you said in the first emphasis. Yeah to be connected to him, to really know him. Because that's the greatest endowment or gift that we receive is the knowledge we receive of the savior. That's the biggest blessing of the temple. All other blessings funnel from that. So, yeah, talk about the talks that you saw that spoke into this, you know, more modern emphasis of how the temple should be our focus.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

The main one that I that I saw that had this emphasis was Elder Cook's talk. Um, The Lord is Hastening His Work. He talks a lot about um just new members coming in, because there's been a lot of new members. He says that I can't remember the exact things he says, but in the last 36 months, there's been some almost million people come into the church. I think it's like 900,000. Um and so, which equals the amount of members that there were in like 1940, or I can't remember the like in one year.

SPEAKER_01 36:23

We've almost like gotten to the point where we were, yeah, just like a few centuries ago, a few decades ago. Yeah, crazy.

Balancing Family Life And Temple Worthiness

SPEAKER_00 36:29

Exactly. And so he's like, There's a there's a lot of people coming into the church. And so with that kind of context, what should be the focus? Yeah, right. And it's right what brother Bradshaw was saying. It's the temple should be our focus. And so I so just I bullet pointed a couple of things. And um he says that uh Elder Cook teaches that the temple is the only place where the where most of the essential saving ordinances and covenants for exaltation are performed. Obviously, baptism is essential, that can be done outside of the temple by you know live ordinance, um, confirmation, and then men receiving the priesthood. All that happens outside the temple. But uh other than that, the rest of the saving ordinan uh saving ordinances are all done in the temple. And then all of them for the dead, of course, are uh done by proxy in the temple. And so um that is uh a very important thing for us to remember and to note that that's why it needs to be our focus, is because exaltation depends on it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

And so let me ask you a question. This is a bit of like playing the devil's advocate for fun. Um, so if the temple is our focus, does that ever cause uh a disruption of our priorities if we're if we're trying to balance family time and these different issues? Like, what would you say to someone who's like, time, I barely have enough time for my family. How can I get to the temple if that's the focus?

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Um, I think that that's a a great question because all of us have been there. You know, every one of us, depending on the stages of our lives, we have more or less time for that.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

Um That's an interesting point because young family members, like we're supposed to do all that we can and not compare ourselves to some weekly or monthly standard that is might be good for some, but not all.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Also, um I think that being worthy of a temple recommend and worthiness does not mean flawlessness. I like to I love that talk by brother Wilcox. But but if we are striving and we are temple worthy, I think that that's as good. Right. I mean um there was a great talk, I think it was last conference, but basically um don't compare, you know, right? Everyone's level of difficulty is different, and it's gonna be different for every stage of your life, and so I don't think it's something that we need to be if we're striving and we're trying to get the temple, and even if it's not our focus, let's say we have really young kids and it's just hard, right? You're I always call those years the trenches, you know, because you're just in the trenches. Yeah. But let's yeah, and you can't make it. But what if you're like teaching your children about the about the blessings of the temple and like really passionate about that, and it's a focus, you know? Sure. Maybe you're not there as much as you would want to be, but you're focusing on it in your teaching of your children. I I'd say that counts, you know.

Receiving Power Through Covenants

SPEAKER_01 39:45

It goes back to that idea of the temple being the covenants and the power within is what matters, not the building. Yeah, so that we can have the temple within our hearts, the covenants that we make with us. We can remember those covenants anywhere, and we can have sacred moments. Anywhere. There is something about the locationality of the temple that matters for sure. There's it's the point of the mountain where heaven and earth are the most connected. So by all means, let's climb that mountain. But I asked that question just to see what you would say because I love your brain. And it's so beautiful, just this idea that making it the a priority in our lives definitely has a component of scheduling and keeping our appointments, keeping our focus. But the focus is that's a piece of the focus and not the focus. It's a component of like how we should focus. And if we can focus, if we are in the trenches of life as the example you gave, we can definitely bring that focus forward in a way. And it is just as impactful. If not, it's where the Lord would want us to be. And I think that's the difference between comparing in expectations and culture versus us being focused as individuals, doing the best that we can with the savior as our guide. So I love that you said that.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:58

All right. So let's get to the next one. There's we're on three of four of the major themes that you found. And I love this one.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

I do too. The uh it is uh it that in the temple and covenants we receive power. And there were some really cool talks about this, and I just absolutely um love Elder Renlund's talk. He's amazing. I I loved his talk. The um his comparison that he uses and story he uses is just so impactful, and he raises some great um, you know, thoughtful questions for us to to ask ourselves. Um I want you to review that. Let's do this. Let's we'll talk about that and then we'll go back to the altars one. But um, but yeah, Elder Renlin, he talks about taking on the name of Jesus Christ. And uh you know, before before I dive into that, this topic, I've wondered about it often because um taking on the name of Jesus Christ, the or the power, the power that we receive power as we attend the temple.

SPEAKER_01 42:05

And that's the theme, is that in the temple and covenants we receive power? That's the theme. And so you've wondered about that.

Elder Renlund: Taking His Name Changes Us

SPEAKER_00 42:10

Yeah. Do you know, as I've gone to the temple, have I felt power? Have I been endowed with additional power? And what does that look like? And and and uh have I seen it in other people? I don't know, just how does that like where does a rubber meet the road on that? Yeah, for sure. And so I love some of the points that Elder Renlin makes to to help me help me think through that. But um, so his story is that he, and I'm not gonna be able to share it quite as good as um Elder Renlin, or not near as good, but basically he talks about how um there's a professorship that was um created at the hospital where Elder or President Nelson was.

SPEAKER_01 43:00

And and that's a big deal because President Nelson, for those who don't know, pioneered open heart surgery and replacement surgery. I was at a different conference, I'm a physical therapist, as you know, and I was at a healthcare conference, and this guy was talking all about uh President Nelson. This was before he passed last year. And I went up to him, like, are you a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Laraday Saints? And he's like, No, but I get that all the time. He's like, You by the way, your prophet was known for a lot of things besides being a prophet. Yeah, like he was a big deal in in the medical space.

SPEAKER_00 43:26

Big deal. And and so in this is uh a professorship, and but it also was kind of some sort of like endowment as well. So if someone was named um uh the recipient of this, that they would get help, you know, money-wise, but then they also had this uh thing to add to their resume basically, that they were and they were given this professorship, and that's a big deal. And so uh the guy that received it was Dr. Selsman, who um was the first person to receive it and uh was a great surgeon. Um that's probably why he was receiving it. Um but uh I love I love how um it is shared right here, and I'll I'll just kind of use his words here. Um just go to it here. All right, so the first surgeon chosen was Dr. Selsman, and when Sell uh Dr. Selsman spoke uh spoke about his receiving this, he says he shared what it meant to him to be appointed to this professorship. He related that four days earlier, after a long day in the operating room, he had discovered one of his patients needs to go back to surgery. He was tired and disappointed, knowing that he would have to spend another night in the hospital. This evening, Dr. Selsman had a life-changing conversation with himself. In the moment, he thought, on Friday, I'll be appointed to a professorship named after Dr. Nelson. He was always known as someone who kept his emotions in check, treated everyone with respect, and never lost his temper. Now that my name will be linked to his, I need to try to be more like him. And I love that parallel there. When our lane when our name is linked to the name of Jesus Christ, how does that make us change? How does that how does that influence our lives? And um and that's the question that um uh Elder Renlin asks of us. What now that we've taken his name on us, um, and as we know, as we worship in the temple, section 109 talks about as we leave, his name will be upon us, right? And so um, what does that look like? And and how does that give us power? And that's the uh that's the the question that is on our minds. How has it given you power um as you have thought about that?

How Temple Power Feels Over Time

SPEAKER_01 46:05

You know what's interesting. I was actually hoping you were gonna ask me that. And this is the first question you've asked me. Yeah, and it's literally something I I was hoping I could share because power looks like a lot of different things. Part of the reason I've been so passionate about um temple covenants and starting the podcast and all these elements was because I was seeking for help. And um, I will tell it to you very directly and authentically, I had a really bad temper. Uh bad's probably not the right word because it sounds like I'm enraged all the time. But I always am this really nice guy until I'm not. And it was one of those things that I was able to keep in check until I had kids. And all of a sudden it started bubbling up for me. Fast forward years later, I've got teenagers and I'm going through these episodes of like, honestly, most of the time I felt pretty centered as a father. Um, but then these episodes would occur, and I just was so constantly shaming myself for the damage it would create. And honestly, I always thought of it much worse than it was, but it was still hurtful, I'm sure. And um, and then we had this experience in my home where we needed a miracle. And it through temple service and worship, we received it. And as a result of that, I just started becoming more aware of where that power came from in that miracle. And I thought, well, this is less than a less of a testimony builder and more of like a real thing for me. So I started going more frequently and and and I and what happened, and it was gradual over time for me. This is starting five years ago for me, but over time for me, I just started having these little moments occur that would open up around my life professionally, personally. And they were positive things, but after a while, they started linking together for me, for me to heal. And eventually it led to me coming to an EMDR therapist where I was able to really expand and understand where some of this, some of this issue had come from. And again, I don't want to paint the image I had this real abusive. Yeah, it was, I would argue was a very normal human experience, but one that I was very ashamed about. And and after that time, I just started realizing, oh, the right people, the right angels were popping up in my life at the right time. And I kept seeing how it was tied to what I was learning in the temple at the time. And eventually it got to a point where one of my kids uh a year ago said, Hey, do you remember when you used to lose your you used to lose your temper? Do you remember when you used to get mad, Dad? And it just occurred to me, it had been years. It wasn't something I was very present to in the moment because internally I'm still feeling all those feelings. I think that's the thing. And this this mortal journey, the vehicle we're in, we feel these feelings. And if you're sensitive like me, you feel them very intently, high and low, depression and joy, all these things. The temple has regulated, kind of created a through line of all of those intense emotional experiences as a grounding power for me. And I can only see this now in the rearview mirror of how through regular temple attendance, the constant reminder I am a son of God, Jesus Christ is my redeemer. I mean, and I went all the time to the temple with various degrees of focus and interest, right? Sometimes I was checking a box, other times I was desperately needing to talk to my father. But through it all, the constant reminder and feeling that has been empowering and life-changing in a way that has been experienced by others, in a way that it took them saying it back to me before I could see it within myself.

SPEAKER_00 49:40

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 49:41

And so the power is this gradual thing. We think about the Grand Canyon, right? It was little bits of water over thousands of years that created this massive, beautiful thing. Well, that's where we are. And every time we go, it's just does from heaven that come in and they change and reform us. And yeah, time to time we may not even feel like we're changing at all, but the constant nature of it, I testify, is um it changes our our destiny. It changes our destiny and aligns us with our savior.

The Fruits Of Covenants: A Power List

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Absolutely. He uh he makes the point that it's not a one thing, it's not a uh one step, oh my his name's on me. Now I have all this power and and here we go. It is a gradual thing that happens over time, and with each time that we choose to serve him, to love him, to know him better, that we are empowered with more and more and more. And in his talk, he he just basically uh lists um several ways that we can receive power. And I have seen most of uh most of these in my life. When I sit back and I look at it, I've seen most of these promised blessings and these uh uh ways in which we can um get power. Let's read through them. Yeah, I'd love to hear them. I've definitely seen them. He says, we become more spiritually receptive. Um let's see here. I just want to make sure. Um I want to read the the paragraph leading up to this list.

SPEAKER_01 51:25

Seth, let's go ahead and cut that through. So Brad's gonna go through the paragraph and then do it from there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

So he says, as we make additional covenants with God, we take upon ourselves more fully the name of Jesus Christ. And then consequently, God blesses us with more of his power. As President Nelson taught, each person who makes covenants in baptismal fonts and in temples and keeps them has increased access to the power of Jesus Christ. The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power. That strength that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. And so that's where he starts. This is the this is the list where um he talks about this greater access to his power. And he continues, we become more spiritually receptive. I think all of us can when we think back on our temple attendance, we can see how the temple has helped us be more spiritually accepted. We have more courage to confront seemingly impossible circumstances. We are strengthened more in our resolve to follow Jesus Christ. We more speedily repent and return to him when we transgress. So powerful.

SPEAKER_01 52:47

Yeah, I like the way he didn't say we sin less.

SPEAKER_00 52:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 52:50

It's just we more speedily repent.

SPEAKER_00 52:52

Yeah, we're just ready. Oh, I recognize that I and I've definitely seen this in my life as I've grown in my testimony, as I've gone to the temple and as my relationship with my savior has increased. I have definitely seen how I recognize that I wasn't who I needed to be. Right. And I was, but it didn't tear me down. It's just, no, it's time to repent and use that strength to be get to be better.

SPEAKER_01 53:23

I love the fact that it strengthens us to have godly things. Thanks again for listening to today's episode of more often I've got to be. Let's stub my toe. Let's let's heal that up and get back to them.

Eternal Family As The Ultimate Aim

SPEAKER_00 53:41

Yeah. Uh one time I heard somebody uh share this on a podcast, and it has stuck with me ever since. No father, when their child is learning to walk, like gets all mad when their child falls down because they weren't walking. The only thing you see from the parents is, oh, go, go, go, you can do it. You took that step, and and you know, I have children of my own, and I have those same videos on my phone where you know we were videoing them walking for the first time, and you know, we're nothing but excited. And so I just imagine that Heavenly Father's right there with us, uh, doing the same thing as we as we fall, we get back up, and he just loves us to death. So uh let's see here. It says we become better at sharing his gospel with his power and authority. We help those in need while being less judgmental, far less judgmental. I like that he emphasizes that he emphasizes that, which is awesome. We retain a remission of our sins, we have greater peace, we are more cheerful because we can always rejoice. And then he emphasizes here that his glory will be around us and his angels will have charge over us. And so these are these are all ways that I think we can each of us have seen at one point or another that that has increased in our lives.

SPEAKER_01 55:09

Yeah, I think that's such a beautiful thing, and I love how that incorporates the power that we receive from the temple. So that just leaves one more theme.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

Yep. Um, and this is uh this is something that mainly President Oakes, but also Elder Cook teaches is that the temple is key to an eternal family and ultimately exaltation. Elder Cook points out that that uh the temple and the ordinances of the temple should be our focus. And most covenants are available to each individual. One covenant, eternal marriage, involves uniting our efforts with a companion. Our goal should be to find that eternal companion, which is awesome. Um, you know, again, Elder Cook is talking to kind of more of the rising kind of, I mean, they're not they're young in the church, not necessarily young people, but just young in the church. Um, you know, we our goal should be to find that eternal companion because exaltation, uh, which is receiving all that God has, is gonna be a family thing. Um, President Nelson teaches that, and so does Elder Oakes.

SPEAKER_01 56:19

Oh, beautiful.

Personal Stories, Proposals, And Promises

SPEAKER_00 56:20

Yep. Um I really like what Elder Oakes shares here. Um he says the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints centers on the family. Essential to our doctrine on the family is the temple. The ordinances received there enable us to return as eternal families in the presence of our Heavenly Father. And so it's uh that's that is the culmination of all the blessings is to be able to have have an eternal family. And that's uh that's a beautiful thing. Absolutely. Um, just you know, on a personal note, um I I just thought about sharing this, but when I proposed to Chanel, um I proposed to her on the grounds of the Mesa Temple.

SPEAKER_01 57:09

Oh, I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 57:09

And and I and it's interesting, like I did it be for the same reason that President Nelson um when he first became the prophet, you might recall that his first uh basically address to the world, you know, kind of at that conference where he uh accepted being the prophet, he said he did it from the temple because that's what he wants his focus to be. And um, and I remember telling Chanel that um, you know, I I want us to start our marriage here because I want it to be forever, not not for just this life. And and what a blessing we have as members of the church to have a testimony of that, have a knowledge of that, have an understanding of it, and that it's a real thing for us. Um, President Oaks ends his talk um saying um this is real. And uh and I love that he's that he said that because this is this is real. The keys of the priesthood have been restored um so that we as families can live in eternity forever. Um, and I'm so grateful to that I have that knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 58:17

Thank you for sharing that, Brad. This is such a wonderful discussion. You know, at the end of the day, it all comes down to that eternal family. Yeah, all the power, all the connection to Christ. It's about going home to our family, but bringing our family with us, yeah, right. Um, and I'm so grateful to our savior who created this plan. And it's one of those things I'm sure in the next life we'll look back on this and it'll it'll blow our minds. But it's kind of mind-blowing in the middle of it, too. Yeah. You look at it and you think about all these things that are happening. And when you start to study and you focus on the gathering of Israel, it's amazing how we just see nothing but love, the love of our savior, the patience, the kindness. And ultimately that's that's the reminder that we have when we go is that he loves us.

SPEAKER_00 59:00

Yep. He absolutely does. And it's manifest because of because of these wonderful blessings that we can obtain in the temple. Um, being there, uh receiving power by having his name be upon us, and then being able to take our loved ones and uh those that have passed away uh and do work for them and then go as a as a couple and as a family to the temple. I mean, these are these are wonderful blessings, and it's it's amazing that we have this opportunity, and it's all because of Christ's love for us and his atonement that makes it all possible. And I'm so grateful to him for that.

Final Testimony: This Is Real

SPEAKER_01 59:37

You know, Brad, I I can't tell you how much I look forward to this every six months. It's been such a blessing to see how your brain works. And as you go through these, I know everyone listening is grateful as well. I do this every time, but you know this is coming. I think what's cool about you being a repeat guest is that you have a chance to speak to your descendants because at the end I ask you, what would you want your kids to know about these things? So as your kids, your grandkids, your great grandkids are listening to this episode. Final question to you is Is what would you want them to know regarding these topics?

Closing And Community Invitation

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

Um I've I knew you were gonna ask me. And uh essentially I came home from church this last Sunday um just with this deep sense of this is real, this this gospel is real, Christ is real, uh the blessings that are ours are real. Um and I just wish that I could take that feeling and I wish I could just shove it into my kids' hearts and uh and just have them know that. Um and it's a beautiful thing to gain that knowledge for yourself, though, as well. And so of course I wouldn't want to do that, but but that's what I would want them to know is that I have a solid uh testimony because of the spirit, testifying in my heart that these things are real and it's true, and we are led by a prophet. The temples um offer all of the things that we've talked about today. And I just hope that they will do what it takes to learn that for themselves. And um and it takes work, it takes work to do that, and I I know they're up for it. So um, but that's probably one of the things that I would like to have them know.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:36

I love it. Well, thank you again, Brad, for being on the show. It's always such a gift to have you.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:40

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:41

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.