God taught Moses, "Behold this is my work and glory -
- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
Heavenly Father loves us. He wants us to safely return to Him, -
- to have the kind of life He has, known as eternal life.
It is the greatest gift He can bestow.
The way for His children to return successfully to Him -
- is to be obedient to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, -
- established The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
So that all the people of the earth could receive the gospel.
Those who follow the laws and ordinances come together in communities of Saints,
They gather in places called stakes of Zion.
As this gathering takes place, -
- temples are built so that individuals can be endowed with power.
Families can be sealed, and, through that, be together for eternity.
Heavenly Father created the earth for this purpose.
The prophet Isaiah foresaw this gathering and the blessings from temples.
He said:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days", -
- "that the mountain of the Lord's house" -
- "shall be established in the top of the mountains", -
- "and shall be exalted above the hills"; -
- "and all nations shall flow unto it."
"And many people shall go and say":
"Come ye,and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ... ;"
"He will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths."
The mountain of the Lord's house refers to modern-day temples.
In 1844, Brigham Young, then the leader of the Church, was shown in vision a hill.
He saw an ensign, a banner or marker, fall on it.
Three years later, when Brigham Young entered the Salt Lake Valley, -
- he recognized this hill in the distance and said:
"It is enough. This is the right place. Drive on."
Two days later, on July 26, 1847,
Brigham Young and several others climbed to the top of the hill he had seen.
Wilford Woodruff suggested good place to set up an ensign for the nations.
As a result, the designation of the hill as Ensign Peak.
And the later building of the Salt Lake Temple -
- are a fulfillment of the words of Isaiah.
My parents and maternal grandparents also fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.
More than 65 years ago, they came to Salt Lake City from Sweden and Finland -
- to receive the blessings promised only in temples.
I am blessed because of their example and because of what they did.
Now temples are found throughout the world and many more are being built.
As people join the Church they are blessed, to gather to stakes of Zion.
They are blessed in their own countries and receive the blessings of the temple.
There we each find our Ensign Peak, our own mountain of the Lord's house.
My invitation to you today is the same as Isaiah's 2,700 years ago:
"Come ye, ...let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ...
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths."
Temple blessings are real.
They are real because priesthood keys were restored to the earth.
In holy temples our Heavenly Father gathers and blesses His children, -
- endowing them with power.to return to Him.
Temple blessings are real because we have a kind heavenly Father who loves us.
He loves His children so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son, -
_ Jesus Christ, to earth to live and die.
Jesus rose from the grave, breaking the bands of death for us all.
I know it. I love the Savior.
I adore Him.
I witness of His living reality.
I witness that He is the Anointed One, the Messiah.
I'm a witness of His incomparable mercy, compassion and love.
I testify that Jesus is the living Christ, the immortal Son of God.
He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints