Church was so fun today! For the third hour we got to meet combined with Relief Society, Priesthood, and the Youth so we could be instructed by our Spokane Temple President and Matron, the Nebeckers. President Nebecker led a discussion about the three degrees of glory. We know that after we pass on from this life, eventually we will be judged and placed in the three degrees of glory: Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. We all raised our hands that we want to end up being in the Celestial kingdom and so the discussion revolved around what we are going to do to get there. The Telestial kingdom is the lowest of the three. People who end up in the Telestial kingdom are selfish and have the attitude of what’s in it for me? The Terrestrial kingdom, however, is reserved for good, honorable, kind and obedient people who delight in fairness and equality. The people in this kingdom will typically magnify their callings in the church with a sense of duty. Many of us fall in that category right now but there is a better way. Those that receive the glory of the Celestial kingdom are merciful, kind, charitable, service oriented, and will always go beyond what is expected and go the extra mile. They rarely think of themselves and desire to live in God’s presence. President Nebecker used the example of a man wanting to go to New York City on a train yet ending up in South America. How much does it matter what we say if in fact what we do is taking us to a different goal? We talked about being assigned to love others. We were assigned to our families and so we love them. What about the people we serve? Howard G. commented, “When we serve people we grow to love them!” We have to act, just saying it doesnt make it so! Moses gave us laws that helped us reach toward the Terrestrial kingdom but then when Christ came, he wants us to get to the Celestial Kingdom so we can live with Heavenly Father again. Sometimes we rationalize ourselves right back down to the Terrestrial kingdom. Next, he brought up Emarie, Eliza, and Kailin to the front of the chapel. He gave them chocolate bars one at a time and we talked about the different ways we either hoard or share chocolate. I can’t adequately put into words the comments of the young women and the chocolate analogy. Suffice it to say, we know we can do a lot better in thinking of others. He closed by saying, “Let’s not just say it, lets go to the celestial kingdom!” Sister Nebecker then added to the discussion by reminding us to think more of charity than equality. She told us that going to the temple is the key to practicing celestial living. The following responses were added to the board: - Think of the person we are serving in the temple. It is sometimes a sacrifice to go to the temple but it is also a privilege. (Bob) -Willing sacrifice for others -Uniting families (Gerri) -Experience Grace (Krista) -Peace is not the absence of noise it is abundance of the spirit. In the temple we can feel an abundance of peace. (Bishop Hawkes) -Feel the Holy Ghost and receive revelation -Closeness to the savior. In the temple everyone “loves the Savior as much as I do!” (Serena) - We go to the temple in an ungodly state but we leave feeling pure and clean (Eveanna) - We understand the savior and want to be more like him (Natalie) I have to admit that when I heard the Temple Presidency was coming to talk to us that maybe they would be announcing a new temple in say, oh I don’t know…Missoula? Or maybe they would even give us instructions on what we can do to make sure we get a temple closer in the works. But no, instead what they gave us was of far more value. As we each strive to live in a more celestial way, we will come closer to being like Jesus. When we put the temple as our goal, no matter the distance, we can’t help but start living and moving toward the Celestial kingdom!
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 00:12:06 +0000
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