Jennifer Lane: Temples—Orienting Our Souls to Christ

Morgan Jones Pearson

It is undeniable that the temple has been a focus of our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. Since becoming President of the Church, President Nelson has announced 133 temples. In her book "Let's Talk About Temple and Ritual," author Jennifer Lane writes, "In the past President Lorenzo Snow helped the church see the urgency of paying tithing. President Heber J. Grant explained how serious the expectation of the word of wisdom was. President David O. McKay clarified the need for every member to be a missionary, and President Ezra Taft Benson taught how daily study of the Book of Mormon helps us come unto Christ. Similarly, in our day, President Russell M. Nelson has helped us see the vital role of temple ordinances in moving us forward on the covenant path. He has helped us see how the gathering of Israel is a gathering to the temple on both sides of the veil." This episode is for all who desire to better understand why the temple matters so much, Jennifer C. Lane is a Neal A. Maxwell research associate at the Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at Brigham Young University and formally taught at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. She served as dean of religious education and associate Academic Vice President for curriculum at BYU-Hawaii. She received her PhD in religion with an emphasis in history of Christianity from Claremont Graduate University.

This is All In, an LDS Living podcast where we ask the question, what does it really mean to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ? I'm Morgan Pearson. And I am so honored to have Jennifer Lane on the line with me today. Jennifer, welcome.

Jennifer Lane

Thank you. I'm delighted to be here.

Morgan Jones Pearson

We are going to be talking about one of my favorite topics today, which is the temple I love the temple so much, and am honored to have the chance to talk to somebody like you, Jennifer, that has spent so much time studying the temple and seeking to understand the covenants that we make there. To start out, there were some recent changes made to the temple endowment. In the book, which obviously you wrote before the most recent changes were even made, you address changes to the temple endowment throughout history. And you quote President Nelson, who said regarding the changes that were made during COVID, "Under the Lord's direction and in answer to our prayers, recent procedural adjustments have been made. He is the one who wants you to understand with great clarity exactly what you are making covenants to do. He is the one who wants you to experience fully his sacred ordinances. He wants you to comprehend your privileges, promises and responsibilities. He wants you to have spiritual insights and awakenings you've never had before. This He desires for all temple patrons, no matter where they live." So I wonder to kind of start us off in light of these recent changes, how have we seen temple ritual evolve? And I know, we've seen actually a couple of iterations of changes over the past few years. But why do they evolve? And why is that something that you are not only comfortable with, but in favor of?

Jennifer Lane

Yeah, this is such a wonderful thing to think about. And I think it speaks to how the Lord works with us as His people. There's a beautiful scripture in second Nephi chapter 31 verse three, that teaches this principle says, "For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding, for He speaketh unto men according to their language, and their understanding." So from that I, I take, and I believe very strongly that the Lord knows us, and that He works with us. But it's important to remember that He's also working through servants and their historical context. So in the Doctrine and Covenants, speaking of Joseph Smith, the Lord said, "For his word you shall receive as if from my own mouth in all patience and faith." That's section 21. And so I think that expression "all patience and faith" is really important. The Lord is doing the revealing, but He is revealing through a particular person to a particular people at a particular time. So that's where the patience and faith we have to trust that we're being given what we need and what we can receive at this time, and that might change over time. So for example, Joseph did what he could when he first introduced the endowment in the red brick store in Nauvoo. And then Brigham Young did what he could do in the Nauvoo Temple when more of the saints were able to receive the endowment and then when they were in Utah, Wilford Woodruff made some changes. He was doing what he could back in the St. George Temple. So the Lord was giving what he could one step at a time. And to me, it's, it's really a wonderful thing to know that the Restoration is continuing, more light and knowledge is being given. And I'm so grateful myself, as you mentioned to have lived through multiple versions of the endowment ceremony in my own life and to see that the Lord is continuing to speak to us, but He speaks according to our language through His living servants, He speaks to us according to our language, and unto our understanding.

Morgan Jones Pearson

In this book that you've written, "Let's Talk About Temple and Ritual," you talk about how we can learn more about the temple by studying or observing the religious rituals of other faiths. And I think this is an important thing to kind of lay some groundwork early on that our Church is not the only one that has religious ritual. We're not the only ones that go to a place of worship and perform ritual. So which religious rituals would you say, have strengthened your testimony of temple worship?

Speaker 2

I think part of the way it's worked for me is having experiences with other faith traditions, before I went to the temple to receive my endowment kind of opened my eyes to more elaborate worship practices than we're typically used to as Latter-day Saints, with our Sunday practices. And so I think for Latter-day Saints, so their only association with worship, is what we do on Sunday in sacrament meeting might be a little surprised by the religious rituals of the temple. But I think the opportunity to have experienced or learn about other religious rituals, and ritual practices can make it feel more comfortable. So let me give you a couple examples of experiences I was fortunate to have. I grew up in a neighborhood in Northern Virginia that was right near a Catholic High School. And so we had friends that were Catholic, our babysitter was Catholic, when she got married, we were invited to her wedding, the celebration of mass associated with her wedding. And so having had those experiences, as a child, seeing this kind of elaborate formal ceremony in worship service, helped me be more comfortable with it. And so for example, the celebration of the mass within the Roman Catholic tradition, part of what I came to appreciate is the spirit of reverence. So this reverence for the gift of Christ, the reverence for what they experience as taking, you know, with the participation in the Eucharist, taking Him into themselves, and a spirit of worship. So the special clothing, the special actions, all communicate that sense of the sacred. And again, because we have such a simple, sort of scaled down sacrament meeting that's kind of almost informal compared to that, I think that experiencing a reverence and a sense of the holy in something like the celebration of a mass can can help us appreciate something of where the temple endowment communicates. I think also, as we take our own experience, in going to take the sacraments more and more seriously, we think about it as a covenant. And we try to be reverent, that we also can help prepare ourselves for attending the temple and for younger people preparing to receive their endowment, realizing this is sacred, this is special. And this is worship, and not just, you know, just a thing we do. I had another opportunity, as a student, studying world religions before going to the temple receiving my endowment was in learning about the Hajj, the Muslims' pilgrimage to Mecca. And that I think can teach us a lot about this idea of ritual in which you see all these groups of faithful people dressing in white. They move with other people through participation in sacred history, they're retracing the steps and actions of Abraham. And so this idea of going with a company moving through space and time, becoming more like Him as they seek to be like Abraham to be submissive to God, I think, can help us realize, oh, this is, you know, we're following along with Adam and Eve, and we're trying to grow closer to God. So, this idea of ritual practice orienting us and helping us understand who we are, how we're supposed to live, that that ritual—seeing how ritual works in other faiths can help us understand how ritual works with the ordinances of the Restoration, that it already insets to God, that it changes us to go out, and to live different and better lives because of what we've experienced.

Morgan Jones Pearson

So interesting, I think that it's so helpful to learn from other faiths and to observe those things. And I think I feel like for me, I've observed it post-receiving my endowment, I'm kind of jealous of you having had that experience before going through the temple. Jennifer, I think one of the biggest and most significant parts of going through the temple, certainly the one that affects us on a day to day basis, or one of the things that affects us on a daily day to day basis, is the opportunity to wear temple garments. And while these are certainly a blessing, and one that I'm very grateful for, I also recognize that this can be one that a lot of people struggle with. And I can empathize with that I love the way you open your chapter on garments, and you talk about how it's common in our world, to dress up, to ritually play a role in a ceremony or a special event. And that we tend to be grateful for the chance to come home and take off ritual clothing and return to the informality of our day-to-day clothing. But then you say this, and I love this question, "But what if we were not supposed to put off our new self with our new name and covenant identity?" I wondered, I felt like that's kind of a loaded question. I wondered if you could elaborate on what you meant when you ask that question.

Speaker 2

Sure. So part of what I'm trying to encourage us to think about is moving from the concept we have it baptism that we're taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, we know that, we were taught that as young children, but to realize that in the temple, that taking upon ourselves the name of Christ is expanded and it's deepened. And so as we see that, and we realize that the garment is part of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, then we realize that this is who we are going forward, just like we're different going forward from baptism, we're different going forward from receiving our endowment. And one way to appreciate that and to understand it is simply to know that the Greek word that we use for Christ or the Hebrew word for Messiah, both of them literally just mean Anointed One. And so in ancient Israel, kings and priests were anointed once they were anointed, they were different. They had to act differently, they had to be different because they needed to be who they needed to be to bless the people, they were types of Christ, Christ is the Anointed One. But we also learned the Old Testament that the Lord wanted all His people to be a kingdom of priests, not just the people of the tribe of Levi. So that was the vision that was the hope. And so as we understand our temple covenants, we come to realize that the Lord is anointing us. And then He is sending us forth to be different, to be armed with His priesthood power to be His servants to bless the world. And so that sense of we are different now. I think we can understand well, of course, as his kingdom of priests, we wear this clothing, this ritual, clothing, the garment of the holy priesthood, that that is part of our fully taking upon ourselves the name of Christ.

Morgan Jones Pearson

That's beautiful. In that same chapter, you write this, "In a modern world in which self expression and personal comfort are highly prized. The expectation to wear the temple garment day and night could be challenging." I wonder, Jennifer, what would you say to someone who is struggling with the adjustment of wearing temple garments?

Speaker 2

Sure. This is a practical question. And so there are both practical and doctrinal ways to approach it. On a practical level, I'd encourage somebody who may be struggling to actually maybe go back to the distribution center and try different styles, different fabrics. So there's such a wide range now of options than there used to be even just within the last year or two. And so the issue might simply be finding something that's more comfortable, something that's looser fitting or tighter fitting, do they like, what kind of feel of fabric and they're just very practical questions, and there's a lot of options because people are different, and find what fits them I think, is really much more possible than it used to be. So that's a practical on a deeper on a doctoral level, I think that again, just reflecting or thinking about this idea that we communicate hate how we feel by how we dress, we communicate how we feel about ourselves. But we are also communicating how we feel towards the people that we're with. I used the example when I taught religious education at BYU Hawaii, I'd say, "Well, if you were invited to the presidential, like for the White House, or someone else's country, a presidential palace, and you showed up in T shirts, and shorts, you'd be communicating something, you'd be communicating disrespect, you'd be communicating that you didn't take the invitation seriously. And so how we dress communicates that we feel is something that Elder Bednar worked us through this idea really beautifully his last conference talk of fall 2022, about the parable of the wedding garment. So the endowment is a gift. The temple garment is a gift that helps us remember that we've taken upon ourselves the name of Christ. And so how we feel about that gift, how we feel about that privilege comes out in the choices we make. So I think that as we keep studying the doctrine of Christ as we come to learn more fully about the gift of Christ, and we deepen our appreciation, we remember what a privilege it is to be His servants, for the gift that He's given, for us of giving us everything that we have everything that we hope to be, that a lot of gratitude grows for Him. And I think that relationship, that personal relationship, the more we love Him, the more we want to show Him, how our love for Him and our gratitude for being able to be His servants and to take His name upon us.

Morgan Jones Pearson

Absolutely. Well, and I want to come back to really quickly what you were saying about the practical because I think that that's such good advice. I am somebody my skin is really sensitive. So there's only one garment fabric that's really comfortable for me, and I've had to kind of figure that out. But I also did want to touch on this, I think it's important to recognize that the Church is also like you said it just in the past couple of years, there have been changes to garment fabrics and things to make them as comfortable as possible. And I think sometimes it's like, we hear people discrediting the Church's desire to make sure that we're comfortable. But just recently, I had an interesting experience, I went to the distribution center to get some maternity garments. And a few years ago, somebody had recommended to me the breastfeeding garment tops and said, you know, you should get some of these, they're really comfortable. But I was like, I don't know that I feel comfortable wearing them, because I'm not breastfeeding. And when I went to distribution this last time, they said that they have now changed the name of those breastfeeding garment tops, because so many women felt like they were really comfortable outside of breastfeeding. And so now they're just call it a crossover tops. And so I think that it's interesting how there are adjustments that are being made, and that the Church is mindful of that. And to me, that signals that Church members are being heard and listened to, and that the Church wants us to feel comfortable living the gospel.

Speaker 2

I've had the same experience in just seeing changes. And, you know, some people like loose and more baggy, some people like tighter fitting and that those options are, are all available right now.

Morgan Jones Pearson

Right. Right. Absolutely. Another really important distinction you make about garments, and then we'll move on to other topics. But you say this, "The garment is not magic underwear," which is sometimes what we hear it mocked as, "that keeps us from any physical harm, but faithfully keeping our covenants does protect us from the spiritual power of the evil one." Why was this important for you to include in your book?

Speaker 2

Thanks for asking. Part of it goes back to the experience I had with a really good friend, who was she was so faithful and she was really worried there was a time when one of her sons who is faithful to his covenants, and she trusted those covenant promises, and that you can run and not be weary and walk in our faith. And then then he had all these physical problems. And so for her that was troubling, like, why if he's being faithful, why is he having these physical problems? And so I think sometimes we confuse spiritual blessings and physical blessings. So there are many physical challenges in mortality. And we don't want to make mistake of thinking that if we have something physically happened to us that it's because the Lord has forgotten us. And so we sometimes turn these promises of spiritual blessings into expectations that we may be free from physical harm. Now, I do believe that the Lord can protect us from physical harm. I have experiences where I know, I know that I've been protected. But at the same time, we live in a world in which the Lord allows things to happen. So I think it's important to remember that the blessings that the Lord wants to give us are ultimately spiritual blessings, no matter what may happen to us, physically.

Morgan Jones Pearson

For sure, I completely agree. And I think that sometimes sometimes we hear these kind of like far fetched stories. And I don't doubt that they're true, that there are miracles that happen as a result of garments. But I think sometimes, then to your point that can cause some dissonance when somebody's like, Okay, well, I faithfully wear my garment. And why did this happen to me? So recognizing that blessings come in different ways, and that there are blessings of keeping our covenants in general. So Jennifer, some people are caught off guard, when they learned a little bit about Freemasonry, and maybe some of the similarities between the practices of Freemasons and the temple endowment. And this was a part of your book that was so fascinating to me. I love where you shared what Heber Kimball wrote about his participation in the endowment ceremony, and how some aspects of the ordinance reminded him of Masonic ceremonies. In Freemasonry meetings, men acted out an allegorical story about the architect of Solomon's temple, Masons learn gestures and words they pledge to keep secret, all of which symbolizes that they were building a solid foundation and adding light and knowledge to it by degrees. But then, unlike Masonic rituals, the endowment was a priesthood ordinance meant for men and women, and it taught sacred truths not contained in masonry. So I wondered what is most important for someone to know that might be concerned about this aspect of church history?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Morgan. I, to me, this goes back to that passage in second Nephi 31, where it says the Lord give us light onto the understanding he speaketh unto men, according to their language unto their understanding. So this ritual language, the symbolic way of communicating with something was familiar to many early members of the Church. And so there's a sense in which this was a language, a ritual language, that that they could understand. And so one way to think about it is even though there are similarities between some of the some rituals and practices of Masonic ceremonies, and the temple, one might think about it like linguistic ceremonies. But just because you speak the same language as someone else doesn't mean that when you speak, you're saying the same thing. You're just using the language to say what you have to say. And the same language can be used to say other things. So the stories that are being told with these symbols are different in the Masonic ceremonies than in the endowment. And I think it's important again, to remember that again different stories can be told even with the same language. This is let me use a little quote here, I guess I'd= put it this way. And I found it's helpful. So try to share this. The Masonic rituals, symbolically put participants into a story that gives meaning to their lives and helps them be better people. So their rituals have also have a story of personal progression, like the endowment. But this story of the Masons, embodied in their ritual is a different story than the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel message that we ritually enact in the endowment is the Father's plan of redemption and exultation. We symbolically experience His creating a world for us, and then providing us with Christ's atoning sacrifice as we make and keep covenants. The story of the temple is the invitation to come unto Christ and be perfected in Him.

Morgan Jones Pearson

I think that is profound and I love the way that you put it and to me, it helps me make so much more sense of the relationship between Joseph Smith's experience with Freemasonry and the temple endowment. So thank you so much for explaining that. You write about how some people's life situations in this life are far from celestial, or from the ideal. Many covenant keeping members, we all know, people, sometimes it's us that are living in heartbreaking situations. But you write this, "No matter our situation, the covenant that applies to all is what we choose to do with our bodies. We may not be accountable for others choices, our feelings or even our sense of identity. But a core moral principle is that we are agents and we are accountable for our actions." As I read that, Jennifer, I thought about kind of the physical aspects of not only what we covenant in the temple, or the blessings that were promised, but also the physical aspects of the endowment itself, the rituals that are performed in the temple. Why is it that what we do with our bodies is so pivotal in our covenant keeping?

Speaker 2

Thanks, Morgan, this is really such an important thing to think about, because ritual is embodiment because it's about, we're taking this knowledge into ourselves, but it also is supposed to inform how we live when we go out from the temple. And so there's so many things that we can't control about our mortal experience. So we have to look for where the agency is and where the accountability is. And remember, our bodies aren't separate from ourselves, they're part of ourselves. Now, of course, people's bodies can be abused and violated, and no one is accountable for that. No one's accountable when that happens to them. But most of how we express our desires in life is what we do with our bodies. And so I think we think about worship as embodied, worship is lived. And so I've done work on this that is just so helpful for me. In Hebrew the verbs that get translated worship, their root meaning have to do with what we do with our bodies, to bow down and to serve. So as we use our bodies to worship God, we're changed, we're different people in the process of living in relation to God. And so we can't really separate, we're not supposed to separate embodied practice of ritual in the temple, with an embodied living out of discipleship and taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, Christ always did the will of the Father, that was the kind of life He lived. It's the kind of life that He's inviting us to live. And there's a really interesting connection, I had a conversation once with my husband about this and he made this connection that has stuck with me so deeply. In the 11th article of faith it says, "We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God, according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege. Let them worship how where, or what they may." So others may choose to worship and may use to choose the to use their bodies in other ways. But it is a privilege, a privilege to worship God, by using our bodies in the way He's asked us to. So in doing so, our humility, our obedience, our faithfulness, we are changed more fully into His image that we more fully take upon ourselves the name of Christ, with how we live out our covenants, and do His will, with our bodies.

Morgan Jones Pearson

That's so beautifully said. And I don't think I'll ever think of that Article of Faith the same way so shout out to your husband. I love the second to last chapter in the book, where you talk about maps. And you write this, "I would suggest that we think of the vision of offering temple ordinances to everyone in terms of offering a map to all who have ever lived, no one needs to take the map, but for anyone seeking to get home, there is no other way." And throughout this chapter, you kind of talk about maps and what maps do for us in our lives and how different people are seeking different things out of their religious practices. And it reminded me of the quote from "Alice in Wonderland," if you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there so can you tell readers, why where we're going matters and why you feel the temple is the map to get us there?

Speaker 2

Thank you. This is to me that sort of the core message of a temple. It's an extraordinary experience of ritually experiencing, returning to the presence of God. And that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ as Helaman told his son, so this famous passage in Helaman 5 where he's restating King Benjamin's teaching, he says "There's no other way, nor means whereby man can be saved only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ who shall come, yea remember, He cometh to redeem the world." That is the good news. That's the good news of the gospel. And it's the good news of the temple endowment. It is the story of the plan of redemption. So our lives start out separated from God. And we experienced that in the temple. But we also learn in the temple, that the plan was always that we would have a Savior, that there would be a way for us to return to the presence of God. So before the creation of a world, there was a plan and there was a meaning to our lives. And so every time we return back to the temple and perform vicarious ordinances, for those on the other side of the veil, our participation and our service reorients us to who we are, what is the meaning of life, what matters. And so as we worship, and we look for Christ in the temple, we increasingly come to focus on Jesus Christ, His atoning sacrifice, and we see that it is through Him and only through Him, that we can be brought back to the presence of the Father through our worship. And, not just what we're doing there, but as we're letting that power change us, we increasingly feel different, that our lives become more and more oriented to God. And we're moving away from a way of being that's separated from God. And so that's really redemption is moving from a way of being that's not godly towards a way of being that that is more godly, that, that through the temple ordinances, and through the covenants we make, as we keep those covenants, we are putting on Christ. That's the language Paul uses. And we're gradually taking on His way of being and moving away from a way of being that is removed and separate from God. And that's the good news is that Christ can help us get there that He is going to and He does, He's giving us power to leave behind things that are ungodly, and to increasingly take on ways of thinking and feeling that are more like the way He is, more Christlike and more godly.

Morgan Jones Pearson

I love the way that you put that. And I would encourage people listening to to make sure that you enjoy that chapter, because I really, really liked that idea. The last part of the book that I want to touch on is at the end, where you talk about how in the Laie Temple, which lived within walking distance of for 19 years, which I'm sure everyone listening including myself is very jealous of, patrons know that they are ascending as they move through the temple endowment and I have been to the Laie Temple so as I read that I knew what you were talking about. But there's staircases that kind of lead upward as people go through the temple endowment. But that's not as clear in some other temples at times. It's just a very gradual kind of slant upward. You then write this, "This message of progression of coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him is part of the endowment ceremony anywhere in the world. But being able to physically progress through that journey helped to emphasize the changes and the progress that was happening. Perhaps this might tell us something about our lives, we might not always realize the progress that we're making as we are coming unto Christ. We do have to keep exercising faith and keep repenting day by day. But through the process of sanctification, we gradually repent of different things. We may feel like we're going around and around, but we're also ascending." And so I wonder for you, Jennifer, how would you say the temple has brought you closer to God?

Speaker 2

So I reflect on this I think about the two things in my life that I think have helped me feel Christ's power and helped me felt feel the refining influence of the Atonement through when the Holy Ghost is with us. And so as I mentioned earlier, I started studying the Book of Mormon daily as an undergraduate so this daily study of the Book of Mormon has been important for me and I've also again once I received the endowment, tried to to keep attending weekly, if possible, and what I've seen with both of them is this gradual process of having ideas come, so change comes with time. But the Lord doesn't want to, like overwhelm us, He just gives us ideas. One step at a time and something like change this, or maybe stop doing that. And so just little by little, step by step, that this growth happens, but it happens only as we stay connected to the source of spiritual growth and change, which I think is why these regular worship practices are so important. This is a passage I love in John 15, where Christ says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing." So doing things like temple attendance, and other things that invite the Holy Ghost, allow us to have that growth within us. And part of that goes back to worship. And what we do with our bodies is worship. Everybody is worshiping, everyone's worshiping something, and everyone is being changed by what they worship. So choosing to worship the Lord, the way He asks us to worship Him, choosing to put Him first changes us. And I know that, again, as I said before, before I received my endowment, I was listening to President Benson. And as I was choosing, his invitation to put the Lord first helped to change my life and helped to reorient my life. But then once I was endowed, the temple was a place where I continued to experience that reorientation. Temple worship provides a way to put the Lord first, to stay oriented to Him, to love Him the most, to love Him first. And so seeking to do these things that allow the Spirit to be with us change us, it also changes who we're seeking to serve, whether we're seeking to serve ourselves, when we go back to the temple, to do vicarious temple work to bless our ancestors, that changes us as well. So we're allowing those in the spirit world to enjoy the blessings of Christ's Atonement by allowing them to make these covenants vicariously. We're focusing on them that privilege to do something for others, they can't do for themselves, the more important that becomes for us, the more we're being changed into Christ's image, because that's what He did, He did something for us, we could not do for ourselves. So not only does the temple point us to Christ, it reorients us from wanting what a fallen world wants to wanting what God wants. But the temple is a way in which we practice that, where we live it out. And so in doing that, we're reshaped into Christ's image, we focus on living our lives, to help others find salvation, to help others come unto Christ and receive the blessings of His atoning sacrifice.

Morgan Jones Pearson

I appreciate that so much. And as you were talking, I was thinking about the story about the airplane that sets off and it's just like a fraction of a degree off in terms of where it's headed, and it ends up somewhere completely different than it didn't want to be. And I think normally we think about that in terms of like a negative thing, right. But as you were talking, I was thinking, you know, if we orient ourselves just a fraction more toward Christ by striving, like you said, you know, reading the Book of Mormon everyday made a huge difference for you, or setting a goal to attend the temple. As we make those little adjustments, we orient ourselves more and more to him, and we'll end up closer and closer to Him. And that feels doable to me. Jennifer, I appreciate so much the thoughts that you've shared and your perspective and faith. My last question for you is, what does it mean to you to be all in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Speaker 2

That is a such a fabulous question. And I keep going back to this time in my life, but it really was transformative. I grew up in a home with faithful parents, and we read the scriptures and prayed, I've had a testimony as long as I can remember. But what changed for me as a young adult, was I started to understand that the question was not who I was, but whose I was. So as I mentioned, I was an undergraduate President Benson was a prophet. He said he had a vision of missionaries going into the field having memorized hundreds of verses from the Book of Mormon. And so I wanted to be a missionary that I can do this. So I got my three by five cards, and I started writing out scriptures. And I block between classes, and walk from my home to campus. And I keep in my pocket, one of those cards that had scriptures, and I would memorize it. But as I was memorizing it, I was really pondering and I was thinking about the words. And as I was pondering, as I was thinking, particularly the passages in second Nephi 31, became transformative for me, they were so powerful. Because as I was pondering, the Spirit was able to teach me and I learned things that have changed my life, and have also informed my scholarship, that of just everything that I am, I go back to that time. And a lot of it is this simple idea of when we're taking Christ's name upon us in baptism, and then further on in a temple. What's happening is He's promising us that He will help us fulfill the promises we make to become like Him. So I realized it wasn't just me trying to do something that was so hard. I think that I struggled with that for a long time, because I always thought I know this is true but I'm not strong enough. I'm not brave enough. I'm not consistent enough. And so I was worried that I couldn't do it. But as I pondered these passages in second Nephi 30, I realized that was not the question, that the covenant created a relationship with Christ, so that He was with me through His Spirit through the gift of the Holy Ghost, and that He would help me do and be what I needed to be. It wasn't about my capacity. But through covenant, I was getting access to his power. And so the doctrine of Christ taught in the Book of Mormon is what being all in means to me, is being in Christ and having Christ being me. It's that connection that's possible through covenant. So when I trust Christ, and I have confidence in His redeeming power, I not only want to be what He wants me to be, but I have confidence in Him that I'm not alone, that His grace, His enabling power will be with me. And this same message is communicated through the covenants and ordinances of the temple. This really is the good news of redemption through Christ. And there's this powerful passage, I think I came to appreciate it when Keith and I were graduate students at the time, and our stake president came and I don't know why our stake president was there teaching the ward leadership, I was in the primary presidency the time. But he taught us so powerfully, and he taught us about section 84. And that this is exactly the message of this passage here where it says, "this greater priesthood administereth the gospel, and holdeth the keys of the mystery of the Kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof the power of godliness is manifest." So through these covenants, through these ordinances, we get access to power to become godly, to take on the divine nature more fully. And that is something that is just it's transformative. I think, the more we appreciate that, I know it's changed me. And I know that it gives me hope that I can continue to change, like you say, just a little bit at a time. And that doesn't have to happen all at once. But that we're tapping into power, the ordinances of the temple connect us to this priesthood power to become. I was also taught that lesson, I remember being a seminary student, our bishop, had just been called. And he came to our seminary class and he brought an extension cord and he talked about power and power from God and getting connected to that power. And as I've come to understand what the temple's for, what covenants and ordinances are for us is to connect us with that priesthood power, the power to become, to take on a godly nature, to be what we need to be. And so it's not just power, like for the ultimate end result, but it's just a day by day. What do I need to do today? And to trust that that power will come and that step by step on this journey of the covenant path where we're going to keep moving the right direction, we keep reorienting ourselves through the weekly sacrament meeting, regular temple attendance, daily scripture study are all about that reorienting to stay our journey back, but we can have confidence that we're moving back to the presence of our Heavenly Father and the Savior. And that's to me is being all in is eventually knowing that we will be with Them. And that we're coming to know them now as we're making these changes, and that we can have confidence that with Christ's help, we will get there. We don't have to be afraid, we don't have to be anxious. I remember a phrase people sometimes would use about celestial material, "Oh, I'm not celestial material," like that doesn't make any sense at all. It's not about us, that it's about Christ, and that covenants connect us with Christ and His power. And He has power to bring us back and trusting in Him, listening and following the promptings we get, He'll get us there. And I think that, that to me, is just trusting faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is, that's it, and everything grows from that. And that's to me, what I keep coming back to, that's what it means to be all in.

Morgan Jones Pearson

Well, I think that is so well said Jennifer. And it reminded me of an experience that I had in the temple years ago, where I was kind of struggling, like you said, kind of feeling like I wasn't celestial material. And I was reading in Alma Chapter 33 and it asks a question, "How can ye disbelieve on the Son of God?" And I think that in the temple, we come to understand who Christ is, the role that He plays in our lives as we learn the story of Adam and Eve, we learn about redemption, and that we all need redemption. And then as we come to understand those things, how can we disbelieve on the Son of God? I love how you kept using the word confidence. I think that that is key, and learning to confide, to have confidence in God and in Jesus Christ. Jennifer, thank you so much. It has been such a treat to learn from you today. And I appreciate your time so so much.

Speaker 2

Oh, it's been a pleasure. I'm so grateful for the chance we've had to visit together. Thank you so much for inviting me to be part of this.

Morgan Jones Pearson

A huge thank you to Jennifer Lane for joining us on today's episode. You can find Jennifer's book, "Let's Talk About Temple and Ritual" in Deseret bookstores now. A huge thank you to Derek Campbell of Mix At Six Studios for his help with this episode and thank you for listening

Transcribed by https://otter.ai