Welcome to Tapachula
Well this week has been a pretty good. We have worked hard
and are seeing the progress in the people we are teaching. For a couple weeks I
have been thinking a lot about Standards and how we put such high standards on
lots of things. But what is a standard? What is its meaning? Well one wise
bishop I had when I was a young man asked us as priests to learn the standard
of truth, “The Standard of Truth has been
erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions
may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the
truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has
penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and
sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the
Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” well that's a pretty big standard
for each of us as missionaries of the Lord. we all are missionaries… or like
the "standard" the youth last year, "Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the
day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord"
(D&C 87:8) there are a lot of "Standards" the church has put out
like the standard works (scriptures), like the word of wisdom or the law of
chastity. We even have a class in the church called the gospel standards. Now
those are lots of different standards. But really what is a standard? well i
cant answer that because well- im too lazy to look it up on the Internet and i
don't have a dictionary at hand haha- and two it’s something you can decide. I
will just explain. Elder Scott D. Whiting in his October 2012 general
conference talk explains a standard ,A temple Standard. he says:
“A few months prior to the completion of the extensive
renovation work, I was invited to tour the temple with the Executive Director
of the Temple Department, Elder William R. Walker, and his Temple Department
associates. In addition, various members of the general contracting firm were
in attendance. The purpose of the tour, in part, was to review the progress and
quality of the work performed. At the time of this tour, the work was about 85
percent completed.
As we moved through the temple, I watched and listened
to Elder Walker and his associates as they inspected the work and conversed
with the general contractor. On occasion I observed one man running his hand
along the walls as we moved from room to room. A few times after doing this, he
would rub his fingers together and then approach the general contractor and
say, “I feel grit on this wall. Grit is not temple standard. You will need to
re-sand and buff this wall.” The contractor dutifully took notes of each
observation.
As we approached an area in the temple that few eyes
would ever see, the same man stopped us and directed our attention to a newly
installed, beautiful leaded-glass window. This window measured about two feet
(0.6 m) wide by six feet (1.8 m) tall and contained an embedded, small
stained-glass geometric pattern. He pointed to a small two-inch (5 cm)
colored-glass square that was part of the simple pattern and said, “That square
is crooked.” I looked at the square, and to my eyes it looked evenly placed.
However, upon closer inspection with a measuring device in hand, I could see there
was a flaw and that this little square was indeed one-eighth of an inch (3 mm)
crooked. Direction was then given to the contractor that this window would need
to be replaced because it was not temple standard.
I admit that I was surprised that an entire window
would need to be replaced because of such a small, barely noticeable defect.
Surely, it was unlikely that anyone would ever know or even notice this window
given its remote location in the temple.
As I drove home from the temple that day, I reflected
on what I learned from this experience—or, rather, what I thought I learned. It
wasn’t until several weeks later when I was invited to tour the now completed
temple that my understanding of the prior tour experience became clearer.
Why would walls with a little grit and a window with a
little asymmetry require additional work and even replacement when few human
hands or eyes would ever know? Why was a contractor held to such high
standards?
As I exited the temple deep in thought, I found my
answer as I looked up at the refinished exterior and saw these words: “Holiness
to the Lord, the House of the Lord.”
The temples of this Church are precisely as
proclaimed. These sacred buildings are built for our use, and within their
walls sacred and saving ordinances are performed. But there should be no doubt as
to whose house it really is.”
Why are these temples held to such a high standard? as you
enter this week or in the coming weeks ponder it! Then ask? One of my favorite
things to do before my mission was to go to the temple, I also liked to sit on
the grass outside and think and ponder about the things in life. I might have
even walked a bit or pulled out my Scriptures. I miss going!! But I will be
there again soon!! The House of the Lord is exactly what it is the standard of
these temples are very high but whose house is it really? Its the Lords House
and he doesn't want anything but the best,
"I also learned that the high standards of temple
building employed by this Church are a type and even a symbol of how we should
be living our own lives. We can apply, individually, the teachings of the
Apostle Paul given to the early Church when he said:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that
the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;
for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." Imagine as you would
how your house would be if money didn't matter. Now imagine if you had little
kids! yikes! haha oh how rough is it to keep the house clean!! OK do you still
have that beautiful dream house of yours? i know you do mom, she likes houses
if you didn't know! haha now think of your spirit as this dream house. now if
we add the sin to that oops! your house or your spirit isn't clean. oh what a
problem that would be. now if our spirit was as clean as the temple imagine
what our outer appearance would be our minds and our bodies. Elder Whiting goes
on, "We
are each made of the finest materials, and we are the miraculous result of
divine craftsmanship. However, as we move past the age of accountability and
step onto the battlefield of sin and temptation, our own temple can become in
need of renovation and repair work. Perhaps there are walls within us that are
gritty and need buffing or windows of our souls that need replacement in order
that we can stand in holy places. Gratefully, the temple standard that we are
asked to meet is not that of perfection, although we are striving for it, but
rather that we are keeping the commandments and doing our best to live as
disciples of Jesus Christ. there will be walls to resand and windows to souls
to make perfect. a weekly cleansing of partaking the sacrament is needed so we
can get the grit and the little dirt out. i would challenge each of you to
check your spiritual temples.”
Is it a "House of the Lord"? does it say
"Holiness to the lord"? there is probably a bit of dirt and like
Elder whiting said we cant be perfect but we can strive for it. so check
everywhere and clean it. Everyday is a day to clean and to check. so do it! if
there is need to repent than do it! "that even though mortal eyes and hands may never
see or feel a defect, the Lord knows the level of our efforts and whether we
have done our very best. The same is true of our own personal efforts to live a
life worthy of the blessings of the temple. Like the contractor, when we become
aware of elements in our own lives that are inconsistent with the teachings of
the Lord, when our efforts have been less than our very best, we should move
quickly to correct anything that is amiss, recognizing that we cannot hide our
sins from the Lord."
So let us be clean let us be a standard to all nations. Do
you understand now why we have standards? Its to keep us safe from dirty houses
of the lord. I just love the standard of truth because its true, “The Standard of Truth has been erected; no
unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs
may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will
go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every
continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear,
till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say
the work is done”. Let us be an ensign to the nations not just read it let
us be it!! "Verily I say unto you
all: arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the
Nations;" (D&C 115:5). The key words are "to BE" be it, not just see it!!
Be a standard!!
I hope you all had a great week and well I hope this week
goes well for each of you. I love this church and this work!!! Love you all!!
Elder Jaymes Monson
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/temple-standard?lang=eng
President Uchdorf teaches us this The words written in the scriptures and spoken in general conference are for us to “liken them unto [ourselves],” not for reading or hearing only. Too often we attend meetings and nod our heads; we might even smile knowingly and agree. We jot down some action points, and we may say to ourselves, “That is something I will do.” But somewhere between the hearing, the writing of a reminder on our smart phone, and the actual doing, our “do it” switch gets rotated to the “later” position. Brethren, let’s make sure to set our “do it” switch always to the “now” position!
