Haggai

In leu of this being my very last week taking Old Testament II, I thought I would post one of my small assignments from this week. Go ahead and read Haggai (page 1166). It's only 2 chapters long, but He has a very significant message that I fould very valuable.

 A.The importance of the temple (Chapter 1): Haggai tries to explain to the people that they are in need of many great blessings. They "have sown much, but bring in little, ye eat, but ye have not enough..." Their wages are being "put into a bag of holes" and they are not receiving, or perhaps they are losing, the great blessings they are entitled to by not rebuilding their temple.

B. The people's response to Haggai's invitation to build a temple: They were fearful (Haggai 1: 12... "and they did fear before the Lord.") Even after this fear, they "came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God." This is a broad scale, but I suppose that on a smaller level, those same blessings could be revoked from my own life if I were to discontinue attending the temple. Or, perhaps, I could be receiving more strength than before.

C.

1. What blessings the people will be granted: Spirit to remain with them, He will give peace, greater dividends, the people will flourish.

2. How the temple is a place of peace: Great peace will come upon the people because they will be protected from other lands, armies, other persecutions, and from famine or any other hindering curses. These same ideas are prevalent today when we attend the temple. We are given a literal protection when we wear the Holy Garments (as well as a daily, constant reminder of those covenants we have entered into), and we are also given a stronger spirit to help us discern between right and wrong. There are many forms of peace, but it would be difficult to describe a temple without using that word: peace.

After our children went to bed tonight, my Dustin and I sat down and had a good 15 minute discussion about this assignment. We read Haggai together again, and spoke about how these blessings and cursings can and are still relevant today. We are both going to commit to attending the temple with better attitudes with a more thorough understanding of the importance of frequent temple attendance.

I have worked as a housekeeper in the Salt Lake and Idaho Falls temples. Both are busy temples, and both have many patrons  that come to do work each day. Even with those busy attendance numbers, I found out that of those temple reccommend holders in the Idaho Falls Temple District, the average CURRENT recommend holder only attends the tmple 2.3 times per year. This number was very alarming and absolutly astounding to me. We can do better than that! I am in awe of how many people are deliberatly neglecting the peace that they could have in attending the temple. I'm not sure if it's just me, but I almost feel addicted to the feeling I feel when I enter the temple... even at 10PM! Even when I'd be vacuuming a basement locker room, I still felt peace. I cannot believe how hard the adversary is working to keep us away from the temple. He must also be aware of the the great blessings and added strength and peace that comes when we attend.

In my most difficult of times in my life, especially the busiest, I have always known the source of my strength to keep me pushing along. It seemed crazy that I was able to find time each week to attend a session with young children, nursing infants, full-time school, and work at night, but those weeks when I slacked (thinking I was spending those two hours doing something more worthwhile) were the weeks that I was left stressed and overwhelmed. Going to the temple is a sacrifice, and it can be very difficult to get to, but I have never heard of someone leaving that wished they hadn't gone to the temple that day.

So if you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, tired, lonely,  tempted, betrayed, depressed, unloved,  victimized, or discouraged--work hard to get to your temple.

“As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’” --President Monson

Listen to a Prophets voice on this topic here.