The Power of the Temple in Missionary Work

Sister Bourret

We've been teaching a family of four for the past few months. They are a husband, a wife, and two very young children. They are practicing Catholics and very active in their faith. I have always been amazed by the husband's understanding of the scriptures and the wife is very receptive to the Spirit; however, with each lesson there had always been something that just didn't 'click.' They simply never saw how the restored Gospel would bring them something they didn't already study in the Bible. We taught them about the Restoration multiple times, taught them more about the priesthood, and taught the Plan of Salvation. We worked with members and invited them to Church, but nothing gave them the desire to pray to know the truth. They even read many chapters in the Book of Mormon, yet still lacked the spiritual witness that would make everything 'click.'

Last Saturday, we conducted a virtual temple tour with them. It changed everything! The husband, as usual, had a profound understanding of our teachings. He remarked how the goal of the temple is to purify the true temple, our bodies, and how this purification starts long before entering the Lord's House itself. He saw how the temple could deepen his purification before God and bring him closer to heaven. The wife recognized that the Sealing ordinance was a blessing she desired. She wanted to go through the Endowment to attain this goal of Sealing her family for eternity. They saw the temple and wanted to be inside it. They recognized its biblical basis and its spiritual significance.

At the end of our lesson, I testified to them about the necessity of having a testimony of the Restoration to enter the temple. I explained to them that temples exist today only because of the Restoration and then I asked them to pray. The wife closed our lesson by praying for a testimony of the Restoration. Indeed, the temple changed everything for them! We have another lesson with them this Saturday, and we are hoping that we will be able to commit them to baptism. Their eyes and hearts are set on the temple, and if they let this small flame work and grow within them, I know that they will latch onto the Gospel and never let go. What a miracle it was to do a virtual temple tour with them!

 

Sister Bourret
France Paris Mission