Get thee hence...

Temptation has presented itself very strongly and suddenly in my life. There is a new battle being fought, and it is one against someone who doesn't want me going to the Temple to be endowed. Here, I would love to share what I know to be true, to prove to that malicious being that I will reach my greatest strength and potential, I will not falter, I will not fail, for God is on my side. I would like to start by quoting a beautiful talk called "Celestial Marriage" by Elder Bruce R. McConkie. He defines marriage in a nutshell saying, "Everything that we do in the Church is connected and associated with and tied into the eternal order of matrimony that God has ordained. Everything that we do from the time that we become accountable, through all our experiences, and all the counsel and direction we receive, up to the time of marriage, is designed and intended to prepare us to enter into a probationary marriage arrangement, one that does in fact become eternal if we abide in the covenant made in connection with that order of matrimony. Then everything that we do for the remainder of our lives, whatsoever it may be, ties back into the celestial order of matrimony into which we have entered and is designed and intended to encourage us to keep the covenant made in holy places. That is the general concept, briefly stated, under which we are operating." I LOVE that this righteous man states that marriage is what we all strive for, it is what we are all being prepared for and it is what we will continue to prepare for until we find that spouse destined for us. I reaffirm that everything after marriage will tie back to the celestial order of things. I believe that our Heavenly Father sent us here to reside in a family to prepare to create our own family and continue His eternal plan. We enter into a covenant when we become endowed in the Lord's temple, and as well when we are sealed to our family, and the Lord says: "All covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead; for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead." (Doctrine and Covenants 132:7) The Lord knows what is bound in his kingdom, He knows what is sealed temporally and what has been sealed eternally. I am so grateful to have the honor of being endowed and then later sealed in His Temple, there is no greater feeling of fulfillment than that of fulfilling the Lord's commandments. I am thrilled to be born again, born into a new inheritance, into a new family with my future husband-to-be. I hope and pray that we can continually stay true to our covenants, as we prepare in this life to join our Father again. I say these things in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.