Bednar-temple
Elder David A. Bednar of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his wife, Sister Susan Bednar, Elder Michael John U. Teh and his wife, Sister Grace Teh, and Elder John A. McCune and his wife, Sister Debbra McCune, pose at the Yigo Guam Temple dedication in Yigo, Guam, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. Photo by Jeffrey D. Allred, courtesy of Church News. Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.This story appears here courtesy of TheChurchNews.com. It is not for use by other media.
By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News
In three recent Church News videos and a podcast, Elder Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talks about temples.
While speaking to the Church News about temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Bednar recalled leading tours during the Washington D.C. Temple open house last April.
The press asked questions about the building, its design and finishings. “And I said, we can get you those answers, but that’s not what matters,” recalled Elder Bednar. “That is not what I would like you to focus on in this tour. We are sons and daughters of God. He has a plan for us as His children, and the temple is a place where we learn about the Father’s plan for us.”
In a Church News video titled “Inside Out,” Elder Bednar talked about the purpose of temples and how covenants and ordinances change hearts.
“The Savior said, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28). That’s beautiful imagery, and it is lovely language. It is also a spiritual reality,” he said.
In a Church News video titled “Come to Zion,” Elder Bednar explained that the Church’s 315 dedicated, announced or under-construction temples are one of the great indications that the Restoration is ongoing.
This is a “remarkable season” of temple building for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he said.
“In the early history of the Church, the call to the Latter-day Saints all over the world was: ‘Come to Zion, come to Kirtland [Ohio], come to Nauvoo [Illinois], come to Salt Lake.’ And Joseph [Smith] taught that the purpose of the gathering was so that the Saints would be in a position — in a place — where temples could be built.”
Now in a world that is growing increasingly dark and wicked, “access to the power of godliness through the covenants and ordinances” is a great blessing for Latter-day Saints, he said.
In the Church News video titled “No Small Temples,” Elder Bednar said he sometimes hears people say, “Oh, that’s a small temple.”
“There is no such thing as a small temple — they are just temples,” he said. “There’s no such thing as small covenants or small ordinances.”
“I think we routinely talk about the temple,” he explained. “I don’t think we talk nearly as much about the covenants and ordinances. And I don’t think we should even talk about the covenants and ordinances separate from and apart from the Savior.”
