Temple Bound
God's children are searching in greater numbers for answers and hoping for miracles as they look to Jesus Christ for relief. On 'Temple Bound,' hosted by Will Humphreys, explore how temples offer not just solace but also powerful tools for navigating these turbulent times through faith in Jesus Christ.
Tune in every Monday to hear Will Humphreys engage with guests who bring inspiring stories, profound teachings, and insights into accessing divine guidance through temple service.
Each episode promises to enrich your understanding and strengthen your connection to the Savior in unique and transformative ways.
Whether you're seeking answers, yearning for peace, or in need of a miracle, 'Temple Bound' is your weekly spiritual refuge, helping you anchor your soul to the Savior. Join us on this sacred journey to deepen your faith and discover the blessings of temple worship.
Temple Bound
How the Temple Anchors Us Through Life with Hank Humphreys
Hank Humphreys shares how faith is a journey, not a destination. He explains how going to the temple helps strengthen faith, marriages, and families. He also talks about dealing with doubt and how trials can actually show God's trust in you.
Key Takeaways:
- Faith is a Process: Everyone has ups and downs in their faith.
- Temple = Strength: Going to the temple regularly builds spiritual strength.
- Just Try: Take action to strengthen your faith, even if you have doubts.
- Marriage & Temple: Temple covenants make marriages stronger.
- Everyone's Different: Faith is personal, and everyone is at their own stage.
- Trials = Trust: Hard times don't mean you're failing; they can mean God trusts you.
- Doubt is Normal: Feelings of doubt are common, but don't let them stop you.
- Temple Changes Lives: Temple worship can have a powerful impact.
Faith is about trusting God, even when you don't have all the answers. Share this episode and spread the word on how temple can transform lives!
This episode is going to be dedicated to the many people who are struggling with not just life's challenges, but the worst of the worst people who lose loved ones.
Speaker 1:I'm dedicating this episode specifically to them and feel very impressed to do so, because our our topic is about how to find strength and power in times of need, and I would say this talk that we're reading, that was given by elder Richard G Scott in 2009, uh truly, is about going through the hardest times in our lives, and so our guest is my brother from the same mother, hank Humphreys in Texas.
Speaker 1:We called him Bubba true story, but this was a very special conversation, not just because it's my brother, but because he and I have a very common reality and as we talked through this wonderful talk, we were able to see clarity on how, first of all, richard G Scott went through some of the most horrific experiences in life of losing loved ones, but he also talks about, specifically, the keys of how to unlock like the tips and tricks to how to unlock temple worship in a way that gives us access to that power to overcome trial and adversity. So this is a very special episode. I hope you'll listen through to the end and get all the value you can so that you too can find some measure of peace and hope during this most difficult time and enjoy the show. Okay, hank, so why did you pick this talk from Elder Richard G Scott, the late Richard and great Richard G Scott?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I you know. First of all, thank you for the invitation. You know this is a wonderful opportunity to go back and reflect on some things, and so, in preparing for this, I tried to go back into the church archives. I wanted to go back and find some material that probably was fresh for some people. So I went back to the earliest things I could find in the 70s, and there just were not a lot of talks. In fact, I couldn't find any specific talks in the 70s on temple worship, and so, as I was kind of forwarding through time, I got to this one. This is from 2009, which isn't that long ago, but it's not that recent, and I do remember when he actually delivered this talk and the title of source of strength and power in times of need. That just struck me. I'm like I need to read this, and so, as I read, I thought, yeah, this would be a good one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really am blown away by the idea that there weren't any talks that you found in the archives. It's such a predominant topic in all general conferences now for the past number of years that in the 70s there just weren't any or very many talks on that topic.
Speaker 2:Well, I say that, but I'm sure someone who listens or views this, they're immediately going to dig up 50.
Speaker 1:Right, Well it's really just our friends or mom who are listening.
Speaker 1:No but it's so interesting because there really has been an increased frequency. We had Michelle Bentley on the show and she grew up in Mesa next to the temple. Growing up you'd go once a year, like since we were from El Paso, our temple trips were Mesa Temple. It was a six-hour bus ride, oh yeah, and we'd go once a year. So it was interesting that back, just the culture or not the culture, just the way that we leverage temples for blessings, are just so different now compared to back then.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, it's a big theme of the talk and I'm sure we'll dig into it. But that's also what struck me is this was a big reflection for myself in terms of the sacrifice that we used to have to make in order to go to the temple. And then, as temples have become more proliferated around the world and I don't remember where the video is, but I saw a video once online that someone did that it was a time lapse of temples across the world and you know there was just a few like 13 of them for a long period of time, and then it just popcorn popping. They just started coming up all over the place. And so back in the day, when it was a bigger sacrifice, I think it was more on the top of our minds.
Speaker 1:That's interesting and I wonder if there was a pressure that the church didn't want members to have because they knew so few, relatively, were able to access the temple. Of course, early stages they were more just getting the doctrine out. So you picked it, the title drew you in. What was it that stood out to you in this talk?
Speaker 2:So if we're going to start at the top, you know he starts talking about how. In the second paragraph he says I've seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple, but when a temple is built close by within a short time, many do not visit regularly. Two stories immediately came to mind that gripped me. The first was I was on a business trip to India Actually, no, I was in Hong Kong, and I was on the train from the airport into Kowloon, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the two couples sitting just in front of me, and so I looked at them and I could tell that they were wearing dresses and suits, and as I listened I could discern that they were going to the temple and they were from India and they had just landed and they were on the train and they were going straight to the Hong Kong temple.
Speaker 2:That was their closest temple. That was a six-hour flight, and so I couldn't help but reflect on, wow, what a sacrifice that was for them, you know, and how excited they were. They were just chatty about getting to go to the temple. I don't know if it was their first time or not, but that was such a big thing for them and at that time I actually started to reflect upon what you were mentioning. You know, growing up in El Paso our temple district was Mesa, Arizona, and we only had one youth temple trip like every four years. Everyone got to go, like once, and it was one of my most fair memories in the immense program. I remember that we all loaded into a van. No one cared about seatbelts.
Speaker 2:It was all about the snacks that we had, and back then the temple had dorms and so we all stayed in the dorms and we snuck out and we went to 7-Eleven or Dairy Queen. But the temple experience was also just awesome, right, and there was that sacrifice of time and the bonding with everybody. So that was in contrast to the next thing that popped into my mind. So this was probably five years ago. We were taking our oldest daughter, olivia, to BYU Idaho and we were dropping her off in the dorms. We were staying for a few days and I think the closest hotel that we could get a booking in was like a residence in in um, idaho falls, and so we were driving and traveling back and forth and so one night we dropped her off the night and we went back to the hotel and we pulled into the hotel and in in the drive-thru there were all these black cars and I just looked at stephanie and I'm like, well, something of importance must be here. Kind of joking, like that's an entourage.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We walked into the lobby and there were all these well-dressed guys in suits. I'm like, oh, that's kind of odd for a residence in. Idaho Falls no disrespect to Idaho Falls.
Speaker 1:No, I mean it's just out there in Idaho. Yeah, totally small town.
Speaker 2:So we didn't think anything of it. We made our way to the elevator and just, it was just like a classic movie scene. Just the doors were about to close. This big hand sticks itself into the elevator to open the doors, and in comes this towering giant of a man, followed by another towering giant of a man, followed by little elder ballard oh, wow and he walked in an elevator and, without skipping a beat, he just looked right at me, stuck his hand up and said hi, I'm brother ballard.
Speaker 2:And I shook his hand. I said, oh, hi, I'm brother humphries. This is my wife, sister humphries, we're here, you know, dropping our daughter off and these things he's like. Well, brother humphries, where are you from? I said, oh, we just moved to gilbert, arizona. This is right after we had moved to gilbert oh wow.
Speaker 2:And without a pause, he said you know we have a temple there, interesting, yeah. And I. And I said yes, sir, I know. He said have you been? And I said no, sir, we just moved in. Six weeks ago We've been working to get my daughter here and he was just reflected for just a second. He said I get it. I'll give you six more weeks and then you need to get there.
Speaker 1:Elder Bowron said this to you yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I didn't know this story.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the contrast for me was we live four miles from the Gilbert temple, right, and we had been there six weeks and not yet. And so it comes to that contrast of those making great sacrifices to go and when it's in your backyard it's um, you kind of take it for granted.
Speaker 1:You absolutely do. I at least I did. It's interesting because I can walk to the temple, the good work temple, in a matter of 20 minutes and um it until I had some personal struggles that really rocked my world. I was going more of a Bach checker and it's like I knew it was special and then feel the spirit occasionally but it was mostly like okay, go to the temple, brush my teeth, you know, on the list of things that needed to be done. But I know what you mean. And it's so interesting those trips to El Paso from El Paso, texas, as a side note, kind of just to add some color to our El Paso history together it's. I remember the first time being in young men's going to the temple of Mesa and being blown away by how green it was at Mesa compared to El Paso. They're like all these palm trees and I just remember going, whoa this is like a tropical paradise.
Speaker 2:The orange trees blew me away. Yes, orange trees. Wow, trees have color.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well.
Speaker 1:I love that story, though, and I think that's such a great illustration of Elder Ballard's point, because in that talk, he starts with that and then he challenges people to go as often as they would allow and talks about how he made a commitment to do the same right, when he decided 14 years before giving this in 2009, that he was going to go every week because he lived close, and if he was out of town, I felt like he was almost giving Hank this like instruction manual of how to best approach the temple.
Speaker 1:I mean, he was using just his own, his own story, so it's not like a prescription per se of like this is what the standard is, but there is something about an apostle's primary role being an example right, and him saying I live so close that I could go every week and so if I traveled, I would make sure to make up for it the next week, and it truly is something that is different than what we were raised in in terms of like that once every four years or if you lived in Mesa once a year, kind of trip.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's one thing that really gripped me is you know, in that same area he's talking about. You know, set specific goals. His goal was to go every week, and so I started reflecting on that, because Stanley and I, over the years, we've attempted to have regular temple date nights and things like that, and it inevitably falls apart over a period of time, and so I couldn't help but reflect why, what is it that keeps us from such a simple thing, particularly if we live within an hour's drive?
Speaker 1:of a temple Sure.
Speaker 2:I'm asking you, you, what stops us?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think for me, if one thing that Dennis Deaton, who we had on the show here, is really big on, is that there is no coincidence and that there is an absolute opposition to all things when it comes to the temple, I think we have our internal reasons. I think we have like our own. Some people, I anxiety forever. When I was going through that period of time where I was having heart palpitations and work was just overwhelming me and I was taking medication to slow down my heart when we go into a session, I felt a great degree of anxiety going into an endowment session. So I actually stayed away from that for a while because because, even though I know there wouldn't have been a big deal for me to step out or excuse myself, it just felt like it was such a sacred thing that I didn't want to commit myself and feel trapped in. But like, that's just one micro example.
Speaker 1:But in all cases there's an adversary pushing hard against it and it's almost comical that, like when we said that time that the adversary it's going to go wrong, there's always going to be something pushing against it because of the eternal nature of us being there, according to Dennis Deaton. So when we have that. We almost have to anticipate that the adversary is going to have these random acts of confusion or things that would slow us down, whether it's a car issue, whatever it is that we have to overcome it to go. But it really isn't something that's easy unless it's regular. I've learned that if I'm really committed and going consistently, that's the only way to get the adversary off my back.
Speaker 2:No, I think that's fair when I reflect back in church service in general, when I think back, just as a ministering brother, the times that I've been most successful. This is back in the home teaching days. I, when I set dates in advance with my families, which is negotiate with them like pick one day night a month, recurring that we just know is on our calendar. You know it's like okay, the second Sunday at two o'clock of every month, that's the only time it was smooth.
Speaker 2:Those visits happened. And when we didn't have that type of setup, then it was always like when are you free? I don't know, I'll call you, I'll let you know. Didn't have that type of setup, then it was always like when are you free? I don't know, I'll call you, I'll let you know. And now that we're in the spirit of ministering it's very different and it should be free-flowing and inspired. But it's when you have those regular recurring things. But that's an interesting point that you were just making, because that makes me reflect back to my mission where I was in Western Australia, and back at the time that I was there, which was the late 80s, early 90s, missionary work was not easy. You know, australians are amazing people. I love them with all my heart. They're great and they'd love you if you're an American and they want to talk to you, but they just don't want to talk religion and so the expectation is kind of set with you back then it's like, coming into the mission, don't expect to baptize much.
Speaker 2:Oh okay, no-transcript. They had, I think, two stakes in the entire city of Perth, and to go to the temple was a three-day trip to Sydney.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Now they have four stakes and a temple. It's just booming. But back to the point was, we did have baptisms, but we knew inevitably within 24 hours we would just say what's going to happen. The phone would always ring, and whoever was that was scheduled to be baptized would always call with an objection, with something like oh this happened, my mom's freaking out. The adversary was always at work, and so I think that's a great point. Temple work is an orc. It's just like baptism, and the adversary will do whatever they can to prevent you from furthering their work.
Speaker 1:It's all they have time to do, like their entire purpose is just to create resistance and for us to remind. I feel it's almost like we can't. I wish people would bear their testimony. I guess we can't do it this way. But you know, we talk about the existence of our savior, but I think it'd be nice if we also acknowledge the existence of the adversary and just feel like I also know the adversary is real. I also know that he is doing everything and his legion of followers are doing everything they can to make me feel this much worse about myself or make it that much harder for me to go to the temple, or whatever. That is Because I just for me the idea of me not really understanding the eternal significance. I think I get some glimpse of it. But if we really understood how powerful it is for us to be at the temple, if we really had that veil thinned and we knew what that meant, not just to them but to us, I don't know if we wouldn't all be going every day.
Speaker 2:Really, and so when you get into his talk, he actually has all these bullet points. That would help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's get through those, because they were awesome. He talked about these were additional suggestions of how to gain more benefit from the temple of text.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the first one is so deep Understand the doctrine related to temple ordinances, especially the significance of the atonement of Jesus Christ. I mean that one alone is a lifetime of study.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right. But to your point, if we start to focus on these things, you go in with a different viewpoint. You know it's. For me, temple worship is ebbed and flowed in terms of its meaning. Sometimes it's very transactional, it's I grab a name, I schedule the appointment, I get there on time, I change, I hurry, get to the chapel go, which is very different than what you described. You know, when you go meaningfully, with time and that kind of stuff, absolutely. But when you go with that, thinking about how the atonement plays into the temple and what that means, I think you go in with more of a desire. So that was very deep for me. And then the second one he's talking about why you're participating. Consider your relationship to Jesus Christ, his relationship to our Heavenly Father Again, so it's a meaningful act while you're there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's almost this deeper why? Yeah, there couldn't be a better why of you know when we're in there. If the why is to exact obedience, it can become more transactional. I definitely experienced that. But how would that look if, before going, there was a pondering around understanding the doctrine as it pertains to the atonement of Jesus Christ and my relationship to Jesus Christ? Like hey, today I'm going to really reflect on what this means for the atonement and how am I doing with Jesus? There's different stages of our relationship with the Savior, the ultimate being his friend, right, and it goes from being a servant to all these things until ultimately, we're his friend. Are we friends of the Savior, yet Are we standing for him in everything we do? And so, yeah, I think that probably makes the words you probably hear them from a different place, because we're being a different type of person. We're being there to really be a student of the temple and not just an attendant.
Speaker 2:I mean, you hear that all the time, particularly growing up in the church. People talk about going to the temple and learning something new every time yeah um, you know, I I got married.
Speaker 2:Well, I guess I'm not married. But then doubt was back in 1988, so I'm gonna doubt like almost 40 years, which feels crazy. And so, again, for the first period of time that I was going to the temple regularly, it was just kind of like okay, senior, I've seen this before, done that kind of a thing, right, you don't go with those fresh eyes, right, and so you have to make that effort. But that's how the gospel is right. So you get out of it what you put into it. That's why Christ spoke in parables. There were those who were ready to decipher and understand and those who just took it at that surface level, right. So the temple has those layers for us if we're willing to go in and peel it back.
Speaker 1:You know, someone who's been really an example of this to me recently is Alex. Alex is serving his mission in Texas right now. He's incredibly thoughtful and just analytical and it's interesting how this new generation has that capability to see things at different levels. You were talking to him last night and you were talking about this concept of how there's enmity between us and the adversary, and that was the discussion and I just remember the whole time in the back of my mind I was keeping up with the conversation, but in the back of my mind I'm like when I was his age, I did not care about that at all. It wasn't even on my mind. It was like OK, what does that even mean? Who cares? I've seen this movie.
Speaker 2:Yeah no, I love his letters. I look forward to his letters everywhere he cracks me up, he's, he leads in and he's just so engaging and in the end he just blows you away with his spirituality. You know it's. It's wonderful to see the growth in these young men.
Speaker 1:I think part of it's because he's. He's in the Lord's country, in Texas. That's right, the best country on the earth.
Speaker 2:We're from Texas, in case you don't. That's awesome, but he goes on to talk about expressing gratitude for the incomparable blessings that are flowed from the temple ordinances. Just the notion of expressing gratitude is powerful. There's actual science behind that right. If you have a gratitude journal, you're happier.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you focus on the things that you have that you're thankful for, then you have a different outlook, and so I think that applies to the temple equally. You go in very grateful for the temple blessings. It makes you focus on why am I here and what are these blessings when you reflect upon eternal families and the bonding of generations, and it's just really powerful it is.
Speaker 1:You know, it's interesting too Oftentimes when I go to the temple now with this different mindset and I'm looking for answers. One of the biggest things that's changed my temple worship is this idea of going in with a question, and usually it's a question of something I'm scared of. And it was so funny because once, when I was really worried about something, I had this idea about how worrying is really like practicing atheism. When we worry, we're not really living in that faith and confidence in our Savior. But when I go to the temple with a question and I'm worried about something, what I really and I'll never forget this pattern that I picked up is that when I am overwhelmed and I'm stressed and I'm like Heavenly Father, please bless that this will happen or this won't happen or whatever that, oftentimes the answer comes in the form of a memory of something that reminds me how grateful I am.
Speaker 1:So talking about expressing gratitude in this, one of the times I remember was really stressed about it and I had this distinct thought that the Lord had surrounded me with my siblings specifically because he knew that I would need each of them in a way that would support me in my most difficult trials in my own Geth I mean gethsemane, right and so I thought about my siblings, specifically you and your in the sisters, and it was just so amazing to me how like I didn't get in the answer and it was like, hey, everything's gonna be okay, but what I got was this recognition of like, hey, I've given you, I've given you these angels on earth to be with you, and I just felt this gratitude.
Speaker 1:And it's so true you can't feel anxiety and gratitude simultaneously. So I love this whole thing. When we talk about the peace of the temple, this promise, or the suggestion from Elder Perry, talking about always prayerfully express gratitude for the incomparable blessings is the key to finding the peace that we so often are desperately seeking in our lives. I also love scheduled regular visits to the temple, like you mentioned.
Speaker 2:Leave sufficient time and be unhurried. This one struck me hard Big time. That's why we're both quick guys.
Speaker 1:We go fast, like I'm in there, like tiny, you taught me Okay, hold on. I'm interrupting because this is a true story. You were with me when I received my endowments and I will never forget this because I appreciated it. You're like we were getting ready to change. You're like, hey, buddy, watch me, this is the quickest way.
Speaker 1:And it was so true because, like I learned from you and then you know moving forward, I would sit down first and just be like I don't know why, but I take great pride, I take pride, I'm just efficient and it's like I'm like let's do this thing, but part of that doesn't necessarily comply with this thing called leaving sufficient time, because it's not about speed, it's not. It's about actually quite the opposite of letting us be, you know, soak in that environment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not about that at all. In fact, you know, I don't remember what it was. In the past year and a half or so we were there with Grave N, great Niagara, our brother-in-law, and I remember just going through my routine and it wasn't trying to be speedy, that's just kind of how I am, but I noticed Greg focusing on the older gentleman next to him first before himself, and I was like wow, that's a powerful lesson.
Speaker 2:Right, right, like the why going Right right Like the why? Going back to those first two things about the why, if we're considering our relationship, I would have a lot of downtime where my job was finding a job, and that's kind of when I went to the temple most often on a very regular basis, and that's when I would go unhurried. I would go and literally sit in the chapel for an hour before just to read scriptures.
Speaker 2:It's a very different experience when you don't have to rush because you have to get to the next meeting when you have something planned afterwards and it was like no, my day is, for the temple, Very different.
Speaker 1:It was a blessing to have that slowing not that the COVID was a blessing, but I remember in that time for you telling me that you'd also wake up early in the morning and just go walk for miles. Yeah, and what that did for your mental health is just the way it changed the way you perceive the world around you and how you know whether it's the temple, the actual house, the lord, or it's the map that we create by by spending time with how I father you know it's a, it's a special thing, just to give time and space in this world.
Speaker 2:that's all about you know faster, quicker, yeah, and I think co is an example of anything where we have trials in our life and they are as we choose them to be right. I mean, um, covet in the world, shutting down and losing my job and all those things were were hard. But I could choose to learn from that and experience things such as Temple blessings and we will talk towards the end of this some other things that he discusses relative to loss of loved ones, how the temple helps with that. But all the trials are simply there for us to choose how we want to receive them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you really did preview something that I think will be a cornerstone to this discussion that we're having. That hit me the hardest about trust and the trials we're given Before we get to there. Though, just to kind of finish out and round out these bullet points, one of them was so specific and so powerful to what we just talked about, which was remove your watch. Yeah, I've never heard that before and I'm sure it's just like.
Speaker 2:When I saw that, I'm like, yeah, and say that I'd add leave your cell phone in the car yes, let's just silence it, leave it in the car, don't even bring it in back because that, because that's when I bring it and I leave it in the locker. That's the first thing my mind goes to as soon as the session finishes. Check my phone.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's true, it's like, okay, done, checkmark, not checkmark. But just even, just again, the hurried nature that the adversary wants us to live in, culturally speaking, americans are the most I mean when we travel outside of our country.
Speaker 2:Very few cultures are as hurried as we are by a long shot, yeah, and so taking their phone and leaving in the car.
Speaker 1:I love that idea.
Speaker 2:And a little bit for that rotate activity so you can participate in all the ordinances. It was one that I didn't fully realize the benefit and the blessings because Stephanie and I have always historically been focused on. Temple means entailment. You go for an entailment session.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it was probably 10 years ago. We've been married 32 years, like 10 years ago. It's like tonight we should do ceilings. It was amazing yeah, just to experience um this ceiling of of two people together as spouses or families, and that thing was so, so new to us. And then we we had it into our rotation uhatories. Yeah, that was awesome. Still can't get her to do baptisms. She doesn't want to get her hair wet.
Speaker 1:Respect, I respect that completely, it's definitely if you're listening.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you felt the bus hit you Right over you. No.
Speaker 1:I think that's actually a common thing. I know that we've gone through that too. You know, heather will usually sit and watch if I'm baptizing the boys. Watch if I'm baptizing the boys and if I'm being really honest, sometimes I'm like I don't want to get rain, I don't want to get totally wet, but the blessings I mean again, when you're in it and you're rotating to that point. It's such an amazing thing because there's so many things. You know, the endowment itself, especially when they started putting the words on the screen, really changed the game because it's like there's just so much depth, just to that. But then the ceilings and then the, you know the initiatories and you see, as you go through those different rotations, how they all connect and create this path of the covenant path. Yes, it's pretty. I don't even know what the words are Like. It's just, it's really remarkable.
Speaker 2:It's pretty powerful. Yeah, you see the whole thing as you mentioned as a path. You see it all strung together. Yeah, so that's awesome, I love that. So they've talked about listening carefully to the presentation of each element of the ordinance with an open-minded heart. Again, that kind of goes back to just mindfulness Instinct to Din, listen, be mindful of the individual.
Speaker 1:You are performing the ordinance for that was a big one for me.
Speaker 1:Just the idea of you know, when we I was taught by Curtis Keller, who's in our state presidency, the power of of white matters to bring your own name Like there's no judgment, yeah, it's like, but it's like a good, better, best kind of thing where, if we can, if we can research the family name that we take. I had the privilege of of doing the work for Reverend Humphreys, who's our great, great grandfather, and just having a direct line to that was so special because it was this idea of like being mindful of that individual and and almost like having a conversation with the idea of that person in my mind just helped me think less about myself and that opened me up to having a completely different experience. That was an easier way. What Greg did with the old man sitting next to him in terms of getting changed for me, thinking of that person in that visit as my own and almost having a relationship with that person through the endowment, completely shifted the spirit of it for me, because I was listening from a place of acting as a savior.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's interesting because in that same paragraph he talks about, at times, pray that he or she will recognize the vital importance of the ordinances and be worthy, or prepare to be worthy, dependent on it. So he's talking about praying for the person on the other side of the veil, while you're doing their work. Yeah, that's amazing. You're so mindful of why you're there and for whom you're doing the work. I mean, that's a totally different way to approach it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. I love this next one Recognize that the much of the majesty of the sealing ordinance cannot be understood and remembered with one light experience. Substantial, subsequent vicarious work permits one to understand much more of what is communicated in the light ordinances. So just understanding that repetition is key, kind of knowing that we're going to pick maybe one or two things and just focus on that and not worry about everything else.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And his final bullet point is realize the sealing ordinance is not enduring until after it is sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. Both individuals must be worthy and want the sealing to be eternal, right, wow.
Speaker 1:So that scares me a little, yeah.
Speaker 2:So when you start to put all this together, I think about the powerful combination of preparation, both in terms of seeking to find an ancestor, intentionally understanding them as an individual, and then preparing to enter in the house of the Lord with them. You know, it's kind of like when I take the sacrament every week, I reflect upon many things. You know I tend to reread the. I take the sacrament every week. I reflect upon many things. You know I tend to reread the sacrament prayer and think about what that means, and then for me, the second that that ordinance is over. That's when I start thinking about how I prepare for next week. So if you start to think about all this in totality, we have ordinances available to us in our lives at all the time.
Speaker 2:We should always be in a preparation boat. You know. Think about if we had a true temple mindset combined with the ordinance of the sacrament mindset. What wouldn't you do every day? So the thought that occurred to me as I was reading this I have two brother-in-laws on my wife's side of the family who are just amazing athletes. They've done numerous Ironmans, marathons. One's an endurance hiker and they always have the next race on the calendar. Interesting always. They always have something that they are preparing for and so for them, knowing that the race is that the next ironman's in three months, that dictates their daily preparation schedule. Okay, well, today I've got to run this many miles, I need to swim this many miles, tomorrow I need to swim this many miles, tomorrow I need to do so, on and so forth. So if we flip that to temple and sabbatical preparation, we always have something on the horizon that we're preparing for and that should affect how we think and approach every day.
Speaker 1:Well, we'll do the equivalent of that for you, Because you know, the book Atomic Habits talks about that. The best habits are developed when we aren't looking for a specific outcome, but we're looking for a specific transformation. So, instead of losing 20 pounds, becoming a runner right Like becoming a surfer, is a completely more successful way of. It's a different mindset. You know, in your case, you're looking at this thing that you termed temple mindset, which I love the idea of a temple mindset. So what's the next thing? That's that? Do you think of someone? If someone has a temple mindset, which I love the idea of a temple mindset so what's the next thing? That's that? Do you think if someone, if someone, has a temple mindset, what's that next thing that they're putting on their calendar? That is that what they're striving to achieve.
Speaker 2:I think it's just that temple, that regular temple attendance. But I also think it ties you back into genealogy, right, genealogy becomes meaningful, and that's kind of work I'm trying to get. And so it is past christmas is I think you saw. I gave mom and dad a very beautiful print of our family tree. Yeah, and on dad's side it stops abruptly after like three generations on his mother's side been there from germany, and the records don't go back any further than the person who came off the boat in New York in the late 1800s. That just started new records. And so then my mind just starts going wild like well, who's behind that, how we find them, how do we unlock?
Speaker 1:how we?
Speaker 2:unlock that right, you know. And so when you start to tie the two together, it really does draw the hearts of the children, of the fathers, right it's. You start to think about how together, it really does draw the hearts of the children to the fathers, right, you start to think about how can I help them?
Speaker 1:Right, and we have to think with what we believe that we know them. We have to realize that these aren't relationships that are just. We're going to meet them one day and it'll be like meeting them for the first time. When we meet them, it's going to be a complete remembrance of our eternal connection that started well before we all came to earth. And to know that we were connected and that we had an opportunity to do something for them, that will either be a very great day or a very sad day when we realize that the depth of those relationships are eternal, that we've always had them and that we had a chance to do it.
Speaker 1:So I like that idea of the temple mindset, comparing that to your brothers-in-law being, you know, endurance athletes or triathletes. Maybe the identity is being a very loving family member, like maybe that's what it is is I'm going to be that savior on Mount Zion as they talk about, as we become passionate in our temple service, that we become saviors on Mount Zion for our brothers and sisters, like literal, not just. You know this general term.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he continues that theme as he goes down a little further and he talks about. He was talking about thinking about the individual from when he's doing the work, in terms of staying outside the temple and like an inverted cone and sanctifying it to the heavens and the people, and his whole point was viewing people as individuals and that should draw you into your, your family, research, uh, and doing those things, and I was just kind of like holding a mirror up to myself wow, is this an area I should do better? In fact, in my patriarchal blessing it talks about my work in genealogy does it.
Speaker 2:yeah, and I felt horrible for years. I even took classes at byu on genealogy and this is back when it was all microfiche and all the microfilm and all that kind of stuff and it was so much harder then. It's so much easier now, but I'm still not as deeply involved in that as I need to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I only have a couple sentences in mind that talk about Temple and family history, but it talked about how I would develop a great love for it and it would bless me at a time of need. It's amazing how so few words can have such a powerful impact at a time when you need it.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know something that I do remember. I remember when you suggested this talk. I didn't remember any of it until he started talking about this concept that he mentioned at the beginning. Right, this is the source of strength and power in the time of need. I think sometimes we totally forget the humanity of even these apostles and prophets, because they're the leaders of the church. They are the lightning rod for all things controversy, all things counterintention to the church. And when you look at these individual lives, they are not immune to incredible trial and oftentimes they're the ones who struggle more than than most. What? What? Elder? Um, I forgot his name elder, elder, elder Scott sorry, yeah, but elder Scott went through that.
Speaker 1:I remember. I remember being you know whatever that was almost 20 years ago hearing this, and it's my heart breaking for him as he went through this. So let's talk a little bit about this thing that he mentions how this, how temple attendance and worship is the source of strength and power in knees. What is it that he goes through?
Speaker 2:So he went through several things very powerfully. He talks initially about the loss of his wife, but prior to the loss of his wife he had two children that he lost in rapid succession. And how heartbreaking I mean rapid succession and how heartbreaking I mean I can't even comprehend how heartbreaking it must be to lose a child. And then you know, years later his wife was taken from him. But he's never complaining, he says, because he knows it was the will of the lord and he knows that it was an experience the lord wanted him to have. And so he's back to that notion of trials where he chose to view. What is it that he can learn from this? Then he expresses that he's often felt the presence of his wife with him through the pale during his trials, and things like that. The gist that I took was that the temple does give us an eternal perspective.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can jump in. One of my favorite quotes he says on this is he says, regarding the loss of his wife, I have never asked why, but rather what is it that he wants me to learn from this experience? Before I continue with that quote, one thing that's interesting is that President Nelson, in the most recent conference address, he actually, when he lost his wife in front of him, he actually mentions in the talk that what comforted him was that he did ask the Lord to help him understand why she was taken. So I don't think when Elder Scott's talking about asking why, I think what he's saying is why me Right. Like he never asked, why me Right. But President Nelson actually asked. And he says in the talk and it's really powerful that one of the most comforting things he's received was being taught and understanding why it was her time to go. There was an actual revelation of that. But what we're talking about here with Elder Scott, he says I never asked why, but rather what is it that he wants me to learn from this experience? And this is what blows me away. This is only a temple mindset. That's a phrase I'm going to start using, hank.
Speaker 1:I believe that it is a good way to face the unpleasant things in our lives Not complaining, but thanking the Lord for the trust he places in us when he gives us the opportunities to overcome difficulties. And the language here is so interesting how he's saying overcome difficulties. Like you know, going to work and having traffic is a difficulty for me Like that's losing a spouse or losing a child and then literally weeks later he loses a daughter at birth, a few minutes after being born, and then weeks later a son who has a heart problem and passes away. And just that idea that, like he's referring to these as difficulties tells me that he has an internal perspective at such a grand level. Just that idea that, like he's referring to these as difficulties tells me that he has an internal perspective at such a grand level he understands that like it's a I mean I even hesitate on saying this but like these horrible things we go through are such gifts because, they're indications of the Lord's trust and it it's so funny with one of my trials in particular.
Speaker 1:That involves people that are very near and dear to me that I wouldn't want to share publicly. But the adversary works really hard to make me feel that I am less than or not worthy because I have the trial, whereas the opposite is quite true is that the Lord trusts me enough to experience some of these hardships and he loves me enough to go. Wow, he's going to be able to be the right person to go through this. It reminds me of being on my mission in Guatemala and being with a woman who who we were talking to, and she had a child with down syndrome and she was told by her, her pastor, that it was because she had sinned, and I remember telling her no, that's actually quite the opposite. This child is going to be elect, he doesn't need to go through life in the same way and he's totally fine. He's not guaranteed to return to the presence of the father, and I remember watching her just break down and re-eve and I think that's how we have to think of it. But man, that's just not how it feels.
Speaker 2:That's one of the things he celebrated in here was the passing of his two young children, the rejoicing he had knowing they were going straight back to our father Because they were before the age of accountability, they were pure, and that's a wonderful knowledge. But I also think you're handing out something which is important is that knowledge itself still requires a level of maturity in understanding that, in grasping it, and that comes with time. And what I mean by that is I remember when I was, I think, 29, I was called the Zalber's Corps president. We were in Northern California and one of the Corps members who was quite older than I was well, I say that in retrospect I think he was in his early 40s.
Speaker 1:But I was a 29-year-old 42. We're just blowing past that age together.
Speaker 2:So old, but as a 29 year old, 42, we're just blowing past that age together. So old, and he. In Cormac, the topic of discussion. I was leading a discussion, he opened up about the recent passing of the mother. He was quite emotional about it and I made a comment of what a blessing it is to have a knowledge of utero families and he blew up on me about you don't understand the pain I'm going through. Oh sure, it was still very raw and fresh for Harry.
Speaker 2:And so no disrespect to this good brother, because he was a good brother, he is a good brother, he was temple-worthy, he had this knowledge of eternal families, but in the moment it's still so. More pressing is that. I guess my point is that, with young Scott and had life experience to the point such that he was able to see his way through that storm through the eyes of the Lord, through the power of the atonement, right. So it's something that we have to experience. It's like a muscle that you've got to develop, but with faith you can't right. So I think that's why so temple worship is so foundational. It helps you to develop that muscle so that when you do have those trials the first one, it's a pretty hard, and then you, you learn from it, you grow because you choose to do so, and then the next one becomes. I don't know if it becomes easier, because I can't say I've had the equivalent of those trials, but it seems that you are capable of dealing with them better each time after that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's so powerful to me to think about this concept of agency in the middle of all this, because it doesn't feel to me, when I've had my hardships, like there's a choice. There's so much intense negative emotion when you're in the thick of something really heavy that it's really hard, and what I've gone through is penance to compare to what this is. But it's one of those things where penance pence. I don't know.
Speaker 2:What's the word?
Speaker 1:My wife is listening to this right now, going, oh well, but it's, it's so small, but it's like this idea that we have a, we have the power to choose, you know, like we really do, no matter how horrible it is. I'm not saying it's easy Cause, like what do I know in that regard, but clearly elder Scott shows us that in that minute what he said to his wife when they lose the son, right after losing a daughter, he says we do not need to worry because our children were born in the covenant we have. He says this to her literally minutes after losing the son we have the assurance that they will have them with us in the future, now that we have a reason to live. Now we have a reason to live extremely well. Such a powerful thought, like looking at it positively See, now we've got the right motivation to be closer to the savior. That is not something I think organically that would come to my mind. That's an agency issue. Now we have this reason.
Speaker 2:We have a son and a daughter who have qualified to go to celestial kingdom and I think what's also awesome is, you know, a little later he talks about um, the focus that it gives him. So he says what I'm trying to teach is that when we keep the temple covenants we have made and we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, that, come what may, we have no reason to worry or feel despondent. Wow, right. And so I've often thought if my sweet wife should pass before me, that's. My only goal is to give back to her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's so powerful to think about the motivation that that creates. It almost colors those bullet points, hank, that we talked about at the beginning in such a different light. You know, those bullet points that talk about like not wearing a watch and all these things. These aren't tactics to just make it nicer to go. These are tips to help us really be present too, so that we can be, you know, like, like a sponge to the blessings and the revelation that required to change us Cause when we go. I've noticed this over the last few years from his. I've really taken this seriously with the challenges of my life is that I'm changing. Um, one of the great weaknesses I have is that I love comedy and all of its forms, no matter how grossly vile and intensely inappropriate it might be be when I share it suffer from that same thing.
Speaker 1:And and I've been so grateful to no longer be I've, I've lost that Like I no longer think those things are funny, because I see the irreverence in certain things. Right, I'm not trying to say I don't take myself lightly, heaven knows I can't take myself seriously, I wouldn't survive without laughing. But this idea that, like, whatever our weaknesses are, they just. It's like we're getting transformed as we spend time that close to the lord, and these things that elder scott talks about are art tips and tricks.
Speaker 2:these are, this is the pattern, right, practicing heaven I like that term transform, you know, I'm just referring to it as kind of a maturation, muscle development, but it's really the transformation. Sure, you know, and I think we all have that capability, in fact I know we all have the capability that's the whole purpose of this life is to be tested and tried. And we have the knowledge that through the atonement we have the backing of the Savior we can get through literally any trial if we choose to turn to our Savior.
Speaker 1:That's so powerful and that quote I'm looking for it again, cause you, if you have it there, if you could read it again talking about how we'd never have to fear. It was just the idea of like when we have, oh, here it is.
Speaker 1:What I'm trying to teach is that when we keep them reading it again, when, I try to keep the temple covenants we have made and trying to live them right, then, come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent. Yeah, we have no reason. Yeah, you know, and I love that assurance from someone who really has practiced what he preached.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. That's kind of the lens through which I try to filter all of my trials in life, whether it be money or work or any kind of stress, is, I think is this a mortal trial or is this an eternal trial? Nine times out of 10, it's a moral trial and I think, okay. Well, the Lord has proven time and again, when I do what's right, pay my tithing work hard, he takes care of us. I'm confident I'll never be the richest guy on the street, but I don't care. Well, I'm confident I'll never be the richest guy on the street, but I don't care.
Speaker 2:That's not what matters, and I think all of this gives us that comfort that if we do these things, if we stay true to the covenant path, that there is a great chlorophyll purpose to it all.
Speaker 1:It's amazing how the temple is such a literal representation of the atonement, in the sense that it either makes up for what's lost or changes it to where it does. It's not a loss at all. I was talking to a good friend of mine this weekend. He flew into town for our event and he just finished being bishop. We were driving the car and he was lamenting a little bit about his professional journey and how he just never felt quite ready to branch out on his own and start his own company. And he wasn't really ripping on it, but he could sense that there was this lamentation of like what is it about me? Why was I not ready to make these steps, to maybe be more assertive in my professional career?
Speaker 1:And the Spirit overcame me and I just turned to him while we were driving. I said, hey, listen, the reason you weren't ready was because the Lord needed your full attention to be when you were called as a bishop. I want you to think about the impact that you had on those young men and women and the way that you served those people in the ward and what that transformation was for them to be, for you to be a literal judge in Israel in an area that desperately needed strong leadership from you, and he started to get emotional and I just remember feeling that spirit and knowing that that's what mattered. All this other stuff is so ridiculously unimportant compared to not having to be afraid because we were living our covenants and are drawing power from that to overcome all things.
Speaker 2:Right, I've seen the same transformation. My best friend's a Harvard graduate, very driven, very successful, and if I were to go back in my relationship with him, just knowing him professionally as well, he's always been very driven, highly accomplished and his aspirations have always been there. And then, as he's progressed spiritually, he's held various callings. He's now state president and that has influenced and affected in the same way. Where he now talks, not about being a captain of industry until he's 70 and doing all these big things, he's like yeah, I got to figure out how in my early 60s I can pivot so that I can do more church service and maybe I can do this type of a thing here that allows me more free time over here to serve a mission. And you start to get a different and better perspective.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Perspective, being key, coining your phrase, temple mindset. I think that's the key to this whole thing, and it's amazing how that mindset shapes everything, not just our trials but our successes. We give our failures and our wins to the Lord and we just become a tool in his hands, and that gives us that freedom to not have any connection to the outcome because in the end, we trust in who we're being led by.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. The one thing I'll say is this whole notion of the trials, and he was reflecting on the deaths of his wife and children and things like that. I've served as a counselor to three bishops over the course of 15 years, been an elders, quorum president, high priest, group leader, and those positions have put me in situations where I've interacted with a variety of church members in different stages of their testimony. And there are those who come into the church either young in life and leave, or are baptized and converted as an adult, but then have these wonderful major spiritual experiences and then it wanes and they struggle. And what I try to help them understand is life was never intentionally easy.
Speaker 2:Life was meant to be a roller coaster where you have this experience that gives you faith, that then you have another trial. You have to reflect back on that faith, to come back, and that's what temple is all about, right. So attending the temple is kind of that anchor, so to bring this all back together, to have regular temple attendance gives you that armor. So as you're going on that roller coaster of life, the dips are far less deep, right, because you have that route, that frame of reference to come back to that that spiritual fire is right there. You know, if you think that you're always going to have this daily powerful spiritual experience, you're probably not and you can't let that affect your testimony. You can't let that keep you out of the temple. In fact, I'd argue the opposite. Get back to the temple.
Speaker 1:Go more often. Go more often, right, exactly, I love that Listen. One final question I like to ask everybody in the podcast is especially on this particular topic of how our temple covenants and the temple can help us be a source of strength and power in times of needs. What would you tell your kids and grandkids? That's part of this actual purpose of the podcast. It's not just about promoting it for people who are listening now, but it's for your descendants, specifically Sure, what would you want them to know about the temple worship and how that becomes a source and strength for overcoming trial?
Speaker 2:I would encourage all of my children to have the faith to go. So, you know, my kids they're awesome, they're awesome, but they're all in a very spectrum and state of gospel maturity. Sure, you know, my only son declares himself an atheist. He doesn't believe there's a God. I have a daughter who does not go to church at all. Then I've got two daughters that are just very active and aspirational and those types of things I would say you've got to put your faith in the Lord.
Speaker 2:You know, particularly for my older two who are not really active in the church, it's you've got to put it to the test. You know, try, try. You know what do you have to lose? You know, look at my, look at your parents. I would say we are an example of a happy, loving couple. Like even my children will often comment on how they're surprised in this world and divorce is so prevalent and they could see how in love we are and how much fun we have together and all the things that we do. I associate all that back to our temple ceiling. You know, we are one and that's, that's how I want them to be.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you and Stephanie are such a beautiful example of a powerfully committed marriage. It's an example and such a great testimony for my kids and for me and Heather, my wife, and it's amazing. We're all given different trials, right? Some of us have really difficult marriages, even when they're going to the temple, right, it's not a reflection of that piece of it, but just what you're saying to your kids is. One thing I would just want to echo to all people who are listening is that, whatever our trials may be, to not let the adversary get in our head and let us think that it's like there's something wrong with us. Rather, you are being trusted with that thing that's overwhelming you right now. You are the thing that you struggle with, the thing that makes it really hard for you to feel enough is. The is the very indication that you are enough great and that the, that the Lord loves you. So listen, hank. Thank you so much for being on this show. I sure love you, man.
Speaker 2:I love you. Thank you for inviting me. I guess my last comment is Temple Mindset is trademark of Henry Humphreys. 2020 pop.
Speaker 1:The book is coming out next year. We're officially announcing 2026 Temple Mindset by Hank Humphreys. Parentheses not Will at all. All right, man, Thank you so much. Listening to today's episode, we want to hear from you. What additional show ideas would you like to hear about? What questions do you have in your heart that we can help answer? Please leave those in the show notes of today's episode or over on Instagram. Thank you for your cooperation in helping make this show the best it can be. Until next time.
