Mission Stories
Get insights on having a powerful and successful full-time LDS mission. This podcast shares inspiring stories and practical principles for embracing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, overcoming challenges, and building a strong foundation for lifelong discipleship. Faith-promoting stories and lessons from real full-time LDS mission experiences to inspire and teach. Based on The Mission Prep Series by Shawn Record.
Mission Stories
Temple & Exaltation More Important Than Mission & Salvation - Mission Prep in The Temple!
This episode features Shawn and Lauren emphasizing that the ultimate mission of the church is not just salvation, but the celestial kingdom and exaltation.
The core principle discussed is that the temple is "more imperative than the mission". While missionary work is vital, the eternal perspective places a greater focus on what individuals will do in the temple for their own souls. The hosts note that church culture often prioritizes mission preparation over temple preparation, partly due to the sacred nature of the temple making it less openly discussed.
The episode delves into the profound difference between:
• Salvation: Defined by overcoming the "great dilemma." This dilemma arises from two eternal laws: "no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God", and "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". Without divine intervention, this means no one can return to God's presence. Jesus Christ provides the "good news" (the meaning of "gospel") to overcome this. Salvation is achieved through faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, leading to being "at one" with God again, overcoming both physical and spiritual death (separation). Salvation is a gift available to all who accept Christ, even those who inherit terrestrial or telestial kingdoms.
• Exaltation: This is a distinct and higher goal than salvation, directly tied to the temple. It cannot be achieved without the ordinances and covenants of the temple, specifically five additional covenants received during the endowment, and ultimately, the sealing covenant. Exaltation is defined by the "continuation of lives," "eternal lives," and "glory added upon their heads forever and ever". This means progressing to become like God by becoming a creator and continuing to create life, not just for oneself but also for one's posterity.
The episode encourages missionaries and members to focus on preparing for and understanding temple covenants as the most effective way to prepare for a mission and to help others embark on their own path to exaltation. The joy of missionary work, they conclude, comes from sharing this "good news" and helping others make covenants that lead to this ultimate potential as children of God.
The mission of the church is not salvation. It is the celestial kingdom and exaltation. That's the mission of the church. Everything we do is to drive us to celestial kingdom, exaltation. All right, we're back. Mission Prep Series podcast. How exciting. And Lauren's with us again. Hey, Lauren.
SPEAKER_00:What's up?
SPEAKER_03:You just spent some time in Utah. You're back. You went to general conference, didn't you?
SPEAKER_00:Yes. Two sessions, actually.
SPEAKER_03:Let's just say on the count of three, because there's a consensus in the entire world. On the count of three, which talk was the best and how amazing was it? On the count of three, one, two, three. Sister Runia. That talk was so powerful. It was so good. It was so, so gospel of Jesus Christ at its core. core and at its basics. That's what I loved about Elder Holland when I first was younger and he became an apostle. Every time he talked, it was like, this guy gets just the core basic simplicity, right? When Nephi, or who was it, Alma, that says, I glory in plainness or in directness or whatever. I just love that he could deliver such concise, clear, like, oh, I get it. And Sister Rania's talk was that. It was so clear. spiritually powerful and just at the root of the wisdom of eternal truth. So today, this is a principle from our class that we teach. It's the last one. It's the very last one I teach because I think it's a perfect transition to missionaries who are now, they've caught the fire. They've got their callings. They're super excited. And then I hit them with this message and it both confuses them and shocks them. But I feel like this is a perfect transition principle to end the classes on, my series on, because A, it's practical, and B, I don't know why, but we don't talk about this like this as much as I wish we would. It was really refreshing that for the past three years in General Conference, Elder Oaks and our prophet both focused on this message and nothing but this message. And they did it with such clarity that it was just exciting. So this principle is called temple more imperative than the mission. In other words, you listeners who are preparing for your mission, the message is this. Your mission is awesome. It's so exciting. Like you're so lucky. You're so blessed. And it's really important. Start getting ready for it. But it is in your eternal perspective, it is nothing compared to what you will do in the temple of the Lord. Nothing. It means nothing compared to what you, for your own soul, will do in the temple of the Lord. And so for a handful of reasons, focus on the temple. Don't focus as much on the mission. If you focus on the temple, there's no better way or thing that will prepare you for your mission. I don't know, Lauren, do you see, for some reason, the culture of the church is a little backwards in that sense, right? You're young kids, we get our callings, we're excited, right? but we build up the mission and it's like, oh, by the way, get your temple endowments out. Go make some covenants that are for your eternal exaltation, by the way. Do you feel like that's been how it is?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, absolutely. Why
SPEAKER_03:do you think?
SPEAKER_00:I don't... Well, partially, maybe I could think that part of it has to do with the temple and its sacred nature. People... especially younger people don't know where to draw the line between what to talk about and what not to talk about. I know personally for me, I never took like a temple prep class or anything like that. And so, but I did take mission prep. And so I think people talk more about and focus more on things that they're comfortable with and that the temple going through for your first time and just in its sacred nature is kind of an unknown, but the mission is so widely talked about, so shared and universal. And so I think it's a little bit more of a safe space for people. I
SPEAKER_03:love that you mentioned that. And the first part of, well, maybe because we keep it there, it is sacred, not secret, but sacred. We don't know how to talk about that. There is, I want to recommend a podcast episode called called Leading Saints. Leading Saints. Let's see, who is it? Yeah, Leading Saints. Frank Kirkham, I think, is his name. Yeah, Frank Kirkham. And he had on his podcast, Leading Saints, a man called Anthony Sweat. Go look it up. It's on YouTube. I have never heard anyone talk about the temple more effectively than Anthony Sweat. he wrote books on it, I think, and he does podcasts is kind of what he does, but talking about what is sacred and what is secret versus, you know, what can you talk about?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Excellent. So anyway, just wanted to plug that real quick. Okay. So that's a good reason, but for whatever reason, the culture is that way a little bit. Do you agree?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And so my message in this principle or in the class is that's not right. And the whole class, we get into this deep, amazing spiritual doctrinal discussion and, about one thing, and it's about this. What is the difference between salvation and exaltation? And I love having a room full of 16, 17, 18, 19-year-olds and ask that question. The eyes glaze over. It's true. There's no answer. There's no answer. And it surprises me because it's such a beautiful and fundamental part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it just surprises me that we don't know it very much. So anyway, it's a great time doing this lesson because it's amazing to see their eyes just light up and go, whoa, this is powerful stuff. So that's what we're going to try and do today. But first I want to share a quick story. So when I had made the decision to go on a mission, really I made the decision to go up on the mountaintop behind my parents' house, kneel down and ask God if he lived. and if Christ lived, and if the Book of Mormon was true and the Bible was true, and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. And I didn't get the answer I wanted. I didn't get any answer, and I was super disappointed. But this swelling in my heart and the desire that I had walking down that mountain to go back down and read the scriptures, feast upon the words of Christ and start praying was the beginning of such an important journey for me to eventually get those revelations and answers. half of these answers came within a temple. So anyway, through that process, I started getting excited about my mission. Then my mission call comes to the Ukraine Donetsk mission. I'm super excited. And now I'm on this path of I'm reading, I'm praying, I've got my call. So at the time, my dad, who was the greatest, I love my dad, he had a neighbor and a friend who he had hired at his work, this man named Ed Jesperson. Now, Lorne, I'm going to tell you about this epic man, Ed Jesperson. Ed was like six foot three or four, big tall dude, older guy. He was from New York. And he was the first stake president way back when in Brooklyn. So he has like story. He has like his, and this dude had a deep New York accent and he kind of was real lively and he shook when he talked. Just an amazing, amazing guy. Ed Jesperson, epic, epic guy. This guy could preach like amazing.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:One day he comes to me, we'd become friends, and he comes to me and he says, Shawnee. What are you laughing at? That's Ed Jesperson. He says, Shawnee. And he starts telling me, the temple is the most important thing in your life right now. And he says, listen, you've got like three months before you're leaving on your mission. If you'll do it, Shawnee. He says, I will go with you every single day to the temple and let's do a session every day for the next three months. And I was like, what? I, of course, didn't understand the power of the temple at that point. But I also was like, well, I got a job and I make some money. So we negotiated. And I says, how about every other day? How about three times a week? Which was a little overwhelming to me at the time. But I was like, well, I don't know. It's Ed and he's awesome. Okay, so Ed Jesperson and I went to the temple three days a week for like two, three months. And this was the most powerful experience Nothing could have, absolutely nothing could have prepared me better for a mission. To learn what the Spirit is, to learn how to feel the Spirit, to learn the doctrines of Christ, and it was life-changing. And then we would go through a session, and then we'd get into the celestial room, and Ed would sit down with me, and he'd nudge me, and he'd be like, Shawnee. I got to tell you what I learned today. And he'd like talk about this spiritual, powerful thing. And I'd just be like eyes open, like, holy cow, we're in this spiritual place. And he's, this legend is telling me about what he learned today. And then he'd be like, Shawnee, what did you feel and learn? And eventually I started to open my heart and mind to be able to learn that way. It was so exciting for me. And it became such a powerful spiritual thing that I remember I would, to remind myself, I'd write on my hand the word temple. to be like, all right, get prepared for it. Start praying for it because, man, that session two days ago was amazing. And I'll never forget because I was at work at this restaurant and I had the word temple. And this super cute girl who I worked with nudged me and was like, what is that? That kind of got mad at me.
SPEAKER_02:Oh.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, she got mad at me. She's like, what the heck is that? I'm like, it's just temple. She's like, come on, dude, that's really disrespectful. Why would you do that? I'm like, what do you mean? She's like, well... We're here in Utah. I know you're not a member of the church, or at least you're not an active member of the church.
SPEAKER_00:She said that to you? She
SPEAKER_03:said to me. I don't know if it's because of the way I looked. I don't know. I don't know. And she's like, so, you know, treat that with some respect. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, back off. Back off. I am an endowed member of the church. I'm going on my mission in two months, and I'm just reminding myself to prepare for the temple. And her eyes lit up, and we started dating.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, two months before your mission?
SPEAKER_03:Why not?
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_03:Why not?
UNKNOWN:What?
SPEAKER_03:Argue against it. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:What? No. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03:Tell me I was bad.
SPEAKER_00:Go ahead. Hey, you're going to the temple three times a week. I can't say anything.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and it was fun because I know it wasn't a serious dating thing, but it became such a part of my life. So anyway, so temple is more important than your mission. It'll get you prepared for it. And the concept I want to, like, let's talk about is what I think is the number one reason why it gets you there, and that's this. if you understand as a missionary, a preparing missionary, the difference between salvation and exaltation, it's going to help you get there. So let's just start that discussion. Yeah. What do you think? This is, I don't know. Cause you're a return missionary. Now, you know, these answers,
SPEAKER_00:but I didn't.
SPEAKER_03:Okay. Let's, let's talk about that. So in the, like, a year and a half ago, two years ago, when you're sitting in our living room and all you kids were doing the mission prep with me, and I asked that question, what were some of the answers that you would hear from everyone? What's the difference between salvation and exaltation? Do you remember
SPEAKER_00:anything? I don't really remember what others' answers were, but I remember sitting there being like,
SPEAKER_03:uh... Did you think it was a dumb question back then? Did you think it was a, wait, wait, I should know this? Did you feel like you should have known
SPEAKER_00:it? Yeah, I was like, dang... I need to start paying more attention during second hour. Oh,
SPEAKER_03:I love that. Clearly a pre-missionary thought process that you're going to learn the gospel in second hour of church as opposed to your own studying. Okay, we'll start about it a little bit. So there's a great, great book called Believing Christ.
SPEAKER_00:Stephen Robinson. Bam.
SPEAKER_03:I love that you know that.
SPEAKER_00:So good.
SPEAKER_03:And there's a section there where he talks about the great dilemma. So let's talk about that a little bit. So there's two verses. So you listeners in the podcast, open up with us. Moses 6, could you open? Moses 6, 55 to 57. And then I'll open up Romans 3, 23. So Stephen Robinson explains how in order to understand the concept of salvation or exaltation, you really have to understand this scriptural concept of this great dilemma it's never called the great dilemma but it really is a perfect word for it why is it a great dilemma here's why because there are two eternal truths that contradict each other in such a way that it is absolutely um devastating to every every child of god and that's just the nature of it there's laws that exist that that affect each other in a way that is devastating to you and me in a horrible horrible way Okay, do you have Moses 6, 55 and 57? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Do you want to read both?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, read both.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying, And as much as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter that they may know to prize the good. Wherefore, teach unto your children that all men everywhere must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God. For no unclean thing can dwell there or dwell in his presence. For in the language of Adam, man of holiness is his name, and the name of his only begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous judge who shall come in the meridian of time.
SPEAKER_03:So, law, eternal, absolute, universal law number one. And it's repeated all throughout Scripture.
SPEAKER_00:No unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. Okay.
SPEAKER_03:What does that mean to you?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I think, oh, there was an elder in my mission that taught this so well to people when he was teaching about like the plan of salvation, where it's like a mom who just got done worth hours and hours worth of cleaning her house and her house is spick and span, like so clean. And her kid just gets done playing outside and and he's outside jumping in puddles and playing in the mud and diving through the grass whatever and he goes to come inside and she's like wait wait wait no like i just cleaned the entire house like you're not coming inside and so i think of that in terms of like being able to understand it but just you know i think about the temple too like when you go in the temple it's a perfect peaceful cleanly place and there's nothing that should go in it that's has the ability to make it dirty. And it's not even that it shouldn't, it's that it can't. It's like the universal law that it can't work. See,
SPEAKER_03:and that's the thing. A lot of these eternal laws, I don't really understand them. But I do believe that Scripture, restored through living prophets and priests, is infallible. It's perfect. So I can trust in it. And the law exists. No unclean thing can do on the presence of God. I don't know why. I don't know... How he gets around that, I don't know the details around it. All I know is I believe that that law is true and exists. Okay, now do you have the other one in Romans? So if you, so listeners, get in your head. The great dilemma starts with one law that says if you're even slightly unclean, like it doesn't matter how unclean you are, right? If you line up two people and one person has 10 trillion sins and dirt on them and the other person has two, they're unclean. So no unclean thing can dwell the presence of God. Okay, now the Romans scripture. And so this one really makes it personal for each of us because when you look in the mirror, you have to ask yourself, am I clean? Am I unclean? How clean or unclean am I? Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00:For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_03:Pretty simple.
SPEAKER_00:All.
SPEAKER_03:So that's a great dilemma, right? Why is it a dilemma, do you think?
SPEAKER_00:Because we're all sinners. We're all imperfect people. We can't stay clean, which means we're not making it back to the presence of God.
SPEAKER_03:Is it hypothetical that we're not making it back or is it reality that we're not making it back?
SPEAKER_00:Reality. Logically.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, logically.
SPEAKER_00:We're not making it back to Heavenly Father's presence.
SPEAKER_03:None of you, listeners, none of you, missionaries, you preparing missionaries who are about to go out and lead people to the gospel of Jesus Christ, how bummer of a story is this? And this is why it's called The Great Dilemma, that none of you are making it back to God's presence. None of you. None of you investigators, none of you yourselves, none of your family. You're done. Because no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, and all of you have sinned. All of us have sinned. Should we just end the podcast right there?
SPEAKER_00:No, there's good news.
SPEAKER_03:Nope, nope. Let's just end it right there. So, sorry, everybody. But this being the great dilemma, and I love that you said the word good news because, you know, we always hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the translation of gospel?
SPEAKER_00:Good news.
SPEAKER_03:It's the good news. Well, good news in contrast to there must be bad news. What's the bad news?
SPEAKER_00:The great dilemma.
SPEAKER_03:We just told you the bad news. The great dilemma, yeah? Yeah. Yeah, I love it. Right? No unclean thing can enter the presence of God. You are unclean. And there's nothing that you can do to get clean of yourself. Right? There's nothing you can do by yourself to do it. Now, obviously, listeners, when we talk about this, we're temporarily putting aside Jesus Christ, salvation, exaltation, the atonement. Right? We're just talking about eternal, absolute universal law. And this great dilemma is really important to understand. Okay, so... The question then is, how do we overcome the great dilemma? And this is the great and most fun part of a mission, right? We get to go teach people how to overcome the great dilemma. Go for it, Lauren. How do you overcome the great dilemma?
SPEAKER_00:Through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_03:Right? And I love, there's nothing greater than teaching. Someone can, if you come to Christ, you will overcome. Now the technical scriptural terms are, the result of the great dilemma are, is death, physical death and spiritual death, right? The, the, the, the fall of Adam and Eve and all of us coming onto this planet, we live within the conditions of a fallen world and it has brought upon us two things, physical death and spiritual death. Okay. Now in the context of the law that says no unclean thing can be in the presence of God. What I visualize there is separation, right? If I am separated from God's presence, there is a beautiful, not beautiful, a horrible, I guess would be the better word, term in the scriptures called spiritual death. And the definition of spiritual death is a separation from God's presence. Now, is there a separation in physical death as well?
SPEAKER_00:Well, body and spirit separate.
SPEAKER_03:Separation. Right? So listen to this. You guys preparing for your mission. This is such clean, beautiful, beautiful doctrine. Physical death keeps you from the presence of God. It keeps you from becoming like God, right? Because God's spirit and body are together. And even the scripture says inseparably connected. They will never separate. Yet you, your spirit and your body will separate. And that is physical death. And that is the obstacle that stands in your way to becoming like God. That's part of the dilemma. And then you apply that to what we call spiritual death. If you sin one time, and you all do, then you are separated from the presence of God for eternity. That is spiritual death. So these obstacles that stand in our way, physical death and spiritual death, they need to be overcome. And you as a missionary, your one purpose is to lead souls to Christ because through Christ, we can overcome physical and spiritual death.
UNKNOWN:Woo!
SPEAKER_03:Right? And the physical overcoming is just a gift. It's resurrection. That glorious Easter, it's going to be Easter here in a few days, that glorious Easter morning, and I love that the church is emphasizing more and more of Easter, right? Yes. Where Jesus Christ, three days later, he's dead. They're mourning. We're sad. I can't believe it. He was supposed to be the Savior, the Son of God, yet he's dead. Then that beautiful Easter morning, he's risen. And that spirit and that body came together again, inseparably connected. Because of that, that gift is given to all of us.
SPEAKER_00:There's actually, wait, can I share something? Yeah, please. So there's, in the Gospel Library, there's under the videos and images section, there's Bible videos that's about, or just like inspirational messages regarding Easter. And there's a specific video, and it's of Mary Magdalene, and she goes to the tomb to see Jesus Christ and Jesus. It's always more powerful with music over it, I'm telling you. She goes to the tomb. She's looking around. Obviously, everyone knows the story, and she can't find him. And then she sees him, and he basically tells her, like, I'm risen. And he says, go tell everyone. And it cuts to her just running. And it always made me so emotional to watch. And there's a part of it, even after two, where it cuts from her running, and it transitions into two sister missionaries running up the stairs. And... Every time I watched that video, the spirit just hit me so strong. I'd watch it very often on the mission. But... The urgency that she had in sharing this good news is one that every, not even missionary, but every member of the church should have. But especially as a missionary, that's what you're called to do, right? To share this good news. And it always made me so emotional because she sees him. She sees his life. You can see her demeanor change and just she's filled with hope. And she just books it. She just goes running and running. And there's a point where she stops and she gets to... his cross and she's kind of just staring at it and the sun is just like shining and she like smiles remember she's doing it and then just takes off again and she finally runs and runs and she bursts open the door to where the other apostles are and she's like so out of breath just so out of breath and just slams the door open and she's like he's risen And it's one of the most powerful videos, I think, in the way that she is so urgent in it. Like as soon as she understands the miracle of Jesus Christ and his resurrection, she takes off.
SPEAKER_03:See, that's the spirit that I had on my mission. I wanted to just wake up every day and just run outside to declare it. Door to door, run. Door to door, on the trolley bus, on the tramvay, anywhere where I could open my mouth and declare it. Guys, we don't have to suffer in misery anymore. There's this death that makes us so miserable, this physical death. And then this spiritual death, this dilemma, this horrible situation, it's overcome. Christ did it. He rose and that spirit and that body are reunited. And so ours will be. And not only that, but the spiritual death can be overcome. Yeah, just like that same spirit of just Like missionaries, you preparing. That's why D&C 4 says, look, if you have a desire to serve, you're going to be called to the work. But see that you serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. Run. Declare it. That's that principle. Yeah, I love it so much.
SPEAKER_00:It's so awesome. And I think, too, the most important, this is the most important message that you can share as a missionary, right? I think... majority of the people a lot of the people i talked to at least had a had a belief in jesus christ had a belief in god there were probably a few that didn't but they always wanted to know like what was what's different about the mormon church what's different about your church obviously we have a living day prophet we have the book of mormon things like that but also just the the way that we talk so free or that we should talk so freely about this good news that okay yeah, this is kind of scary. We cannot be in the presence of God because we're not perfect. There's a way to overcome that and to be back in his presence. But also there's a way to develop on this earth in a way that was created by Heavenly Father himself and is made possible through Jesus Christ. I remember I was in a meeting once with some other sisters in the mission. And one of them, we broke down the, it was all the Armanas in the mission at the time. There was literally only six of us. No, five, sorry. Not important, but the hermana that was over us gave us each one of the promises that we make during the endowment session, what we covenant to do. And so we each took time to research it and then share about it in a little meeting. And I remember one of the hermanas that I was serving with had said, she was talking about the law of consecration, which I think really applies to missionaries because, you know, we... Yeah. Yeah. so many external forces that are just cheering you on because this good news needs to be known. It talks about so much in the Bible and in the book of Mormon, share this, share this, share this, share this, share it to your posterity, share it to other people. And I think it's so amazing that when Jesus Christ came to the Americas and after he was resurrected, actually one of the very first things he said was go, go spread my gospel, go share this good
SPEAKER_03:news. I love it. And that is, and that, So that is the message. That's why as a missionary, you just run out the doors because you want to share the good news. Good news of what? The good news that the bad news of the great dilemma is overcome. Christ is victorious over sin and death. He has won. He's overcome physical death, spiritual death, not for himself only, but for all of us. That is the good news, the exciting great news. And so as a missionary, your one goal is to lead souls to Christ and because he has overcome these things and it will overcome the dilemma. And then we get to focus on as a missionary, how do we do that? Or how do you come to Christ and overcome those things? Well, it is very simple. The scriptures teach it more abundantly than anything. How do you come to Christ? You come through faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy ghost. And that is the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that he has prepared the way for us to overcome sin and death and be saved and Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost leads us to Christ for salvation. Good. So we've defined salvation, right? So listeners, I hope you can see how simple and beautiful it is. Salvation is through Christ overcoming sin and death. And again, if death is separation, physical death, separation, body and spirit, spiritual death, separation from the presence of God, then salvation is being at one again with Atonement.
SPEAKER_02:I was just going
SPEAKER_00:to say that. We're on the same wavelength. That is like my all-time favorite part of this book by Steven Robinson. He talks and he explains like exaltation and salvation in such a simple way where it's like I can visualize it out in front of me. But he breaks the word atonement up and he talks about it like at one minute is how it's broken up. Yeah. And
SPEAKER_03:if you describe the great dilemma, it is the separatement. I don't know how
SPEAKER_01:to say it. Separation. Separation. Estrangement.
SPEAKER_03:Estrangement. Like it's the opposite of being at one, right? It is the literal thing. Sin and death is the literal thing that makes us not at one with God. It separates us from God.
SPEAKER_00:The
SPEAKER_03:atonement makes us back one with him through Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00:He talks about that. He said it's taking two things that have been estranged or separated and bringing them back together. And then that just clicked it for me. I'm like, okay, wait, I am separated from my heavenly father right now because I'm living in the earth. But there's a couple of things I need to do. And there's a couple of things that I do that kind of make it impossible for me to get back to him. And then he brings in the atonement. It's not impossible. Here's what you got to do. And I think that's the most useful thing that we can do for our friends as missionaries is to help them understand how to apply the atonement into their life.
SPEAKER_03:And the way to apply the atonement is very simple. It is faith. It is repentance. It is baptism. It is the gift of the Holy Ghost. Man, on this podcast, I'm not going to shut up ever. Even Christ in 3 Nephi himself said, he says, I'm going to declare unto you my doctrine, and this is my doctrine, and there's no other doctrine. Don't speak more or less of this. This is all you have to say. And then he declared his doctrine. Faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's it. That is the way to come to salvation and to overcome sin and death, the great dilemma. Okay, so... In the class and in this principle, we talk about that's it, the good news of the gospel. That's salvation in a very beautiful, clean way. Okay, but if we now understand what salvation is, what the heck is exaltation? And I love in the class that all these kids, they finally are like, wow, this is a great way to talk about salvation. And now we understand a lot about it. What is exaltation? What is it? And that's where the temple comes in. Because if you hear President Nelson, the last two or three conferences, get up and say the words, members of the church, Latter-day Saints, the mission of the church is not salvation. It is the celestial kingdom and exaltation. That's the mission of the church. Everything we do is to drive us to celestial kingdom exaltation. That's what the message was. So that means that we as members of the church and you as missionaries, you have to understand the difference. And if we had a big room full of you listeners and prepping missionaries here, we would have this wonderful big debate about what you think the difference is. And most of the time, we're all wrong about it, right? It's true. So let's talk about what is exaltation and how does it differ from salvation. Well, the first thing that I'll say is this. You cannot achieve exaltation through Jesus Christ, without the ordinances and covenants of the temple.
SPEAKER_02:Boom.
SPEAKER_03:And let's talk about that doctrine a little bit. Can you go to D&C 132, 22 to 24? So this scripture is, it's like nuanced. You have to listen to the words or read the words very carefully because they can quickly go by you because it's kind of language that we hear all the time. But here the Lord is telling the prophet, really specific words that change the meaning of everything. Do you have it?
SPEAKER_00:You said 132. What verses?
SPEAKER_03:22 to 24. You got it open and marked.
SPEAKER_00:It's marked.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, read it.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. For straight is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives.
SPEAKER_03:Just pause there. Just pause there. Okay, through all the scripture we hear about the gate is straight and narrow, meaning it's hard to get through it. And it's not all curvy and windy, but it is hard to get through it. It's narrow. It's not this broad, broad, broad, lots of ideas and doctrines, and it's narrow. But then he says the weirdest thing. So straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leadeth unto exaltation and continuation of the lives. But the odd thing is whenever you hear in the Bible or in other scriptures when they say straight is the gate and narrow is the way back to heaven or back to God. But this in D&C gets really weirdly worded. Just like I just said. The straight is the gate and there is the way that leads unto exaltation and the continuation of lives. What? Like that's such weird language. Okay, we'll come back to it. Keep reading.
SPEAKER_00:And few there be that find it because ye receive me not in the world, neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me and shall receive your exaltation. And how
SPEAKER_03:do you receive him in the world? You come to Christ through what?
SPEAKER_00:Faith, baptism, repentance. I'm sorry. Faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_03:That's it. And in the class, I make us repeat that over and over and over and over again.
SPEAKER_00:Hey, and for you missionaries going out, every single day you will have companion study. Take advantage of it. That's my two cents. But point is, every single day you repeat your purpose as a missionary, which is that. Did you know that? In Preach My Gospel, the very first page says your purpose, and it has it italicized, and it has your purpose as a missionary. So do
SPEAKER_03:that. And it says, lead souls to Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, and get the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00:And you repeat it every day. I
SPEAKER_03:mean, I love that because I didn't have preached my gospel. I'm the old person. But we knew that the purpose of a missionary is to lead souls to Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, and get the Holy Ghost. So I love that the new book, the manual, says that straightforward. Okay, so it says here, but if ye receive me in the world, which again is... Here's how you receive God in the world is through Christ, through faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost. Then shall ye know me. So again, back to this great dilemma thing. If you're not in his presence, if you're not around God, then you don't know God. The only way to get to know God is to get into his presence. And the only way to achieve that is to coming unto him through faith, repentance, baptism, and get the Holy Ghost. Ye shall know me and shall receive your exaltation, that where I am, ye shall be also exalted.
SPEAKER_00:Yes!
SPEAKER_03:Now go to 24.
SPEAKER_00:This is eternal lives, to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.
SPEAKER_03:So what's fascinating is it says, this is eternal lives. Usually in Scripture it says, and this is eternal life. Here it says lives. It's really odd. Really, really odd. It is. It's so odd. Yeah. Now I'm going to read another scripture from Abraham. This is the book of Abraham. This is 326. And it says, and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon. And they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate. And they who keep their first estate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever. Okay. So this is kind of complicated. So listeners bear with us. We're going to try and simplify this. And what we're trying to do here is explain what exaltation is. Because if we can understand these verses and understand what exaltation is and how it differs from salvation, then you'll have a better understanding about why the temple is so important. And for you missionaries preparing, focus on the temple, not just on your mission. So we've just talked about how... To come unto Christ, we know God. We get back into his presence. We know him. But then he starts using this really interesting language. He says, this is eternal lives. And he says, this leadeth to exaltation and the continuation of lives. And he says, if you get through your first estate, or in other words, come to Christ, they will have glory added upon their heads forever and ever. So there's these two concepts of glory and eternal lives that we want to break down and help let us understand. So, Preparing missionaries when you go through the temple. Well, let's start back. The reason the gospel of Christ, as simple as it is, is faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The baptism and gift of the Holy Ghost part are the covenant part. Your investigators, they have to feast upon the words of Christ to have enough faith that leads them to repentance. Now they're ready to enter into a covenant of Christ, shake that hand, and enter into that locked-in covenant, and that leads to salvation. When you go through the temple, you're already saved. Right? Salvation is free. It is free through Christ, right? Once you enter the covenant. But you're already saved when you go through the temple. So what's the point of the temple? Why would you need it? If you're already saved.
SPEAKER_00:To be exalted. To
SPEAKER_03:be exalted. You go into the temple to receive how many additional covenants? Like if baptism is the first covenant.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and the endowment, five.
SPEAKER_03:Five additional covenants. And then on top of the endowment covenant. Getting sealed. Getting sealed is the sixth covenant, right? So listeners, what we're talking about here is you're already saved going into the temple. What's the point? Well, you go in to receive a handful of other covenants that are going to lead you to the path of exaltation. And the difference is, let's talk about it. Salvation is being at one. You're already... separated from God. So salvation is becoming back at one with God, being able to come back into his presence. Exaltation is entirely different. So based on these words, Lauren, continuation of lives, eternal lives, glory forever and ever, what is your thought on what is then exaltation as compared to salvation?
SPEAKER_00:I think about... Just the entire plan that Heavenly Father created for us and how while we're here on the earth, it encourages our constant progression, but also eternal progression. Emphasis on the eternal part because when we enter into these covenants, we can continue to eternally progress. So after we've been saved, after we've received salvation, we still have the opportunity to progress because that's essentially what Heavenly Father created us for. And
SPEAKER_03:we use those words a lot, progress. But I think it's so hard sometimes, like, well, I don't know what that means. Does that mean I'm going to become smarter? Does that mean I'm going to become, I'm going to have more muscles? Which is impossible, because look at me. More muscles.
SPEAKER_00:Sorry, there was a bug on the microphone. I was blowing it away.
SPEAKER_03:You got it? What does progress mean? Does it mean become smarter, taller, more buff? Like, what does progress mean? Well, I think these scriptures we just read gave us the true definition of what is eternal progression. Sure, it's probably more wisdom and it's smarter and all that kind of stuff. But these two phrases, glory, which we're going to have to define now, and eternal lives, those two things we have to define and that'll help us understand what eternal progression truly looks like. Because we do believe that our God, our Father in heaven, the creator of all, is continuing in his glory. Right? Joseph Smith said it this way. When Jesus Christ died and then rose again and overcame sin and death, what he did was he took his kingdom now, which he is in control of, and he presented it to his Father. And all of that glory raised up our Father even further. And Jesus Christ takes his place. Glory upon glory, eternal progression upon eternal progression. And so the concept here with glory upon glory is, Lauren, your God, your father loves you so much that when it says he's prepared a throne for you and that all that he has is yours through Christ, I think what that, I mean, you tell me, I think what that literally means is his intention for you, his daughter, is to glorify you to his station, right? which then in turn, as you present that to Christ and he presents that to the Father, does what? Glorifies him with more glory, raises him up even more exalted. There's the word. So exaltation means if I'm at a level and I am given more power, more glory, more knowledge, and I'm lifted up to the next level, I am being exalted to that next level. So glory has something to do with this thing, exaltation. But the more important word is eternal lives. So let's talk about that. What do you think that means? Eternal lives. Why does it say eternal lives? And why in scripture does it say a synonym for the word God or our father is eternal? Like, so God's life, eternal life is God's life is what the scriptures say. I don't know. So this is a concept that's so fascinating, Lauren. So listen, in order for you to be exalted and get all this glory, you have to enter into these additional five covenants and then ultimately you must, it is required for you to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. Sealed.
SPEAKER_00:Yes.
SPEAKER_03:Right? So why do you think the ordinance of sealing, the covenant of sealing is necessary for you to be exalted? In the context of continuation of lives, How can you continue in life? How can you continue lives? You
SPEAKER_00:on
SPEAKER_03:your own.
SPEAKER_00:Posterity.
SPEAKER_03:By becoming a creator, right? So if we are separated from God in that we're unworthy, but Christ gets us back into his presence. And if we're also separated from God and we're not like him, but the plan is to become like him, you must become a creator. You have to become a creator. And the way to do that is you get married and sealed for all eternity and you get endowed with the power to continue lives, to continue to create life.
SPEAKER_00:So you're not even being exalted for your own self, but also for your posterity. Holy crap. What did you just say? That's actually crazy. Say that
SPEAKER_03:again.
SPEAKER_00:You're not only being exalted for yourself, but for your posterity.
SPEAKER_03:So that is it. That's the essence of it, Lauren.
SPEAKER_00:Whoa. I never even thought about that, which... Oh my gosh, it's actually so cool because I feel like on Saturday sessions of General Conference, they talked so much about protecting your posterity. I feel like there were a couple different talks that I listened to and one of them, hold on, I have a list of notes, but one of them, forgive me because I definitely do not remember whose this was, but he had posed the question, what will you pass on to the next generation? And I was thinking about that. I was like, oh. obviously I don't have another generation below me right now, but I was like, when that time does come, what am I going to pass on to it? Am I going to pass the privilege and the blessing of being sealed and receiving this exaltation? That's
SPEAKER_03:it. You are passing upon your posterity exaltation. That's it. It's so powerful. It's so amazing. Yeah. God doesn't just want to save us. In fact, listeners, you're going to be fascinated to learn this. Whether you land in the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial kingdom, you're saved. That's salvation. So people who were bad people, who eventually either suffer for their own sins or turn to Christ, they're saved in one of those kingdoms. That is the definition of salvation. That's fascinating, right? You don't want just salvation. You want exaltation. That is God's intention for us. That is the purpose of the church. That is the whole point. He wants you to be like him. You're his daughter. I'm his son. He wants us to live the life he lives, and he lives a life of creation and a continual, eternal growth of lives. Prosperity? What?
SPEAKER_00:Posterity.
SPEAKER_03:Posterity, thank
SPEAKER_00:you. Prosperity.
SPEAKER_03:And that's why Joseph Smith says you can't be exalted without your ancestors. And that is why in the latter days in 2025, the main thing that happens in... Conferences, new temple, new temple, new temple, new temple. Because we are doing the work for those ancestors of exaltation. We're exalting each other by serving each other and adding glory upon glory. Because the more of your posterity that you save and bring to exaltation, that's more glory for you. Christ and that's more glory for God and it's growth and more and more. It's continuation of lives and exaltation and glory. It's amazing. Now, listeners, I know this is a complicated concept, but we wanted to try and get you excited about this idea that you are not in your own journey coming to Christ just to be saved. You're coming to Christ to be exalted and the temple is what gets you there. So focus on that. Go get ready to And spend so much time studying those covenants that you're entering into in the temple that are leading you to exaltation. And then go get excited about leading others on your mission for that.
SPEAKER_00:And I will say as a missionary too, one of the biggest mistakes that I made that I saw other missionaries make was the lack of focus on temples before a baptism. I remember it wasn't until maybe my fourth or fifth transfer that I finally got it locked into my head. I'm like, Oh, they need to understand this. Like they need to know this before they're baptized. Cause then, you know, you get them baptized and you have 30 days, get them to the temple. That's the goal. 30 days, get them there. And being able to explain and teach the plan of salvation in a way that makes them excited to go to the temple, to fulfill their potential and as a child of God and to help others come unto Christ. Because it's always so fun when you teach people and they just get on fire with their gospel and they just want to share it and share it and share it. And you're like, okay, wait, here's a way that you can do it for your family. How you can do it for people that you personally, maybe not personally know, but that are connected to you in some way, shape or form. And you talk to them about the temple and how they're doing their own missionary work. I remember one of our friends, we were teaching the plan of salvation and we were talking about the spirit world. And he was just blown away. He's like, what? So you're telling me if I get baptized and I follow Jesus Christ, I get to teach people about it even after I'm not alive anymore? I'm like, yeah. He's like, wow. And he actually said something that was so sweet, but he was like, Heavenly Father must love me a lot. And he kind of sat there and then he goes, wait, Heavenly Father must love all of us a lot. It was really precious, but it made me think just What a merciful God that we have to allow us the opportunity to have this continuation of lives, to have this answer to a great dilemma that is so great that it would truly end us without it. Thinking about it, I'm just overwhelmed with gratitude, but also joy thinking, wow, I have made... I've had... you know, experiences in my life, I've made choices that have led me to where I am on the pathway to exaltation. And the thought process is, what am I going to do to keep getting there? And so I think that's especially important for missionaries, preparing to go while they're serving and when they come home as well. I know this podcast is mainly catered towards those preparing to go and maybe those serving, but also throughout it all, one thing that I wish I had kept in my mind more was How can I continue this path and how can I help others get onto it? Kind of like what we talked about in the beginning. How can I help others take advantage of the atonement and use it to its fullest of abilities? How to utilize it? And I love that I can be living proof that the atonement works. I love that I can be living proof that there is a God who has a perfect plan for us. And although my life isn't perfect, I'm not perfect. Not all my choices are perfect. My character isn't either, but... I'm doing all these things to receive the greatest blessing that God has for me. And in the process, I get to help other people do that as well, which brings you a type of joy. I'm telling you guys, missionary work, dang, I spent like 19 years of my life searching for this joy. And I was like, come on, I just need this eternal joy. I need this lasting joy. I need to find out what happiness feels like, what, you know, eternal life is going to feel like sharing the gospel. seeing other people make covenants that bring them closer and understand what they mean to Heavenly Father, that is joy. And there's no greater place to feel it than in the mission field.
SPEAKER_03:What a perfect way to end this episode. Thanks, Lauren. And that was powerful, that whole testimony. And I'll add to it. I was reading, just we'll end with this. For it says, now if we be dead with Christ, he's talking about baptism. Was that a bummer?
SPEAKER_00:Sorry, keep
SPEAKER_03:going. So he's talking about baptism, Paul is. And he says, when you're buried, it's like you're dying. So it says, now if we're dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, being raised from the water with him. Now, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful that we got to go and come to Christ ourselves and then go lead others to Christ to receive this great news. And the goal is exaltation and it is pure joy like you said. Lauren, awesome episode. Awesome. I'm going to go home and go read that talk because it is what all this is about. Go do your homework. Yeah, go read. Go study. Go get ready for your mission. Get ready for your temple. That's the most important thing. All right, until next time. See you.
