Trip to Rexburg Temple
John S. Tanner: We’re so pleased to be with you today. We’re especially pleased to have been asked to speak together. Susan and I love to be together; we’re a team. I have long said that you don’t really know me if you don’t know Susan. I love her just this side of idolatry.
Susan W. Tanner: And I fall in love with John all over again when I hear him speak. He’s a master teacher and my muse. We always enjoy coming to Rexburg. We came here on a special trip this summer with my parents to visit your new temple. It was a great experience.
JST: Unlike our previous trips here, last summer we approached Rexburg from the west. From this direction, the temple was visible for many miles, crowning the hill above campus. A storm was gathering as we neared town. The temple gleamed bright and white against dark, lowering clouds. It was a beautiful sight.
SWT: The Rexburg Temple is a truly lovely building, with equally lovely people inside who served us. Our endowment session happened to be led by the man who painted the murals. After the session, we were escorted on a special tour of the building by President and Sister Christensen. We could not have been treated more graciously. We felt a spirit of holiness in both the temple and the temple workers, as is fitting for an edifice whose entrance is inscribed with the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD. Today, we want to talk with you about holiness. We’ve entitled our remarks “More Holiness Give Me.”
Meaning of Holiness
JST: As we have studied holiness, we’ve come to realize that “holy” is a key term in the gospel lexicon. It is not only carved above the entrance to every temple, it is interwoven across the pages of scripture. The scriptures refer to the Holy Priesthood, the Holy of Holies, holy places, holy callings, holy ordinances, holy men, holy days (such as the Sabbath), holy mountains, holy cities, holy scriptures, holy laws, holy names, holy garments, holy apostles, and on and on. The Doctrine and Covenants says that we are to walk in holiness, practice holiness, bind ourselves to act in holiness, and to stand in holy places. To be holy is to partake in the nature of God.
SWT: In fact each member of the Godhead bears titles containing the term “holy.” Heavenly Father is called “Holy Father” and “Man of Holiness.” Jesus is called the “Holy Messiah” and the “Holy One of Israel.” And of course the third member of the Godhead is called the “Holy Ghost” and the “Holy Spirit,” as well as “the Holy Spirit of Promise.” Holiness describes the very nature of God and all that is godlike.
JST: “Holy” comes from an Old English root “hálig,” which is related to the concept whole (“hál”). I like this. A holy life must be a whole life. Holy people do the right thing for the right reason. You can’t truly be holy and hypocritical, though some do feign holiness. Holiness requires that goodness and godliness go all the way down to the depth of our souls.
SWT: The word “holy” signifies anything that is hallowed, or sacred, or consecrated, or set apart for sacred purposes. The Sabbath is set apart for sacred purposes; we are commanded to keep it holy. A temple marks a place set apart for sacred purposes. We are commanded to keep it holy as well and never pollute or profane it.
JST: In fact, the root meaning of temple is “a place set apart” for sacred purposes. The opposite of sacred is “profane.” “Profane” literally means what is outside the temple: pro (before or in front of [without]) fanus (temple). Thus profanity takes something that is holy and sacred—like the name of God—and treats it in unholy ways, such as by using it as a curse word. Our world is awash in profanity of every sort. Secular society has forgotten how to reverence what is holy, whether this is the Lord’s name, or the Sabbath, or the temple of our bodies and our sacred procreative powers.
In ancient times, one of the great lessons the Lord tried to teach Israel was to distinguish between the holy and the profane. But then as now, Israel often ignored this distinction: “they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them” (Ezek. 22:26).
SWT: This is the same lesson we tried to teach our children, even when they were young. We taught them to dress modestly even before they matured physically. We tried to teach them to be reverent in church, especially during the sacrament, even before they could fully understand the significance of what it all means. We taught them that some words are profane even before they could possibly understand why. All this helps children to develop a sense of the holy at an early age. It helps them learn to “put a difference between the holy and unholy” at an early age.
JST: I am reminded of the story you told me about what one of our twin granddaughters said to her mom about the Sabbath. She knew it was different from other days of the week.
SWT: Our daughter Becky has five children under the age of seven. She often has to get them ready for church by herself because her husband frequently has to work in the hospital on Sundays. One Sunday, when Becky’s then two-year-old twins woke up, one of them seemed to sense that this was the day that was different from other days. She said, “Mommy, is it late-for-church-day?” Then our daughter realized that one way her children were learning about Sunday is by hearing her say things like, “Hurry and eat your breakfast so we won’t be late for church.” “We need to have our baths right now so we won’t be late for church.” “Buckle your seat belts quickly or we’ll be late for church.” So Sunday became “late for church” day in the mind of our little twin. But that’s okay. She was learning that there was a difference between Sunday and other days.
JST: And that is a key to learning the meaning of holiness. So you see brothers and sisters, “holy” is a key word in the gospel lexicon; holiness is a core concept of religion itself; and becoming holy is a fundamental purpose of life, for it means becoming like God. The scriptures refer to this process as “sanctification,” which literally means “to be made holy,” from the Latin sanctificare. Sanctus is merely Latin for the Germanic term “holy.” So wherever scripture speaks of our being sanctified, it is referring to the process of being made holy. Similarly, a sanctuary is a holy place.
Standing in Holy Places
SWT: This past year I have spent a lot of time in the sanctuary of the Lord’s House where I have been privileged to serve as a temple worker. This has truly been a sweet, sanctifying experience for me. As temple workers, we are frequently reminded to seek to be holy so that we can perform the sacred work in a way that helps patrons feel a spirit of holiness in the House of the Lord. As I participate in temple work, I think of Alma’s tender prayer just before he baptized Helam: “Alma took Helam . . . and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart” (Mosiah 18:12). This has been my constant prayer.
JST: This has been my prayer too as I go to work every day at Brigham Young University, as I serve in the Church, and especially as I enter the temple. Above the east entrance of every temple are engraved the words “HOLINESS TO THE LORD.” Did you know that anciently this same phrase was engraved on the crown worn by the priest (Ex. 28:36; 39:30)? These words ought to be inscribed in the hearts of every Latter-day Saint as well. The temple is intended to engrave holiness deep into our lives. The Lord wants his people to become a holy people, who live sanctified lives. He commends us “ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:45; see 1 Pet. 1:16).
SWT: When Latter-day Saints dedicate temples, we rededicate ourselves to a life of holiness, and we often experience a renewed outpouring of the Lord’s presence. John and I recently participated in the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We felt a profound sense of holiness radiating from the temple to those of us assembled in chapels all across Utah. We were reminded of what Peter said after he had been on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord: “Lord, it is good for us to be here.” It is also good for us to stand in holy places and to feel a spirit of holiness there. Experiences on our own mounts of transfiguration strengthen and transform us as we go about our daily lives.
And these don’t have to be in the temple. We had a sacred experience in our own home just a few weeks ago as we watched conference with all our family gathered in our basement. When we stood to sing the congregational hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” the younger children who had been learning the hymn in Primary all stood and sang with gusto, especially six-year-old John. He had joy and light in his eyes. He was learning what it meant to feel the Holy Ghost. We felt our basement become holy ground for him and for us.
JST: If I may speak of this without offending the Spirit or embarrassing Susan, let me attest that she has stood in holy places at the birth of each of our babies. The day after our youngest child, MaryAnne, was born, Susan was visited in the hospital by my sister Janet, who was excited to tell Susan that she had been to the temple to be endowed at the very hour Susan had given birth. Susan replied, “Janet, I was also at the veil yesterday. Each time a baby is born, heaven and earth meet, just as they do in the temple. It is a sacred experience.” Susan has often said that a spirit of holiness lingers in the home after the birth of a baby. We have felt the same spirit permeate our home at the return of a worthy missionary. Home becomes an even holier, more heavenly, temple-like place.
Becoming Holy Temples
SWT: We live in a great age of temple construction. What a blessing this is! However, the Lord does not expect for his people merely to build holy temples but to become holy temples. He does not desire us merely to go through the temple. He desires the temple to go through us. President Hinckley often used to ask me and other Church leaders, “How can we get the gospel deep down in the hearts of the people?” This has always been the deepest desire of the Lord and his prophets.
JST: It has! Both Proverbs and Paul teach that God’s laws should be written not merely on tables of stone but on the “fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3; Prov. 7:3). Jeremiah speaks of the Lord’s putting the law in his people’s “inward parts” and writing it in their hearts. Only then, he says, shall the Lord truly be “their God, and they shall be [his] people” (Jer. 31:33). This is what it means to become the Lord’s holy people. It is to have the gospel deep in our hearts, infusing all we do and are with sanctity or holiness.
SWT: In this way we can become living temples in an increasingly profane world. There are about 130 functioning temples today and about 13 million members. For every temple of stone, there are 100,000 potential living temples. Think what it would mean if each member radiated the Spirit of the Lord just as do our temple edifices. Paul taught, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). Think what it would mean if each member radiated the same Spirit of the Lord as do our temple edifices. Just think if Latter-day Saints kept themselves as comely and clean, as pure and holy, as we do our temples. If our lives were truly inscribed with “Holiness to the Lord,” others would feel the same sense of serenity and sanctity around us as they do when visiting our temples.
JST: And light. I love the way that the Church lights up its temples at night. When I see a temple illuminating the night sky, it reminds me of what Latter-day Saints are supposed to be: beacons of light on a hill for a darkening world. I hope you will remember this each time you see your beautiful Rexburg Temple shining against the night sky. You are to be such a light on a hill. And you will be if the temple goes through you every time you go through the temple. We will then bring some of its light into the world with us.
SWT: That reminds me of the story of your aunt Agnes.
JST: My aunt Agnes was housebound in her later years, but she always kept a current temple recommend. She had the desire to get to the temple again somehow. One day her daughter Janeen came for her usual weekly visit. When she opened the door something seemed different. “Mother,” she said, “did you have a cleaning person come today? Everything seems so bright and sparkling.” “No, no one cleaned,” my aunt said. Janeen still persisted. “Did they paint the apartment a lighter color this week? It feels so different, so light to me.” Aunt Agnes smiled. She said, “My visiting teachers were able to take me to the temple this morning. I must have brought the light and glory of the temple home with me.”
SWT: The light was tangible and the holiness was real. Aunt Agnes came out of the temple more full of light, glory, and holiness. As President Hinckley said, we always come out of the temple better people.
JST: This is the purpose of making and keeping sacred covenants. When Latter-day Saints leave the sacrament table or the House of the Lord, they “go forth . . . armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory round about them” (D&C 109:22).
SWT: I remember an experience when John was armed with power and holiness after participating in the ordinance of the sacrament. A number of years ago when our family lived in Brazil for a short while, we were in an auto accident. As we drove home in pouring rain from Sacrament meeting, we entered a neighborhood intersection. A car pulled out from behind a parked vehicle and hit us broadside. Fortunately no one in either of the cars was injured, but the automobiles were both quite badly dented. As John got out to discuss our plight with the other driver, I kept reminding him that it was not our fault. Soon he returned to the car and slowly drove back to the little farmhouse where we were living, with metal grinding against the tires on every rotation. The other car followed. All John said was, “I’ll explain later.”
When we got home, John found our little envelope of emergency cash and paid the family to get their car repaired. They happily left. I was astonished. Then John gathered our family together. He was somewhat apologetic as he explained his actions. “You probably think I’m foolish because I know this accident was not our fault. But as I was negotiating with this family, my only thought was that a little over an hour ago I had covenanted with Heavenly Father to always act as he would. I knew that if he were standing in my position, he would have had compassion for this family and would have done all he could to help them.” That day John hadn’t just taken the sacrament; it had taken hold of him. He came away a holier, better person.
Participating worthily in sacred priesthood ordinances arms us with the holiness of God. John had had a sacred Sacrament experience and, as Moses says after one of his sacred communications with God, “his Spirit [had] not altogether withdrawn from me” (Moses 1:15). Likewise, the Spirit gave John the power to act in holiness.
Holy Societies
JST: Sometimes entire societies have acted in holiness and become sanctified. We call these Zion societies, after the people in Enoch’s day. The scriptures record: “And Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion” (Moses 7:19). Susan, you’ve long been fascinated by such Zion societies.
SWT: It’s true. I have always read and studied about Zion societies. It always moved me to read about the holiness of the people in 4 Nephi. “There were no envyings, nor strifes,” and “there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people” (4 Ne. 1:15–16).
JST: It is astonishing to me that they lived for over one hundred years with no contention. When our family was young, we sometimes found it hard to have no contention for even twenty-four hours. Yet this is the goal: to be a holy people, a Zion society. You’ve recently been studying how the Prophet Joseph instituted the Relief Society to accomplish this goal.
SWT: We as sisters have a truly inspiring legacy with the organization of the Relief Society. Joseph Smith was trying to prepare the sisters to be a Zion people.
In Nauvoo in the summer of 1842, the Saints were building a temple. So of course, preparing his people to be worthy of the temple blessings was uppermost in the mind of the Prophet. The sisters wanted to help on the work of the temple by organizing themselves into a sewing society, but Joseph had something “better” in mind than merely a “benevolent society” patterned after the world. He said that we must have “a select society of the virtuous and those who will walk circumspectly . . . separate from all the evils of the world, choice, virtuous and holy.”1 Thus he organized them under the authority of the Priesthood, after the pattern of the Priesthood, and with the blessings of the Priesthood.
Joseph instructed them often in their meetings. He emphasized acting “according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms,” including treating husbands with mildness and affection, and putting “a double watch over the tongue” (455).2 He taught that they should be meek and pure with no strife or malice, and that they should repent and get the love of God in their hearts. He exhorted them to live as the people did in the scriptural Zion societies.
The early Relief Society meetings were like a “school of the prophets” for the women. They laid a holy foundation upon which sisters have built and should continue to build, to “lay aside the things of this world” (D&C 25:10) and to “deny [our]selves of all ungodliness” (Moro. 10:32).
Sanctified Schooling
JST: You mention the School of the Prophets. There was an emphasis on holiness in the School of the Prophets. This has continued in every subsequent church school. In modern revelation, schools and temples are closely linked. In fact, sometimes it’s hard to determine in the revelations if the Lord is speaking about a school or a temple.
SWT: That reminds me of the murals in a new gallery at BYU that tells the story of Education in Zion. The twin two-story murals reinforce the connection between temples and schools. On the south wall is a picture of the Kirtland Temple. On the north wall just opposite it is a picture of the early buildings at BYU.
JST: That’s right! The gallery reminds us that LDS temples are sacred schools, and that LDS schools should be temple-like houses of learning. The early Saints actually set up schools in the upper rooms of the Kirtland Temple. And our forebears regularly referred to buildings at BYU and Ricks as “temples of learning.”
SWT: The display about the School of the Prophets in the gallery also reminds me that purity, cleanliness, and holiness were prerequisites to the secular subjects studied there, just as they are to the sacred instruction in the temple.
JST: Exactly. Holiness is prerequisite to learning, whether in the temple or in Church schools. In the School of the Prophets, students were to come to class “prayerfully and prepared, in the spirit of love, to listen one to another in turn.”3
SWT: That sounds like the BYU–I learning model.
JST: It does. In addition, “Students were to prepare themselves by repenting of all covetousness, pride, light-mindedness, idleness, oversleeping, lustful desires, fault-finding, contention, and every other sin. They were promised that by teaching one another diligently, they would receive the Lord’s grace and ‘be instructed more perfectly in . . . all things . . . that are expedient for you to understand.’”4
The Doctrine and Covenants also commands the Saints: “Assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean” (D&C 88:74).
Zebedee Coltrin, who attended the School of the Prophets, wrote: “Every time we were called together to attend to any business, we came together in the morning about sunrise, fasting, and partook of the Sacrament each time; and before going to school we washed ourselves and put on clean linen.”5
SWT: It is interesting that a temple recommend is required to enter the temple and an ecclesiastical endorsement is required to attend CES schools. I suppose this is because worthiness and holiness are necessary if we want to learn in the light, no matter if it is in the sacred temple or in temples of learning on campus.
JST: That’s right. I remember that when we came to Rexburg last summer and saw the temple gracing the hill above campus, I said, “Now the campus is complete in concept.” Temples are the Lord’s finishing schools for his Saints. Church universities and temples are linked scripturally; it is fitting that they are linked spatially as well. I think that Church schools should be near temples.
Caution and Conclusion
SWT: Now, before we conclude, we need to add a few words of caution against two spiritual dangers related to the pursuit of holiness. One is the danger of becoming sanctimonious. The other is the danger of feeling “holier than thou.”
JST: A sanctimonious person affects piety or holiness. He or she is concerned with the show of sanctity, not the substance. Sanctimoniousness is what happens when you mix holiness with hypocrisy. The Savior delivered some of his strongest denunciations against the sanctimonious Pharisees who affected to be holy. He called them “whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27). Holiness requires us to do the right things for the right reasons, to be good inside and out.
A related danger is the feeling “holier than thou.” Such a feeling is never holy. This occurs when you mix holiness with pride. The Savior condemns this sense of superiority in a parable about a Pharisee and a publican:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:10–13).
We need to look inward at our own hearts and not downward or sideways at our neighbors if we would avoid the dangerous temptation to feel “holier than thou.”
SWT: It’s hard to be holy and truly pure in heart. We are all flawed and imperfect. But we can constantly ask ourselves such questions as these to help us keep our hearts pure: Can I love someone who has wronged me? Am I judgmental of a Sacrament meeting talk? Am I impatient with clerks, drivers, roommates, parents? Can I be of good cheer and full of gratitude in the midst of adversity? Do I keep my thoughts virtuous and my actions morally clean? Am I, as it says in Alma 13, “humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering” (Alma 13:28)?
JST: These are great questions. I also like to recall the words of the hymn “More Holiness Give Me.” They remind me of what true holiness is:
More holiness give me,
More strivings within,
More patience in suff’ring,
More sorrow for sin,
More faith in my Savior,
More sense of his care,
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.
More purity give me,
More strength to o’ercome,
More freedom from earth-stains,
More longing for home.
More fit for the kingdom,
More used would I be,
More blessed and holy—
More, Savior, like thee.6
Susan and John Tanner each closed with testimony.
