Standing in Holy Places

Every couple of months, I write a bishopric message for our Ward newsletter. In this month's message, I muse about Joseph, Kindergarten, and our parental protection instincts, so I thought I'd share. Enjoy!

Standing in Holy Places

This week, I stand on the edge of one of parenting’s greatest precipices: Sending a kid to Kindergarten. This is a new experience for me, and I’ve never handled “new” particularly well. Of course, we all experience a million “new’s” in our lives, so all of that practice should steel our resolve against even the most daunting of new’s, right? I really hope I’m not the only one who often responds: “Wrong.”

To be a parent is to be a worrier, and believe it or not, the thought of Joseph in Kindergarten has me a little nervous. He’s a fantastic kid with all kinds of smarts and friendly exuberance, but I’m still hesitant to send him out into the world on his own (even if it’s for just a few hours a day in a very safe environment). I suppose that’s because one of parenting’s first instincts (besides worrying) is the desire to protect. Until now, that’s been relatively easy. Joseph has spent the majority of his life under his parent’s watchful eyes. Starting next week, we won’t have nearly as much eyeball time, and after Kindergarten, we’ll only have less and less.

How, then, do we ensure our loved ones’ protection when we can’t always be there to gather them under our wings? How on earth do we find reassurance that all will be well with them, no matter where they go? And how do we personally find spiritual security in a world of treacherous evil? The answer is simple: Take protection with you, and give that protection to those you love.

I could mention many ways we can strengthen our defenses. I will focus on one: Standing in holy places.

A holy place is an oasis in a sea of unholy places. It gives us a chance to feel peace, to rejuvenate our world-weary spirits, and to refortify our courage for another swim in raging waters. It is a place of defense, where Babylon and its influence cannot reach us. Holy places give us serenity, perspective, and the Holy Spirit’s power. Depending on the length and quality of time spent in holy places, the influence of such places can stay with us long after we leave, and that influence provides protection.

Perhaps this is why the Lord commands us: “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord. Amen” (D&C 87:8).

What are these holy places? Temples are certainly among them. How blessed we are to live so close to so many edifices of incomparable spiritual refuge. The Lord’s promises for regular temple attendance are powerful and unequivocal. President Gordon B. Hinckley here addresses priesthood holders, but I believe his counsel applies to all of us: ““If every man [or woman] in this church ... were to qualify himself [or herself] to hold a temple recommend, and then were to go to the house of the Lord and renew his [or her] covenants in solemnity before God and witnesses, we would be a better people. There would be little or no infidelity among us. Divorce would almost entirely disappear. So much of heartache and heartbreak would be avoided. There would be a greater measure of peace and love and happiness in our homes. There would be fewer weeping wives and weeping children. There would be a greater measure of appreciation and of mutual respect among us. And I am confident the Lord would smile with greater favor upon us.” (Ensign, Nov. 1995, 53)

Church meetinghouses and stakes are also holy places. The prophet Moroni recorded that “the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls” (Moroni 6:5). When we as church members “meet together,” we build each other’s spiritual resolve with gospel instruction, testimony bearing, and encouragement. We also “partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus” (Moroni 6:6). This too fortifies our spiritual defenses.

Our homes represent a major source of spiritual refuge, and we should strive daily to make them holy. James E. Faust counseled: “If we really want our homes to be places of holiness, we will try harder to do those things that are conducive to the Spirit of the Lord” (“Standing in Holy Places,” Ensign, May 2005, 62). The adversary knows of the home’s central role in fortifying families, and he is deviously employing every means at his disposal to weaken what is meant to be a spiritual stronghold. We must vigilantly stand fast against his efforts to infiltrate via internet connections, television broadcasts, and magazine pages. We must also remember that the devil uses contention as a means to destroy our peace and harmony (See 3 Ne. 11:29).

To maintain our homes as sacred places, I recommend a thorough spiritual spring cleaning. Peruse your video collections and book shelves. Remove anything with content that would bring an unwelcome spirit into your home or promote unwelcome thoughts. Monitor your internet connection tirelessly and place your computer in a well-trafficked area. Exercise restraint and seek to replace harsh words with kindness.

After your spring cleaning, prevent dark influences from re-entering your home by filling it with light. Adorn your walls with pictures of the Savior, temples, your family, and other sacred images. Pray and read your scriptures every day. Say, “I love you” and “thank you” liberally.

Of course, we must do more than stand in holy places. The Lord said that we should “be not moved” from those spots. I don’t think this means that the Lord never wants us to leave our temples, meetinghouses, and homes. I think what the Lord wants is for the spiritual influence of those places to follow us long after we’ve re-entered Babylon.

Inscribed on every temple are the words “Holiness to the Lord.” President Brigham Young said, “Every moment of [our lives] must be holiness to the Lord, … which is the only course by which [we] can preserve the Spirit of the Almighty to [ourselves]” (Deseret News, Apr. 2, 1862, 313). In other words, if each of us inscribes “Holiness to the Lord” deep into our hearts, we can preserve the spiritual strength received in holy places. We can be a holy place unto ourselves, taking a living portion of our holy places with us. If we strive to make our holy places clean, and strive with our might to keep ourselves clean, we will find the promised fortification that holy places offer, wherever we may go.

I hope that I’ve given my son an edifying holy place in which to live. I hope that he takes that resultant strength with him, and if he does, I know he’ll be protected.

Seek to spend more time in your holy places, and strive to remain worthy of holy places wherever you may be, and I know the Lord will help defend you against all the world’s ills.

With love,

Bro. Jenks

A Week in Neal's Life.

For those of you who care, something happened to me this week: Life. It was, by most accounts, an ordinary life, but it happened. Of course, just because it was ordinary, that doesn't mean that it wasn't noteworthy. Life, because it happens to us all the time, is easily taken for granted, but it's still a precious gift. So I think, from time to time, life's passage deserves some introspection and appreciation, no matter how ordinary it seems. Here, then, is how my life unfolded.

Just in time for my family's return from their long absence, it was my turn to spend time away from home. Not a half day after Shannon and the kids pulled into our garage after a 10-hour drive and eight days away, I was in the office drawing sketches for my next freelance project. I despise freelancing; it dramatically restrains my already limited family time, but Shannon and I both felt like we needed to take the job. I'm designing web marketing collateral (An esoteric graphic design word for "stuff"), for a company called Live2Mobile. They have a subscription service for mobile phone content like tv shows, news programming, etc. They’re a spanking-new company without even a trademark to their name, but I’m in charge of making them look like the Wal-mart of the mobile content subscription world. No biggie. I don’t have the software I need at home, so I have special permission to use my work computer. The only problem is, I have to use it after-hours. That means I had two early mornings, two super-late nights, and five hours on Saturday to pull it all off. I worked hard all week, but I’m still not nearly far enough along. With a little faith and a lot of prayer and midnight oil, I hope to get back on track this week.

If nothing else, this week has reinforced the fact that accomplishment depends more on a decision to accomplish than on available time. Shannon and I decided that, no matter what, we had to attend the temple. Our resolve was strong enough that we invited our friend Todd and Natalie to come with us. So Friday night, despite considerable drowsiness, we made it. I love the Timpanogos Temple, especially the Celestial Room, and after a particularly hectic week, the peaceful spirit in the room was just what the doctor ordered.

I also learned (drum roll please) what my season is. Growing up, I always made fun of my mom for calling one friend a “spring” and another a “summer,” but Wednesday night, I finally learned what the babble is all about. For those of you who don’t know, I’m in my Ward’s bishopric, which means that I occasionally tag along with our young women and their leaders for their Mutual night activity. That night, they brought in a color consultant. I realize that receiving a color consultation puts me in serious emasculation jeopardy, but in the name of finally understanding my mom, I took the risk. Oddly enough, I found it mentally rigorous and surprisingly fascinating. Our young women’s eye patterns were first scrutinized under the largest magnifying glass I’ve ever seen, following which, various fabric swatches were placed under their chins. Several times, I had to scrunch my nose in concentration as we studied the effects of each color on each young woman’s face. Even as a designer, I’m constantly impressed by the very literal effect of color. It was a fascinating study that broadened my understanding of color theory. Oh, and by the way, I’m a spring. They told me I’d look good in peaches and pinks, but I think I’ve already put enough of my manhood on the line.

More life happened this week, but that’s your random sampling for now. Stay tuned for more!

My little boy is 5!!!!

The last 5 years have gone by so quickly I can hardly stand it! Joseph is starting kindergarten this year and while I am excited for him, I wish he could stay home with me forever. I am anxious to see what the next 5 years will bring. Joseph is so amazing. He says so many funny things and is constantly surprising me with his now 5 year old knowledge. I am so proud of my little boy and love him with all my heart. Happy Birthday Joseph!

Things aren't the way they used to be

I went to see my sister's grave today, and I couldn't
help but wonder " what in the world am I doing here?"
Why am I visiting a grave? My sister should be alive
and happy and healthy, not buried in the ground
where I can't see her. I do know I will see her again.
But I just want to see her....here.

I remember thinking as a little girl that I didn't want
anything to change. I felt happy and secure at home.
My family loved each other and had a wonderful time
together. I felt loved. I felt like there was no where
else I ever wanted to be. But time snuck in and I grew
up. As a few of us were getting ready to leave
for college I remember thinking we would all end
up together again. We could all live together in a culdasac
somewhere. It just didn't turn out quite the way I planned.

I still feel close to my family. We talk to each other often.
But we have seperate lives. And that is okay, but sometimes
I still long for it to be just us. We are living our lives the way
we are supposed to. We are still an eternal family. Erin has
died, but I don't feel like she is missing and I don't feel like we
have lost her. She is still very much a part of our family. I know
she will be helping me in ways she never could have on the earth.
When I am impatient with my kids, I feel her right there telling
me to have a little more patience. When I am crying for her, I feel
her telling me it's okay, she feels happy and I should feel happy too.
I feel her encouraging me to pray more sincerely and deeply.

So while things aren't the way they used to be, or what I expected, I
can't say that I would change things. We all have experiences that
put us one step closer to Heavenly Father. I know that I need to
embrace this new change in our family and move forward with more
faith and determination.

Deb & Lafonda

We adopted 2 adorable little kitty's a week ago and as you can see the kids are loving them...a little too much. Notice how Olivia has her hand around Lafonda's neck? That is a daily occurrence and I don't know how either of them are going to survive. Olivia has kicked them, thrown them and choked them all within a few minutes of each other. The little black kitten, Deb, has really been picked on because Lafonda is 1 month older and very territorial. We were hoping they would be good friends, but so far it has literally been a cat fight all day. So, while I love the kittens, there is a lot of work involved and I am not enjoying that. While it has helped distract me from my current emotions, I feel like a grouch because I'm yelling at the kids all day to leave the poor kittens alone!

For those of you that love Napoleon Dynamite, you might appreciate the names we choose for the little kittens. I had no idea what to name them so Neal came up with the idea. You should have seen the girls at the vet laugh! So over all, while they have put me to work, they have filled the void for me and given quite a few people a good laugh!

What is most important

A friend of mine gave this plaque to me for my birthday (thanks Stephanie!) and I can't express enough how happy I am to have it. I put it in my kitchen right by the sink, so I look at it often. So many people have commented on it. Since my sister died, it has been a great reminder to me of what is most important in life......to love. Just love each other more. It is sad to me that I've had to experience a loss to realize I need to let go of the frustrations and irritations of life and just love everyone. I want to make my sister proud and more importantly, I want to be with her again so I am going to love my heart out!

Sweet Erin

I want to dedicate this post to my sister Erin. I can hardly write through the tears, but I had to express my love for her. Erin passed away today. She has really struggled for the last few years and I think Heavenly Father knew it was time to bring her home. I feel great comfort knowing that she isn't suffering anymore, but I want my sister back. I would give anything to hold her and tell her one more time how much I cherish and love her. I am so grateful to know that families can be together forever. I know I will be with Erin again. I know that I am a better person because of her Christlike example. I love you sweet sister. "Nite, love you, see you in the morning."