Episode 69 FINAL 4:24:24, 1.03 PM
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Lynnette: Hello, hello, my friends. Welcome back to the Stand with Lynnette podcast. Or if you're here for the first time today, I would like to give you a personal welcome. And I am so glad that all of you are here, longtime listeners and newcomers alike. It is so good to have you here. Your shares, your excitement about the podcast are what make it all possible and what make it fun for me to sit here behind the microphone and to know that there are actually people on the other end listening.
Because sometimes this is weird work. It's very solitary work for me. Right now I am sitting in my bedroom alone at my desk with my microphone and I've locked my dogs out because they are too distracting and they're scratching at the door every once in a while. But here I am alone., I'm going to go ahead and publish this work once it's edited and ready to go to the website alone, and then I push that button to publish alone, and then I hope that people listen on the other end, and I just never really know how that's going to go.
Now, if you've been listening for a while, you know that I took a really long extended break last summer, that it was going to be like three months, and that turned into like nine months, and we started back up again at the beginning of February, and I've been trying to gain my footing and figure out what's going on here, because I don't know how it is for you, but for me, many times, most of the time, I get revelation when I am on the move. And so when I, for nine months was praying about what do I do about the podcast? And then didn't really feel like I was getting clear inspiration. I just had to say, okay, like I'm just going to start moving.
And it's funny how when I commit to start moving and doing anything, then the revelation starts to come, and I start to be able to put the pieces together. And sometimes when I'm doing something like a podcast, and there are other people listening on the other end, again, thank you for being here, sometimes I have to figure these things out, not on my own. There are people here listening and taking part in this evolution. And so it's an interesting journey. But I'm grateful for the way the Lord works and how he teaches things line upon line. I'm grateful because that helps me to think. I am an overthinker, first of all, which is what gets me into trouble sometimes, and this is why I have a hard time kind of making those steps to move forward a lot of times, because I am so much of a thinker and I want to see all those pieces fitting together before I take action. Because I don't want to have to completely switch gears and change things up later down the road. But again, that's not how the Lord works for me. He tells me, stop thinking and start doing, and then I will start communicating more line upon line. Right? So it has been a line upon line thing.
So today I'm going to talk about another line of revelation that he has given me and helped me to put these pieces together regarding the work that I do. Regarding this podcast and what the future might look like and how things are starting to take shape in my mind as I follow him into these unknown paths that, again, in this case, are kind of public unknown paths.
So thank you for your patience in me as I figure this out. And I hope that the evolution is beneficial to you as well. Sometimes I like hearing the stories of how people receive revelation, how their story evolves as they learn to listen and follow. And so, you're going to get a little bit of that today.
I'm going to tell you a little bit about this evolution, and what that might look like and how it involves the temple. Because you might have caught from the title of the episode that this is about the Temple. So, with that rather long introduction, let's jump in to today's content.
So in previous episodes, if you've been around for a little while, I have talked about why I named this podcast Stand with Lynnette. But if you're new here, or maybe if you haven't heard that story or forgot what the story was all about, I'm going to give you a quick recap here because it relates to things that I will say after that. So if you've heard it before, bear with me. I promise to make this quick. I will not get into all the details. We're doing a brief overview here today.
So it goes back to the year 2021 where, if you lived through the year 2021, which we all did, if we were here, that was a rough year, right? We were still steeped in a pandemic that was really disruptive of all of our lives, of some of our livelihoods, of how we attended church, about the temple being closed, and everything was really uncertain and kind of up in the air.
And I was serving as a Relief Society president during this time, I was called to serve in this capacity one week before the world shut down in March of 2020. And so that was a huge adjustment for me trying to figure out how do I lead these sisters when things are really unprecedented. And it was completely out of my comfort zone. The entire thing was out of my comfort zone. And that combined with a host of personal challenges that were piling onto my plate, from financial challenges to challenges with my children to this budding new business that I was trying to figure out. And I literally felt like I was drowning in the sea of complete and utter overwhelm.
And eventually, through a series of divinely orchestrated events, coupled with my own personal work and effort that I put in, I was able to get to more stable ground. And you can listen to episode one if you want to know more about what that looked like. But at that point, after I had kind of pulled myself, and the Lord had helped to pull me out of the state of complete and utter overwhelm, the word stand started playing on repeat in my mind. And I didn't understand why. But for months, the word stand was my constant companion, always in the back of my mind. And it wasn't until August of that year that I understood why that word was in my mind.
And what was happening at that time, if you don't recall, first, President Nelson said something that threw him into the line of fire. Many people were unhappy with him and saying things like he was a fallen prophet and other comments of that nature. And that was everywhere online and sometimes in personal interactions with people.
A lot of people were thrown off by what he said, which I'm not going to get into the details of that. You probably don't have to think too hard to remember what that might have been. But a couple of weeks after this statement by President Nelson, Elder Holland joined him on the chopping block for a talk that he gave at BYU that made a different group of people angry.
And so there was this firestorm of hate directed toward President Nelson and Elder Holland, really kind of at the same time. And most of this was coming from members of the church. People came out of the woodwork to attack these two men whom I loved and sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators. And the public stoning, figurative public stoning of these two prophets deeply affected me. And one morning in the middle of this controversy that was going on, I went on a hike for the sole purpose of talking to God about this issue. Because my favorite way to pray is while I am on the trail. And so all the way up the mountain, I just poured out my worries and fears and concerns about all that was going on to the Lord in this really messy way. And basically asking him what, if anything, I could do about this. And it's been three years since this happened almost. In August, it will be three years. And I can tell you still exactly where I was on the mountain when this thought came clearly into my mind, it pierced through everything else in my mind with perfect clarity.
And the thought was, "Lynnette, why do you think I need you to help women stand?" Now, because the controversy that led me to this prayer in the first place originated within the church with members attacking the prophets, it became clear to me in this moment that the word stand was not what I thought it was.
I thought up to that point that maybe I needed to help parents help their kids be resilient in the face of challenges. Because, at that time, I was really immersed in parenting work And so I thought that's why this word stand had been playing in my mind But it became clear in that moment that God was asking me to help women within his church stand firmly with Jesus Christ, who calls these men to be prophets.
So I needed to help them stand with Jesus Christ and his prophets. Hence, the name of the podcast. The word stand has always been my guidepost since that experience three years ago.
And when I think of standing with Jesus Christ, I think of action. Stand is an action word. And I think of action born of strength, courage, and unfailing faith. I think of building my foundation upon the rock of Jesus Christ, making it impossible for the adversary's whirlwinds to blow me off course. I think of loving God more than anything. I think of navigating and raising children in the most treacherous spiritual conditions without even a hint of worry or fear, because I trust that the Lord is leading me, and he's leading his prophets, and he knows exactly what to do, where he is going, and what he is doing.
More than anything, I want that kind of spiritual fortitude. I want to stand with him no matter what happens in the days ahead. And we all know that the days ahead are going to be rocky, both spiritually and temporally. It's going to be rocky.
But for the past several months, I have felt drawn to the temple in unprecedented ways. Since 2014, when the Phoenix temple was dedicated, and the Phoenix temple is literally right down the street from my house. So, since it was dedicated, I have been attending the temple almost every week, minus the time when it was closed for the pandemic. So it's been 10 years of almost weekly temple attendance. And in that time, I have developed a deep love for the temple. The peace and personal revelation I received there has become a staple in my life. And I feel a noticeable void when I miss even a week or two weeks.
But to be honest, the ordinances over that time period of going almost every week for 10 years became so commonplace for me, that after years of listening to the same words every week, I did not really think about those words that much. I didn't think about the ordinances that I was doing,
But feeling drawn to better understand and even share about the temple, I decided to become a temple ordinance worker back in January of this year. So just a few months ago, and when the temple president set me apart in that capacity, he, in that setting apart blessing, admonished me to share what I was learning about the temple with my family and with others. He did use the word admonish. And I really wanted to understand what exactly that word meant. And so I came home and I looked it up in the dictionary. And I learned that the word admonish can mean to warn or to reprimand, which is what I think some of us think of when we hear that word. But it can also mean to advise or urge someone earnestly.
So the temple president, who had never met me before that day, when I sat in his office and he interviewed me and set me apart to be a temple worker, with his hands on my head, earnestly urged me to share what I was learning about the temple with others. He had no idea that I had an online platform on which I shared my faith, or the fact that I was already feeling pulled to talk more about the temple.
That was a direct answer to many prayers about which direction I should take my online work.
But sometimes, I am a slow learner. And sometimes, I think the Lord must get frustrated with how slow I put pieces together, and how slow I actually really grasp what he was trying to teach me.
So I did not put all of the pieces together at once because. As I have explained in other episodes, most recently episode 62, I also felt that I needed to help mothers who were struggling with their kids. And the Lord had clearly called me back in 2021 to help women stand with Jesus Christ. And I didn't understand how all of these pieces fit together.
Did the Lord need me to help struggling mothers by teaching the parenting principles that I had helped my husband and I shape our once defiant children into kind, obedient, faithful young adults? Is that what he needed from me?
Did his clear direction to help women stand still apply three years later?
And how did the admonishment through the temple president to share what I was learning about the temple fit into this whole picture?
I knew it had to be related, but the specific connections and what that meant for me personally, in the work that I am trying to do, all of that felt muddy to me.
But then, at General Conference just two weeks ago, it felt as if every talk related back to the temple and to the power of the covenants that we make there.
President Nelson's unforgettable promise still rings in my ears. "Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshiping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world's most Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and his atonement or help you understand God's magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing."
Those words from our prophet tell me that if we are going to stand with Jesus Christ in the days ahead, we need the power the temple provides.
If we are going to live in a wicked world without allowing its distractions and deceptions to destroy our faith, we need the power the temple provides.
If we are going to find joy and peace amid confusion, chaos, and even persecution that is becoming more commonplace, we need the power the temple provides.
If we are going to lead our families to spiritual safety amid a host of spiritual landmines, we need the power the temple provides.
If we are going to raise righteous children and prepare them for their divinely appointed charge to help gather Israel, we need the power the temple provides.
If we are going to be prepared for the second coming of the Savior, we need the power the temple provides.
The temple is the bridge between fear and peace. It is the bridge between despair and hope, desperation in spiritual things and spiritual confidence.
It is the bridge between wondering if we have what it takes to survive spiritually in the days ahead and knowing we can face whatever comes because of Jesus Christ.
As the Lord teaches me line upon line, He is teaching me that standing with Jesus Christ becomes infinitely easier when we stand in His holy temples.
Receiving personal revelation we need to prepare our unique children for all God has in store for them becomes so much easier when we stand in holy temples.
The temple is the answer because Jesus Christ is the answer. And as President Nelson explained, "Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ." Close quote.
So, as we move forward, I will be following the admonition the Lord gave to me through my temple president to share what I am learning about the temple. I am a student who still has so much to learn, but we can learn together, my friend.
And the more I discover about the temple, the more astounded I am at how much is hidden in plain sight and how willing the Lord is to teach those who come to the temple with willing hearts. And while there are some things we cannot discuss outside of the walls of that holy place, there is so much that we can talk about.
And I promise to keep it sacred and take my cues from prophets and apostles as to what is and is not appropriate to say. But I invite you to come on this temple journey with me. Let's stand together in holy places so that we will have the needed understanding, faith, courage, and power to stand forever with Jesus Christ.
I am so excited for this new leg in my journey to stand and help others stand with Jesus Christ. Are you in? If so, meet me back here same time, same place. next week. See you then.
