The Spiritual Treasure of Seeing Things as they “Really Are”

One of the greatest spiritual treasures we receive through our temple covenants and worship is the power and ability to see things as they “really are.” “For the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls” (Jacob 4:13).

Why is the power to see things as they really are such a spiritual treasure? Because we live in the day foreseen by prophets in which many “call evil good, and good evil; . . .  put darkness for light, and light for darkness; [and] put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20) For example, how common has it become (even in so called “family” [P and PG] entertainment) to show sexual intimacy before or outside marriage as “sweet” and chastity (meaning having “sexual relations only with the person to whom [one] is legally and lawfully wedded according to God’s law”[1]) as bitter or simply outdated? Truly in our day, particularly with the pervasive reach of social and other media, we seem to be constantly exposed to “many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers” (Titus 1:10). Can we doubt that we are living in the “perilous” time that Paul described in which “men shall be,” among many other things, “truce [or promise and covenant] breakers, false accusers, . . . fierce, despisers of those that are good, . . . ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,” who “resist the truth” even “men of corrupt minds” (2 Timothy 3:1-3, 7-8).

Two examples from my own recent “media” consumption come to mind. The first was Elder Quentin Cook’s reference in his 2024 General Conference talk about the view, held by many in academia and so many other societal institutions, that “‘There’s no such thing as God, … and there’s no free will, … and this is a vast, indifferent, empty universe.’”[2] The second was one podcaster’s observation that “I have heard a lot of friends on social media who talked about how arrogant it is to believe that you ‘have the truth when everyone believes they have the truth.’”[3] Not far from this last is the modern corollary, as Elder D. Todd Christofferson described, “that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right” or that there is no “truth” at all.[4]

Nowhere do we receive a clearer vision of what is eternally true (or “real”—see Alma 32:35) and vitally important to our eternal destiny—AND the power to act on such truths—than the temple. “What is [the] endowment of heavenly power the Lord promises us [in the temple]? One answer I have gleaned from my temple experience is that this endowment of priesthood power begins with gaining a deep and abiding testimony [of the truth] about who God is and who I am in relation to Him. This spiritual treasure can be obtained in the instruction received in the endowment and in scriptures that expand on and explain this instruction as we earnestly seek and search for it.” (Stephen L. Fluckiger, Drawing Upon the Spiritual Treasures of the Temple, 154)

What difference can a testimony of these eternal truths make? One of my fellow temple workers shared with me the blog his daughter started after she suffered a massive brainstem stroke in 2004. As reported in the Y Magazine, “Jennifer Yacktman Lynn grew up singing and dancing her way through life. A former member of BYU Women’s Chorus, a capella groups, and the BYU Ballroom Dance Company, [Jennifer] loved her active, artistic lifestyle. After marrying Mark B. Lynn, she had three kids and was living a full life in Austin, Texas. However, just nine years after her graduation, it all came to a terrible halt.” After the stroke, Jennifer was first told she would not live through the next day. When she did, she was told that she would be unable to move or talk for the rest of her life. The doctors encouraged her family “to remove me from life support because they believed it was not possible to have quality of life [if she was mentally aware but trapped in [her] body.” Defying the odds over years of therapy, she “made slow but steady improvements. ‘I had a catheter, feeding tube, and tracheostomy. These were supposed to be [with me] all my life. I got rid of them all. . . . My friends and family worked with me to be able to communicate with a modified sign language. . . . And I began to breathe voluntarily.’”[5]

Now, 20 years later, Jennifer continues to amaze and bless many in her circle of influence. How? There are no doubt many factors, including her own unique strengths and the strength and support of her family and so many others. But I was intrigued in reading her story about this one entry in her blog:

In my eyes, the temple is where everything “started” (A few days before, it was in the temple where I received the impression that something big was coming). The temple has also been a source of strength (from my first blinked words, “go to the temple” & continues to be now), & is a symbol of my belief that “families are forever.”

I don’t know if Mark [her husband] recalls this conversation, but many times that first year, I told him that I wished I was dead. One time, he asked something like, “But aren’t u glad u are with me here?” & I said no, I’d rather wait for him “up there” & he retorted with something about if I’m here, I can see my kids get married & see my grandkids. I didn’t care. Living like this to be a grandma? That sounded like torture!

I know God heard me, because I haven’t spent those 20 years without growth—spiritual, emotional, AND physical growth! And, unlike before, I am glad to be a forever family with Mark, my kids, my kids spouses, & to be a grandma (mamaw)![6]

The temple is all about growth, especially spiritual growth. There we are taught powerfully about eternal spiritual treasures, such as our identity and heritage, children of Heavenly Parents, foreordained, like Michael and so many others who fought with the Lamb in that premortal realm (Rev. 12:7), to champion and help our Father and His Firstborn (D&C 93:21), even Jehovah, bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. We do this by daily applying the doctrine of Christ, keeping our covenants and magnifying our callings, especially our all-important callings as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, brothers and sisters and fellow laborers in the Lord’s vineyard. As we do so, we have Christ’s promise, who was given “all power” “in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18), that He will help us in all things and at all times. Let us all take advantage of this uniquely powerful tool in the Lord’s tool box for spiritual survival in these last days—the doctrines, covenants and strength we receive in serving in His Holy House!

[1] Stephen L. Fluckiger, Drawing Upon the Spiritual Treasures of the Temple, 181, quoting the General Handbook’s definition of the Law of Chastity. [2] Quentin L. Cook, “Be One with Christ,” Liahona, May 2024, 50 & n. 17 (quoting Robert Sapolsky, a Stanford professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery). [3] Autumn Dickson, “Come Follow Me 2024 July 22-28: Alma 32-35, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4QTM0RrPxY. [4] D. Todd Christofferson, “Moral Discipline,” Ensign, November 2009. For a succinct rebuttal to the “popular claim on campus [that there is no “truth”] because of deconstructionism and postmodernism—the radical skepticism that’s sweeping the academy,” see Greg Koukl, “Philosophy: There is No Truth,” Stand to Reason: Clear-thinking Christianity, https://www.str.org/w/there-is-no-truth.

[5] Madeline A. Buhman, “Finder Her Voice,” Y Magazine, https://magazine.byu.edu/article/finding-her-voice/. [6] Jenny Lynn’s News, https://jenannlynn.org/.Photos in collaboration with Getty Images • Unplash