My sister, Rachel, lives 30 minutes from the D.C. temple. When it was renovated, they had to totally gut & rebuild the baptistery because of mold. At the rededication she felt the Spirit tell her that she needed to rededicate herself. Sometimes there are things we just need to gut & rebuild. Maybe stopping a bad habit of telling white lies or letting kids have screens in their beds. Maybe it’s dedicating 10 minutes to helping a child feel God’s love through one on one attention, reading a book, playing a game or singing a song. Maybe it’s teaching a difficult teen to do a good job of cleaning off the front porch or how to organize their room rather than doing it for them. Maybe it’s something as “small and simple” as an earlier bedtime. The idea is to ask the Lord what is one thing He wants me to completely “gut and rebuild”.
My nephew, Joshua, was ironing white handkerchiefs for the D.C. rededication for Activity Days. His leader asked him why the material was perfectly white and explained our Savior’s atonement doesn’t leave a mark, rather, it completely cleanses. Sister Tamara Runia spoke at a stake meeting a couple years ago and I still remember my mom telling me what she said. She talked about how she took pride in her ability to remove stains. If there was any sort of stain she could remove it. However, when her adult son, suddenly passed away it felt like a stain she just couldn’t get out. At times, we face challenges that appear to have no solution. However, let’s take courage when all seems lost. We have a Savior who is “mighty to save” with a promise to eventually make whole (Matthew 9:6) & power to make even scarlet sin as white as snow.I’ve seen apostles and prophets mocked for the Hosanna shout but if I look at it as cheering at a big event for the Lord and His great work, I can “sing and shout” for that. As part of a group text with a few of my old mission companions, one of them called the photo of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve dressed in white at the Rome temple dedication cute. I remember thinking, no, they’re not being cute, they’re making a statement—We have the same mantle of authority as Paul who was told he would “bare witness” in Rome so many years ago. We too, are called to witness to the entire world that Jesus Christ lives and this is the only way to covenants that outlast death; the only way to sanctification, true happiness & exhalation of the human family. Like us or hate us. This is who we are. This is what we do.
