While in the “bloom and vibrancy of young adulthood,” death can seem too far off to think about, making it difficult to connect the way an individual lives in this life to the reward he or she will receive in the next, observed Elder Evan A. Schmutz, a General Authority Seventy.
“However, that connection is absolute and unavoidable,” Elder Schmutz said during a Brigham Young University devotional on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Speaking to students and faculty gathered in the Marriott Center, Elder Schmutz repeatedly invited listeners to imagine the “beautiful day” when they will be brought again into the presence of Jesus Christ.
The prophet Alma asked, “[Can] you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?” (Alma 5:16).
Said Elder Schmutz, “Can you imagine the overwhelming joy, humility, gratitude, and love that will consume your soul when Jesus Christ, the merciful Redeemer, speaks to you by name and says, ‘Come unto me ye blessed’? Brothers and sisters, this will be the ultimate, transcendent, incomparable moment of inclusion and belonging.”
Although that gift of ultimate, celestial belonging is freely offered, it is not freely given to all of God’s children, Elder Schmutz said. “The gift of eternal life is reserved for those who accept the offer by keeping covenants made in the house of the Lord.”
Individuals’ ability to visualize God’s reward for the faithful will diminish or increase in direct proportion to their obedience, covenant keeping and willingness to keep Jesus Christ central in their lives, Elder Schmutz taught. “I am confident Alma intended his questions to awaken in his hearers a personal response, a need for self-evaluation, a consuming commitment to learn and do everything necessary to experience that moment. Have they awakened such feelings in you?”
Elder Schmutz then discussed three personal habits individuals can incorporate to help prepare themselves for a joyful return to their heavenly home.
First, make time to be in the house of the Lord
In the house of the Lord, Latter-day Saints are taught their place in the plan of salvation and the essential role of the Savior Jesus Christ. “Learning in the house of the Lord helps us imagine meeting God,” Elder Schmutz said.
A willingness to keep sacred covenants with God made in the House of the Lord continues a process of inviting God’s power into one’s life. “Access to the power of God includes the spirit of revelation and the ability to ‘see’ what is not seen. This enhances our ability to heed President [Russell M.] Nelson’s invitation to ‘think celestial’” (“Think Celestial,” October 2023 general conference).
The more frequently Latter-day Saints attend the temple and earnestly participate, the more revelatory the experience becomes, Elder Schmutz said.
Second, ‘take your experience home with you’
In the temple, true doctrine and eternal principles are taught through sacred symbols. As patrons leave, they are privileged to carry a symbol of the temple with them — the garment of the holy priesthood, Elder Schmutz explained.
President Nelson taught: “Your garment is symbolic of the veil [of the temple]; the veil is symbolic of the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you put on your garment, you may feel that you are truly putting upon yourself the very sacred symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ” (2022 Seminar for New Mission Leaders).
Elder Schmutz encouraged listeners to “receive the garment with joy and wear it with reverence.” Those looking for the times and activities to remove the garment, rather than looking for ways to keep it on, risk setting at nought the symbolic purpose and meaning of the garment, he said.
A temple recommend is also a symbolic reminder of an individual commitment to keep covenants, Elder Schmutz continued. “Our temple recommend is a tangible symbol of personal worthiness and our desire to be in the House of the Lord. Never let a day go by that it is not current.”
Another way to take the temple experience home is to remind one’s self of the covenants made in the name of Jesus Christ. “I invite you to make this a daily practice,” Elder Schmutz said. Doing this in his own life “has brought about many sacred spiritual experiences.”
Third, look for the city of the Living God
“God knows that we cannot imagine a celestial home that we have not seen or about which we have not heard,” Elder Schmutz said.
In the scriptures, however, individuals can study the glory that God has prepared for His faithful children. “Knowledge of the celestial city of God is motivating. It will enhance your capacity to imagine with an eye of faith,” Elder Schmutz said.
When the promised reward of the next life becomes so real as to motivate every action, individuals are getting near to their heavenly home. “If you can imagine the city of the living God, can you imagine the kind of people that inhabit it?” Elder Schmutz continued.
Those who dwell in the city of the living God are in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, forever and ever, surrounded by a numberless company of angels, heirs and rulers in the kingdom of God. “Can you imagine being one of them? O, my heart cries, let this be me,” Elder Schmutz said.
In conclusion, he testified of “the reality of a coming day of joy and gladness for the faithful, who hear the voice of the Lord speaking to them, ‘Come, unto me ye blessed.’ May you be blessed to imagine and experience that moment in your eternal lives.”