Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Seventy-Nine 

All Arrayed in White - Salt Lake Temple Devotional

The setting – While serving in the Salt Lake Temple from 2002 to 2008, first as an ordinance worker and then in the Temple Presidency, devotionals were held annually in the Solemn Assembly Room, on the top floor of the temple.  This is where President Wilford Woodruff dedicated the Salt Lake temple on April 6, 1893.  This magnificent room holds approximately 2,200 people.  The ceilings are 40 feet high, and a balcony runs the length of the temple on both the north and south sides.  There was no air conditioning, but when the large oval widows are opened the room fills with fresh air. Being the highest widows in the temple they are very noticeable from the outside.

On the east end of the room is the Melchizedek Priesthood podiums.  The top podium has three large red chairs for the First Presidency.  The next level down is for the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.  Next are the podiums for the Seventy, High Priests and Elders.  On the west end is the Aaronic Priesthood podiums.  These podiums are all patterned after the Kirtland Temple.  (In the current renovation of the Salt Lake Temple the electrical and mechanical systems will be updated in the Solemn Assembly Room, and the historical look and setting of the room will be preserved)

In these devotionals there were two sessions, one at 8 am and the next at 11 am.  Each session was conducted by a counselor in the temple presidency.  The temple presidency sat with our wives on the podium.  The temple president and matron spoke first, and they were followed by the guest speaker.  The congregational singing was powerful, as was the temple choir of about 100 workers and soloists. 

The speakers – In each devotional the guest speaker was a member of the First Presidency or of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.  No one took notes during these meetings.   With some devotionals I later recorded some thoughts that are included in following lessons.   The following is my memory of those devotionals where I did not later record my thoughts.

-        President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke in October 2006 on the blessings of temple service.

-        Elder Dallin Oaks spoke in October 2007 on “Good, Better, and Best”.  The terrestrial kingdom is good, the Celestial kingdom better, and the highest degree in the Celestial kingdom is best.

-        President Monson spoke in October 2008.  The highlight was his concluding testimony of the Savior.  He testified of the Lord for about three minutes using inspired language.  As he spoke he looked at the congregation and then would look upward as if his testimony was also directed to unseen persons in the room.  It was an unforgettable experience.

-        President Henry B. Eyring spoke in October 2011.  Later, in a private discussion I learned that his father lived in the Mormon colonies in Mexico at the same time as my father.  They were both at age 11 during the Mexican Revolution.  Both families settled in Arizona on farms a few miles apart.  They each left the farm for better opportunities.   Certainly our fathers knew each other.

Testimony – A marvelous blessing that comes from worshiping and serving in the temple  – It was most impressive to see 2,200 temple workers all dressed in white gathered together in the temple.  It reminded me of the revelation given to the apostle John where he "beheld...a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes….And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And whence came they?  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.   And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them" (Revelation 7: 9, 13-15).

As I looked on these congregations of 2,200 righteous temple workers I remembered that temples operate worldwide, from early in the day and to late at night.  I knew that temple workers and patrons in every temple throughout the earth constitute an important part of the "great multitude...of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" who were “arrayed in white robes."

I understood that through their faithfulness worthy temple workers and patrons "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" and have come to “serve [the Lord] day and night in his temple so they escape "the great tribulation" that now exists among men and women throughout the earth.  And I knew that “he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them” (Ibid).