Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Seventy-Three

The Kyiv Temple Protects the People of Ukraine

The Lord prepared the people of Ukraine for the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ – In the summer of 1991 our son John was in the first group of missionaries to Ukraine.  John and his companions had missionary experiences like the sons of Mosiah as recorded in Alma 17 – 26.  The faithfulness of the members of the Church in Ukraine is shown by the fact that Ukraine is the only country other than the United States where a temple has been dedicated in less than twenty years after the gospel was first taken to that nation.  The Kyiv Ukraine Temple was dedicated 29 August 2010.

The Kyiv Ukraine Temple, like all temples, is a garner of Lord (A garner is a granary where grain is stored and protected) – As the sons of Mosiah concluded their mission to the Lamanites, Ammon rejoiced in the missionary success the Lord had given them, and in so doing he taught that the temple is the garner of the Lord and the ultimate reason for missionary work.

“Behold, thousands of them do rejoice, and have been brought into the fold of God.

"Behold, the field was ripe, and blessed are ye, for ye did thrust in the sickle, and did reap with your might, yea, all the day long did ye labor; and behold the number of your sheaves!  And they shall be gathered into the garners, that they are not wasted" (Alma 26:5). 

Latter day prophets have explained the meaning of this verse: "The sheaves in this analogy represent newly baptized members of the Church. The garners are the holy temples. Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained: 'Clearly, when we baptize, our eyes should gaze beyond the baptismal font to the holy temple. The great garner into which the sheaves should be gathered is the holy temple.' This instruction clarifies and emphasizes the importance of sacred temple ordinances and covenants—that the sheaves may not be wasted" (David A. Bednar, “Honorably Hold a Name and Standing,” Ensign, May 2009, 97–100).


The temple protects the Lord's covenant people against the storms and whirlwinds of life –

"Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

"But behold, they are in the hands of the Lord of the harvest and they are his; and he will raise them up at the last day" (Alma 26:6-7).


Temple worship always requires sacrifice – One of the important lessons concerning the Church in Ukraine is that those early members who sacrificed to be endowed in the Freiberg Germany Temple prior to when the Kyiv Temple was dedicated have stayed active and now provide the leadership of the Church in Ukraine.  Many of those who were not endowed have fallen into inactivity.  It was difficult and expensive to make the trip to the Freiberg Germany Temple from Ukraine but that extra effort and sacrifice became the source of eternal blessings to individuals, families, and the Church. 

The Kyiv Temple protects the people of Ukraine from the fierce storm of the Russian invasion  –The Kyiv Temple is open, and the temple covenant people of the Lord in Ukraine keep it busy.  There are scriptural examples where the Lord protects a whole society because of a small group of righteous people.  I believe this is also happening in Ukraine.  If the covenant people of the Lord worldwide keep temples busy, their families and communities will be blessed and protected.