Lessons on the Temple
Lesson No. Eighty-One

The Ministry of Angels

The doctrine of the ministry of angels – Elder Dallin Oaks of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles was the speaker at the November 1, 2009 Salt Lake Temple devotional.  As the first councilor in the temple presidency I conducted the service.  His message was about the ministry of angels from beyond the veil.

He referred to Moroni’s discourse on faith where he asked a rhetorical question “have miracles ceased?”  He answered his own question by teaching the doctrine of the ministering of angels:  “Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men” (Moroni 7:29).

Elder Oaks’ testimony of the ministry of angels – In preparation for the dedication of the new Nauvoo Temple on 27 June 2002, Elder Oaks read a family history account of his ancestors who were forced out of Nauvoo.  He said that he did this with a desire to feel the presence of his parents who had passed on. 

During the dedication service he knew that his father was sitting beside him and that his mother was on the first row in the congregation.  Elder Joseph Wirthlin commented that he also felt the presence of Elder Oak’s father.   A few weeks later a sister Elder Oaks did not know who had attended the dedication wrote and asked him about the man who sat next to him and Elder Wirthlin.  There was no mortal man next to him and Elder Wirthlin.  It was Elder Oaks’ father from the spirit world.    

Elder Oaks taught another wonderful aspect of the ministry of angels.  Just prior to leaving home for the dedication he visited his uncle Charles Oaks who had cancer but was expected to live for some time.  Elder Oaks’ father died young, and his brother Charles played an important role as a father figure in the Oaks’ family as he grew up.  When the dedication service ended he received a call telling him that his Uncle Charles had just then unexpectedly passed away.  Then he understood that another reason his father came back was to take uncle Charles home.  Elder Oaks said that it was not unusual when righteous people die for them to be escorted home by loved ones, angels, who have gone before.

Angels and the sealing of families – The presence of angels are often felt in the temple.   Usually, angels are not seen but rather their presence is felt.  This is especially true with the sealing ordinances.

When a couple is sealed and an eternal family created it is done in the presence of God, angels, and witnesses.  There are always witnesses assigned.  When the couple is prepared, and there is reverence in the sealing room the Spirit of the Lord is always present.  Angels also attend. 

The mirrors in the sealing rooms are placed on opposite walls so that when a person looks in either direction the reflections seem endless.  The reflections going in one direction could symbolically represent our children and grandchildren for generations to come.  And the reflections going in the other direction represent our ancestors.  Angels often attend a sealing as a new link in the eternal family chain is created.  This is cause for celebration on both sides of the veil.

The presence of angels is also often felt in the sealing room when all the children in a deceased family are represented by proxies around the altar, as they are sealed to their parents.

Testimony – In the temple we learn to “see with the eye of faith” – We desire to be numbered among those “whose faith was so exceedingly strong…who could not be kept within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether 12:19). 

Remember that having the gift of the Holy Ghost is greater than seeing an angel.  Most people will never see an angel, however, we often feel their presence in the temple.   But what we should desire most is to feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple, and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives.  President Wilford Woodruff explained:  “Now, I have always said, and I want to say it to you, that the Holy Ghost is what every Saint of God needs.  It is far more important that a man should have that gift than he should have the ministration of an angel” (Weber Stake Conference 19 October 1896).