Lessons on Missionary Service
Lesson No. Eight

The Temple Endows Missionaries with Power

The temple comes first – Before missionaries can go on their mission they must first be endowed and receive their temple blessings.  The word endowment means a gift.  Thomas Jefferson used it that way in the Declaration of Independence when he wrote:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed (gifted) by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  In the temple our Father in Heaven endows his children with the gifts of knowledge and power.  This endowment “of power from on high” (D&C 38:32) enables missionaries to serve with great power and authority. 

The endowment of knowledge and power received in the temple also enables us to fulfill our life callings as mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, and to qualify for eternal life. After missionaries are released they will no longer live mission rules, but we are always required to keep temple covenants.

A remarkable example of how the temple blesses missionaries – Before the first temple in West Africa opened there were about 850 young missionaries serving in that area.  Nearly all of them were natives and none were endowed because the nearest temple was thousands of miles away in South Africa.  When the temple in Ghana was dedicated these missionaries were endowed.

An amazing thing happened.  They returned to the same areas they were in before being endowed.  They had the same mission presidents and companions.  They used the same “Preach My Gospel” teaching plan.  Their environment had not changed in any way.

Their mission presidents reported some wonderful changes.  The missionaries were more obedient.  They had more capacity to open their mouths and declare the gospel.  They taught with greater power.  Their understanding of the gospel and their ability to reach their investigators improved.  The West Africa Area Presidency reported that the work in all missions improved and the joy of missionary service likewise increased with the missionaries.

The source of this great success was that the missionaries had prepared themselves and went to the temple and were endowed with power from on high.

In the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple the Prophet Joseph Smith prayed for all missionaries – This prayer was given by revelation.  It applies equally today in every temple and to every missionary: 

“And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them.

“And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfill that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days” (D&C 109:22-23).

The Prophet Joseph Smith’s prayer was answered in the Kentucky Louisville Mission – Just as it happened to missionaries in West Africa the Prophet Joseph’s prayer was fulfilled in the lives of our missionaries.  They had all been endowed in the temple.  When they were faithful and worked hard they were armed with the power of the Lord, and his name was upon them, and his glory round about them, and his angels had charge over them.  And when they bore testimony of the divinity of this work the Spirit of the Lord confirmed their testimony both to themselves and to those they taught.