When President Russell M. Nelson was born nearly 100 years ago, there were just six functioning temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Two earlier temples — the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples — had been destroyed or desecrated after the early Saints were forced to leave them behind.
The Nauvoo Temple was later rebuilt and dedicated by President Gordon B. Hinckley. Last month, the Church announced the purchase of the Kirtland Temple in Ohio, along with several significant historical sites in Nauvoo, Illinois.
“The Kirtland Temple has unusual significance in the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” President Nelson explained in his Sunday afternoon address during April 2024 general conference. “Several events that took place there had been prophesied for millennia and were essential for the Lord’s restored Church to fulfill its latter-day mission.”
Outlining these significant events, the Prophet and President of the Church invited Latter-day Saints to both understand the spiritual privileges made possible by the restoration of priesthood keys and to rejoice in them.
“‘The power of these priesthood keys is infinite and breathtaking,” President Nelson declared.
As the concluding talk of the 194th Annual General Conference, President Nelson’s remarks punctuated two days of messages from Church leaders emphasizing the importance of temples, covenants, joy and testimony in Jesus Christ.
The five sessions held on Saturday and Sunday, April 6-7, were broadcast and streamed online to millions of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe in more than 70 languages.
The proceedings included the announcement of 11 new General Authority Seventies and a new Sunday School general presidency, as well as the announcement that eight General Authority Seventies will be released and given emeritus status on Aug. 1. Elder Marcus B. Nash, Elder Michael T. Ringwood, Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela and Elder Edward Dube were also sustained as new members of the Presidency of the Seventy, the last three effective Aug. 1.
In a fitting end to a conference full of messages reiterating the importance and power of temple covenants, President Nelson also announced the locations for 15 new houses of the Lord, bringing the Church’s total number to 350 worldwide.
Significance of priesthood keys
On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery experienced a series of remarkable visitations in the Kirtland Temple. First, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared and promised, “I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:7).
Next, Moses appeared, conferring upon Joseph Smith the keys of the gathering of Israel. Then came Elias, who committed to Joseph the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham, and finally Elijah appeared, who conferred the keys of the sealing power upon Joseph Smith.
“The significance of these keys being returned to the earth by three heavenly messengers under the direction of the Lord cannot be overstated,” President Nelson said. “Priesthood keys constitute the authority and power of presidency. Priesthood keys govern how the priesthood of God may be used to bring about the Lord’s purposes and bless all who accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.”
The keys conferred to Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple authorized him — and all succeeding Presidents of the Church — to gather Israel on both sides of the veil, to bless all covenant children with the blessings of Abraham, to place a ratifying seal on priesthood ordinances and covenants, and to seal families eternally.
President Nelson invited Latter-day Saints to consider how their lives would be different if priesthood keys had not been restored to the earth. Without those keys “the Church could serve only as a significant teaching and humanitarian organization but not much more.”
Priesthood keys are what distinguish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from any other organization on earth, he said.
“Priesthood keys give us the authority to extend all of the blessings promised to Abraham to every covenant-keeping man and woman,” he explained. “Temple work makes these exquisite blessings available to all of God’s children, regardless of where or when they lived, or now live.”
‘Incredible personal spiritual privileges’
President Nelson invited listeners to consider three statements:
1. “The gathering of Israel is evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere.
2. “The gospel of Abraham is further evidence that God loves all of His children everywhere. He invites all to come unto Him — ‘black and white, bond and free, male and female; … all are alike unto God’ (2 Nephi 26:33).
3. “The sealing power is supernal evidence of how much God loves all of His children everywhere and wants each of them to choose to return home to Him.”
Priesthood keys enable every covenant-keeping man and woman to enjoy “incredible personal spiritual privileges,” President Nelson said.
Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple is a tutorial about how the temple is spiritually empowering, he continued. “That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is ‘a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God’” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:8).
This list of attributes is more than a description. “It is a promise about what can happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord. They can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge and increased power.”
President Nelson promised, “Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan.”
Latter-day Saints are also promised that in the temple they may “receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:15), that they will leave with the power of God and with angels having “charge over them” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22), and that “no combination of wickedness” will prevail over them (see Doctrine and Covenants 109:24–26).
“Understanding the spiritual privileges made possible in the temple is vital to each of us today,” President Nelson said.
The Prophet’s promise
Nothing will help Latter-day Saints to hold fast to the iron rod more than worshipping in the temple as regularly as circumstances permit, President Nelson declared.
“Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement or help you understand God’s magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more during times of pain. Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!”
The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has for each of His children and is the only place on earth where individuals may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham.
“This is why we are doing all within our power, under the direction of the Lord, to make temple blessings more accessible to members of the Church.”
President Nelson then announced 15 new temple locations:
- Uturoa, French Polynesia
- Chihuahua, Mexico
- Florianoplis, Brazil
- Rosario, Argentina
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Brisbane, Australia (south area)
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Yuma, Arizona
- Houston, Texas (south area)
- Des Moines, Iowa
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- West Jordan, Utah
- Lehi, Utah
- Maracaibo, Venezuela
