One of my gems is a tape recording of the Logan Temple historian a decade or two ago talking about the wild things that have occurred down through time in conjunction with that temple. I have made a .wav file of the tape but its too large to make into a youtube so I still have some tweaking to do. One of my favorites on the tape was the story related by the first Temple President, Marriner J. Merrill. They had just dedicated the temple (in the 1880's) and he was working inside when he heard a huge commotion outside the temple and went to the window to see what it was. There were around 5,000 people milling about the yard and he knew they were not patrons. He went down and out amongst them and asked who their leader was (he described them as disheveled and not comely people). One individual stepped forward and introduced himself, "I am satan (lower case on purpose....) and I want you to shut your temple and discontinue the work you are doing." President Merrill said he would do no such thing. Satan then responded, if you do not then we will molest your patrons and shut the work down for you. President Merrill then raised his arm to the square and dismissed the entire lot of them in the name of Jesus Christ. All 5,000 including their horses and buggies, etc faded and disappeared out of view. For the next several years, reports came in of patrons who attempted to make the journey to the temple, but the gate would be left open and the horses would have to be rounded up taking up the entire day. Other reports of machinery being mysteriously busted and the immediate tasks not being able to be completed before being able to go. I have thought on this story and marveled just about every time I attempt to make it to the temple how there are often obstacles placed in my way that I must exert to get beyond in order to go.
My latest one - and one I have been observing for several years now - are the managers at work who suddenly have an emergency the night before I am to go which causes me to stay over so much that there is not enough time to complete my planned session the next day. One, who is a nice enough guy (and who was raised in Utah and has a sister who married an LDS guy in Green River) always seems to be the one to throw a wrench in the works. I called him out last night and told him - to his face; and with a smile, of course - that he was a complete detriment to my spiritual life and basically that I thought he was UID (that is my code for Under the Influence of the Devil). Let me illustrate what I am saying. If you have something you need to get done - and it is a worthy thing - and there is always someone or something that trips you up, you need to evaluate that person or thing and determine whether it should be in your life or whether you should "cast it out". All things list to obey one voice or the other - the call of Good, or the call of evil. There is little or no gray in the matter. For example, I often have caller ID in my head which I would venture to guess is the whispering of the Holy Ghost. When my wife is dialing me, I usually have an impression or thought of her and the phone then rings. When I need to do something that is good and wholesome, I have a similar impression or thought to do so. Oftentimes, the person I am serving tells me they are glad I was able to know just what they needed. That is the Spirit of the Lord at work.
The flip side of that is the occasional times I have not had the Spirit and have said and done the exact wrong thing as I listed to obey the other voice. I believe its this voice that operates in many lives and is obeyed to trip others up when they are seeking to do a good thing.
In the case of this manager, he has an outward appearance of a good man, but there is something amiss which causes him to list to obey this other spirit. I think he is faithful to his wife, does not drink excessively and is generally a good guy, but he is consistent in throwing the wrench in the works. His language is particularly foul and frequently blasphemes God and Jesus' name in front of me - even knowing that I am LDS - and having been raised in Bountiful, UT. I have been more bold each time he does this, in calling him out on it. Most polite people, when called out on something like that, will cease doing it, if they respect you. I know he respects me - as we work well together to solve problems on the factory floor. It is my suspicion that he holds a secret contempt for the LDS - and thus the source of whom he lists to obey. You cannot reject goodness and still list to obey the source of all goodness. No man can serve two masters.
So, the objective of this story? I am finally writing it down after literally decades of observing the principle in action so that you can experiment with it. Announce out loud that you are going to do something that is truly worthy - and see who or what comes to trip you up in that endeavor. Chances are very good, you will detect (by indirect means) who can be truly trusted and who should be cast out of your life. Its also a good way to detect how your teenagers are doing spiritually. Try it - I think you will be pleasantly surprised how good it works.
Thank you so much for this article. I had read years ago of the miracles and many things that have happened at the Logan temple and been deeply inspired by the stories and as I read your blog also realized just how closely these same kinds of events are happening in our own lives as we strive to obey our Father in Heaven and keep his commandments. There is opposition in our lives but we can command the evil one to depart. I have often said, he is not in the temple, it is there and in the D&C we learn how to get rid of him and then it is up to us to do it in our lives. The Lord gives us these great blessings of the Priesthood so that we can walk with a greater degree His Spirit of protection in our sojourn here on earth.
ReplyDeletethe key for making things happen for me, is to keep it to myself. from what i understand. . . satan can put thoughts in our mind, but he cannot read our thoughts. so simply dont tell him your plans :)
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