This talk is a rework from a previous talk I gave called, "You are Enough" in case it sounds familiar.
You ARE Temple Material!
I want to focus my comments today toward the youth. Parents and grandparents, if this sparks something in your heart as well, all the better.
In August 2019, I was called to be an early morning seminary teacher. Most weeks I just hoped that I had one great day of teaching where the kids actively participated AND felt the spirit.
I had a few seminary students that came to seminary with an, “I don’t need to be here attitude!!!!” With a multitude of exclamation points at the end of the statement.
In fact, I could tell as one young man arrived each day with a less than thrilled attitude and sank into his seat that his thoughts went something like this: “I’m here and that’s about all you’re going to get from me.”
I got it though. They had homework and sports and youth activities and jobs and family responsibilities, and seminary was just one more thing at 6 am for them.
Stephen Robinson, in his book, "Believing Christ", shared an experience with his wife where she opened up to all the things that were in her heart one day. She was having different life experiences than you maybe, but young men and young women, you might understand how she was feeling the same overwhelm from life.
She said, "'All right. You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong. I can't do it anymore. I [just] can't [do] it.
I can't get up at 5:30 in the morning and bake bread and sew clothes and help my kids with their homework and do my own homework and do my Relief Society stuff and get my genealogy done and write the congressman and go to the PTA meetings and write the missionaries . . .'
And she just started naming one brick after another that had been laid on her, explaining all the things she could not do. She said, 'I don't have the talent that Sister Morrell has. I can't do what Sister Childs does. I try not to yell at the kids, but I lose control, and I do.
I'm just not perfect, and I'm not ever going to be perfect. I'm not going to make it to the celestial kingdom, and I've finally admitted that to myself. You and the kids can go, but I can't [do] it. …I’m not ever going to be perfect, so I've given up. Why break my back?'” (Stephen Robinson, Believing Christ, ).
Have you ever had similar feelings about the challenges of life? Have you ever thought:
- I’m not good enough.
- I WILL NEVER BE PERFECT.
- I can’t play volleyball as well as the girls on my team.
- My AP classes are so overwhelming and I don’t have time for anything else.
- I really don’t enjoy seminary and coming to church every week is a drag.
- I’m not going to make it to the temple. I’ve already messed up too much.
- I AM NOT TEMPLE MATERIAL.
Would it surprise you to know that like Sister Robinson, your parents have probably felt this same way a time or two in their lives? I know I have.
My prayer is that the Spirit whispers three things to your heart:
1) You are exactly where you need to be today
2) You are more than enough to be God’s temple material
3) God is aware of YOU and absolutely KNOWS your heart
You and I live in a world full of people accomplishing great things and rocking some very visible talents such as playing a musical instrument, singing, woodworking, creating beautiful art, building things, passing AP tests, cooking, working on computers, or swimming, to name a few.
And we compare ourselves to others using those visible talents and accomplishments as a measuring stick for OUR worth. Our self-talk quickly brings us to, "I’m not as good as…" or "I can't do…", which then leads to "I’m not…enough."
Our thoughts spiral downward. Sometimes we think we do not have many talents or we haven't accomplished much or that other people have more abilities than we will ever possess. Some people are simply better temple material.
"And sometimes," as Elder Devn Cornish once stated, "in our church culture, we become so disheartened by even the sincerest invitations to improve ourselves. We think silently, 'I can’t do all these things' or 'I will never be as good as all these people.'” (J. Devn Cornish, “Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?”, Oct. 2016, ).
Theodore Roosevelt was spot on when he coined the phrase, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Young friends, we all have worth. That worth is often manifest in our talents, gifts, strengths, and inner resources. Some of these talents and gifts are visible and wonderful and good and are used to bless the lives of others.
Some of our talents are not so visible but are equally wonderful and good and are still used to bless the lives of others.
Some of you young people have the talent of:
- Bearing other's burdens
- Including others at school and church
- Turning to prayer
- Having a happy heart
- Seeking forgiveness
- Being courageous
- Pressing forward in faith
- Having a listening ear
- Being on time
- Showing gratitude
- Sharing enthusiasm
Each of us have talents, gifts, and abilities that shine, and often they shine in a completely different way from our sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends, mentors, parents, and acquaintances.
My three daughters, each unique and as different as can be, have always beautifully illustrated this concept. In 2010, I noted in my journal about my two oldest:
Misha came in to this world as the younger sister. Amy could do this; Amy could do that. And always, Misha was in the 'Amy shadow'. Misha never felt that she was the ‘artistic’ one simply because she didn't do art the way Amy did. And somehow, the way Amy was artistic was the only way to be.
As a mother to Misha, I had to relearn a few things and understand new things and realize that there was more than one way to be artistic or tie one's shoe or love someone or whatever. Misha's artistic abilities shone in a completely different way, and if you let her express herself, her creativity was out of this world (July 16, 2010).
Elder Uchtdorf noted, "Sometimes we feel discouraged because we are not 'more' of something—more spiritual, respected, intelligent, healthy, rich, friendly, or capable. Naturally, there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve. God created us to grow and progress. But remember, our weaknesses can help us to be humble and turn us to Christ, who will 'make weak things become strong' (Ether 12:27). Satan, on the other hand, uses our weaknesses to the point that we are discouraged from even trying… God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe, and trust in the Lord" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "It Works Wonderfully!", Oct. 2015).
Would you agree that this discouragement is escalated by the Social Media Effect? Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or any other medium, we vividly catalog our weaknesses or limitations while comparing our worst with someone else's best. Have you ever had thoughts similar to these? "They draw beautiful pictures and I can't. I must be a loser." or "They are a great cook. I burn everything. I'm a failure.”
"We live in a world that feeds on comparisons, labeling, and criticism. Instead of seeing through the lens of social media, we need to look inward for the godly attributes to which we each lay claim.” (W. Craig Zwick, “Lord, Wilt Thou Cause That My Eyes May Be Opened”, Oct. 2017).
Life is all about celebrating our hidden talents and acknowledging our gifts, but to be perfectly honest, there are just some talents that aren't in our wheelhouse.
While I know that there are some skills that I just don't have the knack for, I try not to beat myself up either for that lack. For instance, I am directionally challenged. When I lived in Utah, I always oriented myself with the mountains in the East. Moving to Colorado—the other side of those mountains—I had to make a paradigm shift as the mountains were now in my West. I literally have to think, "North is 'that way,' which is pointing toward Canada, because that is where my parents live. If I lived in a state without mountains, I'm not sure I would even know which way was North anymore!
As an example:
Chris and I spent a couple of days in New Zealand in 2017. We wanted to get out of the city and tour the country side. That meant renting a car AND driving on the opposite side of the road. Fortunately, I wasn't driving and the map feature on Chris' phone was navigating.
I commented to Chris after we passed a detour, "Can you imagine navigating our way around with a paper map to get to where we need to be?" He replied, "I can imagine me doing it. I can't imagine you doing it!" (February 26, 2017).
Young people, Be confident in what you CAN do. Try new things. Celebrate new talents and gifts. Find ways to improve to magnify you. Recognize that you are temple material. Our differences in this life as brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, friends, students, and neighbors make each of us unique temple material.
I love this thought from Michelle Craig, "The truth is that each of us is one generation away from Deity—each is a child of God. And just as He has done with both prophets and ordinary men and women through the ages, so Heavenly Father intends to transform us" (Michelle W Craig, “Divine Discontent”, Oct. 2018).
Embrace confidence. And I mean, really wrap your arms around it and "own it" for yourself. Sometimes we "get our undies in a twist" when we try to be all things to all people and feel as though we aren't enough. We create parameters and impossible earthly deadlines for ourselves to, "Be ye therefore perfect”—now, when we really should remember that God expects us to "be ye therefore perfect—eventually" as Jeffrey R. Holland stated. (“Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually, Nov. 2017).
Remember my young seminary student? Fast forward about five years to his missionary homecoming. As he stood at the pulpit to share his testimony he said, “Sister Kline, I know you probably thought I wasn’t listening but I heard one thing that made a difference on my mission: ‘Live so that those who know you but don’t know the Savior will want to know the Savior because they know you.’” He heard one thing that helped him to see his potential as temple material and to endure as a missionary.
Young men and young women. YOU ARE TEMPLE MATERIAL! Take a breath and realize that YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT TODAY!
Simply know that God sees what you and I are not always able to see. As all of you are new to knowing the Kline family, here's a fun fact: My husband is 6'4" and I am 5'2". While Chris' height comes in handy for me when I need to find him in a crowd, sometimes his long legs far outpace mine.
One summer we were traveling in Italy as a family and wanted to make a day trip to a small town called Orvieto. I noted in my journal:
Getting to Orvieto was an hour train ride outside the city and another early start to our day. We had maybe five minutes to eat our breakfast and then run to the bus and tram stop. And then we anxiously waited. You just never know if the buses and trams will be on time or not. Since we were in a hurry, we decided to hop on a tram since our bus wasn't appearing and as soon as we got on, our bus rumbled around the corner. We rode the tram for one stop. Got off, hopped on the bus, took it to the subway station, and ran down the stairs to narrowly catch our subway train.
Once we reached the train station it was an all out run to the furthest possible loading dock in the train station. I have endurance to run for a bit, but I am not a good sprinter. And to keep up with all of my long-legged family was nearly impossible.
Chris reached the train first and kept running past the train cars. As I watched in amazement and then frustration, I just kept yelling in my head, "Stop running past all the train cars and get on the train! Seriously. Get. On. The. Train!" I was dying. We literally made it with seconds to spare.
Now, what I did not realize was that Chris was tall enough to see into each train car as he was running past them and could tell that all of the seats were full. And since there is not a hand signal for "This Train Car is Full", I did not understand why he picked the furthest train car possible. He kept running past the full cars until he reached a car with available seats. All I could see were his legs running and running and running.
God knows and sees what we cannot see. As Sister Craig said, "Heavenly Father intends to transform us." For those of us who struggle with feeling good enough to be TEMPLE MATERIAL—and we all do—And when it seems as though we are running and running and running and trying and trying and trying, please know that:
1) You are exactly where you need to be today,
2) You are amazing and more than enough to be God’s temple material and,
3) I testify that God SEES all that YOU cannot see and He absolutely KNOWS YOUR heart.
