Among the Noble and Great...

Sunday Night was the Annual Devotional for the Mount Timpanogos Temple Workers. I looked forward with great expectation from the moment it was announced, and in the end my expectations were far exceeded.

As I sat in the American Fork Tabernacle surrounded on all sides by my fellow temple workers I fell in awe. I felt that I was in the presence of greatness. The opening Hymn was High on a Mountain Top.

As our voices swelled with this song of praise and prayer unto our God, I felt tears fill my eyes. For I recalled the scriptures in Doctrine and Covenants that talk about the noble and great who were assembled in the spirit world to greet their triumphant Lord, and receive there first lessons at His feet right after he broke the bonds of sin and death.

“Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father Adam, the Ancient of Days and father of all,

And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.

Abel, the first martyr, was there, and his brother Seth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express image of his father, Adam.

Noah, who gave warning of the flood; Shem, the great high priest; Abraham, the father of the faithful; Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, the great law-giver of Israel;

Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there.

Moreover, Ezekiel, who was shown in vision the great valley of dry bones, which were to be clothed upon with flesh, to come forth again in the resurrection of the dead, living souls;

Daniel, who foresaw and foretold the establishment of the kingdom of God in the latter days, never again to be destroyed nor given to other people;

Elias, who was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration;

And Malachi, the prophet who testified of the coming of Elijah—of whom also Moroni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith, declaring that he should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful day of the Lord—were also there. . .

All these and many more, even the prophets who dwelt among the Nephites and testified of the coming of the Son of God, mingled in the vast assembly and waited for their deliverance. . .

These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life,

And continue thenceforth their labor as had been promised by the Lord, and be partakers of all blessings which were held in reserve for them that love him.

The Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work,

Including the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead, were also in the spirit world.

I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.

Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.” D&C 138: 38-46, 49, 51-56

As I thought of all those great and noble spirit assembled there, I wondered if I was among them in that important assembly. Was I there to receive my Lord when He broke the bonds of sin and death? Did receive my first lesson from the Lord before I was born? Was I called then to serve in His holy temples, and elsewhere in His kingdom? Though my mortal mind cannot remember, my spirit cried out to me that yes I was!

With my mind and heart thus prepared, I found that I was greatly edified by the words of our new temple President, President Brown, and also by Elder and Sister Perry. I took many notes with my pen, but even more with my heart.