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Elder Quentin L. Cook: See Yourself in the Temple

Latter-day Saints were encouraged to remain worthy to enter the temple by Elder Quentin L. Cook.

Elder Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve, opened his talk by recounting the story of the missionaries and members in Thailand reacting to the announcement of a temple in their country last year.

Elder Quentin L. Cook was called as a General Authority in 1996 at age 55. Photo courtesy of Mormon Newsroom.

Elder Quentin L. Cook (LDS Church)

Missionaries were so excited that the ''whole mission was awake in the middle of the night jumping on their beds.'' Elder Cook spoke of the joy that Latter-day Saints feel from having a temple nearby. He described how members should prepare for the temple.

'It is our great desire that members of the church will live to be worthy of a temple recommend,' Elder Cook said. 'Please don't see the temple as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal.'

He also reminded members of temple blessings and the necessary saving ordinances for exaltation. Couples can be sealed together forever, the dead can receive their ordinances and all can gather to worship Heavenly Father side by side.

'The temple is also a place of refuge, thanksgiving, instruction, and understanding in all things pertaining to the kingdom of God on the earth,' Elder Cook said.

The importance of Christ as the head of the church and the cornerstone of members' faith was also highlighted during his address.

At the time of the original dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple in 2000, members of that nation's parliament were taken hostage by a group of rebels. Due to the potential danger of violence, President Gordon B. Hinckley was told it was safest to do a small dedication with no events outside the temple.

President Hinckley agreed to a small dedication with one condition. If the dedication was to occur, the cornerstone ceremony would as well. President Hinckley said, ''If we do dedicate the temple, we will have the cornerstone ceremony because Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone, and this is his church.''

Elder Cook concluded his talk with a final admonition for saints to make whatever changes necessary to be temple worthy.

'In doing so we can accomplish his holy purposes and prepare ourselves and our families for all the blessings the Lord and his church can bestow in this life and eternity,' Elder Cook said.

See a summary of The Daily Universe’s coverage of the April 2016 LDS General Conference.