Relief Society message: Becoming an eternal family
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Each month, the Church News publishes a message to complement the Relief Society visiting teaching message found in the Ensign magazine. The article on this page is based on the October 2010 special issue focusing entirely on temples. The issue will not contain a specific First Presidency Message or Visiting Teaching Message. Home and visiting teachers are encouraged to prayerfully select their message from the contents of the special issue.
On the first day the newly dedicated Kiev Ukraine Temple was open for ordinance work, Aug. 30, Valdimir and Lynbov Babskov joined with their daughter and son-in-law, and two grandchildren to make their dream of becoming an eternal family a reality.
For sixteen years, Brother and Sister Babskov had been waiting for the opportunity to stand with their daughter, Olga, inside a dedicated temple and participate in the sacred sealing ordinances.
With the dedication of the Kiev Ukraine Temple on Aug. 29, Brother and Sister Babskov saw an opportunity to meet with their family and experience the joy of standing in the temple — together.
"We feel the peace of the temple," Brother Babskov said. "We've waited a long time for this moment, to come with our daughter and be sealed. We've waited 16 years. … Now we know the importance to be patient because the Lord always keeps His promises."
Brother and Sister Babskov were baptized in 1992, and were sealed in the Freiberg Germany Temple in 1995. Their daughter Olga, was unable to attend. Later, Olga and her husband, Kirill Ananich, were sealed in the Stockholm Sweden Temple. Since then, an opportunity for the Babskovs and their daughter's family to be sealed in the Frieberg Germany Temple had not been available.
Brother and Sister Babskov live in Donestsk, Ukraine, and their daughter lives in St. Petersburg, Russia. They saw the Ukraine Temple dedication as an opportunity to make their dream of an eternal family come true.
After having their daughter sealed to them, Sister Babskova stood outside the temple with her family and said, "Right now, we feel that we have come home. ...It is a blessing. I don't know how to describe it any other way. It's a great dream and a huge blessing. I feel love."
She then pointed to the clear blue sky, and said, "Look at the heavens. Today is extra special. Today we are an eternal family."
Blessings of the temple
"What a different world and Church this would be if every Latter-day Saint sister excelled at making, renewing and keeping covenants; if every sister qualified for a temple recommend and worshipped more often in temples; if every sister studied the scriptures and doctrines of Christ and knew them so well that she could teach and defend those doctrines at any time or place. ... If every sister was self-reliant enough to be able to give freely of her knowledge, talents, and resources and if every sister's discipleship was reflected by what she said and what she wore, we would be immovable in that which is correct."
— Sister Julie B. Beck, "What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable," General Relief Society Meeting, Nov. 2007
"When members of the Church are troubled or when crucial decisions weigh heavily upon their minds, it is a common thing for them to go to the temple. It is a good place to take our cares. In the temple we can receive spiritual perspective. There, during the time of the temple service, we are 'out of the world.'
"Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems, and there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can 'see' things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.
"The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs."
— President Boyd K. Packer, "The Holy Temple," Ensign, Feb. 1995
"Because I love you, I am going to speak to you heart to heart, without mincing words. I have seen that many times individuals have made great sacrifices to go to a distant temple. But when a temple is built close by, within a short time, many do not visit it regularly. I have a suggestion: When a temple is conveniently nearby, small things may interrupt your plans to go to the temple. Set specific goals, considering your circumstances, of when you can and will participate in temple ordinances. Then do not allow anything to interfere with that plan. This pattern will guarantee that those who live in the shadow of a temple will be as blessed as are those who plan far ahead and make a long trip to the temple."
— Elder Richard G. Scott, "Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need," General Conference April 2009
"The opportunity to enter the temple and to take upon ourselves the sacred covenants therein is one of the greatest blessings available to us in mortality. Then, after we take upon us those covenants, our obedience in living them daily stands as a demonstration of our faith, love, devotion, and spiritual commitment to honor our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Our obedience also prepares us to live with Them in the eternities. The temple's saving ordinances are essential to — and even the central focus of — the eternal plan of happiness.
—Elder Robert D. Hales, "Blessings of the Temple," Liahona, Oct 2009, 12–15
