Speaking in Church

On Sunday I had the blessed opportunity to speak in church. My topic was the blessings of the temple which I thought would be super easy so I never sat down to write anything until late into the week. Sunday morning (thank goodness for 1:00 church) I found myself in a panic and scrambling for resources. I have never been more thankful for lds.org and how quick and easy it is to access any talk I want. I quickly printed off a bunch of quotes that I liked and sat down to put in my own thoughts and experiences. Miraculously everything came together so smoothly and better than I ever could have imagined!

Here is a story that I shared:

President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:
“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.”
President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’” 

I related this to our new Provo City Center Temple. The Tabernacle served a wonderful purpose,  but God had something better in mind for it. He "cut it down" just so he could build it up for something greater. We now have the opportunity to partake of the blessings of it.