Spiritual Cornerstones

In his talk, A Good Foundation against the Time to Come, Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke of the renovations underway with the Salt Lake City Temple to make it more resistant to earthquakes, and he encouraged us to examine and perhaps renovate, or at least renew, our own spiritual foundations. It may be wise to ask ourselves what truths form the cornerstones of our testimonies and how strongly we believe in those truths. To this end, Elder Stevenson suggested considering the first four questions that are asked during Temple Recommend interviews:

Do you have faith in and a testimony of God, the Eternal Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost?

 

Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of His role as your Savior and Redeemer?

Do you have a testimony of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?

Elder Stevenson sees these questions as "spiritual cornerstones." With these cornerstones in place and with the rest of our spiritual foundations built in alignment with them, we can ensure that our testimonies are built on foundations strong enough to withstand the earthshaking and faith-testing events of our lives.

Our mortal lives are littered with the sorts of challenges that test the strength of our testimonies. If we are to get through those challenges with our testimonies intact, we need to make sure our testimonies are built on solid foundations. To ensure this, we should consider which truths form the cornerstones of our testimonies, and we should make sure those cornerstones are strong. This may require some renovation or renewal on our part, but if a hundred-year-old temple can undergo renovations to strengthen its foundations, so can we. It's never too late to ensure that our testimonies are built on solid ground with good spiritual foundations and sure spiritual cornerstones.