last April soon after the joyful news that the church had acquired the Kirkland Temple President Russell M nelson invited us to study the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple recorded in section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants the dedicatory prayer said President Nelson is tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers you and me to meet the challenges of life in these last days i am sure that your study of section 109 yielded insights that blessed you this evening i share a couple of things I learned as I followed our prophet's invitation the peacegiving path down which my study led reminded me that the Lord is merciful and that our heavenly father's plan of mercy plan of salvation is truly a plan of mercy as you may be aware newly called missionaries are encouraged to receive the temple endowment as soon as possible and to attend the temple as often as circumstances allow once endowed they also may serve as temple workers before they begin missionary service time in the temple before entering the MTC can be a wonderful blessing for new missionaries as they learn more about temple covenants before sharing the blessing of those covenants with the world but in studying section 109 I learned that in the temple God empowers new missionaries indeed all of us in an additional sacred way in the dedicatory prayer given by Revelation Joseph prayed that when thy servant shall go out from thy house to bear testimony of thy name the hearts of all people would be softened both the great ones of the earth and all the poor the needy and the afflicted he prayed that their prejudices may give way before the truth and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all that all the ends of the earth may know that we thy servants have heard thy voice and that thou hast sent us this is a beautiful promise for a newly called missionary to have prejudices give way before the truth to obtain favor in the sight of all and to have the world know that they are sent by the Lord each of us surely needs these same blessings what a blessing it would be to have hearts softened as we interact with neighbors and co-workers now the dedicatory prayer does not explain exactly how our time in the temple will soften others hearts but I am convinced it is bound up with how time in the house of the Lord softens our own hearts by centering us on Jesus Christ and his mercy as I studied the Kirtland dedicatory prayer I was also struck that Joseph again and again pleaded for mercy for the members of the church for the enemies of the church for the leaders of the country for the nations of the earth and very personally he plead with the Lord to remember him and to have mercy upon his beloved Emma and their children how must Joseph have felt one week later on Easter day April 3rd 1836 in the Kirtland Temple when the Savior appeared to him and Oliver Calry and as recorded in section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenant said "I have accepted this house and my name shall be here and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house." This promise of mercy must have had special meaning to Joseph and as President Nelson taught last April this promise also applies to every dedicated temple today there are so many ways in which we each can find mercy in the house of the Lord this has been true since the Lord first commanded Israel to build a tabernacle and to place at its center the mercy seat in the temple we find mercy in the covenants we make those covenants in addition to the baptismal covenant bind us to the father and the son and give us increased access to what President Nelson has taught is a special kind of love and mercy called in Hebrew we find mercy also in the opportunity to be sealed to our families for eternity in the temple we come to understand with greater clarity that the creation the fall the Savior's atoning sacrifice and our very ability to enter again into our heavenly father's presence indeed every part of the plan of salvation is a manifestation of mercy it might be said that the plan of salvation is a plan of happiness precisely because it is a plan of mercy i am grateful for the beautiful promise in section 110 that the Lord will manifest himself in mercy in his temples i am also grateful for what it reveals about how the Lord will manifest himself in mercy whenever we like Joseph plead for mercy joseph Smith's plea for mercy in section 109 was not the first time his pleas for mercy prompted revelation in the sacred grove young Joseph prayed not just to know which church was true but he also said that he cried unto the Lord for mercy for there was none else to whom I could go to obtain mercy somehow his recognition that he needed mercy that only the Lord could provide helped open the windows of heaven three years later the angel Moroni appeared following what Joseph said was his prayer and supplication to Almighty God for forgiveness of all my sins and follyies this pattern of revelation following a plea for mercy is a familiar one in the scriptures enus heard the voice of the Lord only after praying for forgiveness king Lemonai's father's conversion begins with his prayer i will give away all my sins to know thee now we may not be blessed with these same dramatic experiences but for those who sometimes struggle to feel answers to prayer seeking the Lord's mercy is one of the most powerful ways to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost a similar principle is beautifully taught in Moroni 10:es 3-5 we often shorthand these verses to teach that through sincere prayer we can learn whether the Book of Mormon is true but this shorthand can neglect the important role of mercy listen to how Moroni begins his exhortation i would exhort you that when you shall read these things that you would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men from the creation of Adam even down until the time that you shall receive these things and ponder it in your hearts moroni urges us not only to read these things the records he was about to seal up but also to ponder in our hearts what the Book of Mormon reveals about how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men it is pondering upon the Lord's mercy that then prepares us to ask God the eternal father in the name of Christ if these things are not true as we ponder on the Book of Mormon we might ask "Is it really true as Alma taught that God's plan of mercy assures that every person who ever lived on this earth will be resurrected that they will be restored to their perfect frame?" Is Amu right can the Savior's mercy satisfy all the bitterly real demands of justice that we would otherwise be obligated to pay and instead encircle us in the arms of safety is it true as Alma testified that Christ suffered not only for our sins but for our pains and afflictions so that he could know how to sucker his people according to their infirmities is the Lord really so merciful as King Benjamin taught that as a free gift he atoned for the sins of those who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them or who have ignorantly sinned is it true as Lehi said that Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy and is it really true as Abinadai testified quoting Isaiah that Jesus Christ was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed in some is the Father's plan as taught in the Book of Mormon really this merciful i testify that it is and that the peacegiving and hopeful teachings of mercy in the Book of Mormon are true still I imagine that some may be struggling despite your faithful reading and prayers to realize Moroni's promise that Heavenly Father will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost i know this struggle because I felt it many years ago when my own first couple of reads of the Book of Mormon did not yield an immediate and clear answer to my prayers if you are struggling may I invite you to follow Moroni's counsel to ponder on the many ways the Book of Mormon teaches how merciful the Lord hath been to the children of men based on my experience I hope that when you do the peace of the Holy Ghost can enter your heart and you can know believe and feel that the Book of Mormon and the plan of mercy it teaches are true i express my gratitude for the Father's great plan of mercy and for the Savior's willingness to carry it out i know that he will manifest himself in mercy in his holy temple and in every part of our life if we will seek him in the name of Jesus Christ amen amen