Jet Mariano

Tag: Celestial Room

  • MIT8 – “Confidence in the Presence of God”

    November 8, 2025 – Oquirrh Temple Reflections

    Joshua Tree National Park – The Milky Way at 2 AM. 30 sec exposure, f/11, ISO 2400. Manual focus locked on the brightest star to prevent lens hunting. A quiet lesson in light, patience, and faith.

    Excerpt
    We all will experience illness, disappointment, temptation, and loss. These challenges can knock our self-confidence. However, disciples of Jesus Christ have access to a different kind of confidence — the confidence that comes from covenants, virtue, and the Spirit.

    Intro
    While I sat in the Celestial Room of the Oquirrh Temple, I heard a quiet assurance: “In due time.” It echoed the nudges I felt early Friday morning. I had come seeking peace, but what I received was perspective — that confidence before God comes not from circumstance, but from virtue and covenant faithfulness.

    Notes from President Nelson (April 2025 General Conference)
    From his talk “Confidence in the Presence of God”:

    “We all will experience illness, disappointment, temptation, and loss. These challenges can knock our self-confidence. However, disciples of Jesus Christ have access to a different kind of confidence.”

    “When we make and keep covenants with God, we can have confidence that is born of the Spirit. The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that our confidence can ‘wax strong in the presence of God.’ Imagine the comfort of having confidence in the presence of God!”

    President Nelson continued:

    “When I speak of having confidence before God, I am referring to having confidence in approaching God right now! I am referring to praying with confidence that Heavenly Father hears us, that He understands our needs better than we do.”

    He reminded us that confidence is the byproduct of charity and virtue.

    “Let thy bowels be full of charity… and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.”

    He also promised:

    “Regular worship in the house of the Lord increases our capacity for both virtue and charity. Thus, time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord. Increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

    And finally:

    “Then, as we go to our Heavenly Father with increasing confidence, we will be filled with more joy, and your faith in Jesus Christ will increase. We will begin to experience spiritual power that exceeds our greatest hopes.”

    What Is Virtue?
    This is what I learned in the Celestial Room of the Oquirrh Temple:
    If you let virtue — morally clean and excellent thoughts, kindness, and all that is positive — fill your mind, then the bad actors on the stage of your mind like doubt, fear, and depression will evaporate.

    Why? Because we control the stage of our mind.

    We can divert our thoughts to virtue: our favorite Church talk, a meaningful scripture, or a motivating experience. These are our arsenal to protect the mind from intrusive darkness.

    As Elder Boyd K. Packer taught:

    “The mind is like a stage… There is always some act being performed. Virtue determines which act takes the spotlight.”

    Darkness will never have power over light. When virtue becomes our daily focus, we begin to understand what it means to “garnish our thoughts unceasingly.”

    Perspective
    D&C 124 teaches, “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” To “garnish” means to arm or equip. Virtue, then, is our spiritual armor — the unseen force that steadies the mind and protects confidence.

    In IT, confidence is also earned — through repetition, study, and mistakes turned into mastery. When knowledge becomes daily practice, it forms character; and character, in time, becomes wisdom — the quiet confidence that endures.

    Practice
    Virtue doesn’t silence thoughts; it trains them. It replaces anxious noise with light. It equips us to approach God not as strangers but as sons and daughters who trust His timing — His due time.

    Final Reflection – Light in One of the Darkest Places
    The photo above was taken at Joshua Tree National Park — one of the darkest places on earth. Out there, you can hardly see your own hands.

    To capture the Milky Way, I did what years of practice taught me:

    • Mounted my camera on a tripod
    • Pointed the lens toward the brightest star in the Milky Way using the LCD screen
    • Let the autofocus lock in until the stars were sharp
    • Then switched both the 14–24mm f/2.8G lens from AF to M and the camera to Manual so the lens wouldn’t “hunt” in the dark
    • Set the exposure to 30 seconds, f/11, ISO 2400
    • Hit the 30-second timer and walked into the frame, shining a small LED flashlight toward the Milky Way

    I became both the subject and the seeker — trusting the focus, the settings, and the process. The sky didn’t suddenly change; the Milky Way was there the whole time. The difference was confidence built from quiet, repeated attempts.

    Faith works the same way. We may feel surrounded by darkness, but if we’ve prepared, practiced, filled our minds with virtue, and kept showing up in God’s house, the light eventually appears — and our confidence, in His presence, slowly waxes strong.

    Pocket I’m Keeping
    Virtue will free you from anxious, troublesome thoughts. In time, it becomes confidence — the kind that lets you stand in God’s presence without fear.

    What I Hear Now

    “In due time.”
    “Charity and virtue open the way.”

    Full talk: Confidence in the Presence of God – President Russell M. Nelson (April 2025)

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    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Marked in Time — “Focus on the Temple”

    Deseret Peak Utah Temple at sunset—sunbeams radiating behind the spire; foreground includes a ONE WAY sign and sweeping curve leading to the grounds.

    Excerpt

    There’s one way that never fails: return to the temple. Time there refines the soul and tunes it to Christ.

    Intro

    The sun dropped behind the Oquirrhs and the rays split the sky while I stood by a road sign that simply read ONE WAY—its arrow bending toward the House of the Lord. That felt exactly right. My weeks are fuller and messier than I can say, yet the path that steadies me is singular: one way to the Celestial Room. I need that room every week. Every temple where I’ve lingered long in that quiet has offered a different whisper—no adjectives in English quite fit, only awe and a desire to stay.

    Notes from President Nelson

    • The Savior appeared to the Nephites at the temple—His house is filled with His power.
    • The Lord is accelerating temple building and access across the earth.
    • Increased time in the temple blesses life in ways nothing else can.
    • The temple helps gather Israel and spiritually refine disciples.
    • A living prophet invites us to focus on the temple in ways we never have before.

    Perspective — direct quotes

    “I promise that increased time in the temple will bless your life in ways nothing else can.”
    “It is significant that the Savior chose to appear to the people at the temple.”

    Practice — today, not someday

    1. Weekly Celestial Room: plan one session each week and leave time to linger.
    2. Temple-first calendar: schedule temple time before the week fills with everything else.
    3. Gathering habit: bring a name or help someone get to the temple each month.

    Final Reflection

    The sign says One Way. President Nelson’s promise makes the direction clear: choose the temple, and the Lord will shape the heart in ways nothing else can. Windows glowed, rays fanned the sky, and I felt the familiar nudge—be here often, let Christ refine you.

    Pocket I’m Keeping

    “One way to peace and power this week: go to the temple.”

    What I Hear Now — direct quotes

    “Focus on the temple.”
    “He is making His temples more accessible.”

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

  • Line Upon Line

    The Taylorsville Utah Temple at dusk, framed by golden wheat and roses. A reminder that spiritual harvests come “line upon line, precept upon precept” — in His time, His way, His will.

    There are weeks that pass quietly, and there are weeks that rearrange your spirit. In the span of just seven days, I’ve walked into the Taylorsville Temple three times. Each visit has been different, but together they’ve built something remarkable — a deepened layer of understanding, given to me line upon line, precept on precept.

    I think of my journey from 1981 up to today as “college-level” preparation in spiritual learning. Now, here in Utah, the Lord has been giving me what feels more like a “doctorate-level” education: His time, His way, His will.

    It’s like watching the stars appear at night.
    First one little light shines over there
    in the western sky, and then another,
    and then another — until finally, look for yourself…

    A whole wonderful endless universe
    began with one little star.

    Line upon line, precept on precept.
    That is how He lifts us, that is how He teaches His children.
    Line upon line, precept on precept.
    Like a summer shower giving us each hour His wisdom.
    If we are patient we shall see
    How the pieces fit together in harmony.
    We’ll know who we are in this big universe
    And then we’ll live with Him forever.

    But until it happens…

    Line upon line, precept on precept.
    That is how He lifts us, that is how He teaches His children.
    Line upon line, precept on precept.
    Like a summer shower giving us each hour His wisdom.

    (From Saturday’s Warrior, 1973 — Words by Doug Stewart, Music by Lex de Azevedo)

    Final Reflection

    Tonight in the Celestial Room, I prayed not to impose my will but to listen. What I felt wasn’t a grand vision but a gentle whisper — a reminder that revelation unfolds step by step, not all at once.

    Life keeps unfolding in ways I don’t always anticipate. Some lines remain unanswered, others open unexpectedly, but together they form a pattern that teaches me to trust the timing.

    Line upon line, I see how the Lord has been shaping my path. What once felt scattered now begins to come together in harmony — not all finished, but moving toward His perfect design.

    © 2012–2025 Jet Mariano. All rights reserved.
    For usage terms, please see the Legal Disclaimer.

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