Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever. Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan. I promise you that.
We are also promised that in the temple we may “receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost.”
Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys (churchofjesuschrist.org)
I love this quote. But when I read it, I couldn’t help but notice that first line of the second paragraph… “receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost.” what exactly is that? Not just receive the Holy Ghost, but receive a fullness of it. I’ll tell you where the answer is not found… social media boards like reddit.
It comes from D&C 109:15
15 And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;
Doctrine and Covenants 109 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
It causes me to ponder. If I were to consider the word “fullness,” I would conclude that it meant complete. So I looked around a bit. I think D&C 93 relates to this topic quite a bit. It talks about Jesus Christ receiving a fulness from the Father, as well as us receiving a fulness of John’s writings, and other variations of a “fulness.”
6 And John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed.
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9 The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
10 The worlds were made by him; men were made by him; all things were made by him, and through him, and of him.
11 And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;
14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.
15 And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son.
16 And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
18 And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.
19 I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.
20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace.
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27 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.
29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.
31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.
33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;
34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.
35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.
Doctrine and Covenants 93 (churchofjesuschrist.org)
What I got out of that was that Jesus Christ had to increase grace by grace until he himself received a fulness. Our bodies are temples and without them, we can not receive a fulness of Joy. So, there is some aspect here in which the body is important for receiving any fulness. But for Jesus Christ to receive a fullness he had to have a body also. They also listed a few types of “fulness;” a fullness of John’s words, God the Father’s power, and Joy. It leads me to believe that we could potentially have a fullness of one thing and not another until we receive a fullness of that thing also.
One thing is clear, we all needed a body to receive any of it.
Interesting that our bodies are temples, and we are commanded (and encouraged) to visit temples to receive a fullness.