The House of the Lord
The temple is the holy house of the Lord. Therefore, President Russell M Nelson and the other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have encouraged us to attend more regularly. President Nelson promised,
“If you don’t yet love to attend the temple, go more often—not less. Let the Lord, through His Spirit, teach and inspire you there. I promise you that over time, the temple will become a place of safety, solace, and revelation.”[1]
Preparing to enter the temple for the first time can be daunting for anyone. Why? Because it is a grand building, a place we cannot enter unless we are worthy, and a place of sacred promises to be made. So how can we prepare to enter this holy place?
Here are three suggestions:
- Consider what it means to hold a temple recommend.
- Use temple preparation resources provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Listen to the Holy Spirit.
A Temple Recommend
A necessary piece of preparing to enter the temple is gaining a temple recommend. We cannot enter without one, but it isn’t about the piece of paper. Rather, it’s about what it means to “be recommended to the Lord”. As Elder Ronald A Rasband said:
“To be ‘recommended to the Lord’ is to be reminded of what is expected of a covenant-keeping Latter-day Saint. . . . To be ‘recommended to the Lord,’ we strive to be like Him.”[2]
The process of receiving a temple recommend includes interviews with Church leaders: first the bishop and then the stake president. They will ask the same questions in each interview, and these questions are a great tool for reflection when preparing to enter the temple.
The temple recommend questions can be found at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Reviewing these topics will not only help us strengthen our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ, but also see where we may have questions, and seek the answers.
Temple Preparation Resources
The Church has created resources for anyone who is preparing to go to the temple for the first time, including:
- Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple[3]
- a virtual tour of the Rome Italy temple led by Elders David A. Bednar and Ronald A. Rasband[4]
- and temple preparation classes (ask your bishop for more information)
In addition to these temple-specific resources, some of the best preparation consists of regular faith-building actions like daily scripture study, meaningful prayer and fasting, and weekly church attendance. Continually seeking the Lord will lead us closer to Him and invite His Spirit to teach and prepare us to make further covenants with God.
Wilford Woodruff counseled,
“Pray, pray always, there is where our help lies, even in temporal affairs, we should go before God. He will answer our prayers, and we will have power to overcome all evil.”[5]
We may have questions, doubts, or opposition as we prepare to enter the temple, but as we pray for help, the Lord will answer our prayers.
The Holy Spirit
How do we know if the temple ordinances are from God? We can listen to the Holy Spirit.
When the Savior left His disciples at the end of His mortal ministry, He told them,
“I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive . . . but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16–17).
Every baptized member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is given the gift of the Holy Ghost when they are confirmed into the Church. He is the Second Comforter, a teacher, and a revealer of truth.
We can choose to listen for and identify the promptings of the Holy Ghost in daily life. Nurturing this habit will make it easier to tune in to the Spirit in the temple. Though not everything will make sense at first, we will be able to sense the goodness and truth in the temple and feel the Spirit’s encouragement.
The temple ordinances are built upon the Savior and His Atonement. We should go to the temple looking for Him. President Nelson said,
“Here is my promise to you: Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will feel His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.”[6]
Even our “most vexing questions” are good because they lead to further learning and growth. But as we seek to find answers to those questions, we can remember the Lord’s counsel to “doubt not, fear not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:36). He has also promised, “I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:13).
As we seek to find answers in the temple, we can rely on the Spirit to help us come closer to Christ. The Apostle John wrote,
“When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26).
The Spirit will testify of the Savior not only in the temple, but also during our time of preparation. Seeking Him out will invite the feeling of His love and strength.
Blessings of the Temple
The Savior will always lift His people higher. Wilford Woodruff described the joy he felt as he saw and entered the Kirtland temple for the first time. He said,
“We came in sight of the Temple of the Lord before we reached the village, and I truly felt to rejoice at the sight, as it was the first time that mine eyes ever beheld the house of the Lord built by commandment and revelation. We soon entered the village and I spent one of the happiest days of my life at this time in visiting Kirtland and the House of the Lord.”[7]
God will send the Holy Ghost as a guide and comfort, and all our questions will be answered according to His will and timetable. As we trust in the Lord and hold to the rod, we can and will have a joyful experience as we prepare diligently and press forward with faith.
Caralyn Bullough is studying Public Relations at BYU–Idaho. She has enjoyed working as an intern on the Public Relations Team for the Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation and greatly admires the goals of the Project. She has a large family and loves singing, cooking, and being outdoors.
The Wilford Woodruff Papers Foundation’s mission is to digitally preserve and publish Wilford Woodruff’s eyewitness account of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and make his records universally accessible in order to inspire all people, especially the rising generation, to study and to increase their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information, please explore wilfordwoodruffpapers.org.
- Russell M. Nelson, “The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation,” October 2021 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Ronald A. Rasband, “Recommended to the Lord,” October 2020 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- “Two Apostles Lead a Virtual Tour of the Rome Italy Temple,” ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Discourse by Wilford Woodruff, August 30, 1891, p. 1, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/discourse/1891-08-30. ↑
- Russell M. Nelson, “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” October 2024 general conference, ChurchofJesusChrist.org. ↑
- Wilford Woodruff’s Journal, November 25, 1836, p. 113, The Wilford Woodruff Papers, wilfordwoodruffpapers.org/journal/1836-11-25. Punctuation and capitalization standardized. ↑
