Your Personal Guide to Enriching Your Temple Experience
August 4, 2017 • Blog Post
With 156 temples worldwide, opportunities to visit the Lord’s house have exponentially increased. Yet sometimes it is difficult to make the most of the experience, whether before, during, or after.
Attending the temple is an intensely personal experience, so in this blog post, we’ve used teachings about the temple from general authorities and apostles to create a personal interview. We hope that these devotionals will guide you as you ponder how you can enrich your own temple experience.
Before: Preparing to Go to the Temple
“Every time there was a temple built in the early days of the Church, the opposition increased to thwart it. You can understand that, can you not? The adversary would rather hinder temple work than probably any other thing. However, there is always a compensating power that emanates from a temple, but you should understand that you’re going to have to exert a little extra determination in order to attend the temple, and to do the research, and the other things that are corollary to it.”
—A. Theodore Tuttle, “The Key to Our Redemption,” 7 September 1980
Questions to ask yourself:
- How have I been helped to keep my commitments to go to the temple?
- In what ways can I show my extra determination to attend the temple regularly?
“We now have temples closer and more accessible than ever before. But in these times of commotion the Lord expects us to adjust our habits and be in His house more often.”
—Neil L. Andersen, “A Compensatory Spiritual Power for the Righteous,” 18 August 2015
Questions to ask yourself:
- What can I do in my life to place myself in the temple more often?
- How can Heavenly Father help me calm the commotion in my life so that I can be in His house?
During: Making the Most of Your Temple Visit
“Temples in our religion have three major purposes.
“The first is to provide men and women with a vision of their eternal potential.
“The second is to provide instruction as to how we can achieve the goals God has set for us.
“The third is to link us through ordinances and covenants to the grace and power of Christ’s Atonement so that we may receive a fulness.”
—Merrill J. Bateman, “Temples of Learning,” 10 September 2002
Questions to ask yourself:
- What can I learn about my potential through these ordinances?
- What can I learn about my family’s potential through these ordinances?
- What goals does God have for me?
- How will these ordinances help me achieve God’s goals for me?
- What can I do to reach those goals?
- How do the ordinances relate to Christ’s Atonement?
- What can I learn about my Savior through the ordinances in the temple?
“Without the temple and temple work, without the authority to bind on earth and have it sealed in heaven, no gospel message can bring true peace and comfort to mankind.”
—A. Theodore Tuttle, “The Key to Our Redemption,” 7 September 1980
Questions to ask yourself:
- Why do I feel peace at the temple?
- How can I continue this peace once my time in the temple is over?
“The meaning of the word endowment is ‘gift.’ The ordinance consists of a series of instructions on how we should live and covenants we make to live righteously by following our Savior.”
—Robert D. Hales, “Temple Blessings,” 15 November 2005
Questions to ask yourself:
- How can I show Heavenly Father that I want to receive this gift?
- What kind of gift can I bring to the temple in return?
After: Acting on Your Temple Experience
“The ordinances and covenants of the temple are the protection for us in our trials and tribulations in our day and for what we will face in the future.”
—Robert D. Hales, “Temple Blessings,” 15 November 2005
Questions to ask yourself:
- How can I use what I learned in the trials that I am facing right now?
- How can the lessons I learned prepare me for the future?
“I speak of the power associated with celestial marriage. Whenever I participate or officiate in a temple marriage, I am overawed by the power given to bind on earth and seal eternally in heaven. I am reminded of a power and work that, if not effected, would result in utter waste—waste beyond our understanding.”
—Carlos E. Asay, “Heavenly Powers,” 23 September 1980
Questions to ask yourself:
- How can I maintain a sense of awe about the temple experience?
- In what ways has the power to bind on earth and in heaven changed my life?
“I would recommend to you today that temple worship is an important pattern for each of you to set—individually and as families—as you consider your own areas of focus and attention, as you put in place firm foundations in your life.”
—Ronald A. Rasband, “Making Temple Worship a Pattern in Your Life,” 10 February 2009
Questions to ask yourself:
- What difference does consistent temple attendance make rather than attending sporadically?
- How can temple attendance serve as a foundation in my life?
- What do I need to do to make the temple more of a priority?
- When will I return to the temple?
