The temple, to me, is the pinnacle of our experience in the gospel and in this life. We talk about the Atonement. Serving in the temple is the Atonement in action. I once heard someone explain this point: Every time we attend the temple, we need to forgive someone of something. Even if it is forgiving ourselves, we need to partake of the Atonement in this way.

When I think about that, I usually equate the Atonement with repentance and being saved from our sinful, mortal lives. What better way to show our gratitude than by serving in the temple and doing for others what the Saviour has done for us. We are providing ordinances of salvation to those who have gone on before us and doing for them what they cannot do for themselves.

We talk of service. We know from the scriptures that if we don’t have charity, we have nothing. I believe one of the greatest forms of service we can render is to serve in the temple.

We talk of finding peace and being in the world but not of the world. When we enter the temple, we leave the world behind us. We enter the REAL world. If we could draw back the veil, we would see that we are not alone in the temples. Not only do I believe those people for whom we are acting as proxy in receiving the ordinances are there, but I believe there are countless people and prophets from ages past also very aware of what we are doing.

The temple is like an open conduit to heaven. In temples, we can receive revelation and inspiration we are searching for.

I know and have experienced the sweet peace the temple brings. I know that as we serve in the temple on a regular basis, every facet of our lives can be better, and we can find more time in our day to do those things that will make the biggest difference in our eternal salvation. I have seen this blessings of temple service in action too many times to doubt. I believe there is nothing in life that cannot be made better by attending the temple on a regular basis.

I know people who went through the temple once [receiving the ordinances for themselves] and then never came back. It saddens me to know they have missed that the temple is about service — service to the Lord, to others and to ourselves. It is about the Atonement. It is becoming something greater than ourselves and the only way that can happen is if we unselfishly lift others with us.

I am grateful for the conviction and testimony I have of the temple. I am grateful for the peace, serenity, and comfort being within its walls offers in such an unsettling world. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord and others, showing my love and gratitude for the many blessings given to me. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my family and my ancestors. Mostly, I am grateful for a safe haven in which to commune with my Saviour.

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Hannah and Rob in front of the Frankfurt, Germany Temple

On Friday, my husband Rob and I are leaving Paris, where we have been living for three months. Rob has been busy working for an NGO (non-government organization) while I have been learning French and enjoying some time off before I start graduate school in the fall. As exciting as it sounds, moving to a different country is full of adjustments and ups and downs.

One major change was that we had just moved from Utah, where there are 13 active LDS temples, to France, where there are none. Depending on where you live in France, a visit to the temple can mean a trip of several hours, since the closest temples are in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Spain. (The same can be said of other countries in which there are no temples. Rob grew up on a small island in the Pacific Ocean, and the closest temple is a 7-8 hour plane ride away in Hawaii.)

The temple is a place where members of the Church go to perform vicarious saving ordinances for those who have died, and this act of service has provided a great amount of comfort and relief for me in times of need. Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has described frequent temple worship as “the source and strength and power in times of need.” He said, “[W]hen we keep the temple covenants we have made and when we live righteously in order to maintain the blessings promised by those ordinances, then come what may, we have no reason to worry or to feel despondent.” (1)

We scheduled a trip to the Frankfurt Germany Temple in the middle of June, when we had been in Paris for just about six weeks. Some family friends of ours were kind enough to host us for the weekend at their house and to let us accompany them to their stake temple day. At the time I was struggling with the French language, the culture, the exchange rate, and being home alone all day while my husband was working. I couldn’t even understand the proceedings of our church meetings without Rob leaning over and telling me what was going on. In all aspects of my life I felt like I had hit a wall, and the world was still going about its business while I was stuck in my own world of self-pity. In short, I needed to reconnect with my spiritual self.

Sitting in the temple, surrounded by friends, my husband, and other members of the Church brought me such a warm feeling of peace and familiarity that I had been craving for so many weeks. I thought that our weekend visit to the temple was going to be the vacation from my so-called “problems” that I needed. In fact, being at the temple was an opportunity for me to learn what I needed to change in my life to feel better about my situation, a situation that would not be solved by sitting at home while eating spoonfuls of plain Nutella out of the jar.

I left Germany that weekend with a renewed desire to quit resisting and resenting change. (After all, this stage in my life marks the beginning of countless changes I’m going to be making.) More importantly, I also had a renewed desire to make my home a temple by making a bigger effort to invite the Spirit into our home, since I no longer had the luxury of driving the five minutes from our apartment to the Provo Temple. Almost every Sunday since we have been here, someone in our Paris ward has mentioned the importance of making our homes a temple because the prospect of a temple in France is still so far away. Who knows where life will take us next? I learned that I need to be prepared for any situation that puts us far away from easy temple access. Elder Gary E. Stevenson [a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy] said, “There exists a righteous unity between the temple and the home… Whether our living space is large or small, humble or extravagant, there is a place for… gospel priorities in each of our homes.” (2)

This small, seemingly unimportant trial that passed as quickly as it came was an important lesson for me: that “you are never lost when you can see the temple,” (3) no matter what country it is in.

1) Elder Richard G. Scott, “Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need,” May 2009 Ensign
2) Elder Gary E. Stevenson, “Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples,” May 2009 Ensign
3) Elder Gary E. Stevenson, “Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples,” May 2009 Ensign

While living in Europe, Hannah visited two other Latter Day Saints meetinghouses, pictured below.

These pictures are of the Hyde Park LDS meetinghouse in London, England.

And this picture is from an LDS ward building in Bayonne, France.

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For more First Person essays, please click here.

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Answer:
by Michelle**

As the Oquirrh Mountain temple will soon be dedicated (services will be held on August 21-23, 2009), we thought this would be a good question to address.

After the construction on a temple is completed, the Church holds an open house so that anyone interested can walk through and see the inside of the temple, and learn a little more about what happens in temples and why temple worship is so important to us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Once the open house is completed, a dedicatory service is held. The service includes the singing and performing of sacred music, discourses from Church leaders, and a special dedicatory prayer. Members of the Church ages 8 and above are given the opportunity to participate in the services. In a sense, we are presenting the temple — which for Mormons signifies one of the most sacred places on earth — to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ. We ask Heavenly Father to accept the temple and bless those who serve therein.

We bring white handkerchiefs to participate in what is one of the most moving and memorable parts of the service — the Hosanna Shout. This is a sacred moment for us, when we join our voices in unison, praising God and His Son, Jesus Christ. This is reminiscent of the praises voiced at the triumphal entry of the Savior (Matthew 21; Mark 11; John 12). There are also times in the Old Testament that are similar in this spirit of praise, where rejoicing was part of the sacred rituals of the tabernacle. We also see such sacred use of a cry of “Hosanna” when the Savior visited the American continent after His resurrection and ascension in Jerusalem, as recorded in the Book of Mormon.

Temple dedications have always been important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the first latter-day temple dedication in Kirtland, Ohio,

“[h]undreds of Saints came to Kirtland for the dedicatory services; some traveled long distances to attend. There were nearly a thousand seats inside the temple, but many more people wanted to attend the dedication. The Prophet told the people who could not get seats in the temple to hold a separate meeting in the schoolhouse nearby, and the next Thursday the dedication service was repeated so these people could hear it…. [This illustrates the reason that multiple dedicatory sessions will be held, thus allowing many people the opportunity to participate in the sacred event.]

While the Kirtland temple dedication was more extensive than dedicatory services held today (it lasted over seven hours!), reading about it can give an idea of what happens each time a temple is dedicated:

The Prophet Joseph Smith read the dedicatory prayer, which had been given to him in a revelation. This prayer is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 109. In the prayer the Prophet thanked Heavenly Father for the blessings he had given the members of the Church. Joseph prayed that the temple would be a place of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, and order (see D&C 109:8, 16) and that those who came to the temple would grow in faith and wisdom (see D&C 109:14–15). He asked the Lord to accept the temple and make it a holy place (see D&C 109:4, 12–13). After the prayer the choir sang “The Spirit of God” (Hymns, no. 2), which had been written by William W. Phelps for the dedication of the temple. The congregation then…ended the service by giving the sacred Hosanna Shout: they raised their hands above their heads and shouted three times, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb, amen, amen, and amen.”

Temples are dedicated today following the pattern of the Kirtland Temple dedication. The prophet (or someone he chooses) gives the dedicatory prayer, “The Spirit of God” is sung, and the entire congregation gives the Hosanna Shout.

(All quotes above were taken from this lesson.)

For more information on our site about the topic of temples, see the following articles:

What can you tell me about Mormon temples?
What the Temple Means to Mormons
Why Mormons Build Temples

***Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of the administrators at Mormon Women. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

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