In the Old and New Testament, we read often about temples. Solomon's temple was a place of grandeur, where everything was made of gold. The Israelites temple was different. They were wandering in the wilderness after leaving Egypt because of their idolatry and couldn't build a permanent temple, so they had a traveling tabernacle. It was still sacred, whether or not it was gold-plated or permanent, because of what happened inside.
Mormons build temples, as you no doubt have seen where you live (or travel). We build temples because we believe in continuing revelation. We believe that temple ceremonies were lost, and so they were restored (to restore means to bring something back) by Joseph Smith in the 1800s by revelation. In temples we perform sacred ordinances. One of these is called baptism for the dead. We don't take dead bodies into the temple and baptize them, as it sounds. We use members of our church who are aged 12 and older and are worthy (live clean lives), and they act as proxy for people who have died. We are baptized for our ancestors, those who died without hearing the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we know it. We believe that in order to go to the Celestial Kingdom and live with God and Jesus Christ again, you have to be baptized. But lots of people died without having that chance, so we are giving them that chance. We are baptized for them on the earth, and in heaven, they get the choice to accept that baptism and repent of their sins, or not. This is not a new practice. In the New Testament, Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:29). Paul is teaching them about the resurrection and saying that it would be pointless to be baptized for the dead if there was no life after death. Point being: in the New Testament times, they were performing these same ordinances.
We perform other ordinances in the temple as well. Most Mormons get married there, because in the temple we can be sealed as eternal families--meaning our marriages do not end in death, but continue into eternity. We make covenants with God and are blessed in return. We learn about the purpose of life, and how to get back to live with Heavenly Father. These things are sacred to us. They are not secrets, they are sacred. We don't talk about the things that go on in the temples because they are so special to us, we don't want them to be mocked or downplayed. But what happens there is beautiful and wonderful and I'm so grateful for it. We perform other ordinances for ourselves first, and then go back often to perform those for the dead as well.
My dad remembers a time when there were only 8 temples on the earth. Now there are 123 temples operating on the earth. 9 more are under construction, and 9 more have been announced (including one in Rome. I think I may have to make an effort to get to Rome for that open house). Click here for a list of all operating temples. My parents can see three temples from their house--the new Draper temple, the new Oquirrh mountain temple, and the Jordan River temple. This is a miracle. These buildings cost millions of dollars and thousands of faithful members to help run. There are temples all over the world. Faithful members in third-world countries who couldn't previously afford to go to the temple (or would spend their life savings to get there) can now go with relative ease. I'm so grateful for temples.
On February 16th of this year, Dave, Isaac and I went to the open house for the Draper temple. We didn't bring Noah because it's a long process--about three hours--to get in and out and we didn't think he would behave the whole time. An open house is when the temple is completed (built), but not yet dedicated. Anyone can go in. They let you walk through all the rooms. You can see how beautiful these buildings are, inside and out, and feel the special feelings when you walk through the rooms. After the temple is dedicated, only faithful, recommend-holding Mormons can go in. But again, not because it's secret, because it's sacred. I hope that some of you who aren't Mormons can one day walk through a temple before it's dedicated. They are so beautiful. But being in the temple with my kid--even without Noah there--was an amazing feeling. I loved teaching Isaac about the different rooms and the basics of what happens there. I hope he'll make good choices and be able to go there with us some day as an adult. I love the feelings I get in the temple. I feel at peace. I feel happy. I feel hopeful. I feel close to God. I try to get there twice a month, which is easier now that Dave has Fridays off. I can go after a long and stressful week, and the weight just slides off my shoulders. It's a wonderful place to be. Here are some photos of the inside of the Draper temple, so you can see what it looks like. I loved the windows, and how bright and light the celestial room was. The murals on the walls are stunning, and the art in the hallways is breathtaking. It was so nice to be there.
temples from collage at the top:
Mormons build temples, as you no doubt have seen where you live (or travel). We build temples because we believe in continuing revelation. We believe that temple ceremonies were lost, and so they were restored (to restore means to bring something back) by Joseph Smith in the 1800s by revelation. In temples we perform sacred ordinances. One of these is called baptism for the dead. We don't take dead bodies into the temple and baptize them, as it sounds. We use members of our church who are aged 12 and older and are worthy (live clean lives), and they act as proxy for people who have died. We are baptized for our ancestors, those who died without hearing the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as we know it. We believe that in order to go to the Celestial Kingdom and live with God and Jesus Christ again, you have to be baptized. But lots of people died without having that chance, so we are giving them that chance. We are baptized for them on the earth, and in heaven, they get the choice to accept that baptism and repent of their sins, or not. This is not a new practice. In the New Testament, Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:29). Paul is teaching them about the resurrection and saying that it would be pointless to be baptized for the dead if there was no life after death. Point being: in the New Testament times, they were performing these same ordinances.
We perform other ordinances in the temple as well. Most Mormons get married there, because in the temple we can be sealed as eternal families--meaning our marriages do not end in death, but continue into eternity. We make covenants with God and are blessed in return. We learn about the purpose of life, and how to get back to live with Heavenly Father. These things are sacred to us. They are not secrets, they are sacred. We don't talk about the things that go on in the temples because they are so special to us, we don't want them to be mocked or downplayed. But what happens there is beautiful and wonderful and I'm so grateful for it. We perform other ordinances for ourselves first, and then go back often to perform those for the dead as well.
My dad remembers a time when there were only 8 temples on the earth. Now there are 123 temples operating on the earth. 9 more are under construction, and 9 more have been announced (including one in Rome. I think I may have to make an effort to get to Rome for that open house). Click here for a list of all operating temples. My parents can see three temples from their house--the new Draper temple, the new Oquirrh mountain temple, and the Jordan River temple. This is a miracle. These buildings cost millions of dollars and thousands of faithful members to help run. There are temples all over the world. Faithful members in third-world countries who couldn't previously afford to go to the temple (or would spend their life savings to get there) can now go with relative ease. I'm so grateful for temples.
On February 16th of this year, Dave, Isaac and I went to the open house for the Draper temple. We didn't bring Noah because it's a long process--about three hours--to get in and out and we didn't think he would behave the whole time. An open house is when the temple is completed (built), but not yet dedicated. Anyone can go in. They let you walk through all the rooms. You can see how beautiful these buildings are, inside and out, and feel the special feelings when you walk through the rooms. After the temple is dedicated, only faithful, recommend-holding Mormons can go in. But again, not because it's secret, because it's sacred. I hope that some of you who aren't Mormons can one day walk through a temple before it's dedicated. They are so beautiful. But being in the temple with my kid--even without Noah there--was an amazing feeling. I loved teaching Isaac about the different rooms and the basics of what happens there. I hope he'll make good choices and be able to go there with us some day as an adult. I love the feelings I get in the temple. I feel at peace. I feel happy. I feel hopeful. I feel close to God. I try to get there twice a month, which is easier now that Dave has Fridays off. I can go after a long and stressful week, and the weight just slides off my shoulders. It's a wonderful place to be. Here are some photos of the inside of the Draper temple, so you can see what it looks like. I loved the windows, and how bright and light the celestial room was. The murals on the walls are stunning, and the art in the hallways is breathtaking. It was so nice to be there.
Celestial Room. the ceilings are SO HIGH. see #6 for a picture of the ceiling.- Sealing Room, where marriages are performed.
- Baptismal font, where we are baptized in behalf of the dead.
- Endowment room.
- Exterior view, nighttime.
- Ceiling of the celestial room.
- Brides room, where brides get dressed, do hair, make-up etc. and otherwise get ready before they get married.
- Another view of the sealing room. each wall has a big mirror so you can see them reflect each other forever, representing how we are sealed as eternal families when we get married in the temple and our families are never-ending, just like the reflection.
temples from collage at the top:
12 comments:
i'm super bummed that we never got to go to the santiago temple when we lived in chile, but ammon and i are determined to make it to the hong kong temple (our closest temple) while we are here.
Seriously, the ceiling in the Celestial room is so high I got dizzy looking at it! This was a beautiful post. I think it would make anyone want to live worthy to go to the temple.
I loved that draper temple. super pretty!
-gym
I love how simply and beautifully you described these things. This is a very timely post in light of current events where the sacredness of these ceremonies has been exploited.
I am so grateful for temples and eternal families- you did a great job posting about them (your Sunday series rocks).
P.S I loved the package & pics of D (he didn't have any, so thanks a ton).
That was soo wonderful to read! And so needed especially after what all is going on. Thanks for sharing your testimony and the video.
very pretty. i've always wanted to see inside a temple, hopefully one day i'll be able to before a temple is dedicated.
so i was reading about being baptized, and i read your blog about it. so when a child is baptized at age 8, can that child enter the temple before then? by what you have written, i would guess that the answer is yes, because the child is pure/innocent. but then that makes me ask, what makes the child Mormon if the child hasn't been baptized? because am i right in saying that only baptized Mormons can enter a temple?
in all honestly i feel so weird commenting/asking questions about your "what i believe" series, or just your religion in general because i feel i'm going to come off as rude or something ...i'm not too sure what i'm trying to say. i just don't want my questions to be seen as being mean. ...i'm just really curious. :) thanks.
oh, and i won't have a chance to watch the video until tonight when i'm at home. :) but i will watch it today.
April, it's not rude at ALL. That's why I post these--to encourage you to ask questions and learn more! I'll answer your questions later--I don't have time right now, but I'll get to it, I promise.
thanks Emily!
I loved this post. You said it beautifully!
Fabulous post and eloquently put. I couldn't have come anywhere as close to inspiring! I love the new look of your blog too. I guess I haven't been around for awhile but I'll be back as always! Keep it up!
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