Blessings of the Temple

Provo, Utah - LDS Temple

I just returned from attending the Provo LDS Temple with my sweet 89 year old neighbor who needed a ride and some companionship.  It was a peaceful and ennobling experience.

Each time I am there I learn more and feel the Spirit guiding and directing my thoughts.  It hasn't always been that way.  It's taken time for me to develop and mature spiritually enough to recognize more of the symbolism and the way in which the Lord would have me learn.

President Monson, our current church President and beloved Prophet stated:  To members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the temple is the most sacred place on earth. It is the house of the Lord, and just as the inscription on the exterior of the temple states, the temple is “holiness to the Lord.”

Washington D.C. Temple

Years ago I attended the temple with a, then, missionary companion.  She had a gift of understanding scripture and Temple symbolism.  When she'd comment on something she'd learned I'd think 'Wow, that's beautiful.  I never thought of it that way.'  That put me on a quest to seek out truths for myself and seek spiritual gifts for my life.

Those prayers have been answered.  There is no other place on earth that I'd rather be than in the House of the Lord.

Why do Latter-day Saints build Temples?  What is their purpose?  Why do we value them so highly?

"Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred promises with God."  Read more about it here:


One of life's blessings that has been most influential to me in the past 20 years has been the gift of the Holy Spirit which teaches light and truth and leads one to do good and to overcome evil.  The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”

Laie Hawaii - LDS Temple

Correct principles are learned when we are in environments where they can be and when we are prepared to receive them.  As we seek to obey the first and greatest commandment as revealed by the Savior; “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, This is the first and great commandment” we are offered His blessings and more of His teachings.  We are the ones on trial here - not him.  He wants to bless us with 'all that He hath' but we have to prove ourselves fit for and worthy of those blessings.  It's a great pursuit and one worth all of our attention.

Salt Lake City, Utah - LDS Temple

As we live in the day of many material conveniences and opportunities - we must be very careful not to set our hearts on those things.  I believe that they were given for the purpose of helping us be more effective in blessings the lives of Father's children across the earth - not for the purpose of merely entertaining ourselves or spending our time in frivolous pursuits.  We are our brothers' keepers.  We are meant to strengthen the feeble knees and lift the hands that hang low.  If our goal is to love the Lord, first, and the second is to love our neighbor - then, these other things will come naturally as an outset of that main goal.

We are blessed to live in such a day.  We have the truths of the gospel.  We have the love of the Lord to lead us along the path and to guide our way.  He has set the example of what we should do and how we should be.  And, His Holy House is a place prepared for us to serve others' and to nourish us as we continue along the way.  There is no greater blessing that I can think of.