Church Updates Temple Recommend Interview Questions

Newsroom

While standards to enter a temple stay the same, these modifications better prepare Latter-day Saints for worship in temples.

President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continued his fervent focus on improving temple worship at the concluding session of the 189th Semiannual General Conference. He read an updated list of questions Church members will be asked when receiving a temple recommend.

Temple recommend questions have been periodically clarified or adjusted to meet the needs and circumstances of God’s children. These current updates clarify, but do not change, worthiness requirements to enter a temple.

“Nobody has had as much association with temples in my lifetime as President Nelson,” Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said while traveling with the prophet in Brazil in September. “He has a deep, deep understanding and is willing to do whatever the Lord is guiding him to do. And he is getting that guidance from the Lord.”

This adjustment to the temple recommend questions highlights some of the things that matter most as Latter-day Saints carefully prepare to enter a temple. The temple recommend permits them to participate in ordinances in one of these sacred buildings.

“The crowning jewel of the Restoration is the holy temple,” President Nelson said.¹

“Individual worthiness to enter the Lord’s house requires much individual spiritual preparation. But with the Lord’s help, nothing is impossible. In some respects, it is easier to build a temple than it is to build a people prepared for a temple. Individual worthiness requires a total conversion of mind and heart to be more like the Lord, to be an honest citizen, to be a better example and to be a holier person.”²