“The Temple Is a House of God,” Friend, July 2011, 40–41
Bringing Primary Home
The Temple Is a House of God
Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”).
You can use this lesson and activity to learn more about this month’s Primary theme.
How do you feel when you see the beauty of the temple? Do these words come to your mind: “I love to see the temple. I’m going there someday”?
Sometimes when children sing the song “I Love to See the Temple,”* they desire to go to the temple someday, but they do not understand why there are temples, what happens in the temple, or what they must do to be able to go inside. Let’s find out more about the temple.
Why are there temples?
The Lord said, “Build a house to my name, for the Most High to dwell therein” (D&C 124:27). The Lord’s Spirit dwells in His temples. The temple is a house of God. It is a place where we make covenants (or promises) with Heavenly Father. If we keep our covenants, we will be able to live with Him again.
What happens in the temple?
Everyone must be baptized to return to Heavenly Father. Many of Heavenly Father’s children died without being baptized. After you turn 12, you can be baptized in the temple for those people so they can have the same blessings.
In the temple we also receive an endowment, or gift. This gift is the promise that if we keep the commandments, we can have eternal life.
In the temple a husband and wife can be sealed as a family for time and eternity. That means if they stay worthy, they will be married forever as part of an eternal family.
Everything done in the temple is done by the priesthood—the power and authority of God.
How do I prepare to go inside someday?
To go inside the temple, you must be at least 12 years old and be baptized and confirmed. You need to believe in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You need to strive to live Heavenly Father’s commandments. Your bishop or branch president will interview you to make sure you are worthy to enter the temple, and you will receive a temple recommend to show at the temple. Having a recommend means that you are living the way you should to go inside.
When you stay on the path that takes you to the temple, you will be prepared to go there “to feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray. For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.”
Photograph of Bern Switzerland Temple by Chris Wills