“Temple Time,” Friend, Jul. 2015, 26–27
Temple Time
“What’s so special about temple work?” Kyle wondered.
“The hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers” (D&C 2:2).
Kyle sat on his parents’ bed and watched Dad take his temple bag out of the closet. Mom and Dad went to the temple every month. Kyle couldn’t wait until he turned 12 and could go to the temple with them. Then it could be their special family night!
But for now, Kyle got to spend the night at his grandparents’ house. And that was pretty great too. Grandpa and Grandma always did fun things, like watch movies and play board games. Kyle already had his bag packed.
Kyle watched as Dad reverently folded a white shirt and placed it in his bag. “Remind me what you’re doing at the temple?” he asked Dad.
“Well, you know how Grandma has been doing a lot of family history lately? She found out that temple work hasn’t been done for some of our ancestors. So we’re going to do their temple work tonight.”
Kyle nodded. He’d helped Grandma figure out how to use the family history website. They had typed in lots of names and dates and scanned and uploaded a stack of black-and-white photographs.
“What exactly is temple work?” Kyle asked.
Mom sat down next to Kyle on the edge of the bed.
“Well, you know what ‘covenants’ are.”
Kyle nodded. “Promises with Heavenly Father.”
“Right. You made a covenant when you were baptized. In the temple we make more covenants. But some of our relatives didn’t have a chance to make those covenants before they died. So we go to the temple to make those covenants and give them a chance to accept them.”
“We call it ‘temple work,’ but it really doesn’t feel like work,” Dad said as he zipped up his bag. “It feels like a blessing—a blessing for us and a blessing for them. Lots of Grandma’s relatives still need their temple work to be done.”
“I wish I could help them,” Kyle said.
Dad squeezed Kyle’s shoulder. “You can help them. In fact, you already have! Remember how exciting it was when you helped Grandma put the stories and pictures on the family history website?”
Kyle nodded. That had been fun!
“When you do that, you’re helping us get to know our family members better. And we can see who still needs help getting their temple work done. I hope you keep helping Grandma find more pictures and stories. And I really hope you help us keep it organized online!”
Kyle smiled. He was pretty good at using the computer.
Dad picked up his bag. “Let’s go to the living room and have a prayer before we leave. Then we’ll drop you off at Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
Kyle knelt at the sofa. He listened to Mom thank Heavenly Father for the temple and for family history work. Then she prayed for help to learn more about their ancestors so that they could do their temple work.
Kyle got a warm feeling as Mom prayed. He decided right then that he would make good choices so that he would be worthy to go to the temple with Mom and Dad when he was old enough. And in the meantime, he could help other members of his family have temple time too.