How the Temple Blesses Our Daily Lives

By Michito Matsuoka

My life was hectic, but I knew that prioritizing the temple would bless my family and me.

young family reading scriptures together — Photograph posed by models

I love the temple. I always have.

What I especially love about the temple is the way that it strengthens the love between my wife and me, our bonds with our six children, and the overall sense of tranquility in our home. I have truly experienced the power that comes from making and honoring sacred temple covenants and the refuge these holy buildings give us from the temptations and unrest of the world.

When my wife and I were married in the Tokyo Japan Temple 10 years ago, we set a goal to attend the temple at least once a month together. But soon after, I was called to serve as a temple worker every Friday by the Tokyo Temple presidency.

I was thrilled to be able to serve, but life was also a bit busy at the time. I was in my senior year of university, and it was difficult balancing school with my part-time job at a law firm, our monthly temple trips as a couple, and now an extra temple shift every Friday.

In the midst of this extremely hectic period, we prayerfully discussed the matter as husband and wife, and we decided that we would always make the temple a priority in our lives. We knew it would be hard at times, but we wanted to keep our relationship strong and invite blessings and peace into our home.

It was through these sacrifices to serve in the temple that I truly realized how much of a positive difference the temple makes in my life. The temple helps us grow spiritually in unique ways, and the blessings we invite into our homes when we make time to go are unmatched.

In recent years, President Russell M. Nelson has emphasized the importance of the temple in our lives: “The assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. … I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples.”¹

As we have made sacrifices to attend the temple on a regular basis, the Lord has continued to bless my family and me with these miracles.

I’ve come to know that our prophets and apostles emphasize the importance of the temple in our lives because they know of the blessings the Lord offers us when we enter His holy house, blessings we can only receive through the ordinances of the temple. Visiting often—or, if we’re unable to visit, keeping our covenants and striving to stay worthy of a temple recommend²—will help us spiritually thrive and find peace, even when the world is increasingly turbulent.

I am thankful for the covenants I have made and for how the temple helps me feel close to the Lord. And I’m especially grateful for the spiritual strength the temple has brought into my relationship with my family and into our home. As you prioritize the temple in your life and strive to be “recommended to the Lord,”³ you will experience the joy and miracles the prophet has promised to us.