December 1832–March 1836

Building the Kirtland Temple

A special house for the Lord

The Lord told Joseph Smith that it was time for the Saints to build a special house in Kirtland. This house would be a temple, a place where the Lord would visit His people and make promises with them. He would give them a special gift in His temple. He called the gift an endowment of power.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:119; 95:8; Saints, 1:205

The Saints didn’t start building the temple right away. A few months later, the Lord reminded them that the temple was very important. Hyrum Smith ran to his parents’ house to gather tools. When his mom asked him where he was going, he said he wanted to be the first to work on the house of the Lord.

Doctrine and Covenants 95:1–8

The Saints in Kirtland started building the temple. It cost a lot of money and took a lot of work. Members of the Church like Sidney Rigdon gave a lot of money to build the temple. They were excited to follow the Lord’s commandments and receive His blessings in His house.

Saints, 1:209–211

As the Saints worked on the temple, they began to run out of money. Sidney and other Church leaders were worried. Sidney prayed to God for help.

Saints, 1:210–11

A Church member named Caroline Tippets and her family had saved a lot of money. Caroline let the Church borrow their money to help build the temple.

Saints, 1:211–13

Many Saints in Kirtland worked hard to build the temple. Some drove wagons full of stones to the temple. Others made clothes and food for the workers. Children collected pieces of broken glass to grind up and put on the walls of the temple so that they sparkled and shined in the sunlight.

Saints, 1:210, 219, 221

Soon the temple was finished! The Saints were excited to go into the house of the Lord to receive the blessings that He had promised them.

Saints, 1:221