LDS Writer Blogfest: Temples

These, as you may have guessed, are a few of my wedding pictures. Honey Bear and I will celebrate our sixth anniversary in about a week, on May 7. I remember a lot of things about that day--how heavy my dress felt, and how my cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and how deliriously happy I was--but the thing I want to talk about is that big building in the background, the Salt Lake Temple, and a few other details about my faith.

The Mormon Writer Blogfest is a one-day-only event (I promise), and includes several other Mormon writers around the blogosphere. If you’ve ever had a question about the Mormon Church, today’s your day to get an answer:)

First, a few points of clarification. The Mormon Church, as it is often called, is actually something of a misnomer. Its actual name is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sort of a mouthful, I know). The nickname comes from our belief in the Book of Mormon, but I digress.

There are currently 130 temples in operation around the world, including the Manhattan New York, London England, and Sydney Australia Temples. Twenty-two more are under construction or have been announced. (Here’s the complete list.)

To enter a temple, you must be a faithful member of the Church (although anyone may tour a temple during its open house). Within a temple, members perform five ordinances, all of which are associated with specific covenants, or promises with God: baptism and confirmation, initiatory and endowment, and sealing. The first time you go to the temple, you perform these ordinances for yourself. On every subsequent visit, you perform these ordinances on behalf of a deceased ancestor (which is why Mormons are so interested in family history).

Baptism and confirmation Actually, a person may be baptized in any body of water deep enough to fully immerse him or her, so the baptisms and confirmations we perform in the temple are all on behalf of deceased relatives. Members as young as twelve may participate in these ordinances.

Initiatory and endowment I’m not going to say much about these ordinances, because much of what they entail is too sacred to discuss anywhere but in the temple. Boyd K. Packer, current president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (one of the Church’s governing bodies), described it this way: “The temple is a great school. It is a house of learning. In the temples the atmosphere is maintained so that it is ideal for instruction on matters that are deeply spiritual.”

Sealing The sealing power, which seals husbands to wives and parents to children, both on earth and in heaven, is the same power that the Savior gave to Peter in Matthew 16:19. When we talk about eternal marriage, or being married for time and all eternity, this is what we mean. Children born within such a marriage are automatically sealed to their parents, but children born before their parents’ sealing, or children adopted by an already-sealed couple, can be sealed to their parents after the fact. (And the same is true for deceased people.)

For instance. My parents were married in the Salt Lake Temple in December of 1973. A little more than ten years later, they adopted me as an infant. Once the adoption was finalized, I was sealed to them (in the same temple, coincidentally). And four years after that, after my sister was born and her adoption finalized, she was sealed to us as well.

Well, I think that about covers the basics. If you’d like more information, either about temples or any other Church-related topic, check out the Church’s official websites: mormon.org, which is geared more toward people of other faiths, and lds.org, which is more member-oriented. And don’t miss the other Mormon Writer Blogfest posts:

The Book of Mormon and missionary work with Kayeleen Hamblin
Faith in Jesus Christ with Myrna Foster
Families with Charity Bradford
Family history with Laura D
Joseph Smith with Annette Lyon
Restoration of Jesus Christ’s church with Kelly Bryson
Stories from the Book of Mormon with Kathi Oram Peterson

Finally, if you have a specific question, feel free to leave it in the comments. I can’t answer every question (one, because I’m not that smart, and two, because some things are too sacred to discuss outside the temple, as I mentioned before), but if I can, I’d love to.

Thanks for reading.