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Mormon Temples -

Entering the Temple

Now that what happens inside the temples has been covered, there are some other questions I frequently heard on my mission. Most often I heard, “Why can’t I go in there?! Why the restrictions on who can enter?” Again, we can go back to the tabernacle for some answers. It was a holy place, it was sacred. The priests had to perform the ritual washing before even they were allowed to enter. Imagine you’ve just received an invitation to the Presidents’ Inaugural Ball while working in your garden. Do you jump up, race to the White House and show them the invitation while you’re still in your blue jeans? Of course not! You would feel awkward. Similarly, when going to a Mormon temple, we need to be clean inside and out. Who determines this? Well, frankly, you do. There are two interviews with ecclesiastical leaders. They ask questions regarding how you conduct your life and what you believe. However, the final question impresses me each time: Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the temple?

I am the judge there. I decide whether or not I am worthy to go, because who knows better than myself?

Another question I heard frequently was, ‘Can’t I go anywhere to be close to God?’ The answer is, of course. Some of my most profound spiritual experiences have taken place out in nature. I love hiking and observing the world around me, and I find special comfort close to the rivers and the oceans. However, there is something set apart and special about the temples that is different from just personal closeness to God, although that is a benefit often received by serving there. In the Mormon temples, we do for others what they cannot do for themselves, and we work out our own salvation too. That is something that needs to happen in a holy place set apart from the world for just such a purpose.

My favorite question was, ‘How can I go inside?’ Talk to the Mormon missionaries, the young elders and sisters who work so hard for two years or eighteen months at their own expense. They only want to explain their beliefs to you, and give you the chance to decide for yourself whether or not it’s true. Read the scriptures, pray to know if God is there, and whether or not these things are true. If you find that they are, you will begin walking down a path that leads to the doors of the temple, and to some of the greatest blessings you can know in this life.

I hope that in writing this article I have clarified some points. I know that I am not a perfect writer, but I do know that the doctrines and principles and ordinances of the church are given to us by a perfect Heavenly Father. He loves us so much. We are his children. He would not create a temple experience that is strange or perverse, or he wouldn’t be God. I have been in every major room in the Washington D.C. temple. There isn’t anything wrong or weird or even strange about it. It is beautiful and holy and sacred. And everyone is invited to come.

If seeking out and talking to a Mormon missionary is a little much, go to a temple with a visitors’ center. There are sister missionaries serving there who are constantly studying and ready to answer your questions. If there is a temple being built in your community, go to the open house, where the members of the church will take you on tours of the temple. They aren’t perfect either, so if you ask a question that momentarily bewilders them, don’t let that bother you. They’re simply trying to speak of something sacred without being flippant. Ask all the questions you want. Even better, if you have friends who are members, ask them. Be curious. That is how we learn to understand each other. That is when caricatures are laid aside for stunning and beautiful portraiture.

                                    Fig. 10: Annie and Matt at the Oakland Temple, July 1st 2006