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Why are temple ordinances important?

Why are temple ordinances important?

Prepare Yourself Spiritually

Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available to Heavenly Father’s children. These ordinances prepare us to live forever with Heavenly Father and our families after this life. They bless us with spiritual power and direction during mortality. In the temple, we can also receive essential ordinances in behalf of ancestors who died without having the opportunity to receive these ordinances for themselves.

Resources to Help You Prepare

These resources are to help you prepare for the “Learn together” section of the meeting.

Questions to Ponder before You Teach

How have temple ordinances guided and blessed your life? How has participating in these ordinances brought you closer to Heavenly Father?

What experiences have the young women had with temple ordinances? How can they help each other learn about and gain a testimony of temple ordinances?

What can the young women do to prepare to learn? For example, they could read a talk, watch a video, or study a scripture related to this doctrine.

Teaching in the Savior’s Way

When the Savior taught, He invited His followers to act in faith and live the truths He taught. He wanted His followers to live the gospel with all their hearts. How can you inspire in the young women the desire to understand and participate in temple ordinances?

Video: “Share Stories and Examples”

Meeting Outline

1. Counsel Together and Share Experiences

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

Lead a discussion about items such as the following:

  • Our class: Who is missing today? What visits do we need to make? Who should we invite to an upcoming activity? Who needs our help and prayers?

  • Our responsibilities: What assignments do we need to make? What assignments have we fulfilled? How have we invited others to come unto Christ, and how can we invite others now?

  • Our lives: Remind the class of the discussion from the last meeting. What experiences have we had with applying what we learned? What experiences have we had in the past few weeks that strengthened our testimonies of the gospel?

If possible, discuss these items beforehand in a class presidency meeting.

2. Learn Together

Led by a leader or teacher or a member of the class; approximately 25–35 minutes

After studying the above resources and following the inspiration of the Spirit, you may select one or more of the activities below to help class members understand the doctrine.

  • Invite the young women to finish the following sentence and share their answers with the class: “When I go to the temple, .” What other answers do they find in the bulleted list in Elder Kent F. Richards’s talk “The Power of Godliness”? They could also search the talk and look for answers to the question “Why are temple ordinances important?” Ask the young women to share a recent experience they had attending the temple. What blessings have they received from temple work? As part of this activity, you could show “Sam Hepworth Mission Prep Video” or “I Accepted the Challenge” and discuss the blessings that the youth in the videos received because of temple work.

  • Invite the young women to look for blessings that come through temple worship in President Thomas S. Monson’s message “Blessings of the Temple.” What blessings have come to them as they have attended the temple and participated in temple ordinances? What does the scriptural metaphor of a river in Elder Dale G. Renlund’s message “Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing” teach them about the blessings of the temple? You could also share experiences from your own life that illustrate how temple ordinances have blessed you.

  • Show a picture of a married couple in front of a temple (see Gospel Art Book [2009], no. 120). Invite the young women to read together Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4 and look for the blessings promised to those who enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. What blessings will be withheld from those who do not enter into this covenant? How is the Lord’s view of marriage different from the world’s view? Share your testimony with the young women about the blessings that are available to them and their future families as they participate in the ordinances of the temple.

  • Show the video “Temples Are a Beacon,” and ask the young women why they think the Mou Tham family was willing to make such great sacrifices to go to the temple. What sacrifices have they made or seen others make to attend the temple and receive its blessings?

  • Divide the class in half, and ask one half to imagine that they are the deceased ancestors of the other half. Invite them to imagine that they died without being baptized but have accepted the gospel in the spirit world. Ask them to write a message to their living descendants and give it to one of the young women in the other half of the class. Ask the class members to read the messages out loud. Write on the board the title of this lesson, and invite the young women to think about this question as they read the third and fourth paragraphs in the section titled “Family History Technology” in Elder Quentin L. Cook’s talk “Roots and Branches.” Ask them to share their thoughts.

3. Plan to Act

Led by a member of the class presidency; approximately 5–10 minutes

  • Ask the young women to discuss any feelings or impressions they had during the meeting. What was meaningful to them? Is there something they can do personally or as a class to apply what they have learned?

  • Give the young women a few minutes to record what they will do in the coming weeks to act on their impressions. Invite them to share their ideas.

  • Remind the young women that they will have the opportunity to share their experiences at the beginning of the next meeting.

Related Youth Activities

Plan a Mutual activity that will help the young women apply what they learned in this lesson.