BYU Education Week Speaker Teaches How to Bring the Influence of Temple Worship to Your Home
Contributed By Jason Swensen, Church News associate editor
Attendees walk between sessions during BYU Education Week on August 23, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The annual event was held August 19–23, 2019.
Article Highlights
- Active temple worship brings peace and revelation into the home.
- Temple worship brings unity among members of the Church.
- Revelation in the temple can be discussed with family members to help bring spiritual safety to the family.
“As we bring the temple into ourselves—and not just ‘go to the temple’—the temple can change our lives.” —Stan G. Crippen, temple sealer
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Latter-day Saints must make a choice whenever they step across the threshold of a dedicated temple: Am I merely “going” to the temple—or am I “worshipping” in the temple?
Active temple worship is what allows people to take the lessons, revelations, peace, and blessings of the sacred edifice into their own homes and lives, taught Stan G. Crippen in his 2019 BYU Education Week class entitled “Bringing the Influence of the Temple Home with You.”
One of the most important elements of serving in the temple “is what you take home with you,” said Crippen, an educator, family therapist, and temple sealer.
Drawing upon temple-related counsel from President Russell M. Nelson and other Church leaders, he offered instruction on how people can discover life-defining things about themselves, the priesthood, and the gospel inside the walls of the temple.
Crippen, a convert, said the promise of eternal families is what led him to the Church and, ultimately, the temple. Every visit to the temple doubles as a reminder of why it has been called “the Lord’s university.”
The temple is a place of inspiration, revelation, equality, and instruction. And each temple is anchored to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
“It’s where we learn we are all children of God and that we are all alike. It’s also a place of refuge from judgment that you can take with you.”
Regardless of an individual’s professional, economic, or family backgrounds, everyone worshipping in the temple is dressed alike and serving a common purpose. Such unity allows patrons to accept that their fellow temple-goers are trying to do what’s right. They are doing their best.
That’s a benevolent characteristic that people can take home with them from the temple.
Crippen marveled that the temple has increasingly become a part of Latter-day Saints’ daily lives. Thanks to the proliferation of temple building in recent decades, most members live within 200 miles of a temple. And limited-use recommends now allow youth to serve in the temple as often as they would like.
As President Nelson has taught, the temple provides a vaccine from the daily ills of the world; it’s a place of instruction on how to live one’s life outside of the temple. The Lord is willing and anxious to offer revelation to His followers as they increase their purity and obedience, earnestly seek truth, and feast daily upon His words.
The teachings found in the temple, promised Crippen, are “the greatest personal, marital, and family therapy that exists.”
He recommended that spouses, family members, and friends who have spent, say, a morning worshipping in the temple together take advantage of the drive home to discuss what newly revealed teachings they plan to add to their spiritual toolboxes.
The temple also offers protection from the dangers of the world. All who make sacred covenants and receive instruction can enjoy an added measure of safety and peace in their daily lives.
Finally, temples teach that “the priesthood belongs to the family”—and that both men and women can be blessed by essential priesthood ordinances.
“As we bring the temple into ourselves—and not just ‘go to the temple’—the temple can change our lives,” said Crippen.
Attendees listen to a presenter during one of the youth sessions of BYU Education Week on August 22, 2019, in Provo, Utah. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
An attendee of BYU Education Week takes notes while attending a class on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on August 21, 2019. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
Attendees walk between sessions during BYU Education Week on August 22, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The annual event is open to anyone age 14 and older. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
A woman listens to one of the more than 200 presenters at BYU Education Week on August 22, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
An attendee flips through the BYU Education Week class schedule on August 22, 2019. The annual event was held August 19-23, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
Attendees laugh during a class as part of BYU Education Week on August 21, 2019, at the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
A woman crochets while listening to a presentation as part of BYU Education Week on August 21, 2019, in Provo, Utah. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
An attendee of BYU Education Week takes notes while attending a class on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on August 21, 2019. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
An attendee of BYU Education Week takes notes while attending a class on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah, on August 21, 2019. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
Attendees walk between sessions during BYU Education Week on August 23, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The annual event was held August 19-23, 2019. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
Attendees walk between sessions during BYU Education Week on August 23, 2019, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. The annual event was held August 19-23, 2019. Photo by Rebekah Baker, BYU Photo.
