At our meetinghouses on Sunday, we would go and the people would assemble. And we would hear people preach. And the scripture came to mind, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that [whoso] believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We would sing songs. [MUSIC - "I Believe in Christ"] (SINGING) I believe in Christ; he is my King! It would be what most people would consider to be a normal Sunday worship service.

We would have Sunday School, where we would study the Bible and other scriptures. How do our words, our actions-- That would be a normal Sunday meeting in our Church services.

The Mormon temple is different than a regular meetinghouse.

Probably all men and women of faith from way back have sought opportunities to commune with God and to find spiritual refreshment.

They want to have this feeling of spiritual enrichment and being spiritually uplifted.

When we go to the temple, we think that's what happens for us.

It's for a high degree of worship. It's very solemn and very sacred for Latter-day Saints. And so we would go there and we would participate in a different way than we would in our Sunday worship services.

Our temples are appointed beautifully, just as was done in ancient Israel in 1 Kings chapter 7, where the Bible describes Solomon's ancient temple. The scripture tells us that they used the finest materials and the finest workmen to produce a beautiful temple for God. And that's the same that we do today.

Just as was done in ancient Israel, as is detailed in Exodus chapter 28, on the front door, or above the front door, somewhere near the entrance to every temple, is the expression "Holiness to the Lord, the House of the Lord." Let me walk you through the temple. Many people are surprised that it's not a large hall with a great sanctuary where you would have a large assembly. As a matter of fact, it's mostly made up of smaller rooms. Part of the appointment of our temples is to use fine materials and fine workmanship, but we also like to have beautiful art hanging throughout the temples. The art usually is religious art detailing the life of the Savior Jesus Christ, but often it would just be beautiful scenery. And some of these pieces of art are just designed to remind us of the beauties of God's creation.

In each of our temples, we have in the lower area a baptismal font. In the New Testament, Jesus taught that it's necessary to be baptized to enter the kingdom of heaven. So what about those people who lived in previous years and ages--generations where they did not have any knowledge of the Savior Jesus Christ? Well, we can do the work for them. This is a very important part of the function of the Mormon temple, is to do the work for our forefathers--our deceased ancestors. Each baptismal font would be on the back of 12 oxen. And this is just as was done in ancient Israel, as is detailed in 1 Kings chapter 7. Let me read the passage to you. This is from the Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 7, verse 25. It says that "it stood upon twelve oxen, three looking toward the north, and three looking toward the west, and three looking toward the south, and three looking toward the east." And that's the same pattern that we have in our temples.

In addition to the baptismal font, we have other rooms in the temple. We assemble for our worship in the temple in a room which we sometimes call an instruction room. That is where instruction about life--it would be given about the creation of the earth. And those who are attending would be instructed about God's plan of happiness for us. And that's where the majority of the time in our worship in the temple would be spent--in those rooms.

Those of us who go to the temple know that as part of that worship, we are recommitting ourselves to live the commandments--to live righteously, to love others, to follow the teachings of the Savior Jesus Christ. So when we go and participate in temple worship, we are going to be energized and to be spiritually uplifted and to be recommitted to our desire to keep God's commandments and be true disciples of Jesus Christ.

The celestial room is the most sacred place in the temple. It really is symbolic of returning to heaven. There's no instruction that takes place there. It's not a place of speaking. It's simply a place of personal reflection and prayer and introspection and renewal of our individual commitments. Church members go to the temple primarily to commune with God, to have a spiritual experience which reminds them of the importance of living God's commandments. It helps us to remember that we are here for a higher purpose. We are children of a loving Father in Heaven. We come to this earth to live righteously, and we are on our way back to heaven. And that's part of the purpose of going to the temple. It's very common that people who have special needs--they have come to a fork in the road, and they are wondering what to do, which job to take, or what important decision to make--it's very common for our people to go to the temple with a prayer in their heart and a desire that they would receive some inspiration that would help them to make those decisions.

The sealing room in our temples is a very wonderful and special place. It's a wonderful and a remarkable thing to look into the eyes of a man and a woman who are about to be married. They love each other with all their hearts. When two people are getting married, they can't imagine the idea that this beautiful, loving relationship would ever end.

Everybody right here. Smile. And 1, 2, 3. So it's an important part of Mormon teaching that it doesn't need to end at death. This marriage can go on into the eternities, and a loving God intended it to be that way. So He gave us this power and authority. It's actually what Jesus was giving the Apostles in Matthew chapter 16, when Jesus put His hands on Peter and the other Apostles and conferred upon them the authority to have bound on earth and have it be bound in heaven. That's what was happening there. Jesus was giving the sealing authority to His Apostles. And that's utilized in the temple, in the house of the Lord, where a man and a woman can be sealed together for eternity.

When you've been married in the temple, you've been sealed in the temple, then your children who are born into this marriage are part of that sealing. And they are yours forever, so long as everybody lives the commandments. Now, you might say, "Well, what about those who were married before?" They can go to the temple and receive those same blessings. The children would come with the mother and father, and they would also kneel at the altar. And it's a beautiful, sacred thing to witness, particularly with little children, to see them kneel at the altar in the temple next to their mother and father, holding hands together on the altar, and have them sealed together as a family for time and for all eternity. That's a great blessing from heaven. It's a great blessing from God. And we believe that's what God intended, that families would be together forever.

Everything that we've discussed in terms of what I could go to the temple and participate in as an individual, we can also do the same for our deceased ancestors. We believe that these are saving ordinances. And the blessings that come from the baptisms and the marriages that we do in the temple can also be a blessing to our deceased forefathers. And that person has a choice. They have their agency, the ability to choose whether they want that to be for them or not. There is no compulsion in any of this. It's a loving, kind gesture to enable them to accept, if they choose to, these blessings in heaven, which would be a blessing to them into the eternities.

Members of the Church choose to go to the temple as often as they would like. Some people who are retired and love the temple may go every day. Others who are busy or with young children may only go to the temple once a month. It's a personal choice. And of course there are people who live in remote locations where a temple is not close to them, and they may only go to the temple once in their life to receive that wonderful blessing. We believe that going to the temple is a blessing and a benefit for us, not just because of what happens when we were there, but what happens after we leave the temple and we go back to our normal life. We believe that God expects us to live life in a good Christian way, with love and kindness to others. So when we leave the temple and we go back home and go back to work and go back to our neighborhoods, that's an opportunity for us to live the way that we think that we should--to love others, to do service, to be honest, to be good citizens, to be good neighbors.

We should leave the temple not only recommitted, but we should leave the temple a better person, more likely to do the right things and to make wise and righteous choices.

God's purpose is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." It's His purpose to bless us and to help us and to give us every opportunity to receive all the blessings that He would have in store for us.

Life as we know it--this mortal life--is just part of what goes on in an eternal life. We believe that we lived as spirit children of God before we were born. And we live this life, and when we die here, life will go on. And there will be learning and progression and advancement in the life after this.

Sometimes I'll hear others who are not members of our Church say something about, "Well, you Mormons are so secret, or secretive, with your temple." And actually, that's a surprising thing to hear because I have never heard a member of our Church refer to the temple as being secret. For us it's sacred. The temple is the most sacred and holy place for Latter-day Saints. We believe that is reserved to those who are the faithful, who are the devout members of the Church. And so to manifest that, each member of the Church must go to their local ecclesiastical leader and be recommended by them and receive a temple recommend, which is simply a statement that this person is living the way we expect devout members of our Church to live. It's an opportunity for introspection and self-certification, so to speak, that yes, I am living the commandments. I'm living the way that a Latter-day Saint is expected to live. I'm being faithful to my wife. I'm honest in my dealings with others. And that's an opportunity for me to say to my ecclesiastical leader, and really to say before God, that yes, I'm doing those things, and I feel like I'm worthy to go to the temple and participate in this temple service and this temple worship. So you can see why the temple is not open to the general public. This is a very sacred, holy commitment that we take. We build a new temple, we have an open house, and tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people come, and we take them through the temple.

It really is about sacred.

When I see a sacred shrine or temple or cathedral of another faith, it causes me to admire those who are followers of that faith and religion, when I see that their faith and their religion meant so much to them that they would build a beautiful, magnificent building which would be symbolic of their faith in God, whoever that God may be that they worship. But that causes me to have admiration and respect for those people. And regardless of whether I espouse their beliefs or their philosophy, it causes me to admire and respect those people. And I would hope that others would feel the same way about us when they see our beautiful temples--that they would admire and respect the devotion that it took to build a beautiful building to God.