[MUSIC PLAYING]

The Lord always has commanded His people to build temples. Temples are the most holy of all places of worship, a sacred space specifically set apart for worshipping God and for receiving and remembering His great and precious promises.

The purpose of the first temple was to provide a center, focus, a place where people could go and feel especially close to the presence of God. There were pilgrimages, great pilgrimages, three times a year. And the purpose of going to the temple was to see the face of the Lord. So, we think that means to experience the presence of the Lord. The temple had to have been a spectacular building. Some people call it the eighth wonder of the ancient world. And you come to the center, to the capital city of your nation and the holiest site of your religion, and you see this spectacular building, gold inlaid everywhere you look. This is designed to focus your attention on your God. It must have been just the most amazing experience for ancient people. But the idea of the temple was the visible sign of the presence of the Lord with His people. And they could go to that place and know that they were experiencing the presence of the Lord. That was the main function of the temple.

I look at the temple as--it's definitely the one place on Earth where we can feel the closest to our Heavenly Father. [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH] And this feeling, everybody can have it on Earth, because we are all the children of God, and He loves everyone. So, it's a blessing. It's like a gift to feel this for everyone. I was invited by LDS friends to visit the Paris Temple before it was consecrated. Absolutely beautiful building, very much in the French style and fits perfectly into its own urban environment, which impressed me quite a bit. When I went inside, it wasn't in any way an attempt to imitate Solomon's temple. But what it was, was--I don't know how to put this, really. It was an expression of the feeling of a temple and the progression through a temple to the holy place.

There are overarching themes of temples across world religions. It often is considered to be the most sacred site within a given religion. In many religions, the temple is the shrine. It's the beautiful and inspiring building for the special festivals or holidays, which, of course, originally came from holy days.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

The first time I went to the temple, I had an incredible spiritual experience. And because of that experience, it made me want to keep going and going and going to receive more experiences. There was a time in my life which was pretty difficult. I lost a son at the age of 29. Going to the temple, I received a peace that was beyond all understanding. And I understood that he was going to be part of my family forever. That brought a sense of comfort to me that I didn't get in any other place.

Having a sacred space to which you can go enables you to go out and bring that holiness into the wider sacred space that is the whole creation. Once you have seen the light, you catch it. And so, when you have experienced the light, when you've experience this sense of transfiguration, in some sense, you have begun your own transfiguration.

A principal purpose of the temple is to elevate our vision from the things of the world to the blessings of eternity. Removed for a short time from the worldly settings with which we are familiar, we can look to God and live by receiving and remembering the great and precious promises whereby we become partakers of the divine nature.