“Temples: A Refuge for Zion,” Liahona, June 2025.
Historical Perspectives on the House of the Lord
Temples: A Refuge for Zion
We gather in temples and find refuge from the storms of life.
Photographs by Gillian Needham, Martin Hunter, and Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
At 12:51 p.m. on February 22, 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch, New Zealand. One hundred eighty-five people were killed, and several thousand were injured. The fear and chaos in the city were palpable. It took me several hours of driving through rubble to collect my children from their schools and find my husband, who had been in the part of the city where the most damage occurred.
Once back at our home, we needed to decide what to do. It wasn’t safe to stay, so that same afternoon we hurriedly packed a few belongings and started driving north. We didn’t realize that we would experience many miracles along the way.
As we left the city, our van was nearly out of fuel, but we were able to get petrol at the first gas station to reopen. Our van was also struggling mechanically, so we dropped it off at a garage for repair. When we picked it up, the mechanic didn’t charge us, saying he wanted to help those who had been impacted by the earthquake. Friends and family showed us kindness, helping to calm us and our children.
We eventually drove to Hamilton, over 500 miles (800 km) to the north of Christchurch. Our young family was able to stay in one of the student dorms of a decommissioned school next to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple. It was there at the foot of the temple that we tried to help our children heal from the trauma of being earthquake refugees.
I remember looking up at the spire of the temple and taking a deep breath before stepping inside, as it took courage to convince myself that it too wouldn’t fall like the many buildings that had collapsed in our home city. In the temple lobby, the Spirit brought us peace as we planned our next steps: how we would start to make order out of chaos and move forward in our lives.
The author and her family outside the Hamilton New Zealand Temple
A Refuge from the Storm
Early in the Restoration, the Lord declared, “I command you to build a house unto me, for the gathering together of my saints, that they may worship me” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:8). The Lord explained that this gathering of the Saints would be “for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:6). In the aftermath of an earthquake, the Hamilton Temple was a gathering place of refuge for my family.
The Hamilton Temple was announced in 1954, followed by a call for assistance with the construction. The New Zealand Saints responded immediately. Some young men, young women, and married couples were formally called as labor missionaries. Others were recruited by family and friends. Some simply felt inspired to come and serve those who were involved in the construction by providing food or financial support.
After the temple was dedicated in 1958, many Saints gathered to the temple from across New Zealand and the Pacific Area to receive their endowment and sealing. For example, when Vaha’i and Sela Tonga of the country of Tonga heard that a temple would be built in New Zealand, they made plans to attend the dedication. Despite financial hurdles to travel, Vaha’i and Sela were the first couple to be sealed in the Hamilton Temple.
Photograph of Hamilton New Zealand Temple by Brent Thomson
A Refuge from the World
The Suva Fiji Temple has also provided refuge for Saints in the Pacific who have gathered there. The temple was dedicated on June 18, 2000, during a time of civil unrest. In the dedicatory prayer, President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) prayed: “Thou hast favored us with a temple in this island nation. No longer will we have to travel far across the seas to do that work which Thou hast established as sacred and necessary for Thy Saints in this latter-day dispensation. Thou hast heard our prayers and hearkened to our entreaties that this blessing might come to us.” During a tense time, Saints in Fiji found peace together within the walls of the temple, a literal refuge from conflict.
On February 20, 2016, Cyclone Winston destroyed thousands of homes. It was the largest recorded storm to ever hit Fiji. The next day, President Henry B. Eyring, then-First Counselor in the First Presidency, rededicated the Suva Fiji Temple after a 16-month renovation. He prayed: “We thank Thee for Thy faithful Saints in this beautiful land. We invoke Thy blessings upon them, that they may be blessed with love and peace, that their lands shall be productive, and that they shall be prospered and protected in their righteous undertakings. We ask that they be protected from the storms of nature and from the conflicts of men as they walk in obedience to Thy commandments.”
Temples provide spiritual refuge by pointing us to Jesus Christ. Staying connected to Him through our covenants can help us weather spiritual storms such as trials and temptations. President Russell M. Nelson has promised: “Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness.”
With many more temples now announced, under construction, or operating around the world, it is becoming easier for Saints to gather and find refuge in temples. No matter the distance, the Lord’s followers are drawn to His house when they need the refuge He promises to His covenant people. As we are true to the covenants we have made inside the house of the Lord, we will always find our greatest peace and refuge through our Savior, Jesus Christ.