5 Loving Ways to Teach Children, Youth, and New Converts about the Temple

Disclaimer: I am not a church leader or a scholar. I write this simply as a convert, a mom, a grandma, and someone who loves the temple. 

When I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the temple was something new to me. Over the years, as I have returned again and again, my understanding and love for the temple have continued to grow. This is one reason I believe we can do so much to help our children, youth, and new converts feel comfortable with the temple long before their first visit.

Temple preparation does not have to feel mysterious or overwhelming. It can begin with simple conversations at home, visits to temple grounds, and asking questions about the temple with curiosity and sincereness. The church teaches that temples help us learn about Heavenly Father's plan, draw closer to Jesus Christ, make sacred covenants, receive blessings and spiritual strength, and serve our ancestors by performing sacred ordinances on their behalf. As we return to the temple throughout our lives, we continue to learn, strengthen our own covenants, and help unite our families for eternity.

Here are five ways I believe we can help someone prepare for the temple, learn about its purpose, and make temple worship an integral part of their life:

1. Teach Worthiness, Not Perfection

Sometimes I worry that a young person or new convert may hear the word worthy and think it means perfect. It does not. To believe that we need to be perfect in order to attend the temple is to put the cart before the horse. We all make mistakes. We all need repentance and the grace of Jesus Christ. The church's temple preparation materials teach that understanding grows over time. Symbols can teach different things according to our readiness, and repeated temple worship can deepen our understanding. 

Anthony Sweat expresses a similar idea in The Holy Invitation. He describes the temple as the Lord's invitation to enter His house, learn of Him and His ways, and prepare to return to His presence. He writes for both the person going for the first time and the person returning for the hundredth time. I love that thought.

Everyone’s temple journey is personal. A child may feel something strongly on the temple grounds. A teenager may gain a testimony while doing baptisms for the dead. A new convert may need time before the temple feels familiar. Give them room to discover their own love and testimony of the temple.

2. Start Teaching about the Temple Early

We do not need to wait until someone is preparing for a mission, marriage, or endowment to begin talking about the temple. Start early. For little children, temple preparation might mean coloring a picture of a temple, singing “I Love to See the Temple,” looking at temple pictures, or talking about why Mom and Dad go there. As they grow, the conversations can grow too. Talk about temples naturally at home. If you drive past one, point it out. Put a temple picture somewhere where your family can see it. Tell children why a particular temple means something to your family.

There are many resources available through Church magazines and the Gospel Library, and families can also find age-appropriate activities, games, books, and coloring pages that make learning enjoyable. Moreover, the best teaching sometimes happens in ordinary conversation:

• "I'm going to the temple this morning."
• "Grandma and Grandpa were sealed in this temple."
• "I'm taking some family names to the temple today."
• "I had something on my mind, and I felt peaceful after going to the temple."

When children hear us talk about the temple naturally and lovingly, they begin to understand that the temple is not simply a beautiful building we visit for important occasions. It is part of our life as disciples of Jesus Christ.

3. Make Temple Visits Something to Look Forward to

Visit temple grounds together. Walk around. Look at the flowers. Notice the architecture. Find the words Holiness to the Lord. Take a family picture. Sit quietly for a few minutes. Ask, “What did you notice?” or “How do you feel when you are here?”

When a new or renovated temple has a public open house, go if you can. The church welcomes visitors of all ages to these open houses. Before a temple is dedicated, visitors can walk through the building and learn about its purpose. I think an open house is one of the best opportunities to make the temple real for a child or new convert. However, don't just tour the building. Learn something about that particular temple beforehand:

• When was it built?
• Is there something special about its architecture or artwork?
• Why was that location chosen?
• Are there interesting stories about the people who built it?

But what if you can't make arrangements to attend a temple open house? Not a problem! The new Temple Square Visitor’s Center in Salt Lake City now offers an “Inside a Temple” experience with full-size replicas of temple rooms, including a baptistry, instruction room, sealing room, and celestial room. There is also a scale model of the Salt Lake Temple that opens to reveal its interior rooms. This gives us a wonderful opportunity to bring children, teenagers, new converts, friends, and even those who are simply curious about our faith to learn what a temple is like and why it is important to us. We can introduce the temple in an open, welcoming way before someone is ever old enough or ready to enter a dedicated temple.

You can also read books about temples together. Most importantly, share your own temple stories. You don't need to talk about sacred details of temple ordinances to tell someone what the temple means to you. Tell them about:

• Your first temple visit
• A time you felt peace at the temple
• A temple that has special meaning to your family
• Why you keep returning to the temple

Our children will always remember hearing Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, or a trusted friend say “I love going to the temple.”

4. Welcome Questions about the Temple

I believe we should make it easy for children, youth, and new converts to ask any question they want to about the temple. There are specific things about temple ordinances and covenants that we appropriately reserve for discussion within the temple, but that does not mean that we cannot talk about them in general. In fact, the church's temple preparation manual specifically tells instructors to invite questions and to take the time to answer them appropriately.

The church also makes the temple recommend questions available for members to study. Current church teaching materials for youth specifically encourage reviewing those questions and considering how living those standards prepares us to enter the Lord's house. I think this can lead to wonderful conversations with teenagers and new converts. They can share their questions or concerns about the temple freely and without fear of judgment. If we don't know the answer to a temple question, we don't have to pretend that we do. We can say “that's a good question. Let's find out together.”

Questions can lead to testimony.

5. Help Them Know What to Expect Before Their First Temple Experience

Whether someone is preparing to participate in baptisms for the dead for the first time or preparing to receive their own endowment, one of the greatest gifts we can give them is confidence. It is natural to feel a little nervous when something is new. Often, the anxiety does not even come from spiritual concerns, but rather from practical ones such as:

• Where do I go?
• What should I bring?
• What do I wear?
• Will someone help me?
• What if I don't know what to do? 

We can remove many of those worries before they ever walk through the door.

For youth preparing for baptisms for the dead, explain the basic process beforehand. Talk about arriving and showing their temple recommend, changing into white clothing, participating in the ordinances, and following the guidance of temple workers.

For someone preparing to receive their own endowment, encourage them to take the church's temple preparation class and study the church's official resources. The church teaches that first-time patrons may have an escort accompany them and that temple workers will provide guidance.

We can also teach about symbolism in appropriate ways. The church's temple preparation manual specifically teaches that changing from everyday clothing into white temple clothing symbolizes purity and also reminds us that worldly distinctions of wealth, position, education, and status are left behind. We stand as equals before God.

For someone approaching their own endowment, becoming familiar beforehand with the temple clothing they will need can also remove unnecessary worry. Church temple preparation materials encourage members to learn about obtaining and caring for their own temple clothing. Help them gather what they need. Make sure their temple recommend is ready. Help them organize their temple clothing and other personal items. Arrive with enough time so that no one feels rushed.

The purpose of these preparations is not to explain or rehearse sacred portions of the ordinances beforehand. It is simply to remove some of the uncertainty so the person can concentrate less on “am I doing this right?” and more on “what is the Lord teaching me?”

I have learned that something as simple as being organized can make a temple visit feel more peaceful. That thought became personal for me as I began designing temple products for QA Bags. I wanted a temple bag that would keep clothing and personal items organized, a small pouch that could keep a temple recommend, locker key, or family names easy to find, and a temple envelope that would keep ceremonial clothing together.

That is why we created our QA Bags Temple Collection and Temple Ready Set. They are simple, practical things. They cannot prepare someone's heart for the temple. Only the individual, with the help of the Savior and the Holy Ghost, can do that. But if being prepared and organized can remove a few little distractions, perhaps it can help us give more of our attention to why we came to the temple in the first place.

Remember that the first temple visit is not the destination. Rather, it is the beginning of a lifelong journey. Keep asking. Keep learning. Keep returning. Let the Lord teach you, little by little, why His house can become a place you truly love, and how the covenants and ordinances of the temple prepare us to return to the presence of God in the celestial kingdom and be together with our families for eternity.

Resources for Further Study

For those preparing themselves or someone they love for the temple, I recommend beginning with these resources:

• Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple, by President Boyd K. Packer
• Endowed from on High: Temple Preparation Seminar Teacher's Manual
• Gospel Study Guide: Temples
• The Holy Invitation: Understanding Your Sacred Temple Endowment, by Anthony Sweat