From coordinating childcare and transportation to ensuring your temple recommend is up to date, attending the temple is no small feat. Here are a few creative ways that local leaders are making it easier for everyone to have sacred experiences with the temple.
Building Testimonies (and Legos) in Los Angeles
This year, a stake in Arcadia, California, planned a special temple day with all its members in mind.
In addition to scheduled temple ordinance sessions, the activity included a scavenger hunt for the children, led by the sister missionaries on the grounds; family history workshops in the visitors’ center; a walking tour around the temple; and a barbecue dinner at the adjacent ward building’s picnic area. Primary children even got to build small Lego replicas of the Los Angeles Temple to take home.
“Our stake presidency not only planned to include all groups and situations from the very beginning, but was also very intentional about spreading the word,” says Hillary, a Relief Society sister in the Arcadia California Stake. “Their purpose was to have a paradigm shift—that going to the temple means more than participating in an endowment session. We wanted people to understand that there are many ways in which they can enjoy the blessings of the temple, both inside and outside of its walls.”
Hillary lives about 35 miles from the Los Angeles Temple, and she says the driving commute can take up to an hour with downtown traffic. To make sure there were no transportation obstacles, bishops in the stake worked together to coordinate rides.
They also helped members get active temple recommends. “Our stake president told me that leading up to this temple day there was an influx of members renewing their temple recommends, which was an unexpected yet wonderful outcome,” Hillary says.
Primary leaders and parents worked together to offer childcare, making it possible for many parents to participate in temple ordinances as well. “One mother with several young children, including a newborn, expressed this was her first time being able to attend in quite a while,” Hillary says. “She was very appreciative of the opportunity to feel the joy of the temple with her entire family.”
Ultimately, Arcadia stake members filled up two sealing rooms, an endowment session of nearly 100 people, and baptistry appointments with 50 youth and new members. Afterward, about 250 people joined the BBQ.
“My favorite part of the day, besides showing my two-year-old daughter the Christus statue for her first time, was crossing paths with friends and family as we were all participating in various activities,” Hillary says. “It truly was a heavenly day being together as brothers and sisters.”
Tips to Try
If you’d like to try something similar with your ward or stake, here are two of Hillary’s main recommendations:
- Reach out to everyone: “From my observations seeing how our stake planned and advertised this temple trip, I advise other congregations to get the word out early, detailing all the activities, and reaching out specifically to members who aren’t normally able to attend the temple or have yet to visit.”
- Focus on the feeling: “I know this sounds like a large-scale activity, and it was! But it doesn’t have to be. The next time around, whether we have a big BBQ and Legos or not, I hope we will continue to have temple trips like these where members and friends are aware there is something to enjoy together, and we will help each other get there, so we can all feel the Spirit and bask in the blessings of the temple.”
Swapping Childcare Shifts in Atlanta
Georgia stakes near Atlanta are supporting parents by designing temple activities with young families in mind.
Kristi, a Relief Society sister who lived in the Twin Oaks Ward while her husband was in military training, says their stake rotated childcare among the wards and provided babysitting at a building adjacent to the Atlanta Georgia Temple. “Essentially it made it easy,” she explains. “Going to the temple should be easy, when it’s already so hard in our busy lives raising small children.”
To support as many people as possible, the childcare opportunity lasted several hours so people could choose from multiple session options. The wards also ensured the childcare included supplies and accommodations for allergies, diapers, snacks, and entertainment.
“It really did help immensely with our decision to attend the temple more regularly,” Kristi says. “Alternating [childcare responsibilities] gave each ward opportunities to serve. I will forever be grateful for those people who helped watch my children when they were so little so that I could go to the temple with my spouse.”
Similarly, a ward in the Fayetteville Georgia Stake supported families recently by combining their temple activity with a Primary gathering. “Driving to the temple can take an hour and a half on a good day,” says Kathleen, who served as the Primary President at the time. “Many young parents in our area will alternate temple attendance because a trip to the temple can take up to 6 hours [total].”
The Primary Presidency wanted the activity to serve as more than just babysitting, so they took the time to teach children about the temple. They gathered the children in a church building adjacent to the Atlanta Georgia Temple and provided themed coloring pages, games, and puzzles.
In addition, leaders took small groups of children on walks around the temple grounds. “We sat in front of the temple with a flipbook of pictures from inside the Atlanta Temple,” Kathleen explains. “We talked about what happens in each room. We then took individual pictures of each kid in front of the temple!”
Tips to Try
If you’d like to suggest a similar ward activity, Kathleen suggests adopting the following mindset:
- Be persistent: “We had to find a week when the most people would be available and also the church building next to the temple was available for us to use. Our ward council really wanted to make this day possible, so we kept trying!”
- Simplify: “My advice to another ward trying this is to not let perfection get in the way of getting it done! There’s never going to be the perfect time, but those who take the opportunity to gather together at the temple will be blessed!”
For more meaningful activity ideas, check out the articles below:
▶ This ward dinner group has been meeting for 50 years—here’s how
▶ Watch: Creative ward activity connects youth and adults
▶ This simple way of gathering helps Relief Society sisters find real connection
