As temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints increasingly dot the earth, Church leaders have continued to teach the importance of temples and the covenants made within temples.
In the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple in 1836, the Prophet Joseph Smith petitioned Heavenly Father “that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power” and “that no combination of wickedness shall … rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:22, 26).
President Dallin H. Oaks, President of the Church, has taught that the endowment ceremonies in the Nauvoo Temple prepared the pioneers and gave them the strength for the challenge of crossing the plains and arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.
And he’s compared that time period of the Church with the present.
“The building of multiple temples throughout the world is likely to be serving the same purpose to prepare the covenant children of the Lord with the strength they need to face what is ahead,” he said at the Mesa Arizona Temple dedication in December 2021.
President Oaks has also taught how essential temples are to “our Heavenly Father’s plan for His children.”
Speaking at the dedication of the Richmond Virginia Temple in May 2023, he said, “In these Houses of the Lord, we are taught the most important things we can learn in mortality, the knowledge of eternity.”
Visit Church News to read teachings from current Church leaders on the blessings that come to those who focus on the temple and their covenants with the Lord.
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