Latter-day Saint temples are holy places where members striving to follow Jesus Christ gather to make sacred covenants, or promises, with God. They are places of learning and progression, where members participate in ordinances, or formal rituals and acts, that are necessary to return to God and dwell with him eternally. Temples are truly houses of the Lord.
What is an LDS wedding?
One of the most sacred ordinances that occur within temple walls is celestial marriage, also called the temple sealing. You may hear Latter-day Saints say their families have been “sealed together” or that they are “sealed to their families forever.” This refers to the ordinance of celestial marriage. In the temple, a man and woman kneel across an altar and make sacred covenants to one another and to God. Part of that covenant is the sealing, where those with priesthood authority seal the couple together, ensuring their relationship and their future family will be bound together through the eternities.
What is temple work or work for the dead?
The ordinances of the temple are not only available to the living. Latter-day Saints believe they can act as a proxy for family members who have passed away. In 1 Corinthians 15:29, Paul states, “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”
Baptisms, marriages, and other sacred ordinances are performed for deceased family members in temples. Doing the “temple work” for a deceased relative does not mean the relative is converted or “becomes Mormon.” The relative, who lives on in the spirit world, must accept Jesus Christ and the proxy work that has been done for them.
What are LDS temple garments?
Watch the video below from Mormon Newsroom to learn more about the clothing that is worn inside the temple and the temple garments many members wear every day under their clothes. You may notice LDS brides wearing modest wedding dresses, to show reverence not only to themselves and God but to the temple garment.
Who can go inside LDS temples?
To enter an LDS temple, one must be a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has received a temple recommend. A temple recommend is issued by the member’s ecclesiastical leader. None who are worthy and desire to enter the temple are denied. The Church invites all people to learn of Christ and do what he has asked to enter his holy house.
