How to Enter an LDS Temple

Often, non-LDS (Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons refer to members of their church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) don't understand why they can't just walk into an LDS temple. This is often most pointed during a wedding, when the marriage ceremony is performed within the temple and any non-LDS relatives of the bride or the groom aren't permitted to attend that portion of the event. The truth is, anyone can enter an LDS temple--they simply have to follow the proper steps to make it happen. Here's how.

Instructions

1. Learn LDS doctrine. This is typically done first by meeting with representatives of the LDS church, missionaries who are usually somewhere between 18 and 22 years of age. These representatives of the church will guide you through the basic beliefs of the church.

2. Become personally converted to the gospel as preached by the LDS church. According to the missionaries, this is done through prayer and study, "in faith." Becoming "converted" means to become convinced that the doctrines you have been taught about the purpose of life and your own ultimate potential are, in fact, true.

3. Be baptized. This is done by working with your local LDS missionaries to set a date for the baptism, then carry it out. A typical LDS baptism takes no more than a minute or so, though the meeting organized around it can last up to an hour.

4. If you are a male, receive the Priesthood--the "authority" to perform certain LDS ordinances like baptism, preparing, blessing, and passing the sacrament, and blessings of comfort, to name a few. This is done by working with your bishop (the leader of your congregation, or "ward"), then actually "receiving" the Priesthood by the laying on of hands.

5. Meet with your bishop to obtain a temple recommend. Before you receive one, you'll be required to sit down with your bishop and answer several questions pertaining to your own "worthiness"--questions about your home life, your honesty, and your belief in the church and its doctrines, among other things. Having answered the questions honestly and to the bishop's satisfaction, you will receive a temple recommend, which is a piece of paper, about the size of a business card, with your name and your bishop's signature on it.

6. Meet with your stake president--the leader of several congregations, or "the stake." He will ask you the same set of questions as the bishop. Once completed, he will also sign your temple recommend.

7. Go to the temple. A temple volunteer will be sitting or standing behind a desk in the lobby area. Show your temple recommend to the temple volunteer, who will then allow you to enter.

Tips & Warnings

• To members of the LDS church, the temple is a sacred place where events pertaining to eternity take place--so dress in your Sunday best and speak quietly once inside.