I grew up about 1.5 hours from the Oakland temple.
It wasn’t impossibly far away, but it was just far away enough that we usually did two youth trips a year to go and do baptisms and confirmations.
We would make a whole day of it, and, of course, grab ice cream at Fenton’s afterwards. (If you know, you know.)
When I went off to BYU, I was suddenly in very close walking distance to a temple.
What a shift!
I attended with my roommates, and we all went once or twice a month.
After my husband and I got married and moved to Arizona, we lived about 20 minutes from the Mesa temple.
And suddenly, we realized… we were on our own for temple attendance.
No more youth group trips. No more roommates going with us. If our ward had temple trips, they were often during times when one of us was working.
We had to grapple with the question:
Why do we really attend the temple?
I didn’t love my reasons at first.
But throughout the years, my answer has shifted.
When I read D&C 97:13-14, I was reminded of some of my favorite reasons.
The Lord was teaching these saints, pretty passionately, about why they NEEDED to get to work on building that temple.
Throughout these verses, He mentions 3 things:
1. For a place of thanksgiving for all saints
2. For a place of instruction
3. That they may be perfected
Thanksgiving, instruction, and perfection.
It’s hard not to be filled with gratitude while sitting in a beautiful building surrounded by beautiful reminders of all that God has done for us.
Instruction is given every single time we are in the temple, and the more that I’ve tried to pay attention and learn, the more my eyes have been opened to the wealth of knowledge that is available.
And as we learn more about the power of God and His priesthood, we become perfected. When we do work for our ancestors, we become perfected. When we sacrifice any item on our to-do list for time in the temple, we become perfected.
Isn’t that a beautiful trio of reasons why we need temples?!
What blessings have you seen from worshipping in the house of the Lord?
And what is your biggest WHY right now for wanting to be there regularly?
Happy Studying!
-Cali Black
