Let the House Be Built

As part of a commandment to Joseph Smith and others to build the Kirtland Temple, the Lord said this: “Now here is wisdom, and the mind of the Lord—let the house be built, not after the manner of the world, for I give not unto you that ye shall live after the manner of the world; Therefore, let it be built after the manner which I shall show unto three of you, whom ye shall appoint and ordain unto this power. And the size thereof shall be fifty and five feet in width, and let it be sixty-five feet in length, in the inner court thereof” (Doctrine and Covenants 95:13-15). One manual recounts that a few days after this revelation was given in June 1833, “The Lord fulfilled His promise, giving Joseph Smith and his counselors in the First Presidency a remarkable vision in which they saw detailed plans for the temple. Frederick G. Williams, the Second Counselor in the First Presidency, later recalled: ‘Joseph [Smith] received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, [Frederick G.] Williams and [Sidney] Rigdon, and come before the Lord, and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built. We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the building appeared within viewing distance, I being the first to discover it. Then all of us viewed it together. After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us.’” It was after this that the building of the temple began in earnest, and a “sense of enthusiasm became a unifying emotion as the Saints worked and sacrificed to build the first temple in this dispensation.” It would be less than three years later that the temple would be completed, a monument to the sacrifice and obedience of these early Saints who built a temple for this main reason: the Lord commanded it.

            Today is the 101^st birthday for President Russell M. Nelson who, like Joseph Smith, has helped focus the Saints on the temple. Speaking about temples, he said this: “My dear brothers and sisters, do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment! The Lord is indeed hastening His work. Why are we building temples at such an unprecedented pace? Why? Because the Lord has instructed us to do so.” As it was for the Kirtland Saints, so it is for us: we build temples because the Lord commands it. President Nelson has announced the plans for building 200 temples since the time he became the president of the Church. This article describes the status of those temples, of which 28 have been dedicated and another 58 are under construction. Perhaps more importantly, of the temples he has announced, 29 are the first temple in their respective nation or territory. He has truly been working to bring the temples closer to the people. Over seven years ago when he had his first broadcast as the prophet, speaking from the Salt Lake Temple, he said this: “As a new Presidency, we want to begin with the end in mind. For this reason, we’re speaking to you today from a temple. The end for which each of us strives is to be endowed with power in a house of the Lord, sealed as families, faithful to covenants made in a temple that qualify us for the greatest gift of God—that of eternal life. The ordinances of the temple and the covenants you make there are key to strengthening your life, your marriage and family, and your ability to resist the attacks of the adversary. Your worship in the temple and your service there for your ancestors will bless you with increased personal revelation and peace and will fortify your commitment to stay on the covenant path.” He has certainly stayed true to that commitment as he has continued to keep our eyes on the temple.

            The Lord revealed this in another revelation about two months after Joseph and the First Presidency saw in vision what the Kirtland Temple was to look like: “Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me…. Behold, this is the tithing and the sacrifice which I, the Lord, require at their hands, that there may be a house built unto me for the salvation of Zion” (Doctrine and Covenants 97:10, 12). The Lord wants us to observe our covenants by sacrifice, and temples have certainly always been associated with sacrifice. The original temple in Old Testament times was the place where physical sacrifice of animals took place, and today it is also a place of sacrifice. President Nelson has invited us to make “a sacrifice of time” to do more work in the temple, and for most of us, that is indeed the sacrifice we must choose to make. But as a recent Liahona article says, we will gain more from this sacrifice than we give up: “As we enter the Lord’s house, we can remember that the time we offer to participate in temple work is more than something we give up—it’s time we can share with the Lord and a precious chance to stand together in His presence.”