What a sweet, faith-promoting explanation of what temples really mean to Latter-day Saints, and what a good way to clear up misconceptions: "Binding families together, in happiness, for eternity—that’s what really happens in temples." Please share!
If you’ve ever seen an LDS temple, chances are you’ve wondered what it is and what goes on inside. Or you may have even heard some rumor about the “strange” or “mysterious” rituals that take place there. Growing up a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’ve probably heard them all; and I’d agree with anyone who said that some of them are, well…pretty weird.
The truth is, there are a lot of misconceptions about LDS temples, including the idea that what goes on there is some big secret. On the contrary, an entire section of the church’s official website is devoted to answering questions about temples and what happens inside them. But my purpose here is not to review all of the FAQs of temples; there are plenty of other resources offering that kind of information (a few of these are listed at the bottom of this post). Instead, I’d like to take a more personal approach by sharing some of my own experiences inside the temple and the blessings that have come through those experiences.
Participating in Baptisms for the Dead
My first experience inside the temple occurred when I was 12-years-old and went with my youth group to perform “baptisms for the dead” in the Orlando, Florida temple. Now before you get any strange ideas, let me say that we do not baptize corpses in temples (that’s one of those strange rumors). Rather, we are baptized on behalf of our ancestors who died without that ordinance. Then, those waiting on the other side have the opportunity to accept or reject it.