The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Temples

The temple is the House of the Lord. The first temples included the tabernacle of Moses, and the temple of Solomon. In Latter Days, Joseph Smith Jr was used as an instrument in the Lords hands and built two temples, one in Kirtland, Ohio (currently owned and operated by the Community of Christ) and the Nauvoo Illinois temple (Destroyed in 1850, rebuilt and rededicated by Gordon B Hinckley in 2003) After the Saints got to Utah, they built four pioneer temples, St. George, Manti, Logan, and Salt Lake. Laie Hawaii, Cardston Alberta, and Bern Switzerland soon followed. These 7 Temples where the only in operation on April 6th, 1930, the church’s centennial. Gordon B Hinckley was instrumental in founding smaller temples. Currently, work on or on n 200+ Temples is being done. The following link provides more information on the Temples of The Church @ http://www.lds.org/temples

Temple Ordinances

The temple has five main parts; baptisms and confirmations for the dead, endowments and iniatories, and marriages. Baptisms and confirmations for the dead are done only in proxy for the dead. Latter-Day Saints believe that those who died before being given a chance to be baptized can still have that chance in the spirit world. Living members act as if they were the ones having the ordinance done for them, whenever a proxy ordinance is done. Endowments and initiatories are different in that the living along with the dead receive these. Members believe that the endowment is when God and the member make a two-way promise known as a covenant. If members uphold their end of the promise, they are assured to receive many gifts from God. Temple marriages are the most sacred, they are done for the living and the dead, and done for time and all eternity, including any children born to the sealed (temple married) parents. This supports the church’s doctrine that families can be together forever. Latter-Day Saints believe that the dead can choose whether or not to receive the ordinances. This upholds the belief that everyone is given the right to make their own decisions, and that agency is the greatest gift that God could give humankind.