Enriching Temple Visits

Question: It has been said that perhaps the biggest obstacle LDS Church members face in regular temple attendance is not lack of time, but lack of desire. How have you made attending a temple session an enriching experience each time?

Summary:

From these answers it seems to me that these couples have attended the temple regularly for the following purposes, in order of what was mentioned most:

1) To do service for those who have died.

2) To be obedient, helped by a culture/example set by their own parents.

3) For a place of refuge, inspiration, and enjoyment.

Things that added to their personal enrichment have been:

1) Doing family history so that the temple work is for their own family.

2) Regular attendance, which increased enjoyment of being there and wanting to attend.

3) Reading books to help understand the doctrine of temple work.

Key phrases:

"It starts with the desire to serve those who have died. Then it becomes a place of refuge and an inspiration for us personally."

"After you have worked very hard to find a certain family or individual, and have had (and I promise you will have) some very spiritual experiences in that process, you know that that person or family wants their temple work done. Then when you are in the temple and performing the ordinance, you are very motivated."

"The promises given to those who attend the temple are very powerful and very motivating. I believe that much of our success with our family relates to the promises made in the temple to those who attend." (I wonder how temple attendance has related to these families' success in Cairn Parenting's focus benchmarks - maybe this should be a follow-up question.)

Answers:

Karen (and Lance)
We go to the temple once a week. We take my sister with us and figure we are helping someone who cannot help themselves to get their temple work done. What more enriching can that be? We also eat lunch at the temple. The chef there is wonderful and makes very good food at a great price. We just enjoy the day.

Marsha (and Richard)
I think it starts with the desire to be obedient and we found that the more we attended the temple the more we enjoyed it and wanted to attend.

When we read extra books about the temple it increased our interest in going. Once again, understanding the doctrine behind temple attendance is helpful and helped motivate our attendance.

I think the best thing for me was that my parents always attended on a monthly basis, therefore, I was used to the idea that you attend the temple monthly and so we have done that all our married life. It's not a matter of if we should go to the temple but when. Ward temple nights help by scheduling a time each month and it is always nice to be there with others we know. We made that a priority on our calendar.

Now that our children are out of the home we are able to attend weekly and have it built into our schedule. We have come to appreciate the peace and the revelation that comes in being in the temple. It starts with the desire to serve those who have died. Then it becomes a place of refuge and an inspiration for us personally.

The promises given to those who attend the temple are very powerful and very motivating. I believe that much of our success with our family relates to the promises made in the temple to those who attend. We expect that this is just the beginning and that many eternal blessings will be ours for that time spent and service given.

I am anxious now to be able to do family history work and do the work for our own dead. I'm guessing that will be even more motivating.

Cynthia (and Brad)
Besides all the obvious reasons, I have become very involved in genealogy. After you have worked very hard to find a certain family or individual, and have had (and I promise you will have) some very spiritual experiences in that process, you know that that person or family wants their temple work done. Then when you are in the temple and performing the ordinance, you are very motivated. My family have done literally hundreds of names for my family and my husband's family, since we are converts, and each one has been a wonderful experience. Those names represent real people.

Rachel and Bennett
Having a good attitude about temple attendance is a matter of choice, and spiritual preparation.  We should go to the temple because we want the spiritual experience, not because we are trying to meet a goal of attending once a month of whatever.

Kenneth (and Catherine)
Both my wife and I had parents who attended the temple regularly and we have walked in their footsteps.  Setting this example has resulted in our children all developing a pattern of regular temple participation with their spouses.  We have recently gotten involved in doing family history research and have had great success in finding our ancestors and those with common ancestors for whom we are performing temple ordinances.  This had allowed us to provide family names for our grandchildren to perform baptisms and confirmations.  They have been thrilled to have that special opportunity and are going regularly to the temple to have that precious experience - often at 5 A.M. before school.  The entire family are having memorable experiences as they are attending the temple for our ancestors.  This is a great joy!  We expect we will all be faithful workers in the temple.  My wife and I are ordinance workers and I am a sealer and she is a staff coordinator and I am a recorder so we are anxiously involved in temple work.

Next week's question: What is the single most important thing you did to help your kids be active in the Church and gain a strong conviction that God is real?