The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds temples all around the world where faithful members go to learn more of Jesus Christ and his plan, receive ordinances for themselves, and perform vicarious work for their deceased ancestors. These temples are beautifully constructed both inside and out. They are designed to direct our thoughts heavenward and seal families together for eternity. The redemptive work that is performed here is not to be found anywhere else on the earth. All people are invited to experience for themselves the grandeur and blessings of temple work by qualifying themselves to enter the House of the Lord. In the meantime, I'll be taking you through the A to Z of our temples.
GILBERT ARIZONA TEMPLE
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| The magnificent Gilbert Arizona Temple |
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| The Baptistry at the Gilbert Arizona Temple |
It is to be noted that the Baptism Font in all temples rests on the backs of twelve oxen. A popular explanation for this is that the twelve oxen represent the twelve tribes of Israel, however, I am of the personal belief that oxen are associated with the specific tribe of Ephraim, which is the gathering tribe. We gather God's children by offering our dead the ordinance of baptism by proxy.
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| The Foyer in the Gilbert Arizona Temple |
Upon entering a temple, members will approach a front desk like this one where they will be requested to present their temple recommend to a patron for checking. Only members who have previously been interviewed and found to be practising certain standards of worthiness will be issued a temple recommend. Recommends are valid for 2 years.
However, once a temple has completed construction, the general public are invited to attend an Open House where they may go inside the temple and look around for themselves. Guided tours are usually offered. Open Houses usually last for 2-3 weeks, after which a church authority will hold a special dedicatory service. Once a temple has been dedicated, only those possessing a valid temple recommend may enter.
Here is a 5-minute video showing an example of some of the activities and cultural performances that took place on the dedication of the Gilbert Arizona Temple:
