Temple Marriage Interview

What is involved in the interview for a temple marriage? What sort of questions are asked, and what is required of a couple (both together and individually) to receive a recommendation? Who is responsible for giving the interview and the subsequent recommendation?

To give you a short version. You interview with the Bishop who basically is interviewing you to find out if you are a member in good standing and worthy to go to the temple. He is interviewing you to see if you believe the basic tenets of the church...do you believe in Christ as our savior? , do you support the leaders of the church?, Do you live up to the covenants you have made at baptism?...things of this nature. Aslo he will ask you if there is any sin or misdeed that you haven't repented of that needs to be cleared up. (Couples are required to abstain from sexual relationships until after they are married for example) To get a recommend you are expected to be actively attending your church meetings, fufilling your calling (church service) if you have been assigned one and paying tithes to the church. As long as there is nothing to clear up (sin wise) your recommend is then signed by the bishop and then you bring it to a member of the Stake Presidency who asks you the same questions. As long as both partners are worthy for a reccomend they are free to get married in the temple.

The reason for the interview and the process of the recommend is to help you as well as your clergy determine if you are ready for the sacred covenants that you will make in the temple. You are taking a higher set of standards upon yourself by covenant and if it is hard for you to live a basic set of standards then it isn't the time yet to participate in temple worship, though it is always available to anyone once they ready! Hope this helps a little.

The description that Christine gave is right on the nose.

Anyone that wishes to go to the temple is more than welcome, but since we consider our temples a "House of the Lord", we desire that we would all want to be as worthy as possible. This allows us to take part of the covenants and blessings that are available in the temple.

Here is a video that again shows a really simple explanation about our temples.



I hope that Christine's explanation and the video has helped you.

Carrie,

Here is a the list of questions asked in a standard temple recommend interview. These are all personal and is conducted first by the Bishop of your "home"ward. Once your are done you go to a member of the "Stake presidency" which is pretty much the leader of a area in your city where you ward is.

If you have any questions about the questions asked please feel free to ask about them.

I will try to post some comments about some of the questions to maybe allow you to have a better understanding about them.

Hope that this helps.

Interview Questions:


1. Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

This one is pretty easy to understand why it is asked. If you don't have faith and a testimony about God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost how are you going to understand and have faith in the blessings of the temple.

2. Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

Here is where many churches differ on concept. We believe that the Atonement of Jesus Christ was the important part of His death and not the physical death itself. The atonement is where Jesus took upon Him our sins so that we may progress.


3. Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?

We believe that the gospel was lost after the death of Jesus Christ and the apostles of His time (The Dark Ages) and they have been restored today with Joseph Smith desiring to know which church he was to join and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.

4. Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?

As with other churches and its leaders those of that faith also should sustain their leaders and that they are being lead properly and to something good and righteous. We do the same.

5. Do you live the law of chastity?

Those who have not been married yet this is very important that they abstain from sexual relations until they are married (either civilly or in the temple). For those who are married they need to keep to the covenants they have made with each other (i.e. faithful to their spouses).

6. Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

This one is pretty simple making sure that you are again being faithful to your spouses and other family members.

7. Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Here we understand that every religion has its own teaching and beliefs and we allow those to do as they wish in those aspects. We just want to make sure that you are not being drawn away from those whom may be teaching things that are untrue and against things that we hold dear to us.

8. Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?

By keeping the covenants, attending meetings and keeping the commandments you will grow closer to Heavenly Father. We make promises when we are baptized and attend the temple and in return we are promised (covenant) for our Heavenly Father blessings. So why not keep those promises?

9. Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

You talked about this in the post about Integrity. Be honest in everything you do in life and you will again grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.


10. Are you a full-tithe payer?

While no leader in our church (i.e. bishops) are paid anything for their services, the church still needs to pay for things like the buildings they meet in, temple buildings, books and teaching materials, etc. We pay a tithe in order for those things to be paid for, it consists of 10% of our income. You can see in Malachi 3:8-10 where we are asked to pay our tithes and offerings. We also contribute to other things such as a Fast Offering, Missionary Funds in where finances are available.


11. Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?

The word of wisdom is where we abstain from tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea. There are many out there also that do no drink any caffeinated drinks as part of their understanding of the Word of Wisdom, but is not enforced (except for the coffee and teas). We also teach that all things in moderation. This includes proper exercise and proper eating habits. The latter is where I fall at times, but will not keep me from entering the temple, WHEW!

12. Do you have financial or other obligations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?

There are members that have may been divorced or have just joined the church that have prior obligations to former spouses for one reason or another. This goes along with the question about above about conduct with family members but gets more into detail and being honest with all your dealing with mankind. If you are not fulfilling your obligations towards family members how are you going to be able to fulfill them towards Heavenly Father.

13. If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?

Again keeping the promises you have made allow you to understand the blessing of the temple and grow closer to Heavenly Father.

Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?

As part of your temple experience we wear garments under our regular clothing that help us understand the promises that we have made while in the temple. They are reminders for us daily on this and are sacred to us. We do not show these openly and we respect them just as a priest respects his outer garments that he would wear during a mass in a Catholic service.

14. Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?

Here is where it gets personal with each individual and them searching them selves and their conduct. If someone is honest in all the above questions, there should be no issues that would not allow them to go inside a temple. But if there is issues that may have come up in their lives, they would bring it up at this time with the Bishop and or Stake President, in where the Spirit would dictate if repentance may be needed or other things may need to be done before a recommend may be issued. I see this as almost like a confessional in a Catholic church, where you admit things you may have done wrong and are given a repentance process. Most minor things done in your life can be taking care of with personal prayer and partaking of the sacrament.

15. Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?

Here is where it is asked that simple question do you think you are in good standing with YOURSELF and with Heavenly Father to be able to enter the temple.

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Well that is all the questions, and again I hope that it is informative. If you do have any questions please let us know.

Till then.......

Carrie,

It looks like people have stated some wonderful comments and answers to your question about temple recommends and the questions that are asked.

I have to agree with MormonNProud that the questions that are asked do become personal about our relationship with Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven.

For us to begin to understand the blessings that are inside the temple we all have to be living a life that our Savior Jesus Christ taught as He was on the earth.

We have to be able to know in our hearts that we have done our best in everything that we do, and if we fall short (sin) we have Jesus Christ to be able to fill in the gaps that we need to progress, through repentance and doing what He asks us to do.

I am so happy that you are part of this forum. This means so much to me that you are willing to ask questions and seek answers that you may have been wondering about or were just unsure about.

I hope that you come back often and ask many more questions, I look forward to many more of your great questions and hope that you enjoy this forum.

See ya in the Spiral !!