It was a day the woman had been waiting for. A little girl, who joined a close friend's family through adoption, was going to be sealed to her adoptive parents in the Salt Lake Temple.

The woman arrived in downtown Salt Lake City with other temple patrons. She got in line, anxiously anticipating the special event she had been invited to witness.

However, when she presented her temple recommend at the desk, she was told it had expired the day before.

The woman protested. "It hasn't even been 24 hours," she said.

The man at the desk explained that because the recommend was expired, the woman would not be allowed to enter. The line of people attending Saturday morning weddings at the temple grew longer.

The woman was annoyed. "Call my bishop," she said in a tone unfitting of the temple. "Get a member of the temple presidency."

The man's response stunned her. "Expired is expired," he said softly.

Now the woman was upset. She left the line, found a friend who had also been invited to the sealing and explained the situation. The friend promised to tell to the others where she was.

She went outside the temple and looked at the beautiful building. She thought about her recent behavior, about how she had spoken to the man at the temple recommend desk, and about her invalid temple recommend. She started to cry.

President Boyd K. Packer, now president of the Quorum of the Twelve, explained that once Church members have some feeling for the value of temple blessings and for the sacredness of the ordinances performed in the temple, they would be hesitant to question — as the woman did — the high standards set by the Lord for entrance into a holy temple.

"Be grateful for the lofty standards of the Church," said President Packer (The Holy Temple, p. 49, 56).

Truly, the temple is a holy place. Each time a Church member enters, they enter as a guest. It is their obligation to be prepared, not just with a current recommend, but also with everything that is required to keep the Lord's house holy, clean and pure.

"It is not proper to go to the temple for the purpose of getting the strength to live righteously, but rather to acquire the strength and determination to live the commandments so that there can be total worthiness when you go to the temple," said President Spencer W. Kimball (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 536).

President Kimball said temples are defiled and desecrated by members of the Church who go into the temple and make covenants that they are not prepared to accept and carry forward. "When promises are made and covenants are entered into without serious or pure intent to magnify them, pollutions may occur in the holy temples. It is not only a matter of receiving a recommend to enter the temple of the Lord, but it is also a matter of one having a pure, sweet and repentant spirit as well" (p. 538).

After the woman left the temple, she made arrangements to visit with her bishop and a member of the stake presidency to renew her temple recommend.

President Packer said the temple recommend interview is of great importance to every member of the Church. "It is an occasion to explore with an ordained servant of the Lord the pattern of your life," he said. "If anything is amiss in your life, the bishop will be able to help you resolve it" (p. 50).

President Gordon B. Hinckley said living up to the high standards set at the temple will qualify Church members for all the blessings of the gospel.

"Get a temple recommend and never, never as long as you live think anything, say anything, do anything which would make you ineligible for that temple recommend," he said. "And if you will live up to all the requirements of a temple recommend, you may be sure that you are living the gospel and doing what the Lord expects of you" (Address at BYU Center for Near Eastern Studies in Jerusalem on March 21, 1999).

After all, as the woman discovered, the value of temple blessings and the sacredness of the ordinances performed within the walls of the temple, deserve nothing less.