Going to the Temple for the First Time

Preparing for your first visit to a Latter-day Saint temple? It can feel like stepping into a whole new vocabulary. The temple is treated as the most sacred place in the faith, and much of what happens there is spoken of only in general terms — but the words leaders and family use to prepare you are not secret at all. Here are the ones you’ll actually hear, grouped by when they come up. Tap any term for the full definition.

The quick version: before you can enter you’ll get a temple recommend after a worthiness interview. Inside, everyone dresses in white. A first personal visit is usually to receive your endowment — a series of covenants with God — though many people’s very first time is doing baptisms for the dead as a youth or new member.

Getting in the door

Temple recommend — a small card that shows you’ve been found worthy to enter. You’ll be asked for it at the front desk. Youth and newer members hold a limited-use recommend (good for proxy baptisms); adults hold a full recommend for all ordinances.
Worthiness — living the Church’s standards well enough to receive a recommend. It’s assessed in a private interview with your leaders and is about honest progress, not perfection.
Law of chastity and Word of Wisdom — two of the standards the recommend interview asks about: reserving sexual relations for marriage, and abstaining from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea.
Full tithe-payer — being current on tithing is another recommend question; you declare your status once a year with the bishop.

What you’ll wear

Garments — the sacred white undergarment adult members wear day to day. You receive it for the first time at the temple, and members regard it as a reminder of their covenants.
Temple clothing — the white ceremonial clothing worn inside the temple, on top of ordinary white clothes. It symbolizes purity and equality before God, and it’s distinct from the everyday garment.
Distribution center — the Church store (now mostly online) where garments and other white clothing are bought inexpensively. Most temples also rent temple clothing on site, so you don’t have to buy everything before your first visit.

The ordinances themselves

Ordinances — the formal, priesthood-performed rites of the faith. The temple hosts the “saving” ones tied to exaltation.
Initiatory — a short preparatory ordinance of symbolic washing and anointing, once called the “washing and anointing.” It usually comes first and is where you’re clothed in the garment for the first time.
Endowment — the central first-visit ordinance, in which you make a series of covenants with God and are taught through symbolic instruction. Its specifics are held sacred and described only generally outside. Want more? See preparing for the endowment.
Covenants — two-way promises between you and God. The endowment is built around making them, each paired with a promised blessing.
New name — at the temple you’ll be given a special “new name,” one of the elements members are asked to keep sacred. It’s a normal part of the ordinance, and knowing it’s coming means it won’t catch you off guard.
Veil — the curtain representing the divide between this life and God’s presence, which patrons symbolically pass through near the end of the endowment.
Celestial Room — the quiet, beautiful room entered after the endowment, meant to represent the peace of God’s presence. People stay to sit, ponder, and pray.

If your first visit is for the dead

Baptisms for the dead — proxy baptisms performed on behalf of deceased ancestors, giving them the option to accept the ordinance in the next life. This is the most common first temple experience for youth and new members — see our guide to doing baptisms for the dead for the first time.
Sealing — the ordinance that binds a couple, or parents and children, together for eternity — also called eternal, temple, or celestial marriage. Like baptism, it can be done by proxy for the dead.
Temple ordinances — the umbrella term for the rites performed in the temple: baptisms for the dead, initiatory, endowments, and sealings.

A few practical notes

Bring your recommend. You’ll need it (and photo ID the first time). Without a current recommend you can’t go past the front desk.
Allow plenty of time. An endowment session runs roughly two hours — much longer than a baptism session — so plan for an unhurried visit rather than a quick stop.
You won’t be alone. Temple workers guide first-timers through every step, and members often bring a family member or friend who has been before to act as an escort beside them.
Ask beforehand, not during. Because much of the ceremony is kept sacred, the time to ask questions is in a temple-preparation class or with your bishop before you go.

New to Latter-day Saint life more broadly? See our guides to visiting a church service and attending a baptism. You can also browse the full Mormon Jargon dictionary of 470+ terms or suggest a term or correction.