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The inclusion of specific covenants Latter-day Saints make during the temple endowment is one of many temple-related updates found in the latest release of the “General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Three of the six newly rewritten chapters in the digital-only handbook are specific to temple work.
“The temple — the house of the Lord — is a place of security unlike any other,” President Russell M. Nelson said during the October 2020 general conference. “Even this year, when access to our temples has been seriously limited, your endowment has given you constant access to God’s power as you have honored your covenants with Him.”
The purpose of these updates is to help Church members understand the importance of the temple and guide parents and leaders in helping individuals prepare to attend, said Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy serving as executive director of the Temple Department.
“The temple is the house of the Lord and points us to Jesus Christ,” he said in a video accompanying the December 2020 updates. “And as we receive certain sacred acts that we call ordinances, it binds us and our families to Heavenly Father.”
The ongoing handbook revision is being done under the direction of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The rewritten temple chapters align with the handbook’s organizing framework of the work of salvation and exaltation, and the content has been simplified, reduced and made more adaptable for congregations of all sizes worldwide.
The endowment
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