Tours of Auckland New Zealand Temple to start this week

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (ABC4) — Open house tours for the Auckland New Zealand Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are set to begin this week.

The Church’s First Presidency, the highest governing structure of the Church previously announced a public open house will take place starting this Thursday and running until March 22, excluding Sundays.

The Church says that this is the second temple in the island nation after the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, which opened in 1958. A third, the Wellington New Zealand Temple, is in the planning and approval phase.

The Church says there are almost 118,000 church members in New Zealand.

“It’s so exciting having a temple so close. I can see how worshipping there will become a more regular part of my devotion to Jesus Christ,” Lisa Kau said in a press release. Another Latter-day Saint, Jana McQueen said returns to both family and her community a better person after worshipping in the temple.

Elder Peter Meurs also added his testimony of the temple. 

“Temples are houses of the Lord, places where Heaven and Earth meet, and where individuals and families come to worship, pray, feel God’s love, and learn of Jesus Christ,” he said.

What are temples?

The church says that Temples differ from the normal places of worship, known as meetinghouses.

Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are referred to by members as “Houses of the Lord,” according to the Church website. Members hold the entire property of Temples sacred, from the grounds outside to what is inside and what happens inside.

“The primary purpose of temples, however, is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies, such as marriages, which unite families forever,” it said online.

Inside the Temple, members of the Church seek to draw closer to God by making covenants and performing “saving” ordinances for themselves or members of their family who have passed on. These temples are typically only open to members who have a temple recommend card.

The Endowment is one of many things that can happen inside of a Latter-day Saint temple. In the LDS church, members can also baptize family who have passed away and confirm them as members of the Church if they wish to accept them in the spirit world.

Sealings for marriage and family sealings can also be performed in the temple.

The first temple of the latter days was constructed in Kirtland, Ohio beginning in 1833. The temple took three years to complete and was dedicated in 1836. According to the Church, in what is now canonized in section 110 of Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the LDS Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and accepted the Kirtland Temple as His house.

It is said by the LDS Church that Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared before them and gave them the keys to gather the scattered, keys of the Abrahamic covenant and the sealing keys from Elijah.

There are currently over 350 temples across the world that have been announced, are operational, or are presently under construction — over 180 of those have been announced by President Russell M. Nelson.