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 1991 - 2022

President Nelson Announces Revised Temple Recommend Questions

In his conference-concluding address Sunday afternoon, October 6 2019, President Russell M. Nelson listed the temple recommend interview questions—including some recently revised for clarity—that Latter-day Saints are asked by local leaders to confirm their worthiness and readiness to enter the temple.

The questions from the temple recommend interview, as recited by President Nelson, are as follows:

To obtain a temple recommend, Latter-day Saints interview first with a bishop, bishopric counselor, or branch president, then with a stake or mission president or one of his counselors. The revised temple recommend questions will be distributed to Church leaders throughout the world on Monday, President Nelson added.

 

172nd Semiannual General Conference, October 2002
Priesthood Session
To Men of the Priesthood
President Gordon B. Hinckley

We have determined, first, that effective November 1, temple recommends will remain valid for two years instead of one. This should cut the time that bishops and stake presidents and their counselors have to spend in interviews for temple recommends. Of course, if at any time the recommend holder becomes unworthy of going to the temple, then it will become the responsibility of the bishop or stake president to pick up the individual's recommend.

But experience has shown that there are very few such incidents. And so, this will become the program, brethren. Beginning the first of November, regardless of the date written on the recommend, the term will be extended for one year. Recommends will then be renewed every two years rather than the present one year. We hope this will be beneficial. We are confident that it will.

Temple Recommend questions remained unchanged from at least June, 1986 until this list, which was printed in the summer of 1991. This list was still in use as of September, 1992 and has since been modified. Questions 11 and 12 were combined and modified on the current form. The old questions are listed at the end.

Interviewing Instructions

Exercise great care when interviewing applicants for recommends to enter a temple. Make it clear that you represent the Lord in determining worthiness to enter his holy house. No unworthy applicant should receive a recommend. Be certain that each applicant is worthy as a result of living up to Church standards and principles. Acceptable answers to the recommend interview questions ordinarily will establish worthiness to receive a recommend. Do not assume that worthiness to enter the temple at one time is reason for a casual interview later. Discuss the interview questions with each applicant, and keep each interview private.

Require an applicant who is not living up to Church standards and principles to demonstrate true repentance before receiving a recommend to enter a temple.

When interviewing an applicant for a recommend, do not inquire into personal, intimate matters about marital relations between a husband and his wife.
Generally, do not deviate from the recommend interview questions. If, during an interview, an applicant asks about the propriety of specific conduct, do not pursue the matter. Merely suggest that if the applicant has enough anxiety about the
propriety of the conduct to ask about it, the best course would be to discontinue it. If you are sensitive and wise, you usually can prevent those being interviewed from asking such explicit questions.

Interview Questions for Recommends to Enter a Temple

1. Do you believe in God, the Eternal Father, in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost; and do you have a firm testimony of the restored gospel?

2. Do you sustain the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer, and revelator; and do you recognize him as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys?

3. Do you sustain the other General Authorities and the local authorities of the Church?

4. Do you live the law of chastity?

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

6. Do you affiliate 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, or do you sympathize with the precepts of any such group or individual?

7. Do you earnestly strive to do your duty in the Church; to attend your sacrament, priesthood, and other meetings; and to obey the rules, laws, and commandments of the gospel?

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

9. Are you a full-tithe payer?

10. Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?

11. Have you ever been divorced or are you now separated from your spouse under order of a civil court? If yes, (a) - Are you current in your support payments and other financial obligations for family members, as specified by court order or in other written, binding commitments? (b) Were there any circumstances of transgression in connection
with your divorce or separation that have not been previously resolved with your bishop?

12. If you have received your temple endowment -- (a) Do you keep all the covenants that you made in the temple? (b) Do you wear the authorized garments both day and night?

13. Has there been any sin or misdeed in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but has not?

14. Do you consider yourself worthy in every way to enter the temple and participate in temple ordinances?

In each interview, emphasize to the applicant the need to safeguard the recommend. It must never be loaned and should be reported immediately to the issuer if lost or stolen. (See "Lost, Stolen, or Revoked Recommends" on the preceding page.)

OLD Questions 11 & 12 (replaced by 11a & 11b)

11. Have you ever had a divorce that has not been cleared by appropriate priesthood authorities, where required?

12. If you have ever been divorced or separated, are you presently fulfilling your obligations for the support and maintenance of your family?

 

Recommends to Enter a Temple
Excerpts from the Church Handbook of Instruction

A member who is eight or older must have a valid recommend to enter a temple. A valid recommend admits a member to all temples. The three types of temple recommends are listed below:
1. Temple Recommend for members receiving their own endowment and for previously endowed members. This recommend authorizes a member to participate in all temple ordinances.

2. Recommend for Living Ordinances for members receiving their own endowment, those being sealed to a spouse, and those being married in a temple for time only. This recommend may be used only with a valid temple recommend.

3. Limited-Use Recommend for unendowed members
Children under eight who are to be sealed to their parents do not need recommends. However, the family needs to present a family group record showing the relationship of the child to the family.


 General Guidelines for Issuing Recommends

Authorized Church officers conduct worthiness interviews for temple recommends as outlined in the temple recommend binder. Church officers are responsible to see that no unworthy person enters the house of the Lord.


 In Wards and Stakes

The bishop, or his counselors as authorized by him, interviews and issues temple recommends to worthy ward members. The bishop personally interviews members who (1) are preparing to receive their own endowment, (2) are planning to be married in a temple, and (3) have not lived in the ward continuously for at least one year. Only in the most urgent cases when he is absent may he authorize one of his counselors to issue recommends in these circumstances.
Following the interview by a member of the bishopric, a member of the stake presidency interviews the person and signs the recommend if the person is worthy. The stake president personally interviews members who are receiving their own endowment and members who are planning to be married in a temple.


 In Missions

 The branch president interviews and issues temple recommends to worthy branch members. Following this interview, a member of the mission presidency interviews the person and signs the recommend if the person is worthy The mission president personally interviews members who are receiving their own endowment and members who are planning to be married in a temple. The district president does not interview members for temple recommends.
Mission presidents issue recommends to returning missionaries as instructed on page 87 and in the Mission President's Handbook.
In Isolated Areas
A temple president may interview and sign a recommend for a member who lives in an isolated area that would require unusual travel expense or difficulty for the member to meet with a member of the stake or mission presidency. The temple president first confers with the stake or mission president. In these cases, the bishop already should have interviewed the member and signed the recommend. This policy applies also to members in the military who are in isolated areas and have been interviewed by the bishop of their home ward or the ward that supports their duty station.
A temple president may interview and sign a recommend for a member who lives outside an organized stake or mission. No other interview is needed.


 Members Who Have Not Lived in the Same Ward for at Least One Year

 If a member has not lived in the same ward continuously for at least one year, the bishop contacts the prior bishop to certify the member's worthiness before interviewing the member for a temple recommend. This includes members of young single adult Wards, single adult wards, and student wards. It also applies to members who seek limited-use recommends (except new converts).


 Newly Baptized Members

 A waiting period of at least one full year after baptism and confirmation is required before a worthy adult may be endowed. Only the First Presidency may authorize exceptions. During a person's first year of membership, the bishopric may issue a limited-use recommend for baptisms and confirmations for the dead according to the guidelines on page 68.


 Members Receiving Their Own Endowment

Instructions for issuing a recommend to a person who is receiving his or her own endowment are in the temple recommend binder. A man must hold the Melchizedek Priesthood to receive his temple endowment.
Most single members will be interviewed for a recommend for their own endowment when they are called as missionaries or when they are to be married in a temple. Worthy single members who have not received their endowment in connection with a mission or marriage may become eligible for a recommend interview when the bishop and the stake president determine that they are sufficiently mature to understand and keep the sacred covenants made in a temple. Such eligibility should be determined individually for each person rather than using routine criteria such as reaching a certain age or leaving home for college or employment.
A worthy member who is married to an unendowed spouse, whether the spouse is a member or nonmember, may receive a recommend when (1) the bishop receives the written consent of the spouse and (2) the bishop and stake president are satisfied that the responsibility assumed with the endowment will not impair marital harmony.

 
 Unendowed Prospective Missionaries

 Bishops should not issue temple recommends to young, unendowed prospective missionaries until they have received a mission call from the President of the Church.


 Missionaries Serving in Temples

 A temple president may issue renewal recommends to temple missionaries who are called to work in a temple outside their local unit boundaries. No other interview is needed.


 Members Who Have Disabilities

Endowment. Members who have physical disabilities may receive their own endowment.
Melchizedek Priesthood holders and sisters who have mental disabilities may receive their own endowment if the bishop determines that they have sufficient mental capacity to understand it and to make and keep the associated covenants. If the member lives with his or her parents, the bishop counsels with them.
Sealing to Parents. Persons with mental disabilities who are eight or older and are sufficiently accountable must be baptized before being sealed to their parents. Those who are not accountable do not need to be baptized before being sealed. Bishops refer questions about specific cases to the stake president, who may refer the questions to the First Presidency.
Members older than 21 who do not have sufficient mental capacity to understand the endowment may be sealed to parents without being endowed.
Work for the Dead. Members who have disabilities may do temple work for the dead if they (1) have sufficient mental capacity to understand the ordinance and (2) can care for themselves without help or are accompanied by relatives or friends who can provide the help needed.
Blind Members. Blind members should have members of the same gender accompany and assist them. Guide dogs are not permitted in temples.


 Issuing Recommends in Special Circumstances

After Divorce, Separation, or Annulment

If a member has been divorced or legally separated or has had a marriage annulled, the bishop and stake president carefully interview him or her in the first subsequent temple recommend interview. They also review events that led to the breakdown of the marriage. If the member has not committed serious transgression, a temple recommend may be issued according to the usual procedure.


 Members Who Have Been Readmitted by Baptism after Excommunication or Name Removal

Members Who Were Not Previously Endowed.

After baptism, these members may be issued limited-use recommends to do baptisms and confirmations for the dead as outlined on page 68. There is no waiting period. Brethren must be ordained to the priesthood before they may be issued limited-use recommends.
These members may not be issued recommends to receive their own endowment until one full year after their baptism.


 Members Who Were Previously Endowed.

These members may not be issued recommends, including limited-use recommends, until their temple blessings are restored through the ordinance of restoration of blessings (see pages 106-7).

 
 Members Who Have Committed a Serious Transgression

A member who has committed a serious transgression may not receive a temple recommend until he or she has repented. The waiting period between the transgression and the issuing of a recommend is left to the bishop's discretion. It should be sufficient to determine that the person has genuinely repented.

 
 Members Who Have Undergone a Transsexual Operation

A member who has undergone an elective transsexual operation may not receive a temple recommend.


 Members Whose Close Relatives Belong to Apostate Groups

Bishops and their counselors must take exceptional care when issuing recommends to members whose parents or other close relatives belong to or sympathize with apostate groups. Such members must demonstrate clearly that they repudiate these apostate religious teachings before they may be issued a recommend.


 Issuing Limited-Use Recommends

General Guidelines

The bishop, or his counselors as authorized by him, may issue limited-use recommends to worthy unendowed members as follows:
1. For members ages 12 and older to be baptized and confirmed for the dead.
2. For single members ages 8 through 20 to be sealed to their parents.

3. For single members ages 8 through 20 to observe sealings of their living brothers and sisters to their parents.
The same standards of worthiness apply to those who receive limited-use recommends as to those who receive other recommends. Male members ages 12 and older must hold the priesthood. It is not necessary to have been a member for one year to receive a limited-use recommend.
When issuing a limited-use recommend, a member of the bishopric interviews the person individually. A member of the stake presidency does not interview the person if the recommend is being issued only for baptisms and confirmations for -the dead.
The bishopric may issue limited-use recommends for groups or individuals. When issuing a recommend to an individual, the member of the bishopric cuts away or crosses out the additional lines on the recommend so other names cannot be added.
Limited-Use Recommends for Baptisms and Confirmations for the Dead
Members ages 12 through 20 are normally listed as a group on a limited-use recommend if they are going as a group to be baptized and confirmed for the dead. Group recommends are used for only one temple visit. They are left at the temple, where they are destroyed.
Members ages 12 through 20 may be issued individual limited-use recommends that they retain if they are frequently baptized and confirmed for the dead. If parents take children ages 12 through 20 to do baptisms for the dead, children in the same family may be listed on one recommend.
Limited-use recommends that are issued to unendowed members who are 21 or older or who are married must be individual recommends. These recommends may be used only to perform baptisms and confirmations for the dead.
For information about scheduling baptisms and confirmations for the dead, see page 63.

 
 Limited-Use Recommends for Sealing Living Children to Parents

Single members ages 8 through 20 are issued limited-use recommends to be sealed to their parents or to observe the sealing of their living brothers and sisters to their parents. Recommends may be issued for individual children or for a group of children in the same family. The same recommend may be used to list children who are being sealed and children who are observing. Children under 8 do not need recommends for these purposes. Members who are married or are 21 or older must receive their own endowment before they can be sealed to their parents or observe the sealing of living brothers and sisters to their parents.
The approval of the First Presidency is necessary to issue limited-use recommends to children and youth to observe the sealings of stepbrothers and stepsisters to parents. No special approvals are necessary to issue limited-use recommends to adopted brothers and sisters, half-brothers and sisters, and full brothers and sisters who wish to observe sealings of living children to parents.


 Lost or Stolen Recommends

The bishop should ask members to notify him promptly if a recommend is lost or stolen. Procedures for reporting lost or stolen recommends are in the temple recommend binder.

 
 Unworthy Recommend Holders

If the bishop determines that a member who has a valid recommend is unworthy, he immediately requests the recommend from the member. If the member refuses to return it, the bishop notifies the stake president at once. The stake president informs temple officials in his temple district according to instructions in the temple recommend binder.