By Lu Ann Staheli
Several years ago I had a very special opportunity—I was called by my bishop to serve a Temple Mission by attending the temple once each week for a session of my choosing. This seemed like a perfect way for me to have the blessings of a mission when I was unable to commit to serving fulltime.

As someone new to the temple ordinances, serving regularly taught me some strategies that made my temple attendance more spiritually fulfilling. Perhaps applying some of these ideas will do the same for you.

•Attend the temple regularly. Each week I planned ahead for the day best-suited to my temple attendance, then I scheduled the rest of my week around that time. Once I did this, I began to see this slot as sacred time, which increased its importance to me.

•Set the mood. On my way to the temple, I tried to remove myself from the world and be in a better frame of mind to accept the instruction I would receive there. I began with a prayer before I ever left the driveway, turned off the radio or turned on sacred music, and kept thoughts of gratitude in my mind during the drive.

•Familiarity breeds comfort. Because I had only attended the temple a few times prior to my calling, I felt unsure about everything from the clothing to the things I was expected to say or do during the various sessions. As I attended each week, I began to notice I was no longer nervous about the procedures involved in each ordinance. I became relaxed and could listen more closely, which increased my learning.

•Switch things up to keep it fresh. Sometimes I would get stuck in rut, week after week of participating in the same ordinance. I found that if I rotated each month—one month doing sealings, the next endowments and so forth, my mind stayed more focused on the words, and I gained a better understanding of the purpose of each ordinance.

• Spend a day at the temple. Occasionally I got behind in my goal of attending the temple once a week. When I needed to get caught up, I planned an entire day at the temple. Multiple endowment sessions opened my eyes and ears to things I hadn’t seen or heard before—or at least what I hadn’t concentrated on, and I left feeling that I had learned more than ever before.

•Do it all in a single day. When I really wanted to switch things up, or if I had a special family name I wanted to complete the work for, I would start early in the day and do a string of ordinances in a row. A day started with baptisms then ended in a sealing session, tying each ordinance together in a way to remind me of what is necessary for us to return to the Lord.

•Choose special days. I started a personal tradition of spending a few hours of my birthday in the temple. What a sweet present to give myself, time away from the worries of the world by performing service in the Temple of the Lord. Other anniversaries like celebrating the day I was baptized or when I first received my own endowments also added special meaning to the time spent in the temple, and the two events paired together, making each of them a stronger memory.

•Celebrate Family. Because I was already doing temple work, I wanted to participate as much as I could for members of my own family. This meant I had a stronger desire to do genealogy, and it gave me a chance to share that work with my friends and family. I sent my completed research to the non-members in my family, and I organized a group temple trip with my ward family, handing out names, photos, and mini-biographies for my ancestors before we went through the temple session.
Everyone who helped me with the work said they had felt the spirit of the person whose work they had done with them the entire time they were in the temple.

I learned so much during the two years I served my temple mission. Of course, this opportunity was available because I lived close enough to a temple where weekly attendance was not a burden, but with planning, and the continued temple building around the world, many Saints might be able to apply these strategies to increase the spirituality of their own temple attendance.

I cherish the memory and the spiritual feelings my two years in the temple gave to me.