The Temple as the Center of the Restoration

By Hollie Wells

Since we have started the year of Doctrine and Covenants in Come, Follow Me, the Restoration and early days of the church have been at the forefront of my mind and gospel study. For me, the two great physical evidences of the restoration are the Book of Mormon and the building of temples.  

In an article in the January 2025 Liahona, Russell M. Nelson expounded on the biblical prophecy found in Ephesians 1:10: “in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” President Nelson totally changed how I view this scripture when he commented, “‘All things’ includes His sheep.” 

The restoration that began with the First Vision in 1820 is not just a restoration of ordinances or organization, but a restoration of a people to Christ’s fold. I never quite understood what people mean when they say the restoration is ongoing. Yes, policies change and things are being better understood and studied due to improving technology and availability of information. But since the traditional “restoration” period, which hardly extends past when the Saints left Nauvoo, we have had all of the keys and ordinances that are essential for salvation. 

The comment from Russell M. Nelson in this article totally changed that for me. When we do temple work, we are working out the restoration. We are restoring families and restoring people to God’s offered fullness through those sacred ordinances and covenants. 

In fact, there are many other scriptural prophecies alluding to the restoration that are also referencing the building of temples in the latter days. (Isaiah 2:2, Micah 4:2). Surely part of the “marvelous work and a wonder” that is prophesied of many times throughout scriputre (Isaiah 29:14, 1 Ne. 14:7; 22:8; 2 Ne. 27:26; 29:1; 3 Ne. 29:1; D&C 4:1) is the work we are undertaking in the temple to redeem the dead and forging a “welding link” between all generations. (D&C 128:18) 

A prophecy I am so fond of in 2 Nephi 25:17 (and many other places) says, “And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state” Simply, a lost and fallen state is having no covenant with God. Adam and Eve were fallen when they partook of the fruit, but they were redeemed when they covenanted with God and were promised a Redeemer to come in time. We can aid Christ in redeeming all of His people by doing proxy ordinances for them in the temple. We can be restored from our lost and fallen state as we make our own covenants and renew them weekly as we come to the sacrament table. 

This dispensation has been blessed to be saturated in knowledge about and access to temples. It truly is a dispensation of the fullness of times because we can bring the full family of God together through the redeeming power of Christ and the covenants He offers in His house.