January 2024

Happy New Year!

We thought you would appreciate some information regarding updates at the temple as it reopens. It actually opened December 26th. Attendance has been good, and new procedures are going smoothly.

Session Schedule

Tuesday - Friday PM

Endowments:  6 PM and 7 PM

Sealings: 6 PM and 7:30 PM  (Half hour break from 7 to 7:30)

Live Sealings:  8 PM (Abbreviated Veil at 7:45)

Female Initiatory:  6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00

Male Initiatory: 6:00, 6:30, 7:00, 8:00 (No male INT from 7:30-8:00 to allow for veil)

Baptistry: 6:00, 7:00, 8:00

Wednesday and Friday AM

Endowments:  10:00 and 11:00

Sealings:  10:00 and 11:30 (Half hour break from 11:00-11:30)

Live Sealing: 12:00 (Abbreviated Veil at 11:45)

Female Initiatory:  10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 11:30, 12:00

Male Initiatory:  10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 12:00 (No Male INT from 11:30-12:00 to allow for veil)

Saturday

 Endowments: 8:30, 10:00, 11:30, 1:00, 2:30

Sealings: 8:30, 10:00, 11:30, 1:00, 2:30 (Half hour break between each Sealing Session)

Live Sealings: 10:30 and 1:30 (Abbreviated Veil at 10:15 and 1:15)

Female Initiatory: 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 3:00, 3:30

Male Initiatory:  8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:30, 11:00, 1:30, 2:00, 3:00, 3:30  (No Male INT at 11:30, 1:00, and 2:30 to allow for veil)

Baptistry:  9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 1:00, 2:00, 3:00

Note: 

The arrangement of endowment sessions on selected days is noted below. "room 2" refers to the second endowment room (the room where the session ends). "room 1" refers to the first endowment room (the room where all sessions started before the recent temple closing).

On Tuesday-Friday the 6:00 PM endowment session will begin and end in room 2.

The 7:00 PM session will begin in room 1 and then and proceed room 2.

On Wednesday and Friday mornings the 10:00 AM endowment session will begin and end in room 2.  

The 11:00 AM session will begin in room 1 and then proceed to room 2.

On Saturday all sessions will begin in room 1 and then proceed to room 2.

A New Procedure for Sealing 

The following is a change which has been designed to build a reverent atmosphere in our sealings that is consistent with that which can be experienced in other temples. In sealing sessions going forward, fewer names will be done, in general. The idea here is that each temple patron who brings his own work to be done at the sealing session, that is, printed FamilySearch cards with names which have been prepared by the patron, should have the opportunity to complete at least some of that work; and, time should be distributed among patrons equitably. Accordingly, temple workers who may be assigned to participate in a session in order to satisfy the required numbers for the session (witnesses and altar proxies) will not bring their own sealing cards to the session. In compliance with a temple department directive, no simultaneous sealings of multiple family members will occur unless the patron is a near relation known in mortality, and by agreement of the sealer.

To facilitate this approach, the role of the Sealing Assistant (SA) has been expanded. This person (brother or sister temple worker) is to work with the sealers: to organize the sessions; to create a reverent environment as patrons arrive for their sealing session; and to help set expectations for each patron regarding the work that will be completed during the session.

The following points pertain to the Sealing Assistant (included for your information):

• The Sealing Assistant will prepare for the session by going to the temple office 30 minutes before the session starts to get an SA clipboard. The clipboard will have a report of patrons with appointments, pencil, and sealing forms containing space for the patron’s name and choices for the work they wish to complete.

• The Sealing Assistant will go to sealing room #2 (the sealing room on the east side of the 2nd floor) to coordinate with the sealers organizing the sealing session(s) regarding, for example, whether the session will be split, how to determine to which sealing room each patron will be assigned, and how to decide where walk-in and late-arriving patrons should go.

• The Sealing Assistant will go to the Recorder’s office (formerly the Matron’s Office) to greet patrons and have them complete their sealing form indicating they wish to perform ordinances for either shared temple file names or their own family names. If the family name option is chosen then have them select either option A, B, or C. Indicate for options B or C the number of male or female children to be sealed to parents (see the figure below).

• The Sealing Assistant will organize family name cards according to the option selected, place the sealing form on top of the family name cards and give them to the patron to give to the sealer. Direct the patron to the assigned sealing room, Sealing Room # 1- West side, Sealing Room #2 East side of the temple.

• The Sealing Assistant will remain at the Recorder’s office until 30 minutes after the sealing session has begun to assist walk-in or late arriving patrons. Greet them warmly, help them complete the sealing form and direct them to the appropriate sealing room.

Temple workers have been instructed regarding the above points, but please also feel free, as you are impressed, to use them as you coach temple patrons. Please note that once sealing patrons have their robes on they should be directed to the Recorder’s Office to be assisted by the Sealing Assistant who will then help them fill out the request card (below) and direct them to the right sealing room. The Recorder's Office is on the second floor, adjacent to the Bride's Room. It was formerly the temple matron's office. The matron's office is now in the Bride's Room.

The figure below represents the sealing card that you will help the patron fill out before the sealing session begins. The first line is for the time of the session (6pm or 7:30pm). The line for the room you will know about from your just previous meeting with the sealers. 

Instructions for the other boxes are as noted below. Note that although there is a maximum of 2 couple sealings per card, each individual in the session will have a card. 

New Entry

The drawing below is just a rough drawing (not to scale),  but should give you an idea of the new foyer configuration. The red arrow incicates the path that a temple worker would take to get to the beautiful new dressing rooms in the temple worker area. The new "waiting room" below it is the room where guests who are not yet temple patrons can wait - children to be sealed, non-member guests among them.  It is in the same place as the former "non-patron" waiting area, but not as large. It has been updated to reflect the quality of other rooms in the temple. The room has its own family restroom. The temple presidency has emphasized that with the altered traffic patterns, we will each have to use restraint to keep our conversations brief, to the point, and reverent, and exercise an attitude of prayerful worship as we enter the temple.

Please also note:

As part of the effort to increase reverence, the preferred maximum attendance (brothers and sisters combined) in an endowment session has been reduced to 36. That new maximum is reflected in the online registration. 

In keeping with temples' integration with FamilySearch, family file cards are still to be held in the office only until the next day. Afterwards, they will be destroyed.

Note that in the image of the card below, in the lower right-hand corner, there is a check-box to indicate a patron's desire to keep the card.

A reminder: For Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings, we again have 2 endowment sessions - the last one is over at 8:30pm (7:00pm start); and the times of the sealing sessions are now 6pm and 7:30pm.

Also, please instruct patrons on the importance of printing their family file cards before coming to the temple.  Lots of opportunities here for TFH consultants to help those who have trouble with technology, under the direction of RS and EQ presidents and the TFH Leader! The temple office staff would love to help,  and they will help, but they have many other things to do that are also essential to the smooth operation of the temple, especially in the half hour or so before endowment sessions.