Temples: It’s difficult to overestimate their importance in the Latter-day Saint movement. In fact, it could be said that what is accomplished inside Latter-day Saint temples is at the beating heart of the purposes of the Restoration. In this episode of Church History Matters, we begin a new series exploring the development of Latter-day Saint temple worship. We’re starting at the very beginning and probing such questions as, how early on did Joseph Smith understand the temple-centric nature of his prophetic mission? What is the meaning of the word endowment? Which was the first temple commanded to be built in our day, and which temple was actually built first? And how are we to make sense of what appears to be a failed prophecy in D&C 84 about the building of the Missouri Temple in the first generation of the church? This is the first episode of our 10-part podcast series on Temple Worship. For a full transcript of this episode, as well as show notes and additional resources, visit our website at https://doctrineandcovenantscentral.org/podcast-episode/the-beginnings-of-lds-temple-worship/ You can also subscribe to our podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms, and follow us on popular social media platforms. Visit https://linktr.ee/churchhistorymatters to connect with us. Originally published March 12, 2024 DISCLAIMER: While we try very hard to be historically and doctrinally accurate in what we say on this podcast, please remember that all views expressed in this and every episode are our views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scripture Central or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.