"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. . . . " (D&C 88:119.)
In a revelation (Section 88) received by Joseph Smith in December 1832, the saints were commanded to build a temple to the Lord. In May 1833, the Prophet received a revelation in which the Lord reproved the saints for their tardiness in keeping the commandments "concerning the building of mine house." (D&C 95:3.)After they learned of the latter revelation (Section 95), the saints proceeded to make the necessary preparations for building the temple. A building committee was formed, including Hyrum Smith, Reynolds Cahoon and Jared Carter. John Johnson, responding to a commandment, paid off the mortgage on the land the Church was purchasing for a temple site. (D&C 96:6-9.)
On June 5, 1833, George A. Smith hauled the first load of stone for the temple, and Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon "commenced digging the trench for the walls of the Lord's house, and finished the same with their own hands." Joseph Smith dedicated the completed temple on March 27, 1836.
In Sacred Truths of the Doctrine and Covenants, Leaun G. Otten and C. Max Caldwell wrote of building temples:
"Whenever the Lord has given His people access to the fulness of the gospel, He has also commanded His people to build a house unto Him. This is one of the identifying characteristics of the Lord's Church. Hence, in this dispensation, He commanded His saints, through His prophet, to build a temple unto the Most High in Kirtland, Ohio. No man or group of men can assume this privilege unto themselves. When a temple is built unto the Lord, it is built because the Lord commands it. Therefore, as temples continue to be built, so the observer can correctly conclude that revelation continues to flow from the Lord to His prophet.
"In [the Kirtland Temple's dedicatory prayerT, it is acknowledged that the Lord gave the commandment to His servants to build His house. The servants, in turn, requested the Lord to accept of their workmanship." (See D&C 109:1-5.)
