As Nephi and his family camped in the land of Bountiful, the Lord helped him find a place where he could receive revelation:
After I, Nephi, had been in the land of Bountiful for the space of many days, the voice of the Lord came unto me, saying: Arise, and get thee into the mountain. And it came to pass that I arose and went up into the mountain, and cried unto the Lord.
And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me.
1 Nephi 17:7-8
After finding that place, Nephi returned frequently:
I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.
1 Nephi 18:3
Nephi’s experience was similar to the brother of Jared, who spoke to the Lord on mount Shelem (Ether 3:1), and of Moses, who communed with God on mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18-20).
And like Moses’s people, when Nephi arrived in his promised land, he built a temple (2 Nephi 5:16).
Joseph Smith spoke with God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees (Joseph Smith—History 1:14-20). But after the Church of Jesus Christ was organized, the Lord commanded the people to build temples, sacred places where they could draw closer to Him. (See Doctrine and Covenants 84:2-5; 97:15-16.)
In 1841, as church members began to build a new city in Illinois, the Lord authorized some ordinances to be performed outside of the temple until the temple was completed but clarified that this was a temporary authorization:
For a baptismal font there is not upon the earth, that they, my saints, may be baptized for those who are dead—
For this ordinance belongeth to my house, and cannot be acceptable to me, only in the days of your poverty, wherein ye are not able to build a house unto me.
But I command you, all ye my saints, to build a house unto me; and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me; and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me.
But behold, at the end of this appointment your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me [outside of the temple].
Doctrine and Covenants 124:29-32
He also clarified that some things could only be done after the temple was completed:
Let this house be built unto my name, that I may reveal mine ordinances therein unto my people;
For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fulness of times.
Doctrine and Covenants 124:40-41
My Aunt Lavina has described beautifully the experience of worshipping God in His holy house:
Is there a special virtue to the prayers uttered in a temple? Perhaps. My prayers this morning concern most of the same issues I prayed about last night, but surely I pray differently in a temple, in this place where the air seems aglow with presence, where even the act of praying is a promise that it will be heard.
Lavina Fielding Anderson, Mercy without End: Toward a More Inclusive Church, 263
My feelings in the temple match that description. I feel closer to God. I receive personal revelation more easily. I feel myself being changed, becoming more holy.
Today, as I worship in the temple, I will be grateful for holy places which enable us to draw closer to God. Like Nephi, the brother of Jared, Moses, and early church members, I will take advantage of the opportunity to be closer to God and learn from Him as I worship in His holy house.