From the FollowHim podcast episode #33 discussing D&C Section 88 with guest Anthony Sweat - Part 1 and Part 2 - a one sentence summary of what the temple endowment is by Bro Sweat:
It's the power and capacity to come into the presence of God and receive a fullness of his blessings,
"I wrote [the book "The Holy Invitation"] because I sensed a large number of young people were not grasping the endowment as you could take the average Latter-day Saint and say, "In one sentence, give me the purpose of baptism," and they could do it pretty well. In one sentence, give me the purpose of the sacrament, they could summarize it well. In one sentence, even give me the purpose of an eternal marriage and they could summarize it well, but if you say, "In one sentence, give me the purpose of the endowment," the answers start to become nebulous and they shift, and they're not very clean and they hem and they haw. They come with general answers like, "Oh, it's a gift," and you say, "A gift of what?" They'll say, "A gift of knowledge." "Well, a gift of knowledge of what?" "A gift of knowledge of God." "For what?" They just don't know. One of the reasons why I'm so passionate about this is because I actually think Section 88 unlocks the endowment for us.
"Do not confuse the presentation of the endowment with the power of endowment. The presentation of the endowment is a ceremony. It's a dress rehearsal. It's a ritual trying to teach concepts, so that we can achieve endowment in our lives. Don't confuse the two. There's a difference between the presentation and the power.
"Here's my one sentence summary. It's the power and capacity to come into the presence of God and receive a fullness of his blessings, period. That's what the endowment is trying to do. It's the power and capacity to come into the presence of God and receive a fullness of his blessings." - Anthony Sweat
