As Raffael suggested, you would need to use an instance variable (@temp) rather than a local variable. The local variable would only be available from the context within which it is called, while the instance variable would be available instance-wide. This sort of situation is where a basic understanding of Ruby comes in handy.
A question that I won't go into, but one that you might want to ask yourself, is whether or not these methods actually belong in your controller. Typically controller methods are either actions or private methods used in filters. Your methods might be better put in either the helper (if they relate to presentation) or the model (if they relate to business or database logic).
