Awww, jeeze, Charles....I feel like a bit of an idiot! I'd been skipping the "File-New" step, just assuming that if I had a blank document open and then clicked on the template, that would create a new document based on the template! But nooooooo...Microsoft in all its wisdom now wants me to undertake an additional step I've never had to do before! Regardless, your instructions worked perfectly, and I really appreciate it!

You are welcome. If you double-click on a template it should give you a new file based on the template. It is just if you use File > Open (Ctrl+O) instead, you will be opening the template and editing it.