Need Some Help


TheSlowLearner
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Hello, I am new to this site and need some help in understanding some things regarding the church, that is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am 19 and I know that this is a late age to be going on a mission I assume. Well, thats what I am told by alot of members. Anyways the delay for my departure is my mouth. I have alot of cavities, six.

Given some time to think before leaving right after highschool at 18 I have run into a obstacle. I first want to clarify I believe in God the father, his son Jesus Christ, in the Bible, the Book of Mormon for what it says in it, and in prophets both old and today. I also believe in the other doctrine taught like the holy ghost, so if i skipped anything do not panick.

What has effected(if thats the right use of the word) me is the secrecy of temple ceremonies or endowments. I know that these things are suppose to be sacred and if revealed can be tainted by the world I guse. But the nature of waht I have heard of this stuff is strange to me. Its nothing ive learned growing up in the church. If God does not like secrecy then why do we keep these ceremonies secret? Cain made secret oaths with the adversary. Thats all I can think these ceremonies resemble. I have heard other things i wont mention here due to it being sacred and out of respect to those who have made these oaths. Most of what ive heard has no connection to Christs teachings in his ministry. If you can help me or show me where I am wrong please do. I know im still young and have much learning to do. I just dont like the idea of making secret oaths in secret. Is that not what is despised most by God?

This one I think is known all around so... why must we learn secret handshakes? I do not see that in the BoM or Bible.

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Welcome to LDS.net!

D&C 27:13

13 Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times, in the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth;

In today's dispensation of the fulness of times, all things that were in the past are restored today. This includes temple worship, ordinances and covenants.

These things were not written in our scriptures. You'll notice that we're the only religious group that has temples for a very specific purpose. It's a mystery for the rest of the world too.

A few things I would recommend:

1) Take a temple prep class.

2) Remember that the Sacrament ordinance is one of exactness, just like ordinances in the temple.

- Prayers are said exactly, or they are repeated until correct.

- The sacrament emblems are passed by deacons, sacrament is prepared by teachers, and blessed by priests.

- The white cloth is used as a symbol of Christ's burial, and is moved to uncover the emblems being blessed and passed.

- The sacrament is first passed to the presiding authority of the ward - the Bishop, or a member of the Stake Presidency.

- It is encouraged that we wear white shirts while administering the sacrament.

In this respect, it is preparation for participating in sacred, temple ordinances.

3) Think "Old Testament" when in the temple. It will feel different from other meetings, but the Spirit is there.

4) Read the book of Moses before you attend the temple.

Mountain of the Lord - the Building of the Salt Lake Temple

As far as "secret handshakes" are concerned, I will use an example.

Have you ever made an oath? Of course you have.

- When asked to sustain a person in a church calling, you raise your hand to the square.

- When on trial, you place your hand on the Bible and swear (make an oath) to tell the truth.

- In Boy Scouts, the scout sign has the same meaning.

There is nothing wrong with oaths that lead us to make promises to lead better lives. This is what happens in the temple. You make sacred covenants that are an extension of your baptismal covenants... and you will receive blessings that are explained in the temple ordinance.

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Actually, before I received my endowments I read up on the temple in the Old Testament, and I read the Pearl of Great Price. I also attended a temple prep class. After all three I was not surprised at all by temple worship. All of the things learned and taught in there lead us to Christ.

Do we need to be honest? Do we need to be chaste? Do we need to be clean? All of these sentences did not contain the word Christ, but when we are Christlike we are honest, chaste, and clean, to name a few things. So yes, temple things that we learn lead us to Christ.

Go ahead and do some reading in the Old Testament and then read the Pearl of Great Price. There is much much for us all to learn.

Temple worship is not secret at all, we encourage all to prepare themselves to re enter God's presence. I would be thrilled if all of my family would decide to do those things the Savior would have them do and prepare to enter into His Holy House. We do not want to run before we walk, so we start with baptism and once we have those covenants down we can move on to other ones.

One thing to remember is that a lot of what we learn in the temple is from being taught in a symbolic manner...what does that mean? An example of a symbol is a wedding ring. When I look at someone and see that wedding ring I know that they are married, but if we continue to study the ring we realize that it is made of a precious metal because our marriage is precious to us. We see that it makes a circle, which is another symbol. We also see that both members of the marriage wear one, which shows they are equal partners. Temple learning is like this in that at first glance we might not understand the meaning for doing something a certain way, but as we continue to ponder it the principle becomes more clear.

Temple work is also to help those members of our families that have passed away and otherwise cannot recieve some ordinances like baptism and receiving the priesthood.

Have you taken a chance to go do some baptisms at the temple recently? There is nothing better than personal experience to really get to know the truth about something. Really reading terrible negative and confusing things about it is not the best idea. After all, if someone where writing negative and misleading things about you, do you think I would spare one second wasting my time with it, or would you rather I talk to you myself and get to know you better?

19 is not late to be going on a mission at all.

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Here are a few answers to consider:

  • Nineteen is not late to serve a mission. It is typical missionary age. I turned 20 in the MTC.

  • Get your cavities taken care of ASAP, and learn to care for your teeth so you don't get any more. I say this not primarily for your mission, but for yourself thirty years from now. Trust me on this one.

  • Saying that temple ceremonies are "secret" like some sort of clandestine club is simply wrong. Anyone -- literally anyone -- is welcome to learn these "secrets" as long as they repent of their sins and make the covenants. The only people excluded are those who exclude themselves by not conforming to God's standards.

  • Cain made blood oaths with Satan to murder in order to get gain. That is pretty much the opposite of what is done in the temple. Almost everything in the temple, both the information you learn and the covenants you make, comes directly from scripture.

  • Early Christians (before AD 200) believed that Christ had given "secret knowledge" to his disciples after his resurrection. The book of Acts speaks of the forty days Christ spent with his disciples, yet says nothing -- not one thing -- about the content of those teachings. In very early Christianity, sects of people called "Gnostics" (from a Greek term meaning "those in the know") sprang up, claiming to have these "secret teachings". To this day, "Gnostic" is a synonym for "heretic", because these groups would make outrageous and outlandish claims on what Jesus "secretly" taught his disciples. And yet it is almost beyond doubt that Jesus did teach his disciples something that he explicitly told them not to share with the world; why else would we have no record of the forty days?

  • There are no "secret handshakes". This is not a boys clubhouse with secret knocks and handshakes and Mount Wannahawkaloogie. In the temple, you are instructed in sacred covenants you make. These covenants and the promises you make with them are associated with symbols, called "tokens", that represent the promises you make. These tokens take a form that some people (mistakenly) call "handshakes". Nothing sinister about them. They are "secret", but only in the sense that you covenant never to reveal them to others, because that is not your place to do. If they want to learn them, they can come to the temple and learn them in God's way and order.
Edited by Vort
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