How can I prepare?


Its_Just_Me
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I'll start this off by giving you a little background about myself. I am 18, male, and I've been a part of the LDS church my whole life. Unfortunately there was a point in my life where I completely disregarded the church.

 

Not too long ago, I decided that I wanted to change. I missed being a part of the church and the joy that it brought me. So I went in to see my bishop and straightened things out.

 

So to lead up to why I am posting this; I'm getting married soon. I'll be getting married in the temple. (Huge accomplishment for me!) I know there are certain things that you have to do in order to get married in the temple. One of these things being endowments.

 

I recently (about 5 minutes prior to writing this) saw a post about endowments and how when this young man went he had these bad feelings and it made him question the church and how going to the temple made him wonder if he should even go on a mission because he would have felt like a hypocrite teaching people things he wasn't sure he believed in anymore. Now, i don't think going to the temple is going to turn me away from the church, but it kind of freaked me out.

 

My question is, what can I do to prepare to go and get this done? What should I expect? I mean obviously I'm not asking what is going to happen, because I'll know when I go. But what can I do to get ready to go? Is there anything?

 

I grew up in a town where the population is (and I'm not exaggerating) 98% LDS. One unfortunate side-effect of this is that some people tend to get a holier-than-thou attitude. So questions like these are hard to ask around here.

 

Anyway, I would appreciate some advice! Thank you.

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When I prepared to go to the temple to get sealed to my husband, a stake council guy offered to give us a Temple Prep Class.  If they offer that in your ward, it would be great to attend it.  If they don't, ask your bishop about it.  He might be able to arrange one for you.

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Start by thinking of your endowment and sealing not as a "happily ever after", but a "once upon a time". It's ritual; different than what we're used to, but really only "strange" because of its unfamiliarity. If you go in with an open mind and not expecting to understand much the first time through, it will be a better experience. Learning and understanding what temple ordinances have to teach us is a lifelong process. 

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I'll start this off by giving you a little background about myself. I am 18, male, and I've been a part of the LDS church my whole life. Unfortunately there was a point in my life where I completely disregarded the church.

Not too long ago, I decided that I wanted to change. I missed being a part of the church and the joy that it brought me. So I went in to see my bishop and straightened things out.

So to lead up to why I am posting this; I'm getting married soon. I'll be getting married in the temple. (Huge accomplishment for me!) I know there are certain things that you have to do in order to get married in the temple. One of these things being endowments.

I recently (about 5 minutes prior to writing this) saw a post about endowments and how when this young man went he had these bad feelings and it made him question the church and how going to the temple made him wonder if he should even go on a mission because he would have felt like a hypocrite teaching people things he wasn't sure he believed in anymore. Now, i don't think going to the temple is going to turn me away from the church, but it kind of freaked me out.

My question is, what can I do to prepare to go and get this done? What should I expect? I mean obviously I'm not asking what is going to happen, because I'll know when I go. But what can I do to get ready to go? Is there anything?

I grew up in a town where the population is (and I'm not exaggerating) 98% LDS. One unfortunate side-effect of this is that some people tend to get a holier-than-thou attitude. So questions like these are hard to ask around here.

Anyway, I would appreciate some advice! Thank you.

The Gospel and the Church are where we learn what is right, and are given opportunities to do with. As a collective we are there to aid one another with are own efforts and in concert with others.. Self Righteous people are the ones who are lost and lagging behind, as Righteousness is given to us by Christ, for his is righteousness. Those who thing that can do it on their own, have only the appearance of good works, and yet make fun or try to convince all of their worth. Those who are doing the works of righteousness through Christ, never point fingers and mock.
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You did catch in the other thread that pretty much every other response was how awesome the temple is in spite of it being new (and therefore) odd.

 

The percentage of people who have a "dark" feeling in the temple is very, very, very, very small...and it is an indication (with all due respect to the poor guy who was struggling that way) of something wrong with that person, not with the temple.

 

You should not be freaked out about the temple. You watch a video that teaches the plan of salvation and make covenants...none of which are not already intrinsically part of the baptismal covenant. And there's some signs and tokens stuff that, frankly, I still don't entirely understand (and I'm a temple ordinance worker). So don't stress about getting it all or it being overly weird. It is not.

 

Listen. Learn. Enjoy. Return often. Listen. Learn. Enjoy. Be blessed.

 

Remember, the key to the temple is the covenants we make there. No different than the covenants we make outside the temple. Just more detailed. We covenant with the Lord to follow Him and He covenants with us to bless us with eternal life. That's really the crux of it.

 

Take it seriously, of course. There is little with more meaning than these covenants we make. But relax too. The temple is awesome!

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Hope this isn't too late, but I would like to add that you are not going to be called upon to speak, or get up in front of everyone and do stuff. The temple session is a group session or activity, with someone to help you along the way completely. There will be parts that you will start to worry that you have to remember it all, but you don't. You will be guided with everything.

 

Also, start to get your mind geared towards paying attention to symbolism. Spend time thinking of all the symbols of the gospel. As you read the scriptures, look for the symbols they are portraying.

 

When you get to the temple, remember that you are taking a symbolic journey. It started with God creating us and will finish with us returning to His presence. You have gone through baptism, holy ghost, priesthood, etc. Your journey continues as you progress through the history of our spirituality.

 

Most of all, you will be participating in the wonderful endowment that our ancient ancestors had. You will start to gain the knowledge of the saints of old and will be blessed because of it!

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