Terrakota

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Ah, I didn't realize there were many lovelies here. :)

No, I wasn't talking about the TRIBE of Judah. I was talking about Jews, the people of Israel, which includes all tribes. People of Israel are the ones with whom God made the covenant and we must be numbered among them (through direct descent or through adoption) in order to receive the blessings of the Gospel.

Lovely, I wanted to share a couple of thoughts, too. 1) If you look in the Bible, then you would see that the only chosen people are Jews, they are called "special" and "above all". Does that mean that the rest of us are lost or inferior? No, not at all. We are told that through them "all of the nations of the Earth" will be blessed. That includes everybody. If we are not of literal Jewish descent, then we are adopted into one of the tribes (you know which one from your patriarchal blessing) and then you share in all the blessings. 2) God placed you and your family on Earth at this specific time, because it was right for you. Whatever the reason was for the ban on priesthood, you and your husband did not have to deal with it personally. No blessing was ever denied to you or your husband, because God didn't see it right for you. He deals with each of us personally. For me it's poligamy, I have a very hard time with it, but I wasn't born when it was around. We would go crazy if we start worrying about all the things that happen to other people, and about all the things that happened in the past. It's better to think about your personal relationships with God. Has He ever mistreated you because of your skin color, has he denied you any blessings because of that? 3) In Jacob 3:8 Jacob warns Nephites that unless they repent, Lamanites skins will be whiter when they are brought before the throne of God. 4) It is probably true that your skin is dark because you are a descentant of the one who was cursed and whose skin was made black. But that doesn't make you any worse. (And, by the way, I'm not sure that the curse was the black skin. I think the curse was that the land wouldn't bring forth fruit, and the sin color was just to separate them.) You were adopted into the House of Israel through one of the tribes, and this means that you share in all the blessings of the gospel. 5) You were told that you were a valiant soul in pre-existence. This was a word of God to you personally. And that means that satan hates you, more than some others who didn't give him as much trouble as you did. And that's why he works on taking away your eternal blessings through one thing or another. 6) I wouldn't worry too much about was was said by Church leaders in the past. And not even by Church leaders alone. When I read Old Testament there are a lot of things that shock me. It's good to study them, but we shouldn't take everything personally. Have you heard anything from Pr. Hinckley or Pr. Monson that made you feel bad? Probably not. This is what God speaks now to His Church. We wouldn't expect God to say same the same things century after century. People and times change. Again, it is not by a mistake that you live now, and not then. So, don't worry about that. You are beautiful (love your picture!), God loves you, and all the blessings are yours.

I don't think so. The swiss garment looked very much different from what we have today. The worst things about garment bottoms to me are (1) thick, narrow, tight elastic waistband, (2) lace or serge finish on the bottom that make visible lines under clothes and (3) very high waist that comes all the way to the bra, almost. Swiss garmend didn't have any of that. I don't see any doctrinal reasons not to make better elastic band, flat finish on the legs, normal waist, and good fabric like polyamide/elastan blend. You see, original 19 century garments were so much different from what we have today. And they are trying to make them better, they are just lacking adequate feedback, because garments are bought anyway. When it was mentioned to somebody in the distribution department that current elastic band on the waist is tight, thick and narrow, cutting into the body, he was very suprised and said that nobody had mentioned this before. Though I know a lot of women have this problem.

Other manufactures also make wonderful underwear that look like garment: http://www.maidenform.com/catalog/product.jsp?prodType=ms&wtlCategory=Matching%20Style%20CrossSell&productId=71543 (this is a camisole - it's sleevless, but I was trying to show that it can be very lightweight and thin) Flexees Shapewear Thigh Slimmer - bottoms Flexees Shapewear offers Thigh Slimmers and other Shapewear in full figure and plus sizes Notice that they are all made out of nylon (also known as polyamide) with elastan. This makes them lightweight, very sheer, very soft, very comfortable. Unfortunately, the Church used polyester in Carinessa garments, making them thick, hot, itchy, and not sheer. I guess that if people made requests for good quality garments like the one in the links - we would have them eventually. I just think not too many people realise what is available.

I want garment bottoms like this Spanx.com - View All Body Shapers - Body Shapers - Slim Cognito Seamless Mid-Thigh Shaper or this Spanx.com - Hosiery Shapers - Hosiery, Tights & Sheers - Power Panties I wonder why can't the Church just buy them and mark them. Or make them like these. Shouldn't be hard.

Soul_Searcher, I'm very sorry you feel this way. I do, too, when I forget what the gospel is all about. Have you read Robert Stevenson's "Believing Christ" and "Following Christ"? He talks very well about that. Nobody can keep all of the commandments all of the time, and that's why we have Christ who makes up the rest for us. So, in eyes of God a person who keeps commandments to the degree of 10% is no worse than a person who keeps them to the degree of 90%, providing that both of them do their best (and "one person's" best and "another person's" best can be very different). Through Christ they are both made perfect. Without Christ both of them will have no place in any of the kingdoms. So it is important to never give up.

I think it's about keeping covenants. And wearing of the garment is one of the promises we make. And we know that it is a serious one. We are not asked during our temple recommend interview whether we do home teaching and visiting sisters, but we are asked whether we wear garment as we had promised. And having current temple recommend is needed not just in order to be able to go to the temple, but it sort of determines our current standing before God.

Well, we believe in God who makes covenents with us and keeps them. How would we feel if He, after making promises to us, would change His mind and not give what was promised? The same is with us. “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise” (D&C 82:10). There are different degrees of glories in heaven. Only the very vilest of sinners will be sent out of heaven. So good people will be in heaven, but the place therein will be determined by how we live.

Kpatry, I understand you very well, because I have a very hard time wearing it, as well (after 8 years). And yet I encourage you not to give up. I think you are a wonderful person, since temple marrige and coveants are so important to you. And I think there are legitimate reasons for your discomfort and dislike. God does not command people in everything, so the poor design and quality are not His work. And there is a hope for the better. I will explain what I mean. I live in Europe. When I received my endownment in 2000 in Sweden temple, I had a very warm and special feeling, even though it was my first pair of garment and it fitted very badly. It was as if I had a constant hug from the Spirit. It was wonderful. But as I tried several styles and fabrics, none seemed to fit right. And then ladies at the distribution center showed me so called Swiss garment - which was more expensive, but it was incredibly better - nothing to compare. There was a girl with us, who was short and skinny - and all bottoms looked terrible on her. Shy was shocked and almost crying - until I gave her the swiss garment bottom - and she was HAPPY! At the first site Swiss garment looked to me like a very fine sports underwear. When I took it out from the bag - it was tiny - like for a 5-year old girl - it just stretched so well. It was made out of very fine cotton, and bottoms didn't have any finish on bottoms of the legs - no hems, no lace, no searge - the fabric itself was weaven in such a way that the edge was absolutely flat, like a piece of paper. That means - no lines under pants and skirts, no rolling up, no lace that cuts blood cirluation, and - it looked classy. Besides that, the elastic band on Swiss garment was two times wider and about 5 times thinner, and very stretchable - like on any commercial panties, and no ugly square piece of tape to connect the elastic on the back. It means you don't feel it on your stomac, it doesn't cut into your body. Besides that, it was sitting below the waistline, not too low, of course, but low enough. And finally, legs were shorter. The last two things are very helpful for comfort and security. I always cover my belly with clothes, and I wear skirts below knee, but to have garments shorter means that I do not worry every second wheather it would be seen by others accidentally. And they stopped manufacturing it! I almost thought that there was some doctrinal reason for the garment not to look classy, to have that awful thick and tight waistband, this very same lace year after year, and for the bottoms to reach to the armpits. But I learned later, that the Swiss garment was not manufactured by the Church, but rather by some outside manufacturer, who started to charge way too much for making them, and the Church discontinued using them. So it was a price question. But instead of picking up all the good things that were introduced by that manufacturer, the Church manufacturer continues in their old ways. This is sad, but I'm sure it can get better, providing that people will not suffer in scielence. There is the Distribution department in the Church that oversees making garments, and unless they receive our complaints and suggestions, they are not very likely to realise that there is a problem. Garments will be bought anyway, so there is no adequate feedback in terms of sales. Also, I think that once women start wearing garment, they can loose track of new developments in the underwear industry, and thus older ladies might not have many complaints. They might not realise what great and comfortable underwear you can buy now in the stores. And yonger ones, just like you, will of course see the big difference, but, realising that garments are sacred - will not be able to speak up. I personally think that garments can be manufactured to look great, feel comfortable, and be invisible under clothes. BUT: I think that whatever it takes, it is not worth it to stop wearing garment. It's the eternity, and the eternal marriage that will be jeopardised. God is very kind and loving, and He can do miracles, and He does have compassion on you, even right now as you struggle, but we are here not only to enjoy life and live in comfort. Maybe for you (and me, for that matter), it is a personal test of obedience and commitment. To see, weather we will obey God in ALL things, or only in that which is comfortable to us. We grow through struggle. Some struggle because they have no food, some live in tiny shads, others don't have sight, and yet others are small children abused and abandoned by their parents, with nobody to care for them. However uncomfortable garmet might be - it's not the harderst trial in life. I also think that it's the head and the heart that have very much to do with how we feel about garment. Not so much the body. When I started wearing garment, I didn't wear just Swiss ones. I also found Drisilque ones to be OK. I was young, I wore office suits and skirts, and nylon tights, and pants, and jeans. I was absolutely fine. But over the years I started to have a problem. It comes from the head, I think. Though I still think that garments could be made much, much better. Just don't give up. I think for myself, that it would be awful to stand in the presence of God, to know how much He loves me, how much He wants me to be with Him, and to know that it's too late, and nothing could be done, just because of this one thing.