classylady

I am going to have to buy "Grandma's Secret Spot Remover". 

I have heard of exemptions being made to the WofW for temple worthiness due to health issues. But, that doesn't excuse any of us that do not have those health issues. It is not for me to judge those who have had those exemptions made. That is between their leadership, them, and the Lord.

Perhaps, be blunt, but with love?

I've accepted more than one calling that absolutely terrified me.  Tests of faith are important, Silhouette.  Either this church is led by Christ or it isn't.  Why not throw yourself forward in faith and see what happens?

Agree with what Vort says.  Plus, drinking coffee and tea can preclude you from getting a temple recommend. Caffeine consumption will not.

Maybe it's saying that WE shouldn't use "many words". As the Lord said during his mortal ministry, we should use "yea, yea, nay, nay", and what comes of more than this is sin. Too often in all our talking, we talk around the central point. It's common in forums such as this to see discussion where the very meaning of divine words is turned on its head, which is mockery of God's words.
 
Or perhaps it means that GOD will not give "many words" of public revelation by his own voice to us. Since the death of Joseph Smith, the total amount of divine revelation given the world in the first person consists of Section 136. (I think; maybe I'm forgetting something.) Divine revelation will never cease, but I have little doubt that if we were more righteous and took the word of God much more seriously, we would be receiving more of it, personally and as a people, and perhaps even first-person revelation such as Joseph Smith received and published.

Iggy, I can't agree. Current Church teachings make it crystal clear that "hot drinks" refers to coffee and (tea leaf) tea, whatever the temperature. Individual exceptions might possibly be approved by a bishop or stake president, but in general that's the standard. As a general rule, iced coffee and iced tea, even decaffeinated versions, are prohibited by the Church's interpretation of Section 89.

In 3rd Nephi 19:9, it has always impressed me "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them." IMO, if we have the Holy Ghost, we will know what to pray for. If we are meant to have riches, if we are close enough to the Spirit, I believe we will know that is what we should pray for. And, I do believe we will be given that which we ask.
 
Currently, by America's standards, I would suppose that my husband and I are living in poverty. When reading where the poverty level of income is, we certainly qualify.  We nearly lost our home to foreclosure, and for all intents and purposes, we probably should have had our house foreclosed on.  But, we got a letter from our mortgage company telling us that we qualify for a reduction in our mortgage payment.  For us, that means the difference between being homeless and having a roof over our heads.  Our prayers had been that if possible, to please allow us to stay in our home.  Our prayers were answered.  And, I truly believe it is because we have paid our tithing.  It does not mean that it will be easy to make our mortgage payment.  After our house payment, we only have $200 dollars to pay all other bills, food, utilities, etc.  But, this reduction in mortgage, and a time frame to pay our mortgage payments on time allows us to find employment. It means we still have a roof over our heads (at least for the time being).  
 
I believe that my husband and I are rich.  We have the gospel.  And, not only do we have the gospel, but we have strong testimonies of the gospel.  That knowledge, IMO, makes us richer than most in the world.

My advice to you is: Go to the temple and do a session. Then go through it again. Then do it again.
 
You are being given gifts in the temple, which is why it is called an "endowment". But these gifts are not light, fluffy things. They are meaty, substantial, and very sacred things. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught:
 
 
The more familiar you get with the endowment, the less strange and bizarre-seeming it will be. The presentation will stop being so troubling, and instead you will begin to see the rock-solid realities that lie beyond the symbols.
 
I don't know why some people react so badly to the temple. I have never understood that. I found the endowment both interesting and engaging from the very beginning, and the endowment presentation I first experienced was undoubtedly "stranger" than yours. Yet it seemed not at all troubling or disturbing, or at least no more than any other highly symbolic presentation. But my older brother reacted quite negatively to it the first time. (Today, he loves going to the temple and finds it inspiring and profoundly moving.) One of my sons, who is much like me in personality and thought, also found the endowment presentation strange and a bit disturbing. I have no explanation for such things, and can only shake my head in wonder at the severely varied reactions people first have to the endowment presentation.
 
tl;dr takeaway: You are not the first to feel that way, nor will you be the last. But rest assured of two things: First, not everyone has that same reaction; second, if you continue to go to the temple with sincerity of heart, the strangeness will pass and you will begin to see past the formalities of the presentation and start to grasp the amazing and beautiful promised realities behind them.

Not frowned upon at all; just need to keep it in proper perspective.
 
 
Unfortunately, this isn't a proper venue to explore your concerns here in-depth; but I'd second the advice to discuss your concerns with a bishop or other trusted friend who has been through the temple rite.  Because frankly, becoming like Jesus and ultimately being returned to His and the Father's presence after demonstrating obedience, sacrifice, holiness, chastity, and consecration, is (in my view) the entire point of the LDS temple endowment.
 
Also, a hint:  The power of the creation tale as told in the temple is in its allegory, not its historocity.  Indeed, there are specific parts of the "temple drama" that, per our doctrinal interpretations, cannot have happened (at least, not the way they are shown in the temple).  The Church will not spoon-feed you the meanings and applications within that allegory--you have to wrestle with them yourself.  Temple learning doesn't come because you watch the video again and again and again.  It comes through individual revelations that you receive as you ponder--and occasionally wrestle with--specific elements of the temple rite and try to develop a paradigm with which to approach and interpret it. 
 
I won't tell you that you should just bite the bullet and go back to the temple, again and again, until you start "feeling it".  Nor will I tell you that you should serve a mission in your present state of doubt.  But I will tell you that you might want to consider that there may be additional layers to the temple rite that you're missing, but that provide deep insight and spiritual strength to other members.  What you want to do with that information, is your own business.  But, here's an example:  Archaeological digs at Megiddo have yielded what appear to be long-handled incense spoons, dating to the period of the first Jewish Temple.  The exterior of these spoons are adorned with carvings of human hands . . . in cupping shape.  (Pics . . . look at the first three pics of the second row--these are from other sites in ancient Israel.)
 
Whatever you decide to do--I sincerely wish you the best of luck.  It's hard to have a family expecting things you don't think you can deliver . . .

The church is more than just a nice little church that promotes family values.  It is a church that is Christ's church here on the earth.  It is the Lord's church that has been restored here upon the earth in the latter days.  The church's existence is to save souls and allow each of us to return to our Father in Heaven someday.  In order to do that, we must be baptized.  And we need the ordinances that are given us in the temple.  These ordinances have been given to us by Jesus Christ.  They are necessary.  Before being sealed in the temple we need to have our endowments.  The ordinances received in the temple can be very spiritual, if we allow it to be a spiritual experience.  What you did in the temple was not wrong or gross.  It was "right".  But, you may not have been ready to receive the ordinances.
 
The Gospel, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored gospel here upon the earth.  The temple is His.  The ordinances are His.  They are a blessing in the lives of the members that allow us to be families throughout the eternities.  The ordinances in the temple allow ourselves and our ancestors to be 'bound' together forever.  I find this thought very comforting and spiritual.

In 3rd Nephi 19:9, it has always impressed me "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them." IMO, if we have the Holy Ghost, we will know what to pray for. If we are meant to have riches, if we are close enough to the Spirit, I believe we will know that is what we should pray for. And, I do believe we will be given that which we ask.
 
Currently, by America's standards, I would suppose that my husband and I are living in poverty. When reading where the poverty level of income is, we certainly qualify.  We nearly lost our home to foreclosure, and for all intents and purposes, we probably should have had our house foreclosed on.  But, we got a letter from our mortgage company telling us that we qualify for a reduction in our mortgage payment.  For us, that means the difference between being homeless and having a roof over our heads.  Our prayers had been that if possible, to please allow us to stay in our home.  Our prayers were answered.  And, I truly believe it is because we have paid our tithing.  It does not mean that it will be easy to make our mortgage payment.  After our house payment, we only have $200 dollars to pay all other bills, food, utilities, etc.  But, this reduction in mortgage, and a time frame to pay our mortgage payments on time allows us to find employment. It means we still have a roof over our heads (at least for the time being).  
 
I believe that my husband and I are rich.  We have the gospel.  And, not only do we have the gospel, but we have strong testimonies of the gospel.  That knowledge, IMO, makes us richer than most in the world.

I believe President Young was voicing the same sentiment taught by the ancient Nephite prophet Jacob:
 
And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.
 
This looks to me like it's saying that if we walk up to our covenants and desire riches in order to perform good works (and not to buy nice cars or live luxuriously), we will be given riches. Just now, for the first time in my life, it occurs to me that both Jacob and President Young use the plural form, "ye" (or "you"), and not the singular "thou". I had never noticed that before. It makes me think that, perhaps, this is a societal covenant and reward, and not a personal one. We as a people will obtain riches if we live up to our covenants and seek those riches to bless others.
 
I am not and never have been a man of great wealth. I have sometimes wondered if this is a de facto commentary on my state before Christ. Taking at face value the truthfulness of these teachings, I see four possible reasons why I and others like me don't have these riches:
We have not yet obtained the requisite hope in Christ. We do not seek riches, either for ourselves or to bless others. As I just now realized, this is perhaps not an individual promise, but a collective promise to the people of God as a whole. The fourth is a personal reason. When I was younger and quite sure that I would make lots of money in my life, I prayed very fervently to God for many years that, if lots of money would harm my children or my marriage, that I not be cursed with it. Now, I personally suspect that my lack of financial success is due to my not playing the game -- or in LDS terminology, not following the laws upon which making lots of money is predicated. It's not one of my gifts, and the ability to make scads of money has never been something I've sought to develop. So I've always sort of defaulted to Reason #2, but a sneaking suspicion that Reason #1 has something to do with it, too. But I grant that it is possible that God heard and answered my prayers as a young husband and father (prayers which I still hold in my heart, even if I never bother to vocalize them any more, given that being a rich man is not a burden I carry). And if that is the case, my heart swells in gratitude to my Father for loving me and my family enough to keep us from the harm and destruction that would otherwise await us.

In my mind I like to think of myself as wealthy.....with all that I have been blessed with I consider myself a wealthy man. What more could I ask for. My wife and I enjoy our jobs. We have four awesome kids. We have 3 son in laws and one daughter in law. We also have 4 grandchildren. All kidding aside I am very serious.
That's my 2 cents worth.

The church is more than just a nice little church that promotes family values.  It is a church that is Christ's church here on the earth.  It is the Lord's church that has been restored here upon the earth in the latter days.  The church's existence is to save souls and allow each of us to return to our Father in Heaven someday.  In order to do that, we must be baptized.  And we need the ordinances that are given us in the temple.  These ordinances have been given to us by Jesus Christ.  They are necessary.  Before being sealed in the temple we need to have our endowments.  The ordinances received in the temple can be very spiritual, if we allow it to be a spiritual experience.  What you did in the temple was not wrong or gross.  It was "right".  But, you may not have been ready to receive the ordinances.
 
The Gospel, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored gospel here upon the earth.  The temple is His.  The ordinances are His.  They are a blessing in the lives of the members that allow us to be families throughout the eternities.  The ordinances in the temple allow ourselves and our ancestors to be 'bound' together forever.  I find this thought very comforting and spiritual.

The church is more than just a nice little church that promotes family values.  It is a church that is Christ's church here on the earth.  It is the Lord's church that has been restored here upon the earth in the latter days.  The church's existence is to save souls and allow each of us to return to our Father in Heaven someday.  In order to do that, we must be baptized.  And we need the ordinances that are given us in the temple.  These ordinances have been given to us by Jesus Christ.  They are necessary.  Before being sealed in the temple we need to have our endowments.  The ordinances received in the temple can be very spiritual, if we allow it to be a spiritual experience.  What you did in the temple was not wrong or gross.  It was "right".  But, you may not have been ready to receive the ordinances.
 
The Gospel, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the restored gospel here upon the earth.  The temple is His.  The ordinances are His.  They are a blessing in the lives of the members that allow us to be families throughout the eternities.  The ordinances in the temple allow ourselves and our ancestors to be 'bound' together forever.  I find this thought very comforting and spiritual.

Sorry for your loss Eowyn.
 
When my BIL passed away years ago, many posters here posted some lovely poems, here's one:
 
Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I and you are you,
Whatever we were to each other, that we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,
wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow,
laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Pray smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
without the trace of a shadow in it.
Life means all that it ever meant,
it is the same as it ever was.
There is unbroken continuity,
why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you
somewhere very near
just around the corner.
All is well
 
by Henry Scott Holland
 
M.

"Don't touch where the garment covers" is an old rule of thumb to help return missionaries and others set boundaries for premarital physical affection. The idea is that, in addition to the obvious parts, you really shouldn't be rubbing your girlfriend's thighs or massaging her abdomen. As a rule of thumb, it works well enough, but I personally see nothing wrong with giving a gentle backrub. In any case, to answer your question: It is not any sort of established LDS standard. The bishop is unlikely to be asking about backrubs with your girlfriend. But if she's uncomfortable with it, it's probably best avoided.
 
Might be worth exploring whether your girlfriend is merely super-cautious (which is probably good) or whether she is generally uncomfortable with physical contact (which seems to me very bad).

May be true. Doesn't make it wrong though. Either the thing is askew or the soul's askew. But one's feelings on something doesn't change whether that thing is good or bad. Truth and right is not relative to how we feel about it.

Being repetitive doesn't necessarily mean it has any less significance to us. We shouldn't say the same prayer with no feeling, but just because you change some words up doesn't mean it is not in vain. You could say what sounds like a heart felt prayer and it may really mean nothing to you in your heart. I would state it not as repetitive being the issue, but rather lip service being the problem. 
 
If you don't in deed feel grateful for the food or the blessings, then it is repetitive and in vain. Your heart is what decides, I think. I try to add in specific people to ask a blessing for in my prayers for food. That seem to mix it up and reminds us that we truly should be grateful for what we have. 

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865615543/LDS-women-with-children-now-eligible-for-full-time-seminary-institute-jobs.html
 
I think this is great news.  So many women would make excellent seminary and institute teachers but have been unable to due to past policy.
 
SALT LAKE CITY — LDS mothers with children at home are now eligible for full-time employment as teachers in the church's seminary and institute programs.
The policy adjustment was presented to staff on Friday, said Chad Webb, the administrator of LDS Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. It quickly generated buzz and excitement among women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
 

I'm wondering if this might also fit with LDS bishops in some ways.
 
Here are twenty things I believe are true about most pastors I know. I hope you will work together with your pastor for the good of the gospel!
 
1. He loves God and you a lot. (Be mindful.)
 
2. He is a painfully limited human being. (Be realistic.)
 
3. He probably has a pretty low view of his “performance”. (Be kind.)
 
4. He wishes he were a better preacher. (Be awake.)
 
5. He really does want God’s best for you and your family. (Be open-hearted.)
 
6. His work knows no time or locational boundaries. (Be patient.)
 
7. He hears much more negative information than positive. (Be encouraging.)
 
8. He has chosen a vocation in which few remain. (Be praying.)
 
9. He has chosen a highly leadership-intensive call. (Be lead-able.)
 
10. He needs help. (Be available.)
 
11. His God-given vision is bigger than himself and the church. (Be faith-filled.)
 
12. He wants to personally meet all the needs, but knows he can’t. (Be understanding.)
 
13. He’s going to say some dumb things every now and then. (Be forgiving.)
 
14. His family is patient with you, so be patient with them. (Be conscientious.)
 
15. He is greatly encouraged by your faithfulness. (Be there.)
 
16. He is passionate for God’s Word to be made practical to you. (Be hungry.)
 
17. He longs for church to be your spiritual oasis. (Be loving.)
 
18. He dreams for your and your family’s spiritual health. (Be receptive.)
 
19. He needs to hear that you prayed for him. (Be interceding.)
 
20. He’s just a regular guy. (Be real.)
 
http://caryschmidt.com/2014/02/20-things-you-should-know-about-your-pastor/
 
M.

I think MWS jumped the gun by promoting it so quickly.  With the following they have, things should always be researched before putting something like this out to the masses.

MWS isn't behind this.  They thought a good idea until they found out who was behind it.

Mormon Women Stand has updated their post on the survey. I just learned that "The survey was created by a group calling itself the “Mormon Gender Survey Group”, which includes in its membership well-known LDS dissenter and agitator, John Dehlin, as well as other progressive Mormon activists who have pushed for the church to ordain women and to change its doctrine regarding homosexuality.
 
The survey questions are worded in ways that subtly push their typical agenda".