Proxy Work

[Carborendum]

Sometimes we go through proxy ordinances without actually listening to every single word.  This last weekend my family did baptisms where I was performing the ordinance.  As I spoke the prayer, I said the phrase "who is dead" for about four or five individuals.  Then when I read the placard, I realized that the phrase was no longer there.

I asked about it.

Interesting things to note:

• The same change has been implemented in the endowment ceremony.  I never noticed.
• No one who was at the font paid attention to my words.  When I brought it up, everyone present nodded in agreement that the change had been in place for months.  They all knew, yet no one corrected me until I brought it up.  The officiator wasn't even listening.  He told me that I had to do them over again.

But that makes me wonder -- why the change?

[zil2]

16 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

The same change has been implemented in the endowment ceremony.  I never noticed.

I noticed that last week.  It makes more sense to remove it from the endowment than from the baptismal ceremony (where really, before their baptism, they are dead - cut off, in prison - and after, they are (if they choose to be) alive).

No idea why the change.  Possibly a case of "why state the obvious".  Given how much temple work is done, if you aggregate all of it, dropping the phrase might save a bit of time (though I seriously doubt anyone is interested in doing that - at least, not at the expense of anything even slightly important).

[Just_A_Guy]

A worker at a local temple claims that President Nelson had said something to the effect of “they’re not really dead”—I think trying to emphasize that they are still conscious and that they and the living share common interests.

I did baptisms and confirmations last Saturday morning.  I caught myself a few times, but the confirmation recorder told me that they had been told that either way is acceptable.

[Carborendum]

14 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said:

the confirmation recorder told me that they had been told that either way is acceptable.

That is interesting.  I'm now wondering why did my officiator tell me to redo them?

Another fun thing:  As we gathered in the small chapel (by the font) a sister came in to distribute several family names for her family.  I noticed that English was her second language and I asked if she would like the prayers done in Spanish (that I could read the prayer properly).  She said that she, herself, didn't care.  But she thought that the deceased spirits would appreciate them being done in Spanish.

I was happy to oblige.

The wording of the prayer in Spanish also changed.  A single word was switched for a synonym.  Actually, not a synonym.  But it was a change from a literal word-for-word translation of the English for the commonly stated phrase in Spanish (for similar legal situations).

Interesting.

Edited July 5, 2023 by Carborendum