http://utlm.org/onlinebooks/mclaims9.ht ... %20SealingFailure to marry in an LDS temple will "damn" a person so that his eternal progression will be stopped short of godhood. The best that he can hope for then is to be an angel (see D. & C. 132:16-20; see also the pamphlet About Mormonism by Apostle Stephen L. Richards, p. 12).
When he arrives at the temple, the "temple recommend" is checked to see if it is in proper order. He then goes to the washing and anointing room where the endowment ceremony begins. Ladies go to a separate but similar room. All clothing is removed and put in a private locker. They then put on a "shield" which looks something like a white sheet folded in half with a hole in the middle for the head to fit through. This hangs loosely over the front and back, leaving the sides exposed. A temple worker of the same sex then puts his or her right hand under running water and washes the applicant's body. Each part of the body is touched as it is mentioned in the ceremony being recited, including the head, ears, eyes, nose, lips, neck, shoulders, back, breast, vitals and bowels, arms and hands, loins, legs and feet. The washing is "confirmed" with a brief ceremony, and the person goes to another booth where the same body parts are anointed with oil. That is followed by a ceremony confirming the anointing.
They then put on the "authorized pattern" undergarment with another ceremony. This is the garment devout Mormon men and women wear nearly all of the time - day and night, summer and winter. They are told it will be a shield and protection against the power of the destroyer until their work on earth is completed. Many Mormons have testified of physical and spiritual protection by wearing the garment. Non-Mormons (Gentiles) sometimes refer to this garment as "Mormon armor" or "bullet-proof underwear" because of the dramatic stories Mormons tell about its protective power. The original undergarment was full length with a large collar, but dress styles have changed and the garment has been greatly abbreviated. However, President Joseph F. Smith said:
The Lord has given unto us garments of the Holy Priesthood, and you know what that means. And yet there are those of us who mutilate them, in order that we may follow the foolish, vain and (permit me to say) indecent practices of the world. In order that such people may imitate the fashions, they will not hesitate to mutilate that which should be held by them the most sacred of all things in the world, next to their own virtue, next to their own purity of life. They should hold these things that God has given unto them sacred, unchanged and unaltered from the very pattern in which God gave them. Let us have the moral courage to stand against the opinions of fashion, and especially where fashion compels us to break a covenant and so commit a grievous sin (Improvement Era, 9:813, August, 1906).
Apparently, LDS leaders did not have the "moral courage to stand against the opinions of fashion," because the undergarment has been altered considerably! But, even the shortest will not fit under a bikini swim suit, so many Mormons now take them off while swimming, competing in sports and so on. In years past, devout Mormons insisted that their garments be in contact with their bodies at all times. Even while bathing or changing the garment, they stood or sat on it so that they would be in contact with its protective power.
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Oct. 1, 2001
Subject: Temple visitation and wearing of garments
I found your web site very interesting. I am a newly married Catholic to a Mormon woman. When my wife and I were first married I told her I would probably have a problem with her visiting the Temple and wearing the garments. (she was not visiting the temple nor wearing the garments throughout our relationship and start of our marriage because of a previous desfellowship) now that the time has come that she can begin visiting the temple and wearing the garments I have told her that I don't feel comfortable with it, it bothers me and that she should not do it. Although upset with my request, she is at least willing to talk to the Bishop.
Not believing that the Bishop will care about our marriage more than her eternal salvation I think I already know the answer. My question is, can I forbid her to go to the temple and wear the garments and have her still be able to attend the church in good standing (i.e., callings, take sacrament, etc). ...
Also, as you can imagine, being new to her world, I have a number of questions that I need answers to. What would be the best way to submit them to you without taking up too much of your valuable time. (i.e., how to deal with a her previous temple marriage which led to divorce, what exactly does she do in the temple, etc)
Thank you for your time,
[Sandra's Note: The Mormons teach that during the millennium she will be given a chance to be married to a faithful Mormon in the temple. Then she would be able to enter the highest heaven. If her original husband converted to Mormonism (either during this life or during the millennium) and they had a temple marriage, they would go to the celestial kingdom.
If she outlived her first husband she could arrange to have someone baptized on his behalf and then have a proxy temple marriage to him. If she remarried after the first husband died, and was sealed in the temple to that husband, she could not have a temple marriage to her second husband.]
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Aug. 7, 2002
Subject: Temple
Hi,Thank you for your ministry!
Recently my nephew was married in the mormon temple, his 14 year old sister and 18 yr. old brother, who are both active members of that church had to wait in the waiting room. Could you explain why?
Thank you,
[Sandra's Note: The only people who can witness an LDS temple marriage are good Mormons who have already been through the ceremony themselves. These young people are not old enough to have 'taken out their endowments'?meaning they have not been through the ceremony where they learn the secret handshakes and passwords and start wearing the LDS special underwear. An adult Mormon goes through the endowment ceremony prior to going on a mission or for a temple marriage. If the person is at least in his/her twenties, he/she can go through the endowment ceremony even if he/she is not getting married or going on a mission. Teens would not be old enough to go through the endowment ceremony, go on a mission or get married.]
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Aug. 6, 2001
Hello Mr. And Mrs. Tanner I was raised catholic but am non practicing. Recently I started dating a woman that turned out to be mormon. I really didn't know much about Mormons so I wanted to do a little research. The more I read, the more fearful I become. A friend of mine had suggested that I read about the Salamander Letters. In the process I found your website. I am completely shocked. Mormonism isnt a religion. It is a cult and its members are brainwashed.
...I know the relationship won't last if she continues to remain a mormon. The way I found out about her beliefs was because I made a mormon joke. I had told her a story about how the missionaries had come to my house once. I had asked the missionaries if they wanted to come in to meet Brother Smith and Brother Wesson. She was not amused at all.
My girlfriend was also raised catholic even though she came from a catholic/jewish family. She had converted when she was with her husband and I believe she has been a member for 6yrs. My question to you good people is how do I get her to see the reality of it all.. and bring her back to the real world. If Mormons are converting 300,000 people per year based on lies and deceit, something has to be done. From what I have noticed, Mormons are good moral individuals but have a really screwed up religion. Baptisms for the dead....marriages for the dead.... secret temple cermonies to select special underwear??? I dont need to tell you. You have been there. ...thanks for your time.
[Sandra's Note: I am assuming that she will not read anything from an outsider or former LDS (they are taught not to believe anything from the 'other side.') So, I would suggest you call the LDS bookstore, Deseret Book, 801-328-8191, and order either of the following two books. Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, by Tippets and Avery (two LDS women historians). In Sacred Loneliness, by Compton (a Mormon historian). Both of these books discuss Joseph Smith's polygamy, how he lied to his wife, Emma, and how he lied to the church and the public about it. Mormon Enigma also discusses Smith's involvement with magic and money-digging. These are not 'anti' Mormon books, but they do tell a lot of historical problems that most LDS have never heard of. Maybe you could suggest the two of you read the books together (or get 2 copies) so you can discuss it. Why should we believe Joseph Smith's story? You could say something to the effect that since you found out she was LDS, you have been trying to get better informed and these books might be a good place to start since they're by Mormon historians.]
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P.S. What's with the special underwear?
I can't find ANYTHING on that!!
[Sandra's Note: When a Mormon goes through the temple for the first time they go through an initiation rite where they are ceremonially anointed with oil and water and start wearing the special Mormon underwear. For a man it is a white undershirt and briefs with legs to the knees. For a woman it is a camisole top and nylon panties with legs to the knee. On the breast of both the men?s garment and the woman?s garment are small embroidery stitches that form an L and a V. These represent the compass and square. After they put on the garment they dress in white clothes with a green apron. The men wear a funny shaped hat, the women wear a veil for the ceremony, which includes learning special handshakes and passwords that they need to know in order to get in to the highest LDS heaven. All missionaries and good Mormons that have gone through the temple wear the LDS undergarment . They are buried in the special clothes they wear during the temple ritual. We tell about the garments in our book, Evolution of the Mormon Temple Ceremony.]
