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Recently I was fortunate to have been able to attend a Mormon temple wedding in both Sacramento, California and in American Fork, Utah. Just in case you haven’t seen either of the temples, here are some pictures:
Sacramento Mormon Temple
Mt Timpanogos Mormon Temple (in American Fork, Utah)
As you notice, the outside of the temples are white and the buildings are elegant. When you get closer to the temples, there are the words “Holiness to the Lord” inscribed on them as you enter.
Once you enter into the temple, there are temple workers who are dressed in white. The white signifies purity and cleanliness that is only found through following and accepting Jesus into one’s life.
The temple workers will then ask you for your Mormon temple recommend, which all Mormons receive if they are living a virtuous life and trying to follow Jesus.
After showing the recommend, we were then led to the sealing room where the Mormon temple wedding takes place. A typical sealing room, as shown in the picture below, has an altar in the middle of the room with chairs surrounding the altar for the guests. There are also two chairs at either side of the altar for the witness couple (typically the couple is both the bride and the groom’s parents) to witness the wedding.
Mormon Temple Sealing Room
We’ve had many discussions over the years on this blog about the various ways God speaks to us through His Spirit. I must say that God spoke to me in a very powerful, yet simple way at both of these Mormon temple weddings.
In both situations, I felt the power of God’s Spirit upon entering the temple. It was a feeling of complete purity and peace that washed over me.
After we were all seated, the bride and groom then entered, followed by the Mormon Temple Sealer, or in other words, the person performing the wedding.
As seen in most religious weddings, the Mormon Temple Sealer gives advice to the couple. Usually, the advice is good and centered around how to keep the Lord as the center of the relationship.
Additional advice that I found very insightful at these weddings included the following:
- Tell each other that you love each other every day
- Tell each other why you love each other
- Never give the same reason twice as to why you love each other
- Never speak evil of the Lord’s anointed can mean not to speak evil of each other
After giving insightful words and sharing testimony, the Mormon Temple sealer then has the couple kneels across the altar and grasp hands. He then performs the wedding and seals them as husband and wife for all eternity together with the Lord.
It is a beautiful thing to witness and the Holy Spirit is very strong. I recommend a temple marriage to anyone!
Last Sunday I went with my family to an exhibit at the Tacoma Art Museum called “Illuminating the Word.” It was very, very interesting. This project was a re-creation of the St John’s Bible as it would have originally been created with colligraphers. In addition, there were artists who depicted their feelings from the Bible in paintings and writings on the pages next to the colligraphy as well. I was very impressed and inspired as to how many people the Bible has touched and continues to touch and how the Lord has preserved His word through the Bible.
The translation the artists chose was the New Revised Standard Version because it most accurately alligns with the King James Version but is written in modern-day language. I thought it was very interesting how the artist who wrote Genisis chapter 2 decided to include on the side an excerpt from 2 Corinthians 3:18 as written in the NRSV version. It reads as follows:
…and all of us with unveiled faces seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another…
Now, for those of you who have been through the temple, this will be very interesting. First, I found it interesting she decided to insert this verse in the Adam and Eve story and secondly the verses themselves reflected the temple ceremony and purpose as well.
Most LDS people use the King James Version of the Bible, so I decided to take a look and see what the KJV said in this verse. It reads as follows:
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
If you’re feeling really ambitious, I also found a site that has about 10 other translations of this particular verse here.
Personally, I like the NRSV version best because it has such clear imagery and accurately describes one of the main purposes for me in attending the temple.
What are your thoughts?
I came across some interesting sites the other day and thought I’d share them for people to see. These stats are rather old (9 years), but they are interesting nonetheless.
The first site shows information on the various divorce rates amoung various Christian denomonations and other groups. The interesting thing is that athiests have the lowest rate at 21%. You can view this site at this link: Baptists Most Likely to Divorce.
Now, you’ll notice on that report that although Baptists are the most likely to divorce, Mormons have a 24% divorce rate, which is only 2% lower.
However, there is one exception: Mormon Temple marriages. Those Mormons that Marry in the Temple have only a 6% divorce rate. You can view this information at this site: In Era of Divorce, Mormon Temple Weddings Are Built to Last. You will notice that this article gives reasons of why the divorce rate for temple marriages is significantly lower. This list includes the following reasons:
- They Date within their Faith
- They Make Sure they’re Committed to their Faith
- They get their Lives Squared Away before Marriage (that’s why I was 30 before I was married! : )
- They Make the Wedding Ceremony Sacred
- They Marry for Eternity
- They Believe the Family that Prays together Stays together
- They Get Help when they have a Problem
- They Believe Children Create a Happy Marriage
- They have Family Home Evening every Monday Night
- The LDS church and active members discourage divorce.
I would have to agree with these statements. The Mormon marriages I’ve seen work apply all of these aspects to their marriages. Those marriages that are unhappy or that fail are not applying these to their marriage.
Do you have any experiences with these suggestions that support these claims? I’m sure the readers would love to hear!
The official statement from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) says the following about the purpose for temple garments:
Like members of many religious faiths, Latter-day Saints wear religious clothing. But members of other faiths — typically those involved in permanent pastoral ministries or religious services — usually wear religious garments as outer ceremonial vestments or symbols of recognition. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, garments are worn beneath street clothing as a personal and private reminder of commitments to God.
Garments are considered sacred by Church members and are not regarded as a topic for casual conversation. (LDS Newsroom)
I’ve personally never really paid that much attention to why people of various religions wear certain clothes…especially their underwear! However, as a Mormon, somehow this topic gets brought up on occasion and I can understand our friends of other faiths having questions about why we wear garments.
For example, I was on a business trip a few years ago and shared a room with a colleague. When we were changing he looked at me and had a hard time not doing a double take. He had questions…a lot of them. All I knew was that it is emphasized that garments are not used for casual conversation and I’m afraid I confused him more than helped him with my vague explanation of why we wear garments.
Today I was reading in the scriptures and also a talk on how the garment is an outward expression of an inner commitment. The verse I read today that impressed me was in Alma 34:36:
…the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.
I’m not sure why I hadn’t really paid attention to this before, but one purpose for the garment is to remind us of the suffering that Jesus went through for all of us and to remind us that our sins are washed away through his blood. I then became curious and thought I’d look up more scriptures with this imagery and I found quite a few that share similar imagery.
I’m sure if I had sat down with my friend and showed him the scriptures related to the garment, it would have made a lot more sense to him rather than giving a vague answer and telling him it is too sacred to talk about. Our friends may or may not agree with wearing the garments, but they should definitely gain more understanding if we approach it with confidence and understanding from their perspective.
Have any of you had a similar experience? If so, what approach have you taken on explaining the purpose behind wearing the garment?
Other Good posts about Garments:
The first time I went through the temple it really freaked me out. What people wore and what they did and what they said, etc. It made me wonder what all the hype is growing up in the church and wanting to prepare for the temple.
I didn’t start feeling the Spirit or trying to put forth effort to understand the temple until 8 years later when one of my newly converted friends wanted to go on a regular basis. I started going and slowly I started feeling a little more humble, a little softer-hearted.
A couple years later, my wife was called as a temple worker. I still had some great hesitation with going to the temple and sacrificing so much time (5 hrs.) to work there. In the begining I went because I was supporting her, but soon the Spirit kept nudging me and prompting me over the course of a year that I needed to be a worker too. I resisted until I couldn’t resist the promptings anymore. The interview with the temple president was scheduled and I became a temple worker.
For the past year or so as I’ve gone with my wife, I have had many occasions where the Spirit is so strong and I feel so pure in the temple. After becoming a worker, recently I’ve started to see things symbolically in a way that is amazing along with feeling the sweetness of the Spirit as well. Virtually everything in the temple points us to Christ’s atonement.
I don’t understand a lot about why we do certain things in the temple or even why it is necessary. All I know is that the more I go the more spiritual and closer to Jesus I feel.
Since I feel my testimony of the temple and it’s importance growing, my new favorite blog is: http://www.templestudy.com/. I like the insights given about temples and the many references to temples that are found throughout the scriptures.
Critics say there isn’t a need for temples and after Jesus’ death they were done away with. Those who say that are probably those who say that God can’t speak to man or reveal truths or doctrines. They are wrong. God speaks to us in ways I’ve never felt before as I’ve been in the temple.
I invite everyone to visit that blog and learn about temples. For those of you who may have not been through the temple, some of the information on the templestudy website may not be understood. You can also visit another temple website: http://www.mormon-temple-ceremony.com/ for basic information on the temples.
Grace for Grace 
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