My husband and I started out as fairly decent regulars when we were first married... but I was the one prodding him to go. We would make it about 6-8 times a year until we had kids, and then it was sooooo hit and miss.

By the time my husband told me he no longer believed- it had been a good year since our last visit. We attended pretty soon after he confessed his feelings, and I prayed my heart out the entire session that he would feel the spirit.

bahahahah.

You can see where that got us. =)

I used to attend regularly. I also went for the last time around the time that I started having serious doubts. It only made things worse. It was awkward enough when I fully believed the temple was special...I thought I was just missing something. When I went in with doubts, it just seemed beyond bizarre...not to mention the fact that I saw my own discomfort reflected in the faces of all the other attendees.

No. I disliked going to the temple from the first moment I stood naked under a poncho. I never instigated a visit to the temple and never went unless I absolutely had to.

I loved it when I had babies that would only nurse and never take a bottle. I had a perfect excuse not to go.

I disliked it every single time. I actually went a lot for awhile; thinking I wasn't getting it because I wasn't spiritual enough. Turns out I didn't like it because it's just an expensive building wherein people hold cult rituals.

I was an ordinance worker for a couple of years as a YSA so I was there once a week. After I got married and had kids, we hardly went. My husband hated the endowment session and as a working mom, I couldn't justify spending an hour driving to the temple, waste 2 hours on a session and then drive back. I would rather be with my kids.

Never. The temple always will be the biggest sign of the cult for me. Repeating promises rote. Chanting prayers in a circle. Doesn't get more cult than that...

Looking back on it, I can't believe that I went once a week for three years, often spending an entire day doing multiple endowment sessions. I didn't like it, was bored to tears most of the time, but was still laboring under the misapprehension that eventually it would all come to make sense. It never did. My last visit was to do my mother's work, as I has promised her.

In the immortal words of Steve McQueen in "The Magnificent Seven", "It seemed to be a good idea at the time".

I made it back 4 times or less--after the first time. I hated all of it--but especially being critiqued, having to "perform" (participate). I thought it would be like attending sacrament meeting. I talked about doing sealings the last time I was there a few days back on another thread. That was the clincher. I sat in the foyer for 40 minutes or so waiting for my "husband" to come out of his session. That was the longest time I was able to meditate in the temple. I never once was able to sit down in the celestial room as I was so slow going through the veil (one time my robe was turned inside out--figure that one out). So--I meditated for 40 or so minutes and never went back.

I never thought much of it. Ever. It was always just a building to me.

I am obsessive compulsive, so I liked going both to check the box and to master all the signs and tokens.

I went a couple of times a year for 15 years. I didn't enjoy it the first handful of times. After that, I wouldn't say I enjoyed it but I thought it was what I was supposed to do. Sometimes there were parts that bothered me. Most of the time I was indifferent. I never gained any new insights or understanding in spite of my best attempts.

At least once per month for over 10 years...I was also an ordinance worker.

I Never went. Never went as a youth to do baptisms either. I'm glad I Never went.

Went once before the mission, then every week during my stint at the MTC.

Then went when I got married.

I never went with my wife after we got married. It took me a while to realize that I'd actually married the church, according to the words of the ceremony. Further down the road, I realized the temple covenants and temple clothes just create distance between couples.

I know many loving member couples with honest-to-goodness affection for each other, but I think they manage to just shelve the temple covenants. The more I thought about them, the angrier I got. My MIL has been trying to tell my wife to visit the temple more often, as my wife has not yet broken the news that she's out as well.

There are few things more pernicious, in my mind, than the temple. It manages to simultaneously inculcate a desire to attend while also repulsing those who pay close attention to the the words spoken therein. Were the LDS church just a church with an interesting foundation story and no temples, I'd probably still be a member. But I never enjoyed my time in the temple, and looking back on it, it's one of the few aspects of the church that makes me genuinely angry.

I was a collector, I prided myself on getting to new temples on business trips, on getting an ordinance card with stamps from four different temples. I think I got 18 checked off.

Nope. I never liked it. I thought it was weird, long, and very boring. I was extremely disappointed by it when I first went through, before my mission. I was shocked by all the secret handshakes, wacky outfits, and other nonsense, I was disappointing by the "light and knowledge" I had been taught to look forward to for my whole life, and I was BORED by the long, ultra-repetitive ceremony!

After my mission, I went as infrequently as I could get away with. (My mom would call me up regularly to guilt me into going more often) All in all, though, I probably only went around 10 times before figuring out it was all B.S. Then I went once more, for my sister's wedding. That was fun. Being there as a non-believer is really quite an eye-opening experience! You just get to sit back and take in how incredibly WEIRD it all is! I was reeealy struggling to keep a straight face through parts of it!

There were some of us that would make the trip together, and then go out to dinner or ice cream or something after the event. Then our church leaders found out and said the post-temple activities were a distraction, and that we shouldn't do them anymore. The leaders got their way; we stopped doing the apres-temple thing,.... as well as the temple thing.

I always felt annoyed that I couldn't afford all of those nice furnishings for my own home.

When I left the church I was in the middle of building the home that will probably be my last.

Instead of paying tithing, I bought chandeliers, plush carpet, beautiful hardwood floors, an art studio, and nice furniture.

My husband built a shop with all of his dreams in it. A nice boat, a travel trailer, and a man room that so far has been a more of a guest room when his family visits.

I'm sad we didn't know the truth earlier in our lives. However, it's better late than never.

Drive four hours, to sit through a couple of hours of really boring video, and play dress up with some really ugly clothes? Hell no. Would go on baptism trips with the YSA when I was in YSA though, because I was always hoping to hook up with a girl. Never happened though. The girls were either super TBM, and engaged before they even got out of High School, or enough of a rebel, that they didn't want a stuck up TBM like I was.

My next disturbing mental parasite I want to over come is the temple and the things that took place inside. In the temple, during the endowment, you are asked to dedicate all of your talents, time and even that laying down if your life for the church. You are asked, before god, angles and witnesses to bow your head, and say yes to fulfill a promise to this. I was scared to say something when I was asked to do this because my family was there, my girlfiends family was there. I couldn't back out of it. I dosnt have time to think about what that really means and why I am asked of this. Because of the temple, I feel like I am evil for just doubting and wanting to question the temple. It's been a stumbling block for me.

Is it just me, it is that dark to sacrifice your life for a church? Isn't that extreme? Why would a god want marters? Why would a god be selective with who they deem worthy to inter the temple? Why is the LDSC spending millions to build these huge temples? I sat in a temple that had the worlds largest chandeliers that cost millions. What the hell for? Couldn't that money have been spent on something more productive? Anyway, this is my next obstical in my way of leaving the church. Had to get this off my chest.

+1 Spot on.

We were looking forward to that spiritual symbolism within the temple given all the hype we encountered in those temple prep classes before hand.

We were told to make sure to look into those mirrors in the celestial room and see how they seem to go on for eternity. We only saw mirrors and funeral home furniture.

The only symbolism we did see was that of money changing hands within the walls of these so called "Houses of the Lord"

The cash register at the end of the cafeteria line was a real eye opener on our first day. If I remember correctly Special of the Day was a bowl of chili con carne and roll. The other was paying a rental fee at some booth for the temple clothes. Both were tacky and did not add to that warm fuzzy feeling that one is apparently to receive within these walls.

To their credit though the lockers in the Mens change room were free of charge, perhaps they were running a special that day who knows but there was no advertisment on the door stating such.

This was only the beginning of seeing the special bond that exists in TSSC between money and things spiritual.

Like I said given all the hype that was in the temple prep classes and what we were lead to believe the outcome was the opposite and without a doubt sent mixed signals to us that day.

It seems pathetic to me now, but I was a regular. In fact, I was a set apart ordinance worker for 17 years. Sometimes I would spend an entire day at the temple conducting temple work. What wasted hours and energy.

Been out 4 1/2 years and occasionally I will repeat words from ordinances for my kids to hear about the kooky temple BS. I fear it may come back to bite me in the ass though, my kids have taken to responding to my calling for them with, "what is wanted?" and after a fine meal they say, "that was delicious to the taste". I will happen at a family reunion or when TBM family comes to visit, then I'm busted.

No.

Even when I 'believed' in the Church, the temple stuff always struck me as weird, cultish and nothing to do with Christian beliefs. Didn't like it the first time, never liked it since.

Yes, I went once per week.

Absolutely not. The nearest temple was in LA over 2 hours away. Driving in to LA in traffic first thumbs down.

Never liked the temple, too weird, I felt it was a race to get dressed in the get up- and didn't want to be the last one to finish.

A temple was built in the next city over maybe 10 minutes away. Did a couple of relative's names and my son's "work" and that's it. Last time I went, I couldn't get the "wording right" at the veil and the old guy told me that if I went to the temple more often I would know the dialog.

I was done after that. Adios weirdo people!

Shouldn't that be adieu weirdo people.

Dennis Moore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Absolutely not. The nearest temple was in LA over
> 2 hours away. Driving in to LA in traffic first
> thumbs down.
>
> Never liked the temple, too weird, I felt it was a
> race to get dressed in the get up- and didn't want
> to be the last one to finish.
>
> A temple was built in the next city over maybe 10
> minutes away. Did a couple of relative's names and
> my son's "work" and that's it. Last time I went, I
> couldn't get the "wording right" at the veil and
> the old guy told me that if I went to the temple
> more often I would know the dialog.
>
> I was done after that. Adios weirdo people!

Only went when I had to...pre1990 throat slitting and gut spilling stupid Masonic nonsense. Give all you have to the church instead of Christ...that one upset me. Give worldly gifts of everything you own to a worldly church.

I did learn how to change cloths really fast:)

I once served as high priest group leader, which (as they told me, anyway) is the guy responsible for kicking and thrashing people to go to the temple. That meant that I had to be there a lot. We were living in Severn, MD, and the DC temple was not far away. I had to go there A LOT, and hated it. For one, the people in the ward who regularly signed up to go were a very weird lot of people who were difficult to be around, so I had no friends there who I could hang with. Sometimes, but not often, DW went along. That was during the time when the stake came up with the inspired program that working through the night in the temple "in the labor of Heavenly Father" would bolster all our testimonies. God, that was awful. I did it once, mid-week, and never did it again. I think the program fell flat on its face.

I never frequented the temple of my own volition. I mean, who would, right?

I thought I was missing something! I even went to do initiatory because I thought it might have been some sort of celestial spa-rub down. I did sealings, I did endowments; Trying to see why this was secret/sacred?!?! The signs, tokens penalities, five points of fellowship? What did it mean? To this day I haven't heard of any good reason for any of it.

Have you noticed, whatever temple attendance runs at, it's never enough. I've never heard any leader stand up and say "Hey guys, great job this month we are now running over capacity so can you ease off a little."

I wanted to be one. I went to D.C., Provo, Salt Lake, Logan, Manti, Jordan, Toronto, Idaho Falls, and Mt. Timpanogos. But I masturbated too much, and knew better than to lie about it. Pity I can't say the same for the Apostles.

It's weird how much I liked it (and still think fondly of a lot of it), because the first endowment session caused me to briefly but completely lose my testimony. I had my belief back, however, once I walked into the Celestial Room and saw my parents. I wish I had gone with my first reaction.

Weirdly, I'm one of the few ex-Mormons out there that still misses the place. I guess I have a fetish for cults?

You bet I was.

Every Wednesday as well as every other Saturday from 1992 to 1999.

Of course I loved it. It was quiet, little partication (no stupid scripture reading, no bearing of testimony). It was clean, no children crying and it was sanctioned drag!

Over that time period I developed a chandelier fetish though.