Or are they just repeating the mantra they have heard since infancy? My thoughts during the first and last time through the temple was how bizarre and freaky it was. The build for the sacredness of the temple ceremonies all those years was for the touching, slitting pantomimes and weird costumes. People love the temple....really?

I think people are taught to love the temple. But even I, as TBM as I was, tried hard to love the temple, but never felt anything there.

...I loved the Temple. Mainly, the Temple cafeteria. Cheap and filling food for the attendees. Chicken fried steak w/mashed potatoes. Yum, yum!! Plus, I took a couple hash hits in the locker room..........no one was there. Very spiritual.

I think the quality of food is dependent upon the cooks at the particular temple, but I've never had a really bad meal there. My sister says I should include that the rolls are usually homemade and are often incredible good.

Banana Cream Pie and Coconut Cream Pie!! It was almost worth it.

I think it must be similar to the canned statements everyone is forced to repeat, " I know the church is true, I know Joseph Smith to be prophet of God, I love the temple."

I enjoyed doing baptisms. It was nice to think I could do something important for my dearly departed.

I don't think Mormons are taught what love really is so sure they love their temple. It is a programmed, rote, incomprehensible sacrifice of sanity for religious inanity. That is Mormon love.

I liked sitting in Celestial Rooms. I liked the quiet when all the signs, tokens, etc was done.

Yes, but the workers shoo everyone out of the Celestial room after the session. Not allowed to sit in there long at all.

What is the best way to spend 10 percent of your income? On 5 minutes in God's living room. It is the best 5 minutes of your entire month!

Years ago I had some TBM neighbors. They would plan their vacations and road trips so they could visit as many temples as they could. And then take pictures standing in front of them. Thats gotta be love,,

That's mental illness.

My TBM wife hated the temple when she went through it the first time 30 years ago. Since I quit going about 10 years ago she now seems to love the temple. She goes at least twice a month with different friends and I think it truely gives her a feeling of peace. Maybe she is just pretending however in hopes that I will join her at some time in the future.

More than their own families in some cases.

Bingo!

I was only LDS for a short while and was never temple worthy.

When I was baptized at age 32 I felt like I had finally joined some secret club that I had been outside of my entire life. I quickly realized that I wasn't really "in" -- I'd need to go to the temple to really be part of the group.

I've seen the temple ceremony online and it looks pretty freaky. Those outfits are outlandish!

I don't think TBMs love the goings-on in the temple as much as they love the idea that going to the temple makes them a good/worthy person. Every visit to the temple brings them closer to reaching their goal of the Celestial Kingdom.

Exactly!

I didn't love the temple at all, but I always felt really good when I went there, simply because I felt I was doing something right. Choose the right, as they'd say.

I enjoyed the peace of the Celestial room. Which, after a crazy day at work, was nice.

Like so many things in TSCC, I tried to convince myself that I loved the temple. I also tried to convince myself that I "knew" the church was. Sometimes, I almost fooled myself.

Personally, I'd love to hear what temple-going-members truly think of the temple. I'd like to be that proverbial fly on the wall and hear if what they say is different from what they declare. Maybe it is because I myself found the temple ceremony such a disappointment from what I had been told.

Spiritual? The most wonderful event next to heaven? Yeah, right.

I found it to be juvenile, ridiculously silly like so many stories are in their promo-magazine or road shows way back when.

OMG, OMG, this is it?????? This was my thinking.

Soooooo, I would love to know, say, what my TBM active children and their spouses really think. Maybe it matches what they declare.

Gawd.....I hope not!

Back when the first dozen or so temples were built they were something Moromies could point to with pride.

The dedication of the Swiss and UK temples was a sure sign that Mormonism was a force to be reckoned with.

Then came the McBuilding blitz which has now debased the temple culture currency to a dime a dozen.

From what I've seen, most of the people who say they love the temple are bullshitting. My dad has always said he loved the temple. my dad is an old man and a bit eceentric (he's an engineer, and I suspect all engineers are little obsessive) but not all THAT strange. When I pressed him about exactly what about the temple he really likes, I finally got him to admit he only likes the food.

My mom will tell you it makes her uncomfortable, and she only goes now when it's a family obligation of some sort.

In my experience, the only people who honest-to-goodness love the temple experience are people who are a bit strange. Those who routinely volunteer to do initiatories on behalf of the dead are probably the strangest in my opinion.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2015 08:25PM by scmd.

The only thing I somewhat enjoyed at the temple was the movie during the endowment. They turned the lights down, it was fairly cool and quiet. No kids rough-housing or phones ringing. I could sit and relax after a tiring day. (Plus, the dark haired woman who played Eve was kinda hot.)

HOWEVER, after the movie ended, and you had to start doing all that stand up, put this on, secret handshakes, sit down, stand back up, repeating covenants, put something else on, switch this to the other side, UGH!!!! Truly insane.

People who "love" to play golf don't need to be reminded, prodded, or guilted into going to the golf course--they eagerly go. If even 10% of LDS members really loved going to the temple, every temple would be full all of the time.

Excellent point.

it sounds people are citing the peace and quiet... don't people know that libraries exist? quiet cafes? movie theaters in the middle of the day? parks? hiking trails? There are so many places to be quiet and find peace... and no tithing, beating yourself up for the approval of some old fart needed.

Another good question is how many attended the temple because of a spouses wishes or insistance??

Many say they do, because that is what is expected, just like those who admired the Emperor's New Clothes.