So today in my Seminary class, we were told that we were going to all be going to the main high school seminary building, and the Vernal, UT temple presidency would be doing a lesson or something to that effect on Wednesday. I personally believe this would be a good time to really stir things up, get questions asked, and try and help people start thinking. I don't want to come off as blatantly ex-mo. Are there any subtle questions I can pop that can help people start questioning their own beliefs? Thank you.

Politely ask if it's okay to watch the YouTube videos of the temple ceremony...

Mention that you heard from a friend of a friend whose cousin's dog groomer's neighbor started to watch one of these videos and burst into flames.

Ask what is the significance of the baker/chef hat everyone wears?

Why do all women veil their faces, not men? Is it like a burqa?

Why do men know the secret name of their wife but she can't know his?

(I had the serious creeps after baptisms for the dead at your age and never went back.)

Ask why people think baptisms for the dead is necromancy.

Why can men get sealed to more than one woman, like Dallin Oaks? Why are women only sealed to one man at a time/must petition a temple divorce-where her ex has to approve the divorce, yet men never need permission from the ex?

Why do Mormons keep getting sued for baptizing other Mormons for dead Jewish names, Holocaust names in particular... ?

Keep asking. Keep your hand up when he stops calling on you. It will be obvious he has plenty to hide.

Be prepared to get in some sort of silly "trouble." Do you take tests in seminary these days? Have fun! =)

I guess you could ask about Jesus teaching about the temple ordinances in the BoM.

Oh, he didn't? Never mind.

If the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of he gospel why is there no mention of temple endowment and baptism for the dead?

Why was there no mention of the endowment ceremony until Joseph Smith joined the Free Masons?

Hedning Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of he
> gospel why is there no mention of temple endowment
> and baptism for the dead?
>
> Why was there no mention of the endowment ceremony
> until Joseph Smith joined the Free Masons?

A good apologist will find a mention of the Endowment and
Baptism for the Dead in the BOM. Since the DNA results for
Indian origins has become well-known, I've been astonished at
how it is now accepted that the BOM tells of the others who
were there. This is totally the opposite of how it was
understood for well over a century and a half.

I can't take Vernal seriously since the FBI agent stationed there was Richard Head.

Yeah its chock full of rednecks and TBM's, but its home. Its a very beautiful place. I love it.

1. Is it true that black people couldn't get married in the temple until 1978? Why?

2. Where did the temple ceremony come from? Who revealed it? If a revealed ordinance, why has it changed so many times over the years?

3. I heard many people feel weird or uncomfortable the first time they go through the temple. Why is that?

4. Someone told me that the things we do in the temple come from Masonry, and that Joseph Smith joined the masons just a little while before he came up with the temple ceremony. Is that true?

5. Why are temples so expensive and ostentatious when the Book of Mormon condemns the practice of "robbing the poor because of...fine sanctuaries. (2 Nephi 28: 12-13). Especially when you consider the very small percentage of its income the church donates to charitable causes.

6. Why are the rituals in the temple kept secret when Jesus said he didn't work in darkness but openly inviting to all? (See 2 Nephi 26: 22-24).

7. If the Book of Mormon contains the "fullness of the gospel," why did Jesus never talk to the Nephites about any of the ordinances that occur in the temple?

8. In Matthew chapter 24: 26-27, Jesus makes it clear that if anyone tells them they have seen the son of man in the inner room or secret chamber (depending on translation), "BELIEVE IT NOT", because when he does come again the entire world will know it. Why, then, do Mormons believe that Joseph Smith saw Jesus in the secret chamber or inner room of the Kirtland temple in contradiction of Jesus' own words?

That should get you started haha.

Ask just WHAT the symbols are on Satans Apron - the one that show his powers and priesthoods.

Or, say you saw the whole thing in YouTube and ask if it really is a creepy as it looks?

GOV (poster above) is spot on with those questions; start there.
THEN whatever you do PLEASE come back here to return and report;
I'm very interested to know how things go with this, and I'm sure others are as well.

Just a suggestion regarding the Masonic origins of the ceremony: If you bring the topic up, your teacher or fellow student may suggest that Freemasonry started in Solomon's temple, and thus our "endowment" is our authorized version of things that were indeed practiced there but kept secret from the rest of the world, because of wickedness or some such.

The only problem is, it did not start in Solomon's temple. Theories differ- medieval guilds, Templars, upper-class twits in London in the 1720's- and in a way all of them are correct depending on which aspect of Freemasonry you wish to consider. But it most assuredly did not originate with Solomon. So if your teacher says it did, he/she is mistaken about this. Might he or she also be mistaken about other things?

"the Vernal, UT temple presidency would be doing a lesson or something to that effect on Wednesday"

Mention to the temple prez that you've heard rumors about being given a "new name" in the temple. Ask them to please explain the significance of this new name and why it's important. Come back & tell us what he said.

(Some of us were taught that it was our name in the pre-existence, and would be our celestial name when we arrived. It was never explained why we were frequently known before birth by Biblical Hebrew names. Mine is Elijah.)

Then ask him if it's true that everyone going through the temple that day receives the same new name. [The answer is yes, it is true. If he says no, he's lying.]

This Wednesday is the 14th. Innocently mention that someone told you that the new temple names for that day are supposed to be Isaiah (for men) and Hannah (for women). Let us know how red his face turns.

See, you just heard this, and you have sincere honest questions about it. Wide-eyed wonder and all that.


ETA: Alternatively, you can ask if the phrase "five points of fellowship" means anything to them. [It was removed from the endowment ceremony in 1990. If they claim no knowledge of it, they're lying. Their reaction should be priceless anyway.]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2015 11:00PM by Book of Mordor.

And then burst into flames....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/2015 09:35PM by elderolddog.

I've got a couple of GOOD ones !!

Since we ALL know the temple is so sacred ( tongue in cheek), then why did they change the initiatory sesson, where the sisters who were helping the patrons go thru , would touch the temple patron's naked body underneath the skimpy, thin sheet/robe...........and then when some of the temple patrons complained about it feeling uncomfortable & a wee titch bit violated : Then they all the sudden get this oh so holy "inspiration" to change different aspects of the ceremony. ( Must not've been inspired in the FIRRRRSSST place, or they wouldn't have changed it. )---THIS is where the doctrine tells us all to "not be tossed around to and fro by every whim of doctrine. )

I hope this makes sense how I worded it.
Back in a while with the 2nd one.

Which room do they use for the 2nd anointing?

Hahahaha! Ask how much a second anointing costs.

Did it ever occur to any of you that you might get further in what you say if you could refrain from laughing at people??
Ha,ha,ha, makes everything you say to people angry.

I subscribe to the 'fuck'em if they can't take a joke' school of Miss Manners. Of course, this is only when I'm bigger or faster...

Thanks for all of the input guys, I will keep you all posted as things go on