Is there anyone here that hasn't left the church yet with a temple recommend who would be kind to let me borrow it so I can experience the Celestial Room?

Go sit in the lobby of a Marriott Hotel when there are no guests present.
There you go.

And you don't have to go through the washing/anointing :)

But be sure to wear some uncomfortable, awkward looking clothes when you visit the Marriott.

'nowadays' I don't think having the physical TR will get U in; I can't imagine that they wouldn't cancel it electronically besides 'asking' for its return when you're ex'd...

Wouldn't it work to use a TR from someone in good standing who is willing to give the recommend to this poster?

Do you want to just go see what the celestial room looks like? Then do as ificouldhietokolob suggests, one might argue that it's a better experience and you wouldn't have someone tell you that you have leave after a minute or so.

Even if you had a temple recommend, if you're hoping that you can just walk in and sit in the celestial room, it's not that easy. Generally speaking, the only way to see the celestial room is to sit through an endowment session, which means 2+ hours of watching a boring video and doing all kinds of hand shakes and repeating prayer/oaths/etc. They do not generally let people into the celestial room without having done that part first and then they often push you out of there fast regardless, so you might be able to sit in there for a minute or two. I've never understood why, but they don't want people to linger in there, possibly because they'd realize that there's nothing special.

Since you'd be going through with someone else's temple recommend, you'd be expected to have a decent idea of what's going on. That could be rectified if you watch the video's ahead of time or have someone go with you or at least coach you before you go...

To me, that's an awful lot of work for something you can get by watching a video or reading a transcript online and then going to sit in a hotel lobby.

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to find a mormon willing to loan you their temple recommend. They have paid a steep price for it and if it is a current one, they have to keep paying that steep price every time they renew it. Hence, if they are active enough to have one, they likely won't allow an outsider to use it.

You can get your own temple recommend, but be prepared to pay hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands, and commit yourself to following the miriade of mormon rules. Also, if you slip up even once, they might ask for your recommend back. I think that recommends now have a bar code so if you refuse to give it back, they can still cancel it and the guard at the front door of the temple will check with a bar-code reader to make sure it is valid.

Another way to get into the temple, specifically the Celestial Room, is to get married. If you have done the washing & anointing already and also done a session where you get your new name, you might be able to skip the 2 hour session and go straight to the Celestial Room for the marriage ceremony. But you will still have to change out of your church clothes and don the temple attire.

No matter how you do it, it's gonna cost you big bucks. And once you are inside, if you don't know the routine, they will notice very quickly and quiz you. They have hall guards who look for those who seem puzzled or confused.

dodo Wrote:
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> You can get your own temple recommend, but be
> prepared to pay hundreds of dollars, maybe
> thousands, and commit yourself to following the
> miriade of mormon rules.

Much easier to commit yourself to saying you follow the myriad
of Mormon rules during your interview.

I just simply want to experience it.

Every new temple or renovated one allows non-TR-holders to tour with a guide before the building is dedicated.

It isn't the same as participation but you do get to be inside the building and see most of the important rooms.

It's only special if you believe it. Otherwise, don't waste your time.

canary21 Wrote:
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> I just simply want to experience it.

I've "experienced" it. It's just a room. Usually (depending on the temple), a not very comfortable, gaudily-decorated room, where you're not allowed to speak in anything other than a holy whisper, and where you're not allowed to ask any questions (like "why does god make us learn secret handshakes to get into heaven -- shouldn't god, being all-knowing, already know who we are and whether or not we're worthy?")

Like I said, go sit in an empty Marriott hotel lobby. Decoration is about the same, if you talk loudly a clerk will come over and shush you, it's a place run by mormons...but you won't have to learn the secret handshakes and wear funny clothing to get there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/21/2016 12:19PM by ificouldhietokolob.

My wife sometimes admonishes my reluctance to convert with, "Don't you want to experience the temple and its ceremonies?"

"No! No, I do not!" I've read about it. I've seen pictures. Taking everything into consideration (its purpose, history, symbolism, etc.), it has no appeal to me whatsoever.

OK, let's take a different tactic... Why do you "simply want to experience it"?

I noticed on another thread that you have read/are reading the BOM in an attempt to "understand it".

So, I'm confused a bit. Are you researching the LDS church in an attempt to gain spiritual knowledge? Are you looking into it for historical purposes? Are you just looking into it from a "look at that weird religion over there!" perspective.

Having some context for your reasoning might help us answer your questions better.

If it helps: There's nothing to "understand" in the BOM, it was written by a con man who plagiarized several other texts and given a loose framework to grant it the appearance of spirituality. That's it, there's really nothing more to it than that.

As for the temple, the same con man realized that the Mason's with their Masonic Temples had a pretty good gig with their whole masonic rights and creating a "secret society" with it's own handshakes and layers of symbolism with mystical ideas of power. He liked it so he again, plagiarized it. Things have changed in the LDS version over the years to make them more "acceptable". Some of the more sexual overtones have been reduced and overt threats have also been removed. It's also much shorter now... But it's basically, at it's core, a copy of masonic rituals...

The celestial room is nothing more than a room with nice looking chairs and usually a pretty chandelier, decorated usually in white... Which is why most people say it's just like a hotel lobby, because they look almost exactly the same.

I don't know if any of this helps. I will say that people have, in the past, obtained valid temple recommends (usually from a friend who hasn't quite left the church, but are on their way out, so their recommend is still valid). There are write ups and videos on several sites about how things went for them.

I'm not a big proponent of using subterfuge for things like this. Let them have their space, I don't want them in my house uninvited. Entering their space by lying about who you are is pretty much trespass (they have rules for entering, and it is private property, and you would be breaking those rules).

Wasn't in "Big Love" on HBO?

I think the gaudiness / Expensive furnishings, fixtures, etc. is a true sign of where their priorities are.

The temples should be sold & $ used to house, feed, & provide health care to the poor...

THAT would be a token example lots of otherwise 'normal' people would appreciate.

Youtube has some great videos of the temple ceremonies. Google celestrial room and you can find many pictures.

I understand why you want to experience it. I did, too. Then I got my chance.

There's no there there.

Once you sit in the Celestial room, this song will come to mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRZZC-DH7M

The answer is: Yep, that's as good as it gets when you're a mormon.

I went to the temple(Washington DC) my one and only time in January 1977. I was touched inappropriately and had my head
threatened to be cut off!! You are much better off by never
going. Then you want have to deal with PTSD!

Can't you just go on you tube? Lots of so called hidden camera shots from different temples. To me it looks like a dining / living room in a nice mansion. I love the all white theme and the endless mirror thing

You would be much better off going to Trump's living room - it being more "celestial" than the temple rooms. I have been to a number of temples and none are celestial. Indeed, the marble pillars in the New York temple are fake. Those in a local Catholic church are real.

print your own temple recommend ...


http://nowscape.com/mormon/temple_commend.htm

I think there is a bar code on the temple recommends.

I recommend your own temples. How's that?

I listened to a podcast about s guy that fixes people up with real Temple recommends. Thought it was funny.

themaster Wrote:
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> I listened to a podcast about s guy that fixes
> people up with real Temple recommends. Thought it
> was funny.

Funny too because, even though the "recommends" are real, the temples aren't. Irony huh. 'The Real Fix: Mormonism and ignorance'.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2016 02:04AM by readwrite.

Who is this person who fixes actual temple recommends?

The "feelings" in the temple are pretty accurately mirrored in any Mormon sacrament meeting. Go to one of those, but imagine silence, and no babies crying. The smell is the same in all Mormon buildings. Stay there for 3 hours, being bored.

During the movie, the audience is frequently asked to untie their aprons and take off their robes and switch the robe from one shoulder to the other, and retie the robe and apron, etc. At one point, the women--only the women must cover their faces. The "veil" material is thicker than a real veil, and more like a dishtowel. It is hard to breathe, and women often feel faint or ill. I got intestinal flu-like symptoms, and had to leave the ritual twice. The matrons were very angry at me, when I got out of my seat. I asked if I could sit in the back by the aisle, so I could get to the bathroom, and they got mad and said "NO". We had to sit in the order in which we filed in there. They make sure every newbie has a temple worker or an assigned companion sitting next to them. I know I would have bolted, if my mother hadn't been sitting on one side of me, and my sister-in-law on the other side.

The men and the women are separated the whole time! The women sit together on one side of the room, and the men on the other side.

There is a lot of rustling around and shuffling, with each change of clothing. There's also the sound of snoring! Yes! You will recognize the dialog of the narrator, from the King James Old Testament. I had the Bible practically memorized, and I was very disappointed to hear all of the same words, word-for- word. Plagiarism.

I was promised I would learn something new in the temple--but it was the same old, same old.

The officiators and matrons are crabby. They frown at you. I've been to many different temples, in different countries, and they are all the same. I have never spent more than 30 seconds in any celestial room. The first time, I sat down with my mother, and we wanted to talk, and the second our bottoms touch the shiny white Liberace-type couch, a matron literally RAN over to us and told us that there was no time for us to sit down, and that a new group was coming through. We stood outside the celestial room for quite a while, and no group ever came through!

The atmosphere stinks of B.O. and the cafeteria. The feeling is of being rushed, of being nameless. It is depressing to vow everything you have to a cult. It is also very, very, very creepy. The people are unhappy, and snarky. The temple is more "institutional" than a hotel. It's more like a hospital waiting room with chandeliers and stiff, shiny white upholstery--is it tightly-woven polyester?

The temple is not relaxing. It can be boring to wait for everyone to single-file through the veil. Another nice touch is that the person whispering to you at the veil usually has bad breath.

Oh--NO TALKING! We were afraid to even whisper.

Question: Could Canary 21 go to a Free Mason ceremony? Are they open to everyone, or are those exclusive and secret, like the Mormon ceremony?

My friend played the piano for the Masonic temple ceremonies (was paid), and she converted to Mormonism, with her husband. After a year, they were allowed to go through the Mormon temple. She told me that it was identical to the Masonic ceremony, and she and her husband both quit Mormonism.

Mormonism is the 'fakebook' [actual book title] of social media: they want you to spend all your time (and get all your information) there, and nowhere else.

Your (no)body is your temple. Got a recommend (yet)?

I've seen youtube videos already.