There are a lot of ways to look at this topic.

In the early 70's I was going through a divorce. In those days you could talk to a GA so I went to Salk Lake City and talked to one. I wanted to know how I ended up filing for a divorce when I did everything I was suppose to do to be pure and holy and get married in the temple. Well he had no answers but did ask me. "Do you have a temple recommend?" I said "yes." He said he needed to take it away from me as I am very angry person and "no unclean thing can enter the House of the Lord, until after the divorce is final." At that point I really got angry because I felt that going to the temple brought me some peace. He then said, "See how angry you, you can not go into the temple with that unclean attitude." I left his office and since I did not have my recommend with me. I did not return with it like he requested.

Fast forward to this year. In Canada the Church did extensive repair work in the Regina Temple and just finished in the Edmonton Temple. They did not close the temples but used temple recommend holders were possible to do the work. But they had to bring in outside trades people for some of the work too. When talking to my buddy I said, "You mean the people I used to work with in the trades that smoke, drink and drink tea and coffee. and swear and tell off color stories? " He said "yes, but they took everything out of the temple so they could not see what it is like when functioning." I then said are they going to dedicate the building. He "no they do not have to do it." I asked is the Temple President going to dedicate it on the side after the work and he said "no."

Here is my question. If in 1970 I could not enter the temple because no unclean thing can enter the temple, explain to me how trades people with out a temple recommend are more worthy to enter a dedicated building that I, Mr. TBM who paid tithing, could not? There was a temple that got flooded a few years ago and they rededicated that one after the work.

My second question is "why did the Church not announce these fix ups?" Do they not want the members in general to know what a bunch of crap they built under Hinkley.Or are they hiding the fact that they have to try and save money by using a comination TR holders and non TR holders with out members knowing?

I was told that The Calgary temple in next as it is a big piece of garbage that needs a ton of repairs.And they are going to use the same process, close it down and do the work and reopen it.

So if workers without recommends can enter the buildings why cant non member parents watch a chuild get married?

As an aside, it is a general contractor out of Salt Lake City who over sees the projects.

Remember when a gunman went into the DC temple in the 80's and, I believe, shot someone or maybe more than one? S.W.A.T and fire and others were in there during that situation. I remember talk was whether the temple would need to be re-dedicated after it was all cleaned up. I don't think they ended up rededicating it.

It's all just so stupid.

You are correct gemini. I was on a temple trip with my stake and we arrived at the Washington Temple the morning of the incident to discover that we could not enter. We wondered whether the temple would have to be rededicated, and whether our whole trip would be ruined. Our bus took us back to our hotel, but later in the morning were told that the temple had reopened with no need for a rededication. We were happy, me in particular because I had returned from my mission about 5 months before and was eager to go to the temple.

Razzle dazzle to bamboozle the bamboozable.

What that GA did to you when you went to ask about the divorce was a classic technique of turning everything back on you--to blame you. You asked why doing everything that was commanded did not produce the promised results. The GA immediately went on the defensive. (If the ordinaries start questioning the commandments and the promises, the GA's positions of authority will be undermined.)

So, immediately, the subject was changed. Now it's all about you and your "anger" and not being worthy of the temple blessings.

The "dedication" rituals are just as phony as the handshakes and the hosanna hankies. Just gags and stage props to keep the bamboozlement going. Magic spells. Watch a few episodes of "Supernatural" (all about magic and demons and spells). All of the hocus pocus of Mormonism would fit in perfectly. Arm to the square. Testing demons by shaking hands. Healing oil and exactly worded spells. Peepstones....

Do you remember Junior High and hall monitors? Same thing.

As far as I am concerned, temples are not sacred at all. They are the big moneymaker of Mormonism. Without them all of the LDS capitalistic enterprises would never have gotten off the ground.

The church needs something to sell. Something to differentiate itself from other church's. The temple recommend is the biggest money maker for the church short of anything their business holdings generate.

They do seem to have a lot of problems with the Hinckley era temples. They have had to gut several of them. Some in humid climates due to moisture getting behind the facade and creating mold and rot. Others due to Chinese drywall being used that gasses out toxic fumes. Who knows what other problems.

One interesting observation I had is some of these smaller temples are actually framed with wood. Basically built like a house with a fancy facade put on it.

THANK YOU!

The first time I saw them using wood as framing that was what I thought too. Actually, I had assumed they were going WAY overboard and building forms for a poured concrete interior wall, but nope, they're nothing but a granite tile-sided square house.

With a fiberglass moroni.

and fiberglass oxen.

and you can buy any one of the chandeliers from Schonbek.

You wanna temple?

I didn't realize that they had lowered the quality of materials and design so much. (I haven't been close to any of the new temples.)

I guess it makes sense--especially if the main purpose is money laundering and using the temple construction projects as a way to divert tithing money into private pockets. Go heavy on the facade, and extra cheap on everything else. That way you can inflate the construction costs and nobody who didn't go through the project with a fine-toothed comb would be any the wiser. Most of the Mormon Muggles probably just assume that they're using the same high-quality construction methods and materials as the classic temples got.

As an added bonus. You get to completely redo the temple every 10 years!

Everything in the church is a giant contradiction. That's why they keep telling you to follow the living one with dementia and not the dead one that was more sane/rational. <grin>

Honestly, trying to believe in Mormonism is like playing with a four year old that continues to change the rules of the game.

Hey good news for April's conference. The Ministering program will be discontinued. A new program called Fellowshipping is going to replace it.

Secular, wow, how awful that he tried to take away your Temple Recommend!

And I think you are right on, Wally Prince-turning it all on you, blaming your anger.

Both the temples around my ward are closed for repairs. the closest one now is a 5+ hour drive away.

Needless to say I had no plans to ever go there.

I found it very very weird. I was expecting it to be a spiritual event. And I felt like a fool in that outfit. The temple wedding experience lead me to look into the history of the church and ultimately out.

Older (8 mo ago) thread showing the plywood(!) for the Raleigh NC temple. Nothing but the best…

https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2100078

Makes sense now that I think of it. Hollywood sets. Theme park fantasy buildings. Mormon temples.