Blessing ‘dedicating’ your home / residence, this is mentioned in the ChurchCo website with an image of an all-white nuclear family…

In my past I recall this too was changed - modified;

Formerly it was only ‘allowed’ for debt-free places (what about apartments, RVs, & co-ops?), but apparently HF changed his mind to accommodate mortgages, deeds of trust, life estates, and others… Go Figure.

Anyone here (old enough to) remember this?

messy, eod, or anyone?

I never knew about blessing or dedicating homes that were debt free. We were instructed during the 1980s to ask members who we were home-teaching if they wanted us to bless/dedicate their homes. Thankfully, all of them declined or had their homes/apartments blessed already. And my goofy dad was relieved because he really wasn't TBM by any means.

This one family was probably more Jack-Mo than anything else, but they liked my dad because he would listen to them share their favorite hobbies of Astronomy and Geology. They were rock hounds!

This couple from Idaho was really proud of their new RV. They were getting into travelling from a nice house in Nor Cal to a winter spot in Arizona and then back to Idaho.

So my dad was dumbfounded that they wanted their RV to be blessed/dedicated. My dad complied and found the dedicatory "prompts" in the back of the priesthood manual that he kept (always) in his pickup truck.

My dad being a mechanic blessed the following:

-The motor, transmission, gears, clutches and brakes.
-The air conditioner, heating, the tires, headlights and turn signals. The electrical systems, the wipers and radio antennas.

I'm probably missing some other things, but he was darn thorough.

When he was done, the sister walked over and hugged him. She planted a kiss on his cheek. She was overjoyed and teary eyed- That was the nicest prayer that I have ever heard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2024 01:17PM by messygoop.

I remember that, but never heard of the debt-free requirement either. Maybe that was a local enhancement.

I think this was a reflection of ChurchCo procedures - properties, a sort of backlash to when the Feds confiscated some church assets;


Arnt chapels & temples in limbo until all items, (land & improvements) fully paid? (no dedications until)

When I was a teen in the eighties, my parents invited the missionaries who were serving in our ward over for dinner. They were pretty quiet while we ate and then one of them said that both he and his companion felt an evil spirit in our house and asked if they could bless it. I guess they didn't like the meal.

want2bx Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When I was a teen in the eighties, my parents
> invited the missionaries who were serving in our
> ward over for dinner. They were pretty quiet while
> we ate and then one of them said that both he and
> his companion felt an evil spirit in our house and
> asked if they could bless it. I guess they didn't
> like the meal.

-Pretty damn rude if you ask me.

I guess they haven't heard that you should never insult your host.

When I was a teen maybe I should have had my Honda motorcycle blessed. That may have saved me from a lot of road rash and other injuries. Probably would have helped if I'd have been a little less reckless also.

  
    

Isn't there always some Mormon around wanting to bless your body?

but my memory isn't so great these days. It is NOT something my parents would have done. We did not have your typical mormon household.

I remember hearing about it. Even in my active circle, that was the sort of thing you only heard about the really weird Mormons doing. Every ward had a few fanatics.

The more common thing was to bless and dedicate church properties.

Higher resale in the tight Real Estate markets among members.

It isn't something that tends to be taught in church now. The personalized parts of Mormonism are rapidly disappearing.

My dad almost didn't attend a graveside burial because it was scheduled when he had to work in the afternoon. He was in his dirty work clothes and didn't even have the obligatory necktie. My dad was the hometeacher of an elderly couple, the old man finally passed away.

After the casket was sunk in the hole, my dad was already driving out of the cemetery when the bishop jogged up to stop him. The bishop- Brother Goop you can't leave. You're needed to dedicate Brother Codger's grave.

I think my dad passed out. He just stared in bewilderment. He said a dedicatory prayer as some "invisible" voice (very loud because my dad was hard of hearing). Somehow he gave a flowery prayer.

Messy-

Even if sometimes wrongly directed, it sounds like you were glad/ proud your dad wanted to help / be of assistance when asked, I wish I could say the same…

Dedicating a home/ house makes more sense since it’s for the living, ‘eh?

Someone c/should write a book about goofy / weird things people have said in ‘blessings’ & the fact that women aren’t allowed at least encouraged to give blessings, including for their own children…



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2024 11:12AM by GNPE.

You're right. I am proud of my dad because he tried to be a better person. A lot of what GNPE asks about- kindness, honesty etc. My dad did his best to emulate that. My dad was the antithesis of what most TBM men aspire to become.

We went on a family vacation to Utah in the 1980s. Utah was not on my bucket list by a long shot. My other siblings chose not to go. We went to Temple Square and other downtown attractions.

My dad had an interest in railroads and we went to the middle of nowhere to see the Golden Spike Park while my mom spent her time at the church's genealogical library (her idea of heaven on Earth). Another day found us near the Wyoming border around Echo UT. My dad liked watching trains working uphill (he took photos and later videos).

***Getting told off***

In July, the weather can be very warm. There was a shade tree off the frontage road so we parked there at Emory. About 15 minutes later a railroad worker dove his personal vehicle next to us. I have no idea what set him off but he began telling us off about blocking their access road and parking on private property. His rant was full use of the f-bombs and to this day I don't think any of it was justified unless the railroad workers usually met for lunch under that lone tree (the tree is no longer standing where we were that day).

So my dad starts up his pickup with the camper in the truck bed to move out of the way. But my dad starts telling him that we're Mormons and that we're on vacation to Utah. And that we're excited to be here... (And Dad gives him a full travelogue of Utah sights which only further infuriates the guy) And my dad, who works daily with men who curse like sailors, tells him that he shouldn't talk that way in front of me because I am deacon of the Mormon church- God did I want to hide under a rock!

My dad moves down a quarter of a mile. His train that he's waiting for must have stopped because it's long overdue. Looking in the rear view mirror, I see the nut driving down the road. I think "Great, here we go again"

***The only time someone apologized because I was a Mormon***

The guy came back, he stopped in the middle of the road and said that he was sorry for yelling at us. -I shouldn't have used bad language around Mormons. I want to make it up so I radioed the train that is coming this way and they are going to stop so both of you can get a tour of the diesel locomotive.

I guess my dad's little talk paid off, but boy was I embarrassed.

I not only remember it, we dedicated our home every year, until eleven years ago when I went down the Rabbit Hole at age 56. This forum plus Mormonthink (then eventually exmo Reddit) played a key role in disassembling my testimony. And I got my family out too. We were all true believers. I'm an introvert, so I don't say much, but I feel like I know you all very well. I do miss seeing posts from Elderberry though.

You should be a bit less introverted here. You obviously have valuable insights from which we would benefit.

Good for you. Thanks for sharing that. It's nice to hear from the shy lurkers now and then.

I am old enough, and when still doing Mormonism blessed homes I owned (just a prayer, to tall for laying on of hands)

So you can bless food but not your home?