..to see if they say the same exact things?

and noticed that a lot of the wording and phrases were verbatim. Our patriarch was the same guy, so it wasn't surprising. It aided in peeling the wool from my eyes. I always knew there was a reason they discouraged sharing them.

I bet that if I had the privilege of reading the blessings of other people give "blessings" by the same individual (a military patriarch in a military stake in Germany), I'd find that they're ALL the same. TBM wife is very disappointed each time she thinks about it. She always bought into the notion that a patriarch is a sort of mini-prophet, that they all have a fluent and imaginative command of the English language. But they don't. The cadre of patriarchs is laced with losers just like any other group of LDS leaders.

I love how you are only allowed to have one. It is like how magicians never perform their magic trick twice, because it will reveal the secret.

My mother was able to get two. One as a teen, one as a grandma. Special permission because she was depressed about the first.

They were very different.

My wife and I got ours on the same day and they were pretty much related. Not identical, but with her new calling as a teacher and getting ready to go to the temple, her advice was very similar to the advice given in mine regarding my calling and preparations for the temple.

General blessings that you'd actually expect, but tailored for husband and wife.

I also read my sons PB and it was a complete waste. Typical advice on missions, and Priesthood and a bunch of other things he hears every Sunday. There was NOTHING specific to him except for referring to his memory of the temple when we were all sealed together. And there was NO counsel to prepare him for the enormous difficulties that he was to face in the next few months.

All three of ours were completely useless job descriptions and nothing more.

One of my callings was transcribing Patriarchal blessings. Trust me, if they're from the same guy, they'll all sound pretty much the same. There might be slight additions if he knows them personally and adds a little something about an existing kid, or an already known career path, etc.

Current Patriarch's have computers and specific software that provides the template for every Patriarchal blessing that they give.
All blessings will follow the same pattern, have the same sections within it such as: marriage, kids, callings, jobs etc.
All the Patriarch needs to do is to listen carefully when he talks with your Bishop prior to your appointment and when he talks with you. Then just insert appropriate guidance into each of the sections.
The reality is that you give the patriarchal blessing to yourself.

process was similar to going to a fortune teller. The patriarch talked with my son for a half hour or so and my son told him all that he wanted to study in college, what he wanted to do for a career, etc. etc. and all this was included in the pb. All the patriarch did was listen to my son and then plug in all that personal info in the blessing...the funny thing is a few years have passed and my son isn't interested in that career path anymore lol.

The patriarch sat me down for a chat, and we spoke for half an hour while he asked me what my interests and goals were. Then we went in for the blessing, and he regurgitated it all back to me. :-/ It was in 1982 so a bit early for software, however I think he must have been given templates or examples to recite, probably with the guide to "say in your own words." Say X, Y, Z and then add these optional prophetic modules.

A few years back, a bunch of us posted our patriarchal blessings here on RfM, and for the people who had received theirs about the same time as mine, it was remarkable how similar they were. They were almost word for word at times, and they were not from the same patriarchs.

I was disappointed by the regurgitation of our pre-blessing chat even when I was a teen. It was very obvious to me what had happened. Of course, my parents blathered about how wonderful it was for weeks. It had nothing to do with my life at all. In fact, it was so completely opposed to my personality that accusing me of not living up to some commandment doesn't hold water. It's obviously not who I am at all.

mine said I'de become a general authority.

Prior to mission forced by stake president had nevous
breakdown and never recovered, was biopola disorder.

so much for promises tho I went on mission and had another
breakdown on mission...

Levite... tho I baptised every month the year before my
mission and prior to breakdown but the real mission
was bullshit...

levite.

a fortune cookie or astrology.

To get the full prophetic meaning of your patriarchal blessing, it is useful to add "...in bed" to the end of it.

I'm pretty sure that's how Joseph Smith became a prophet, actually.

I confess. The tape was in the room where I was staying/visiting.
I couldn't resist.

But guess what? It was boring..........I listened to a couple of blessings and they quite generic with lots of "ifs".

What was interesting is the conversation between blessings.
DD told recipient about us/his family when he was asked.
And he said something about free agency and his hopes that we would come back to church.
Hahaha...I wonder how that made the good member feel when he found out that Patriarch's kids are not TBM participants.

K

Mine said I would have "direct revelation from the Lord", I did, I resigned.

My ex husband I got ours from the same old geezer in our town and my older sister and a good friend did too. They were all three nearly word for word the same as mine. My Ex's was slightly different for one paragraph where it talked about mission rather than marriage and motherhood, but other than that they were all almost the the same. No wonder they do not encourage sharing!