Mormon Momma

Let me be clear hear. I believe in being careful when discussing sacred things. While I do think that the things we “can’t” talk about are really limited to signs, tokens, and names, etc., I still try to be careful about what I say about the temple well beyond that. I want to tread lightly.

Still, after what happened to me when I received my endowment (in 1985)—and my mom’s horror about it—made me promise myself that I’d never let someone go through the temple without hearing this.

Now, as a regular member of the Mormon Momma community prepares to receive her own endowment, I want to share what I learned with her…and anyone else who might benefit. While I haven’t found written, authoritative reference to the concern I’m clarifying, I’ve seen the other general references published by the church and/or general authorities.

When I was a teen, we did baptism for the dead pretty regularly. After you were done, you were sent to a private shower to wash the chlorine off and take off the baptismal “whites” for the laundry. You were given a “shield”—kind of like a long, white, poncho—to cover yourself while you walked from the shower back to your dressing room.

When I arrived to receive my endowment, one of the temple workers led me away from my mom (my escort) to a dressing room, handed me a “shield,” told me to remove my clothes and put the shield on, and then proceed to the “washing and annointing.”

I locked the dressing room door, sat down on the little bench, and nearly passed out. WHAT??? I didn’t know what to do. Where was my Mom? Where was Sam? Why didn’t they tell me about this???

Dutifully I dressed, but my head was spinning.

When I finally left the cubicle, I was led down a hall. I felt like I was in a movie. The hall got longer and longer and looked like a tunnel with a spiral ceiling.

My mind flashed back to the past month. My roommate, Suzie (who was a returned missionary and, so, had received her endowment years earlier), had said to me, “Now, Alison, don’t be scared. The temple is very different. But it’s neat. It’s just really different. So don’t be scared.”

The next day she reminded me not to be scared. For almost a full month, I was told “don’t be scared even though it’s really different.”

This was much more than “different.” Here I am, walking down to a room full of men, with next to nothing on my body, to be “washed and annointed.”

I knew I couldn’t do it. I knew I couldn’t marry Sam—or anyone who could be involved in something like this. And I was stunned beyond belief that my parents were in on it.

My whole world was crashing in around me.

Finally, we walked into a room with…women. There was not a man anywhere to be seen.

Women? How could women perform ordinances?

So, the truth is, women do the “washing and annointing” for other women (men do it for men) and the “washing and annointing” is more like a priesthood blessing than anything. It’s not some scary, crazy thing that was flashing through my mind.

Later, when I told my mom what had happened, she felt awful. It just hadn’t occurred to her to tell me that women perform ordinances in the temple or really much else. And, to be honest, I’d never wondered much about the temple—nor had I ever asked. I just figured when I got there I’d find out.

Since we don’t have a model in the “regular” church for females performing ordinances, it isn’t something we can assume that people know. In addition, they might be surprised that—in a church that seems so “practical”—we do, indeed, use lots of symbolism in the temple ceremony.

Even with the real importance of safeguarding the sacred, I think it’s a good thing to discuss the temple enough to prepare our members for what they will experience.

The temple preparation classes are a step toward that but—at least last time I taught it, about three centuries ago—still seemed very general and vague.

By sharing this I simply hope to save some of the fear that I needlessly encountered. The temple is different, but in a beautiful, sacred way. It it my hope that the first visit for our members will be as inspiring as every other.