The Temple

Note to Carol: This entry isn't really a story. But I feel like a narrative about Mormon missionaries should have the occasional passage filled with exposition for non-members. What do you think?

Mission temple day came. Albuquerque is a home to a temple, but missionaries are encouraged to focus their efforts on the living, whereas much of the work done in the temple is for the benefit of those who await on the other side of death. Still, twice a year the entire mission came together at the same time to attend the temple. It was always an experience worth looking forward to.

Inside the temple is an ordinance called the endowment, in which we make certain promises to God — nothing weird or unusual, just simple things to follow His commandments and stay morally clean — and in return we are promised divine aid now and rewards for faithfulness once we get to heaven. We also learn about where we came from, why we’re here, and where we’re going.

These teachings aren’t always completely explicit. Remember how Jesus in the Bible often taught in parables, or short allegorical stories? The same principle is at work here. The Lord doesn’t spell everything out for us; instead, he teaches us in the temple through signs and symbols to force us to stretch our spiritual senses and grasp the hidden meanings on several levels. Thus, you can go to the temple every month until you’re eighty and never fully grasp everything taught in the temple.

There are many people in the world who view us as some sort of crazy cult with secret rituals. While I can assure you that there are no chickens sacrificed in the temple, no dancing around idols, and certainly no hearts ripped from chests by crazed priests, there are simple, sacred rituals that we don’t talk about outside the temple. The belief in our supposed cult-like nature stems from ignorance of the meaning of symbols.

Speaking of symbols, the endowment is about the time when we first don the temple garment. You may have heard of this; some people derisively refer to temple garments as “magic underwear.” This moniker comes from our unwillingness to reveal this sacred clothing to those who don’t understand its significance and a misinterpretation of the garment’s ability protect us from all kinds of harm.

As Latter-day Saints, we believe in a lay ministry. Our bishops take care of their church duties one moment, then go back out and cut open sick people or weed gardens the next. Our priests and teachers don’t go to any special school to learn the mysteries of God. Instead, every member of the Church is taught the gospel at more or less the same level with the expectation that anyone can hold some sort of leadership calling. Therefore, while clergy of other faiths wear special clothing to signify their ecclesiastical positions — think of collars, cassocks, mitres, and the like — we Latter-day Saints, most of whom are ministers of some kind at some point, wear our own clothing to represent our sacred callings. We just happen to wear that clothing on the inside, so that we can continue with our daily pursuits while always wearing simple reminders of our covenants and responsibilities. That clothing is the temple garment.

As for the “magic”? I’ve heard stories of people being burned everywhere except for where their garments cover them, but I doubt physical protection is the garment’s primary purpose — otherwise, we’d wear full-body garments like some sort of spiritual ninja. Stories like that are probably true, but the protection offered by the garment is mostly spiritual — they remind us that we pledged to avoid temptation in the temple.