Temple stories - good, bad, funny?

[MG 2.0]

What is it with the lockers, and the warnings about securing your valuables? Surely if somebody was able to bring themselves to steal while in the temple, at least they would be detected before they could get away with the goods, right? Surely the temple workers & officials are so in tune with the spirit that they would immediately spot a thief.

Surely you are joking. If not, you may want to consider recalibrating the works/doings/manifestations of the Spirit.

Let’s put it like this. Back in the day when you were a believer and either really or hypothetically served as a temple worker/official would/did you have any expectations that on a day to day basis the Spirit would whisper to you in your mind every time a theft was in process?

Once a month? Once a week?

Not at all? Remember, this is/was as a believing member of the church serving worthily in the temple.

Seriously? I would guess you WERE joking. Surely there was no mockery involved.

Nonetheless, the concerns/questions I raise may be worth considering.

Regards,
MG

[malkie]

What is it with the lockers, and the warnings about securing your valuables? Surely if somebody was able to bring themselves to steal while in the temple, at least they would be detected before they could get away with the goods, right? Surely the temple workers & officials are so in tune with the spirit that they would immediately spot a thief.

Surely you are joking. If not, you may want to consider recalibrating the works/doings/manifestations of the Spirit.

Let’s put it like this. Back in the day when you were a believer and either really or hypothetically served as a temple worker/official would/did you have any expectations that on a day to day basis the Spirit would whisper to you in your mind every time a theft was in process?

Once a month? Once a week?

Not at all? Remember, this is/was as a believing member of the church serving worthily in the temple.

Seriously? I would guess you WERE joking. Surely there was no mockery involved.

Nonetheless, the concerns/questions I raise may be worth considering.

Regards,
MG

As a relatively new member I was taught that the church leaders had the power of discernment, and that it was virtually impossible to deceive them.

Of course, I quickly discovered that that was not literally true. But I was aware that missionaries and others continued to teach that idea. Perhaps they still do so to this day - IDK.

So my comment was more a case of irony/sarcasm than anything else.

MG, I thought (hoped) that your comments on this topic would be mostly stories of your own about the temple, and expected them to be uplifting and inspirational. I hope that you are not going to disappoint me on this.

[MG 2.0]

MG, I thought (hoped) that your comments on this topic would be mostly stories of your own about the temple, and expected them to be uplifting and inspirational. I hope that you are not going to disappoint me on this.

Is this the forum for sharing sacred experiences in the temple? I think not.

During my career as a public school teacher I worked part time at the Provo LDS Temple for 25+ years on the Security Staff. During those years I had, may I say, some interesting experiences. But again, I don’t think this is the place to share.

I have had special experiences in the temple. I’ll leave it at that.

Regards,
MG

[MG 2.0]

Surely you are joking. If not, you may want to consider recalibrating the works/doings/manifestations of the Spirit.

Let’s put it like this. Back in the day when you were a believer and either really or hypothetically served as a temple worker/official would/did you have any expectations that on a day to day basis the Spirit would whisper to you in your mind every time a theft was in process?

Once a month? Once a week?

Not at all? Remember, this is/was as a believing member of the church serving worthily in the temple.

Seriously? I would guess you WERE joking. Surely there was no mockery involved.

Nonetheless, the concerns/questions I raise may be worth considering.

Regards,
MG

As a relatively new member I was taught that the church leaders had the power of discernment, and that it was virtually impossible to deceive them.

Of course, I quickly discovered that that was not literally true.

I think that at times the power of discernment is alive and well in the church. What can be a bit disconcerting is when we think it should happen and/or be present and it doesn’t/isn’t.

Taking the ‘all or nothing’ approach can lead to a position of disbelief in any spiritual phenomena at all.

I don’t want to throw this thread off course. It’s just that I found your comments rather black and whitish and wasn’t sure just how serious you were. Personally, I would NEVER really expect a temple worker to catch a thief unless the thief was rather obvious in their ‘evil ways’.

Regards,
MG

[malkie]

As a relatively new member I was taught that the church leaders had the power of discernment, and that it was virtually impossible to deceive them.

Of course, I quickly discovered that that was not literally true.

I think that at times the power of discernment is alive and well in the church. What can be a bit disconcerting is when we think it should happen and/or be present and it doesn’t/isn’t.

Taking the ‘all or nothing’ approach can lead to a position of disbelief in any spiritual phenomena at all.

I don’t want to throw this thread off course. It’s just that I found your comments rather black and whitish and wasn’t sure just how serious you were. Personally, I would NEVER really expect a temple worker to catch a thief unless the thief was rather obvious in their ‘evil ways’.

Regards,
MG

If you found my comments rather black and white, perhaps you didn't read the couple of additional sentences in my reply to your previous comment - I noticed that you didn't quote them.

For context:

As a relatively new member I was taught that the church leaders had the power of discernment, and that it was virtually impossible to deceive them.

Of course, I quickly discovered that that was not literally true. But I was aware that missionaries and others continued to teach that idea. Perhaps they still do so to this day - IDK.

So my comment was more a case of irony/sarcasm than anything else.

bold+italic parts omitted from MG's quote.

[malkie]

MG, I thought (hoped) that your comments on this topic would be mostly stories of your own about the temple, and expected them to be uplifting and inspirational. I hope that you are not going to disappoint me on this.

Is this the forum for sharing sacred experiences in the temple? I think not.

During my career as a public school teacher I worked part time at the Provo LDS Temple for 25+ years on the Security Staff. During those years I had, may I say, some interesting experiences. But again, I don’t think this is the place to share.

I have had special experiences in the temple. I’ll leave it at that.

Regards,
MG

(my bolding)

You did read the OP, didn't you?

Of course, it's possible that you have nothing more to say because you have never had sad/humourous/uplifting experiences about the temple (before, during, after) that do not fall into the category of "sacred experiences in the temple".

[MG 2.0]

I think that at times the power of discernment is alive and well in the church. What can be a bit disconcerting is when we think it should happen and/or be present and it doesn’t/isn’t.

Taking the ‘all or nothing’ approach can lead to a position of disbelief in any spiritual phenomena at all.

I don’t want to throw this thread off course. It’s just that I found your comments rather black and whitish and wasn’t sure just how serious you were. Personally, I would NEVER really expect a temple worker to catch a thief unless the thief was rather obvious in their ‘evil ways’.

Regards,
MG

If you found my comments rather black and white, perhaps you didn't read the couple of additional sentences in my reply to your previous comment - I noticed that you didn't quote them.

For context:

As a relatively new member I was taught that the church leaders had the power of discernment, and that it was virtually impossible to deceive them.

Of course, I quickly discovered that that was not literally true. But I was aware that missionaries and others continued to teach that idea. Perhaps they still do so to this day - IDK.

So my comment was more a case of irony/sarcasm than anything else.

bold+italic parts omitted from MG's quote.

Fair enough.

I still hold to my assertion in the first couple of paragraphs in my previous reply:

I think that at times the power of discernment is alive and well in the church. What can be a bit disconcerting is when we think it should happen and/or be present and it doesn’t/isn’t.

Taking the ‘all or nothing’ approach can lead to a position of disbelief in any spiritual phenomena at all.

Regards,
MG

[MG 2.0]

Is this the forum for sharing sacred experiences in the temple? I think not.

During my career as a public school teacher I worked part time at the Provo LDS Temple for 25+ years on the Security Staff. During those years I had, may I say, some interesting experiences. But again, I don’t think this is the place to share.

I have had special experiences in the temple. I’ll leave it at that.

Regards,
MG

(my bolding)

You did read the OP, didn't you?

Of course, it's possible that you have nothing more to say because you have never had sad/humourous/uplifting experiences about the temple (before, during, after) that do not fall into the category of "sacred experiences in the temple".

Uplifting and inspirational, for me, would be somewhat generic. Little inspirations and promptings having to do with family, behavior, testimony, etc. Trying to recall those is rather difficult now.

But the sacred experiences stand out. Those I will not share here.

I really can’t recall any sad or humorous experiences that stand out. Although there was the time, while on shift working Security, when a patron came in (off their meds) and believed that they had been sent/told to deliver a message to Jesus up in the Celestial Room. I can’t remember whether I was the one that interacted the individual directly. We usually had two of us on shift during patron hours.

Then there was the time someone went into a catatonic/psychotic state while upstairs in session. That was rather interesting and a bit stressful. And then there were the emergency crews that would take their gurneys into the temple and transport medical emergency related occurrences out of the building and to the hospital.

Most of the interesting stuff was when I was working Security. No surprise there.

Regards,
MG

[malkie]

If you found my comments rather black and white, perhaps you didn't read the couple of additional sentences in my reply to your previous comment - I noticed that you didn't quote them.

For context:

bold+italic parts omitted from MG's quote.

Fair enough.

I still hold to my assertion in the first couple of paragraphs in my previous reply:

I think that at times the power of discernment is alive and well in the church. What can be a bit disconcerting is when we think it should happen and/or be present and it doesn’t/isn’t.

Taking the ‘all or nothing’ approach can lead to a position of disbelief in any spiritual phenomena at all.

Regards,
MG

I don't think that I disputed that.

Remember also that I started off talking about my experiences as a relatively new member, and what I was taught back then.

I had limited awareness that I should not expect to believe whatever the missionaries and other members (including leaders) told me, and little in the way of experience to distinguish between the "truth" and the "fanciful ideas".

And as a general comment: when someone makes a remark that faithful members perceive as negative, it is not always necessary for them to rush to defend against something that was not an attack - merely a report of someone's experiences. Even the most faithful of members sometimes have negative experiences that they would like to relate and/or discuss.

[malkie]

(my bolding)

You did read the OP, didn't you?

Of course, it's possible that you have nothing more to say because you have never had sad/humourous/uplifting experiences about the temple (before, during, after) that do not fall into the category of "sacred experiences in the temple".

Uplifting and inspirational, for me, would be somewhat generic. Little inspirations and promptings having to do with family, behavior, testimony, etc. Trying to recall those is rather difficult now.

But the sacred experiences stand out. Those I will not share here.

I really can’t recall any sad or humorous experiences that stand out. Although there was the time, while on shift working Security, when a patron came in (off their meds) and believed that they had been sent/told to deliver a message to Jesus up in the Celestial Room. I can’t remember whether I was the one that interacted the individual directly. We usually had two of us on shift during patron hours.

Then there was the time someone went into a catatonic/psychotic state while upstairs in session. That was rather interesting and a bit stressful. And then there were the emergency crews that would take their gurneys into the temple and transport medical emergency related occurrences out of the building and to the hospital.

Most of the interesting stuff was when I was working Security. No surprise there.

Regards,
MG

Nobody (certainly not I) was expecting you or anyone else to share experiences that they consider sacred. Heck, in spite of my hopes, I know that the majority of people who read this thread will have nothing they want to relate, and that's perfectly OK.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, I have been disappointed before, and I will be disappointed again. That's life.

But please accept my sincere thanks for the couple of "security" experience you shared - they were interesting.