This past Saturday, I went with my friend, Maren and her fiance, Stephen, to Twin Falls in order to go to the new Temple that they built there and they were having an open house. That's the only way people who don't have Temple recommends or non LDS people can go in is when there's an open house. It was a great trip! We three rode together and listened to music on the way. We pulled into the parking lot of the Temple and there was only 1 person who was protesting the existence of Mormonism. There had to be hundreds of people there and only 1 of him yelling at the top of his lungs how Mormonism isn't Christian. To me, it's not Christian to be standing on the corner condemning another religion (no matter what it is)! Anyway, we took some group pictures outside the chapel while we waited for our group to be brought into the chapel in preparation for the tour. Our group was finally able to go in and so we were led into the chapel to sit and listen to some pretty piano music while we waited. That time was spent just visiting some more with people. After about 30-40ish minutes, we were able to be taken to a video presentation room.
The video just basically told us about the history of how Mormon pioneers came out west after much persecution. They also explained how calm and serene the different rooms in the temple are and how close one can come to God. Married couples are sealed for eternity as well as children are sealed to the parents for eternity. They believe that once people die, they shouldn't be taken away from each other once they die. This kind of got me thinking: What if a young couple gets married (say about mid 20s) and then an accident happens and one dies and untimely death--is the other allowed to marry again since they are sealed for eternity? Also, what if the marriage ends up being an abusive relationship like with physical and/or verbal abuse--does one have to stick with that partner even though their marriage is deteriorating? Those are some questions I have that I should ask Maren...she's more than happy to answer questions that I might have. Anyway, we finally got to go into the temple and it was BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! There were paintings and murals all over the walls in each hallway and each room. There are 2 Endowment rooms that are considered the education rooms where they come in and learn about their purpose here on Earth and their mission in life in one and that first room has a HUGE mural all over the wall that depicts the Magic Valley area with nature all around and animals and whatnot. The second Endowment room is more lit up with more light and the walls are rather a pure white to signify more knowledge and enlightenment. Maren told me while we were in there that she greatly appreciated having me there--a friend to share this experience with! The next room that we went into required us not to talk at all because it was the Celestial room where people come to meditate and reflect on their life and their mission here on Earth. We walked in and the first thing I noticed was the gigantuan chandelier! It was so gorgeous! The whole room was a mixture of white and ivory and cream colors to represent Heaven. It was the best room ever!
Oh and I forgot to tell you about the dressing rooms--I know, you're thinking, "why dressing rooms?" Well, when Mormons come into the temple, they go into these dressing rooms and take off their "street clothes" and change into white dresses for the women or suits for the men to make them pure and clean from the outside world and all its troubles. All Mormons must wear Temple underwear (like white undershirts and stuff). It's really different but it's so interesting to me to learn about different religions! It was just really refreshing to learn about something that I had never really been exposed to. I definitely think it was an extremely worthwhile trip! On the way back I asked some of my questions such as why they can't drink coke and coffee. They actually can drink coke but only if they don't go to Temple regularly or something like that. But none of them seem to drink coffee at all. They can drink herbal tea but not regular tea--which I thought that all tea was herbal, but oh well. I felt really comfortable with Maren and Stephen on Saturday because I knew that they wouldn't push anything on me but would be willing to answer any questions that I had.
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