I went through the temple this weekend
 

with my younger brother. Did anyone else have church leaders attempting to psyche you out beforehand? My stake president said all kinds of weird things like "don't freak out." I wasn't freaked out until he said that, and then I had to stop and wonder what I was about to get myself into. I kept waiting for something really shocking to happen...and it never did.


I will admit that later that evening I did have a moment of panic when I realized that there's no turning back now, which is admittedly a ridiculous thing to even worry about, since I wasn't planning on falling off the wagon anyway.

The temple ordinances are far more formal and ceremonial than anything else we do in the church. I think it's appropriate to give a person some instruction on preparing for a new and unusual form of worship. "Don't freak out" may not be the words I'd choose, however.

Yeah, my stake is kind of hardcore on preparation. I was required to attend 7 weeks of temple prep, have a one hour meeting with my bishop, an hour and a half with the stake president, and another hour and a half with a member of the stake high council. My brother on the other hand said that his bishop gave him the little "The Holy Temple" pamphlet and sent him on his way. My brother did admit to me afterwards that he would have rather done everything my stake made me do than nothing at all, because he had no idea what to expect.

Unless they're endeavoring to do a Nibley approach to the temple, what could they do over the seven week period, given the simplistic nature in which the temple is otherwise presented?

If it were truly diligent study, but given the simplistic nature of Church instruction, what could you discuss?

It's been so long since I went to such instruction, that I simply forget.

I believe there are seven temple prep lessons. Six before you go and one after. Our ward does the 6 in three weeks.

I hope it was a positive experience for you.

Good for you, BDB. I hope it was a positive experience for you.

I was a temple prep teacher in my singles ward, and we taught one lesson a week, and yes, a few people from church tried to freak me out. One person even said "Watch out when they throw the fish." Huh? Yeah, exactly. Some of the prep only made me feel more freaked out. That, and I didn't know in the few years prior to my endowment they had changed your clothing during the initiatory blessings, so I was expecting more of a draft. And when everything went smoothly, I didn't get what all the hype was about. I certainly feel that the experience is like no other, and even thought to myself, how could I not have heard about any of this before now (the night I went through). But all in all going back frequently has squashed any obscure feelings I might have had. I just tried to make my class formal enough to be reverent, but not so formal that people felt like they couldn't ask the crazy questions they wanted to. I was able to give pretty detailed answers, too, without botching my covenants, it was a pretty cool teaching the class all in all. Even had a few people say they thought everything discussed (from the manual, and personal/funny curiosities) was the perfect prep for their own endowment. That made me pretty happy.

I was told, "there is nothing in the temple ceremony that should surprise you, that is any different than what you are taught in church every week."

Yes, I was a bit surprised.