Mormon Dilemma 719

Temple Clothing Regulations

Holy Temple, pg 72; “If you are going to the temple for the first time, counsel with your bishop. When he issues you a recommend he will explain something of the nature of the clothing that will be required in the temple. Obtaining this clothing need not be a worry to you. You can either buy it from a Relief Society Distribution Center or rent it at the temple. In the latter case a very modest fee is required which covers only the cost of laundering the clothing.” – Boyd K. Packer

Isaiah 55:1; “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

This has to be one of the most beautiful and comforting verses in all of the Bible!  I first discovered it not long after I was saved and immediately thought of the heritage I had just escaped from.  No money needed and no unending works.

And then I began thinking of all the monthly Ensigns I had read over the years sharing faith promoting stories of the poorest people in the world saving up every last penny they had so they could walk miles and miles to the temple and rent garments. 

These are 3^rd world countries – shouldn’t we be giving money to them and not vice versa? 

It also reminded me of a friend who had left Catholicism.  For decades his father and grandmother had paid the Church to get his mother out of purgatory…sigh…for 3 decades this family made sure they paid the Church.  My friend’s mother died when he was a small child and he had six siblings. The father was desperately poor yet that money went to gain freedom for someone who’d already died… 

It’s unfathomable these organizations do such things and its nothing short of ironic Mormons would do this considering they left the fold of Christianity blaming others for charging people for salvation. 

For many of us here in America there’s always a modest amount of spare change lying around in a junk drawer in the house or we give it to the kids to play with.  For those who aren’t as fortunate as is most of the world, a modest few dollars means you’ll have a meal for the family tomorrow or the week.

These people aren’t living in the reality of what others face each day.  I challenge them to walk in the shoes of one of the kids we sponsor in Ethiopia.  Walking five miles in one direction to fetch water for the family and their gardens is their reality and none of the kids we sponsor has seen or even held money.  How would God ever allow them into heaven?  Come on people!  

My daughter Axi thought that renting garments is like renting someone else’s sin.  Very true!