Mormon's -- has anyone got a Temple recommend and was not able to go into the Temple?

Question

About six months ago, I requested the Bishop to interview me for a Temple recommend. He gave me the recommend with no reservations. So here I was ready to go to the temple for the first time....

My Ward has a monthly drive to the Temple, so I went along in the Van. Upon arrival, I was excited to go into the temple, but when I went there, I was told that Baptisms for the Dead were done, and that I couldn't remain. The man at the front desk took my recommend and thanked me for 'making the effort'.

This was a serious blow to my faith. It definitely tried me, and as a result I lost some of my enthusiasm for the Mormon church (having been baptized 4 months earlier). I'm still trying to recovery from this situation, which was the result of an honest mistake. Inside, I feel really disappointed. But I still am striving to carry on...

Anyone else had similar experiences? How did you react, and what did you do to rekindle your faith/enthusiasm for the Mormon Church?

Answer 1

Bless your heart, I wish was there to take you back to the Temple and try again. I've never been denied access to the Temple, but when I 1st joined the church we lived 30mins from the Dallas Temple so we went often and it was really a blessing to be able to do that.

Your first year in the LDS church is a year of learning and preparation for your endowments. Until then your access to the Temple is limited baptists and you'll only get a temporary recommend. The youth have the same restriction.

Don't let this shake your faith. If no one explained to you that you would only be allowed to baptisms I'm sure it was an oversight.

You can go back and do baptisms anytime, if they kept your recommend just go to the Bishop and you'll get another one. You don't get your full Temple recommend until you've been a member for a year. Until then you'll get the same kind of recommend the youth get.

My husband and I were allowed to keep our temporary recommend and use it over and over again, but the kids don't get to do that do. Typically they have to reinterview every time they are going to go to the Temple.

It may be that your Temple just takes everyone's temporary recommend and doesn't let the adults reuse them either. That I don't know, but what I do know is it had nothing to do with you being worthy. The Temple workers don't make that choice, you and your Bishop do. The Temple workers are basically volunteers, it's their church calling or the mission they were assigned. They are there to make sure things are keep sacred while assisting you.

Don't take it so hard. It's ok, it was just bad timing. I really believe this was a simply mix up and your disappointment will subside shortly. I bet your Bishop can make you feel better in just a few minutes. Talk to him Sunday, or go see him Wednesday night.

If you let him know you're really eager to go and actually get to do something he might be able to recommend some members who would love to go with you. I know if this had happened to me, my Bishop's family and the RS Presidents family would both have gone out of their way to go with me as soon as possible and hold your hand through it. You can even call ahead of time and make sure they will be Baptisms when you get there.

Chin up, Sister, it's an experience worth waiting for.

Oh, and Heavenly Father knows you went to the Temple with a pure heart eager to do Baptisms, so you will get the blessings for your effort. Hold on to the peace of the Temple and let go of your disappointment. *hugs*

On a side note get some solid white slipper to wear in the Temple. My feet always got cold in the Temple when I didn't have them.

Answer 2

Just because some people dropped the ball on organizing your temple excursion correctly, and they didn't have any baptisms left to do by the time you got there--don't doubt the religion.

Every religion (the true and false ones) have imperfect humans in them, that make mistakes, or things just don't turn out the way we'd like them to sometimes. That's part of mortal life. But please don't let that sour you toward the religion. That guy in the desk at the temple is not Mormonism, neither is your bishop, or anyone else. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is mormonism, and nothing else.

Answer 3

Remember to have faith in the Savior and the gospel not the members of the church. The whole point of the church is to bring people to Christ--to give us the truth. That doesn't make the members perfect.

The prophet isn't even perfect.In fact there are many members who have been raised in the church and still don't have testimonies.

Many of the answers above were good. A few were blatant attacks on the church.

I glad for you. I know it's sometimes hard to not be offended by wavering members... just remember your own testimony. Remember the witness of the Holy Ghost you felt in your conversion. Try again you won't regret it.

Answer 4

That is so sad! I'm really sorry to hear that. And frustrating and disappointing! It's disappointing!
Actually, I do have a story similar to this...
My husband is divorced and I was never married. Since he was married in the temple, he had to ask the Bretheren in Salt Lake for permission for us to be sealed in the temple. (This is referred to as a "Clearance of Sealing".) And in order to obtain this, you have to be able to answer all the temple reccommend questions.
Now, when his ex kicked him out, she had him assessed at more than $800 per month for child support for one child. Now his take-home pay at that time was around $680-700. So he could not pay his child support and live. So he fell behind. And then when he tried to reassess, she had skipped states...twice. So the arearage is now something like $27,000 because we've never made more than $1500 in one month.
Well, whether or not this seems fair (and I didn't think it was...) we were not able to be sealed because his child support was behind so much. We have had to wait nearly six years in order to be sealed...we applied again this last month and pray that this time we will be able to take our two little children to the temple and be sealed as a family.

Now...it has been really hard. I was raised LDS and was taught that temple marriage is the goal. And I have been denied this blessing for my entire married life, not because of my unworthiness. It doesn't seem fair. And it's not! But no one ever said it was going to be fair...or easy...or fun...just worth it.

I have a little boy who is going to be four in May. And we have taught him about being sealed in the temple as a family. We have taught him that it is a great blessing. We teach him to pray for this blessing, and every night he does. We look forward with great anticipation to the day we can. So while it was unfair to me and not even really my husband's fault...we are going to be able to share this with our son and he'll remember it. Of this, I am certain.

These disappointments are very...well...disappointing. It seems like they trivialized your sacrifice to get to the temple. And sometimes these setbacks hurt and we wonder why we have to experience them. But I can tell you that the Gospel IS true. The temple IS the House of the Lord. Don't lose hope and excitement. Stay worthy to enter the House of the Lord...and not only will you be able to be baptized for those who have gone before, but you will be able to participate in other sacred ordinances, and your eyes will open, and untold knowledge will be yours.

The temple is the most amazing place I have ever been. I now live 5 hours from a temple and more than anything, I regret not taking more advantage of just being nearby...walking on the grounds and admiring it, even. Keep studying, keep praying, keep growing. These hurts will go away. The Lord still loves you and you will be rewarded so much more greatly than you can imagine. You are, after all, a Child of God.

Answer 5

When something like this happens to me, I ask myself something along the lines of, "What does God want me to learn from this?" Then I try and figure out what it is that I could learn or gain from the experience. A lot of times the answer to this question is not easy to find. However, when I do realize the "benefit" of learning or the growth I was able to obtain from the unpleasant life challenge, it has indeed been for my good and I did grow from it. And my appreciation for God's love and kindness intensifies.
In your situation, perhaps something like patience, understanding, building a greater anticipation to go to the temple again is what you can learn. I know that when I was passed over for a job promotion, I was bummed out royally for awhile being gravely disappointed. However, I pulled myself up by the bootstraps, worked extra hard, and got the next promotion that came along. I found that my promotion was even better than the previous one that I was passed over for. So, indeed, I learned that if I worked hard good things happen and more importantly, God knew what was best for me and "saved" the other promotion for me.....

Answer 6

Maybe you arrived late. I had an interview with the bishop and I had a temple recommend shortly after my baptism (1 month ago) and I went to the temple to do baptism for the dead two weeks after my baptism. I felt so good and so happy to know that I could help saving other people's souls. It was a great experience for me and I would like to do it again :-)

Answer 7

Read Elder Bednar's talk from the Oct 2006 conference. It is about being offended. I am sorry about the problem you had, but remember we are all human, and make mistakes.

"When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

"You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended."

Answer 8

I've never had a similar experience, but if you felt the Church was worth getting baptized into, give it another chance. Remember, that people make up the church, and they are all imperfect. If you want to rekindle your faith, go to church, read the scriptures, say your prayers, etc.

I am glad you are trying to carry on.

Answer 9

Yes,the Muslims do not enter the Buddhist Temple.

Answer 10

WOW, me too, I then turned to straight Biblical Christianity where in my research I learned that Jesus' death on the cross - DID - provide full atonement for all sin. with the Mormon church, I was going to be loved by them straight into the pit of hell. Yep, 1 Timothy- 4 : 1. Best describes the Mormon church. John - chapter 17. best describes my new faith, Good Riddens . . . no more Prozac . . . Later dayz, Mormon Church, yuck . . .