I remember one summer I went to stay at my Grandparent's house for a week to spend some quality time with them. I loved going to visit them, my brother and I were spoiled rotten. Anything we wanted, we got... when we wanted it. If we wanted scrambled eggs at midnight, Grandpa would cook them for us.
One day I saw my Grandma doing the laundry (Grandpa never did laundry) and I saw some funny looking, flimsy shirts and shorts... they were sewn together. They were temple garments, but I was too young to know that. I asked my Grandma what they were for, and she told me that Mormons wear them to be reminded of their sacred covenants they made in the temple, and to keep them safe.
Even as a little tiny kid, I wondered how the hell some flimsy material could possibly keep someone safe. Every time I saw my Grandpa's garments hanging out to dry I would wonder about this... one day I got curious enough to ask Grandpa about it. I started by asking him what the symbols meant... he told me he couldn't tell me, and that bothered me. I thought we didn't keep secrets in my family! (We did... but thats another topic for another day!) I asked him how garments protected people. He told me a story very similar to this one:
Don't worry, he was wearing his magical underpants!
A Mormon gentleman was helping a new neighbor move into their new home, and he made a trip with his pickup truck to their old home to bring large furniture. The man had an uneasy feeling as he was leaving his street, but felt it was his duty to help is new friends move. He made it to their home safely and helped load a couch and other large pieces into the vehicle. The man started off toward home and had a horrific accident on the way. A semi truck ran a red light and smashed into the drivers side of his truck. As if that wasn't bad enough, a fire had started and the mad was trapped. When he was finally rescued, he had burns on his body everywhere except for where his garments covered him. The Holy Spirit was supposedly trying to warn him not to make the moving trip, but he didn't listen to his inner voice.
Now, I am not a doctor, nor have I done many scientific studies regarding special underpants and horrific accidents, but I demand proof of this story. My favorite part is how he was such a kind man helping his new neighbors move. He went out of his way to help, what a good Mormon. Thank God he was wearing his undies or he would have surely died in that crash! Riiiight.
Here are some more faith-promoting stories I heard growing up. I found them memories of these from RfM, a site I love. Here goes:
Polygamy was needed in the early church because there was an overabundance of single women who needed husbands.
This simply isn't so. I was taught that Joseph Smith married his extra wives because they were widows and they needed help with their families. Joseph Smith married 11 women while they were still married to their husbands! Joe also married a 14 year old girl named Helen Mar Kimball when he promised her family eternal salvation. Sickening, isn't it? A check of every census record of Illinois and Utah, from 1840 through 1900 reveals that (like all western frontier locations) men outnumbered the women by a good margin.
I remember hearing a story about how a tornado wiped out almost an entire town, and miraculously left the local ward untouched. I have heard this story with variations, sometimes the ward meeting house was replaced with a faithful Mormon's home, or even a temple.
There is no way to prove a story like this... and there are just as many stories just like it from people of all faiths who lived through a bad storm and their home was the only one left standing.
Speaking of powerful tornadoes, there was a story about how two missionaries were murdered (supposedly in the 1950's) and soon after two tornadoes came and destroyed everything in the town. It was God's revenge for killing the missionaries.
This one again can't be proven, and if it were true you would think someone would have kept record of it... right?
Brigham Young was firm, but overall a nice guy.
Yes, I was taught this... I thought Brigham Young was actually a good man. He had to be firm with his flock because of the changes taking place at the time. He would have never asked for someone to be hurt, or killed... but reading the diary of Bill Hickman I know this to now be a lie. Brigham Young didn't even blink before asking someone to be killed for opposing him. Bill Hickman became known as Brigham Young's Destroying Angel.
The spirits of the dead visit temples.
In Young Women's class one Sunday I heard the story of my teacher of when she went to do baptisms for the dead in the Salt Lake temple and she saw and felt the spirit of the person she was baptizing. There are also stories of people seeing reflections of their own ancestors in mirrors or other reflective surfaces in the temple when doing family work.
Jesus Visits the Temple Regularly to Talk with the Prophet
Don't worry about the lights being left on... it's just Jesus.
I remember hearing a story about "The Temple Lights Being On Last Night." Supposedly the prophet would go to the temple and have conversations with Jesus. Lights being on prove it! Right?
This next one isn't one I heard personally, but was brought up on RfM:
In one of the temples, a temple worker became aware of a large crowd gathering in the foyer. She assumed it was a bus load of people just arriving to go through and went about her business. Then she observed two very large men dressed in armor and carrying swords who positioned themselves in the entryway so as not to allow the people inside the temple. The temple worker realized that the men were angels protecting the temple from a horde of demons.
Here is another one:
We'd be sitting there talking about the temple, and she'd suddenly stop talking and put her hand over her mouth. When I'd ask her what's wrong, she'd say, "The Spirit stopped me from talking," or "The Holy Ghost made me mute because I was starting to tell you too much." She was very dramatic about it.
I guess I shouldn't think it's funny because she was probably terrified that someone or something would soon be coming to slit her throat.
The reference to the mother's throat being slit was in reference to the changes in the temple endowment ceremony. Before 1990, people would promise to slit their own throats if they gave up the secrets (sacred) of the temple. These promises were taken out because temple attendance was low, and how would the Church get tithing money if people didn't need temple recommends???
Thats all for now, it was a fun trip through memory lane. Have a good day out there in internet-land!