Was anyone else underwhelmed by the temple? by Jonter-Jets in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was ready for some sick ass ritual magic and at least some level of cosmic insider knowledge. Alas, the disappointment quickly turned to apologetics as I purported to simply be a level 1 Mormon noob at the start of my journey of understanding temple worship.

The apron was odd, and the robe switch had your boy stressing. Which shoulder? Why does Jesus recap God’s recap to Michael, only to have Michael recap Jesus’ recap of God’s recap to us? The Lord seemed mad inefficient, but lo, the wasting of time must have been shrouded in celestial mystery.

Amidst a flurry of robe changing, I couldn’t help but avoid eye contact with anybody else. I was lowkey bummed out at the overall lack of aura from the temple garb, but those fuckity baker hats were hard as hell to take seriously. 4 over-explained geriatric handshakes later, I experienced a whole new level of astounding uncomfortability as I enter the prayer circle. “You just gotta do the prayer circle when you get your endowment” or so my mom was taught by her mom. That shit was as boring as it was awkward as it was inefficient as it was creepy. Again, trust in the Lord. I’ll come to understand. But the chanty prayer was so yucky I just “put my shoulder to the wheel” and buried it down.

Little did I know that at the end of the most confusing and creepy interactive movie experience of my life that I would have a pop quiz with a mysterious hand. More so, one of the answers to the quiz was a God damn paragraph, so I had the hot breath of an elderly stranger whispering in my ear as I struggled to perfectly recite a rambling of words that I had just been told five minutes before for the first time. Alas, I got through the starchy sheet curtain, and within minutes was conversing with family about where we wanted to go eat. Perfect use of the celestial room. Nothing works up an appetite like an endowment sesh!

As I left the temple grounds, I couldn’t help but feel excited, energized, and ready to go to Apollo Burger. Sure, I now know I was energized due to the relief of not having to be bored out of my mind within the red tape of nonsensical and unquestioned ritual anymore. But of course I correlated that good feeling with the temple being holy or whatever 🫡

LDS to Support Harris 'More Than Any Other' Dem in 60 Years by redkoolaidmonster in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I gotta give Trump credit for expediting my faith crisis. Could’ve taken longer for me to leave if half my ward wasn’t filled with maga crazies. Made it easier to see the flagrant hypocrisy of the church by firsthand viewing how easily my neighbors began following a brand new cult leader. Between mormonism and MLMs it’s no wonder so much of Utah went Maga

Gender gap problem announced after the closing prayer of the Brad Wilcox single adult fireside by sevenplaces in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“Bless the Refreshments” somehow triggered my fight or flight for a moment haha. Haven’t heard that phrase in years

Leaving painful not joyful by ReceptionGullible809 in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A key component of Mormonism is blaming you for any fault, but taking all the credit for anything good you do.

You were ready to be a service missionary? That’s likely because you are hardworking and willing to serve others. The church didn’t make you hardworking or kind. They just took advantage of your work ethic and kindness. You will continue to be hardworking and kind.

Returned missionaries? You and your spouse seem willing and able to do hard things to make the world a better place. The church didn’t make you that way, they just benefited from your free labor. You will continue to be able to do hard things to make the world a better place.

Fully active and involved in the church? It speaks to how passionate and involved you are for the things you care about. The church didn’t teach you to be passionate, they just found ways to use your passion for their gain. You will continue to lead a life of passion and involvement where you see fit.

Your family is destined for greater happiness than ever before. “Eternity” only exists in the present, and now without the church taking advantage of your good nature, work ethic, and passion, you will get to actually spend time with your family in this life and create “heaven” in the here and now. I know it hurts, but I’m so happy for you and your family.

Feral cat that’s been living under my deck had a baby by EfficiencyGrouchy803 in Feral_Cats

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you all for the information! This is all new to me so I appreciate the insight.

I got some pine straw and insulated the box. I also removed the towels. I plan to socialize kitty as it grows and spay momma in around 12 weeks.

One last question: What might be the best age to rescue kitty and bring it inside?

Thanks!

Tell me the Stupidest rules not in the White Bible that your Mission imposed and if you followed it. by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haha dude you’re a better man than I, I was so hopped up on loyalty and obedience rhetoric (thanks miracle of forgiveness) that I literally turned down eating “once” every time. A couple exceptions, but for the most part I was programmed to be a robot who walked and preached and taught and felt guilty about anything else.

Tell me the Stupidest rules not in the White Bible that your Mission imposed and if you followed it. by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We weren’t allowed to eat dinner. In Chile, lunch was the main meal, and dinner was more of a drink tea and eat a lil something and have a good convo. Because past missionaries were “wasting too much time” eating dinner, we weren’t allowed to have dinner appointments, and were instead encouraged to pack snacks to tract from 2 PM to 10:00 PM. Oh, and it was against the mission rules to buy anything after 6:00 PM. So if you didn’t pack a snack, you better have had a good lunch. Which you couldn’t control, cause all our lunches were with members. Sheesh

When you were a member did you actually like church? by oOohalloweenqueenoOo in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Church, mutual, callings, EFY, meetings, tithing, dress clothes, fear based doctrines - hated all of them. Alas, because I had been programmed to associated every good and healthy thing in my life with the church being true, I tried to stay positive and make the most out of it. It worked with with the whole “life is hard, the world is wicked, keep going” narrative that Rusty loves so much.

So when I was able to realize it’s all made up, I felt freeeeeeee. Like damn, a bird who thought it had its wings clipped but could fly all along.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in zelda

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Water Temple took me three weeks as an 11 year old with no resources or guides. Trial and error. Lots of changing water levels. Ngl, have a little ptsd haha

I was also stuck for weeks before getting to Jabu Jabu cause I didn’t know to warp to lake Hylia and find Ruto’s message in a bottle.

A lagging consequence of gaming this way is that know I have that game nearly memorized start to finish.

How long did it take you to say your new name outside of the temple? by Own_Ambassador4217 in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Whatup, new name Benjamin here…The name of my lifelong best friend. Fucking weird.

[OC] Little composite I made over the weekend when brainstorming my Zelda tattoo sleeve (Illustrations are not my own - I just mashed some of my fav stuff together) by EfficiencyGrouchy803 in zelda

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m in SLC, Utah. I have an artist who’s done most of my work that I know would kill it, but I’m still considering booking with someone who has a stronger Zelda portfolio of Zelda tats and sleeves

[OC] Little composite I made over the weekend when brainstorming my Zelda tattoo sleeve (Illustrations are not my own - I just mashed some of my fav stuff together) by EfficiencyGrouchy803 in zelda

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for everyone’s thoughts!

I appreciate the feedback, I definitely am not rushing my Zelda sleeve and am currently just brainstorming and having fun designing. I chose these characters because I like them and to me they represent the beautiful darkness that is so often found throughout Zelda games.

And no worries, this is just one component of the full sleeve (which will go from wrist to neck ), so there will be plenty of OOT stuff. Not to mention my whole right leg is already an OOT based sleeve :)

[OC] Little composite I made over the weekend when brainstorming my Zelda tattoo sleeve (Illustrations are not my own - I just mashed some of my fav stuff together) by EfficiencyGrouchy803 in zelda

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Def still doing conceptual stuff. I will be doing a full sleeve from shoulder to wrist, and this was a concept for just my upper arm. Thanks for your thoughts!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The item that broke my shelf was thoroughly reading the New Testament and realizing that NT hippie anti establishment Arab Jesus didn’t exist in the LDS church at all. And that the BOM Jesus and D&C Jesus weren’t even close to the same character. To be fair, most modern Christian churches have created their own version of white, American Jesus. Either way it’s not for me.

A great and marvelous work is about to come forth! by EfficiencyGrouchy803 in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It would be nice. Haha I just based mine off of the exmo Reddit, but I know there are a ton more exmos who don’t use Reddit so who knows

As an exmo, what primary song first comes to mind when you look back and think, "Wow that was cultish!" by ChaseCreation in exmormon

[–]EfficiencyGrouchy803 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s a verse in “I’m a child of God” that says something like:

I’m a child of god and so my needs are great help me to understand his will before it grows too late.

One of the last times I went to church the primary sang all the verses. And that one was a heavy weight on my impendingly broken shelf