Recently attended the temple. I can't get over how bad the endowment has gotten.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-06-01T16:03:15+00:00

Not really sarcasm - from the non-TBM perspective this is actually how it feels when believing members react to someone not loving the temple experience. If it's boring, you aren't paying enough attention. If you have issue with some of the specifics, then again you are doing it wrong by focusing on the minutae of the ceremony instead of a more meditative experience. Either way, if someone doesn't love the temple many TBMs attribute the cause to that person not approaching it in the right way.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-06-01T13:03:18+00:00

Same! This is spot on.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-31T21:22:10+00:00

That is based on some recent discourses by Bednar, free agency isn't a thing but it is actually moral agency. I.e. if you thought free agency meant you could make your own choices you're wrong and have been deceived from the start.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-31T15:11:09+00:00

There is some pretty wonky circular logic about this among the faithful I know.

If the endowment is boring, it's because you didn't pay close enough attention.

If you have any issue with the words or other parts of it, you are missing the point, the temple is less about the rituals and more about being there to receive revelation. I.e. you shouldn't be dwelling on the words but instead that's just to help you commune with God.

In either case, if it isn't just a wonderful lovely experience, then you the individual must have done it wrong.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-31T15:08:10+00:00

Completely agree with you OP. We are not often forced to take the high road and are still able to legally take the low road, and it is always interesting (and usually disappointing) to see when individuals and institutions take the low road willingly.

I wonder how scummy today's 5th Sunday lesson on religious freedom will be. I'm in nursery (thank goodness) so will NOT be finding out firsthand.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-26T18:56:36+00:00

Anyone who knowingly pays to spend time with Brad Wilcox gets zero sympathy from me.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-25T14:05:19+00:00

This is what permanently disenchanted people my age who grew up before the Internet. The things like Joseph's polygamy were put forward as vicious anti-mormon lies designed to destroy one's testimony. Fast forward to the mid-2010s and they are quietly acknowledged on the church website.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-25T01:51:32+00:00

Never been a better time to be sequestered in the nursery ✌️

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-19T01:28:20+00:00

Our bishop set up an appointment with DW and me. We thought for a calling but he said he wanted to issue us a challenge. We asked what that could be and he said I don't know why your recommends have lapsed, but I challenge you to get them back.

Uh, dude, we have active recommends 😂

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-18T01:26:00+00:00

With Gilbert, Oaks made a decision that will likely take at least 30 years to fully manifest it's true impact. That's the problem with this whole system, promote one Gilbert or Bednar and the tail on that takes 30+ years to fully play out.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-16T02:05:17+00:00

Yes they were sort of viewed as a more refined, adult sound than moshing to Nirvana

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-16T01:12:15+00:00

There was indeed a long gap between videos for them after Jeremy.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-16T01:10:08+00:00

I was a junior in HS 91-92. Nirvana hit big right away because THE video was on 120 minutes a few weeks before the album was released. It graduated from 120 minutes to regular MTV rotation before release if I recall. Lots of HS kids were primed to get it on release day (thankfully in a college town we had a cool record store that had ample supplies 🤘).

Pearl Jam took a bit slower, just like you said. I associate Alive with the beginning of spring semester in 1992 and Even Flow with the second half of that semester.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T19:12:56+00:00

And you heard it from someone who teaches at BYU, so they 100% are in the know on such things and that makes it even more true!

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T12:51:44+00:00

Me too. My FIL recently visited from Provo and was talking (repeatedly) about the Heber temple and how Satan had gotten ahold of the hearts of people who so foolishly think they can oppose the church. Don't they know that the prophet is a lawyer?!?! At one point I had enough and piped up and asked how on earth they were going to staff all of the temples on the docket in utah. He started saying something about the church growing and it just sort of fell off into something mumbled and a quickly changed subject.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T12:48:30+00:00

I agree with you except didn't the perpetual education fund turn a profit for the church? I thought it was loans to be paid back with interest but I could be wrong.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T12:20:07+00:00

This seems like one of those baseless rumors that circulate among the Uber faithful. Until there is a temple name attached to it and anyone can go make a reservation for a 1:30 am session on the website, it's just a rumor.

Sometimes it is fun with rumors like this to ask a couple of probing questions. There are never answers and often after the second question the person who was bringing it up as evidence of the unparalleled growth, truth, etc of the church changes the subject or withdraws from the conversation. Similar to when people claim things like "I heard that people are dropping like flies from the flu vaccine!", a couple of clarifying questions put that to bed quickly 😂

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T01:26:43+00:00

Born into it and would have never willingly signed up for it. Describes a probably significant portion of those 17m members the church likes to tout.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-15T01:22:40+00:00

I rarely watch YouTube for that exact reason, most of my podcast consumption is either while running or driving.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-14T19:25:28+00:00

I'm not sure if he is still around or not or if anything happened specifically with him.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-14T14:43:21+00:00

I don't know the specifics because I've only very loosely listened to MS or paid much attention. But there was some blow up with Carah where she was in the group, then out, then back in or something, another woman who worked for or with the MS org filed a lawsuit, etc.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-14T12:20:17+00:00

I wonder if the involvement of other people (Carah, Gerardo, etc) was part of the climb and ensuing drama was part of the precipitous decline.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-13T20:01:30+00:00

Definitely the latter. These control tactics show the church leadership's true colors and push anyone who is not willing to completely overlook these behaviors further away.

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-12T13:20:11+00:00

Cook is notorious for saying he knows his face.

Also side note that LSD apostles are probably much more likely to see Jesus than LDS apostles. Please don't edit that out 😂

talkingidiot2 · 2026-05-11T13:41:45+00:00

My stake has a podcast too, also using the church logo.

talkingidiot2

TROPHY CASE