Going to the Temple for the First Time – Interview with Anthony Sweat – Episode 13

Kelsey Edwards (Left), Anthony Sweat (Center), Nick Galieti (right) Welcome to the LDS MissionCast, this is your host Nick Galieti. On this episode Kelsey Edwards and I sit down with BYU scholar and professor, Anthony Sweat who wrote a book called The Holy Invitation, published by Deseret Book. This is book and this interview are focused on those going to the temple for the first time prior to their mission, or even those that have gone but are looking to get more out of the experience. This is a great opportunity for missionaries preparing to leave, those on a mission, or even those that are coming home from a mission and looking to get more from their temple experience. Anthony Sweat has some great insights to share on this subject. After the interview we are going to take a week off of our Latter-day Lives segments to give you some further commentary on the subject of the temple. This week we are showcasing the music of Sara Lyn Baril. Her music can be found at http://saralynbaril.com Her music is definitely fitting for a missionary friendly music library, which means its also great for music to listen to on the sabbath day or any time you want to feel the peace and contentment of gospel music. Sara Lyn Baril - LDS Musician featured in this episode.   I received some kind comments from some listeners that felt that I need to be more willing to open up and be more personal about my own mission experiences. So, in that spirit I will, from time to time, share some thoughts that I have on missionary work, my mission experiences, in hopes that this podcast does what I hope it would, educate and inspire missionary work, bringing people unto Christ. Nick's thoughts on Sacred Silence with the temple. I went back to my journals to see back to my first temple experience on October 11th, 1997, the day before I received my mission call to Baton Rouge, LA. It would appear that two things were at play that informed the journal entry for that day, my obsession with girls and getting a girlfriend, so much so that I didn’t really offer much reflection at all on the mission call itself (yeah, really classy - don’t do what I did), and the fact that I was taught that we aren’t supposed to talk about the temple outside of the temple, so I never wrote anything about the experience, who was there, anything. We touched on the idea of sacred silence in our interview. Its an obviously sensitive subject. There are sacred experiences that we should honor in that spirit. But what are those lines that we shouldn’t cross? I want to forward my own thoughts on this matter in hopes that it can help promote the spirit of the temple as well as help us to understand that the answer is far more ambiguous than we might originally think. In the episode, I agreed with Anthony Sweat that there is a maximal point where all people engaged in living the covenants of the temple have explicitly agreed to not disclose certain parts of the temple endowment ritual. However, while there are those things that are specifically mentioned there, parts that need to remain sacred, it doesn’t mean that the rest of it remains public domain either. As in all gospel principles, but especially teachings of the temple are best understood line upon line, precept upon precept. This means that what we talk about with respect to the temple should be viewed in light of who we are speaking with, not just what is “approved” according to covenant. It is common and expected that Missionaries will talk about the plan of salvation when speaking with those being taught about the restored gospel. However, it is doubtful that the best course of action is to discuss the content of the drama depicted in the temples as part of the endowment ritual. Then again, it might be. The spirit should be the guide in these matters. Remember, it’s not that we hide it, at least no more than God has withheld many truths until we are in a position to best endure the experience t...