Various items and thoughts

[Chum]

10 minutes ago, InCognitus said:

If that is true, the room-to-room instruction, coupled with the adjustments to the length of time of the presentation, should allow for more people to go through (I would think).

It better. I'm adding people to Family Search as fast as I can.

[Duncan]

10 minutes ago, Chum said:

It better. I'm adding people to Family Search as fast as I can.

I've added a TON of people fairly recently and 3 of whom were done! so, the system works! There are however people that were added to the temple system in like 2014 and still haven't been done but ya know

[Peacefully]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

I wonder how the WC is chosen?  Most couples don't enter the room at the same time; it would be hard to know who was there with a spouse.  I'm sure they manage, it just makes me wonder.

I can’t really remember. I kind of think they waited for a couple to come in and then asked them. 

[JustAnAustralian]

4 hours ago, bluebell said:

I wonder how the WC is chosen?

Whenever I've been the male (it doesn't actually have to be a married couple) they've just come up to me while I've been waiting on a seat outside the endowment room (all Australian ones are single room) and asked if I (or we if I was there with my mother) was/were willing to do it.

[rongo]

4 hours ago, bluebell said:

I assumed that the online avenue wasn't working (as in, it wasn't serving the needs of the sisters, not many were signing up, it was too glitchy, etc.) and so they decided it wasn't worth the effort to even do that this year.

I think that church members are very tired of online church stuff.  I wouldn't be surprised if they have very few people watching the talks, even making it free.  

Without a doubt church members and others are sick and tired of online anything stuff. What I'm surprised about is that the women's conference for this coming spring (in many months) has been preemptively cancelled, and that they are "hoping" they will be able to have it in 2023. Given that most things are back to normal, it's surprising to me that the Church is still extremely "out of an abundance of caution" on conferences and things like that. Especially given the impact that the hybernation and shutdown has had on activity, connectedness, attitude, morale, etc. for a lot of people. These things are a concern to the Brethren, but it seems like they are so risk-averse that the very things that would remedy (or work towards helping) these things are indefinitely on hold. It's strange when even in other areas that have had an "out of an abundance of caution" mindset, full crowds at concerts, sports events, etc. are normal. I'm wondering what the sign will be that the Church can go ahead and resume things again. 

Church itself is mostly normal, from what I can see. It has been for a long time where I live and work. But I think they are afraid stop wearing the masks in Conference (Conference with just a few family members in the audience), even though everyone present is vaccinated and everyone in the audience was nasal swab rapid tested on site. 

[Scott Lloyd]

I recognize that it might not be logistically feasible to have a chapel as a waiting area in a temple, but there’s a lot to be said for it. It serves as s buffer where one can calm down and establish a reverent frame of mind if one has been harried trying to arrive at the temple and get ready for the session on time. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, JustAnAustralian said:

Whenever I've been the male (it doesn't actually have to be a married couple) they've just come up to me while I've been waiting on a seat outside the endowment room (all Australian ones are single room) and asked if I (or we if I was there with my mother) was/were willing to do it.

I did know that they don't have to be married, but I think it would be super awkward.

[Chum]

3 hours ago, Duncan said:

I've added a TON of people fairly recently and 3 of whom were done! so, the system works! There are however people that were added to the temple system in like 2014 and still haven't been done but ya know

Before the pandemic, there were a number of times when I'd add someone and minutes later their name would be reserved. Freaking celestial stalker creeps.

Edited December 8, 2021 by Chum

[bluebell]

20 minutes ago, rongo said:

Without a doubt church members and others are sick and tired of online anything stuff. What I'm surprised about is that the women's conference for this coming spring (in many months) has been preemptively cancelled, and that they are "hoping" they will be able to have it in 2023. Given that most things are back to normal, it's surprising to me that the Church is still extremely "out of an abundance of caution" on conferences and things like that. Especially given the impact that the hybernation and shutdown has had on activity, connectedness, attitude, morale, etc. for a lot of people. These things are a concern to the Brethren, but it seems like they are so risk-averse that the very things that would remedy (or work towards helping) these things are indefinitely on hold. It's strange when even in other areas that have had an "out of an abundance of caution" mindset, full crowds at concerts, sports events, etc. are normal. I'm wondering what the sign will be that the Church can go ahead and resume things again. 

Church itself is mostly normal, from what I can see. It has been for a long time where I live and work. But I think they are afraid stop wearing the masks in Conference (Conference with just a few family members in the audience), even though everyone present is vaccinated and everyone in the audience was nasal swab rapid tested on site. 

I'm guessing that BYU has some specific rules about masks and vaccinations to attend events and such so maybe it's more their policy than the church's that is impacting WC.  From the email it looks like they are still planning on Education Week, so there's that.

It does not seem like they are "hoping" they will still have it in 2023, but like they plan on doing something.  It says they are "looking forward to exploring options for a conference in 2023" so I guess we'll see how it all shakes out.

[Chum]

8 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I did know that they don't have to be married, but I think it would be super awkward.

If I were sitting by some wizened retiree, I'd be all Come on baby. Let's go get heaven-hitched 'fore your daddy grabs the shotgun for realz.

[Hamba Tuhan]

41 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

It serves as s buffer where one can calm down and establish a reverent frame if mind if one has been harried trying to arrive at the temple and get ready for the session. 

I have found it fine to sit quietly in the endowment room in preparation for a session. Of course, a trip to the temple for me is a very carefully planned 24-26 hours all up, with plenty of travel time included, so being harried isn't really a thing.

[Hamba Tuhan]

38 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I did know that they don't have to be married, but I think it would be super awkward.

I've been a witness in the temple dozens of times. Nothing awkward about it.

[The Nehor]

43 minutes ago, bluebell said:

I did know that they don't have to be married, but I think it would be super awkward.

Nah, I have been in a witness couple with my sister, my mom, and friends. Didn’t find it awkward at all.

Note they were not all in the witness couple at the same session. That would have been awkward.

[Calm]

2 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I've been a witness in the temple dozens of times. Nothing awkward about it.

When my son’s best friend, my second son so to speak because they were such buddies, was endowed before his mission, he wanted to do some sealings and we hadn’t planned ahead for them, so I was the proxy wife. That felt very weird to me and it was rather awkward, but I was grateful to be a part of his day (his mom couldn’t be there, so I was also his proxy mom).

[Scott Lloyd]

48 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

I have found it fine to sit quietly in the endowment room in preparation for a session. Of course, a trip to the temple for me is a very carefully planned 24-26 hours all up, with plenty of travel time included, so being harried isn't really a thing.

I don’t doubt that it’s workable without a chapel. I just think it’s better to have one. Probably the reason why larger temples have them. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[longview]

7 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I don’t doubt that it’s workable without a chapel. I just think it’s better to have one. Probably the reason why larger temples have them. 

The bigger the temple, the more people, the better the buffering afforded by the chapel.  The Jordan River Temple is huge.  This is where they collect a "consignment" for each available endowment room.

[bluebell]

1 hour ago, The Nehor said:

Nah, I have been in a witness couple with my sister, my mom, and friends. Didn’t find it awkward at all.

Note they were not all in the witness couple at the same session. That would have been awkward.

Knowing the other person wouldn’t be awkward to me, but I wouldn’t want to do it with a man I didn’t know. It would equally be awkward to have my husband up there with a strange woman.

[Scott Lloyd]

27 minutes ago, longview said:

The bigger the temple, the more people, the better the buffering afforded by the chapel.  The Jordan River Temple is huge.  This is where they collect a "consignment" for each available endowment room.

That’s what I was used to when I was still in the Jordan River district. In my current temple, there are never more than enough gathered in the chapel for one endowment session. 

[The Nehor]

40 minutes ago, bluebell said:

Knowing the other person wouldn’t be awkward to me, but I wouldn’t want to do it with a man I didn’t know. It would equally be awkward to have my husband up there with a strange woman.

I got a date out of doing that once.

 

It was a bad date.

So I don’t recommend meeting people that way.

[rongo]

2 hours ago, bluebell said:

I'm guessing that BYU has some specific rules about masks and vaccinations to attend events and such so maybe it's more their policy than the church's that is impacting WC.  From the email it looks like they are still planning on Education Week, so there's that.

It does not seem like they are "hoping" they will still have it in 2023, but like they plan on doing something.  It says they are "looking forward to exploring options for a conference in 2023" so I guess we'll see how it all shakes out.

That weird PR-ese wording is what seems odd --- especially since they aren't cancelling Education Week, as you say (why Women's Conference, but not Education Week?). "We're looking forward to exploring options for a conference in 2023" sure doesn't sound confident that it will happen, or be at BYU a year and a half from now. What the heck?

[rongo]

6 hours ago, InCognitus said:

I also felt like the endowment rooms are smaller now (I went on the Mesa temple tour twice), but it's possible that I may not remember correctly (I haven't been to an endowment session at the Mesa temple since the Gilbert Temple was dedicated, and historically I have been known to remember rooms to be larger than they actually are).  But I got the idea that the new renovations are restoring the (pre-1975 renovation) four-stage progressive instruction rooms.  If that is true, the room-to-room instruction, coupled with the adjustments to the length of time of the presentation, should allow for more people to go through (I would think).  The unofficial temple site says of the Ordinance Rooms (after the renovation): "Four instruction rooms (four-stage progressive), six sealing rooms, and one baptistry".

There is still a chapel, it's just in a different location.  Was there more than one chapel room previously?  (I don't remember that).  I have been to chapel sessions years ago, I just don't remember them being in a different room than the chapel that was off the north-west side of the main hallway (running north and south) at the base of the stairs.  The new chapel is in a different location, although with the way the tour was routed, I have a hard time placing it in how I would get to the new chapel relative to the main entrance. 

Also, the physical size of the temple has not changed, the space is just utilized differently.  The sealing rooms are HUGE now (for example).

Don't four-stage progressive sessions run counter to the stated goals of shortening and efficiency, though? 

The chapel for the special chapel sessions was on the left immediately past the recommend desk. The regular chapel was near the locker rooms (still is --- right turn past the recommend desk, then a left and down that main hall).