Question
Hi Gramps
In the country I live, we have to marry civilly before we can be sealed in a temple. I’ve been to several LDS weddings over the past few years where the bride has clearly not been wearing her garments under her wedding dress even though she has been endowed. I always thought it wasn’t acceptable for anyone to take off their garments except in obvious situations. Am I mistaken? Is it ok just for a ‘one-off’ like a wedding day?
John
Answer
Hi John,
I’d suggest that you stop looking for the underwear of another man’s wife (smile)…but it does become fairly obvious with some of today’s trends in wedding dresses. So…we’ll just let that go, shall we?
We remove the garment when it is appropriate to do so. We are specifically counselled to not remove it when we do not need to.
The temple prep teachers manual states:
“Church members who have been clothed with the garment in the temple have made a covenant to wear it throughout their lives. This has been interpreted to mean that it is worn as underclothing both day and night. …
The fundamental principle ought to be to wear the garment and not to find occasions to remove it. … When the garment must be removed, … it should be restored as soon as possible.
“The principles of modesty and keeping the body appropriately covered are implicit in the covenant and should govern the nature of all clothing worn. Endowed members of the Church wear the garment as a reminder of the sacred covenants they have made with the Lord and also as a protection against temptation and evil. How it is worn is an outward expression of an inward commitment to follow the Savior (First Presidency letter, 10 Oct. 1988).”
And we may also read from the Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple booklet:
“The wearing of such a garment does not prevent members from dressing in the fashionable clothing generally worn in the nations of the world. Only clothing that is immodest or extreme in style would be incompatible with wearing the garment. Any member of the Church, whether he or she has been to the temple or not, would in proper spirit want to avoid extreme or revealing fashions.”
My read on this: There is no one-off. When one should not wear the garment, such as when swimming or bathing, one does not. Otherwise, one should.
We should approach our garment wearing with an attitude that looks for reasons to wear it, and to treat it as the privilege it is, rather than looking for an excuse (even a one-off excuse) not to wear it, such as to look more stylish or sexy at a wedding. To me that thinking is contrary to the privilege it is to wear the garment.
Gramps
