When do mormons get their garments

Doctrinal Study Book of Mormon. Doctrinal Study Covenant. Doctrinal Study Dispensations. Doctrinal Study Eternal Life. Doctrinal Study Faith in Jesus Christ. Doctrinal Study First Vision. Doctrinal Study Godhead. Doctrinal Study God the Father. Doctrinal Study Heavenly Parents. Doctrinal Study Holy Ghost. Doctrinal Study Jesus Christ. Doctrinal Study Missionary Work.

Doctrinal Study Obedience. Doctrinal Study Ordinances. Peace and Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints. Doctrinal Study Plan of Salvation. Some do, says Mason, although he noted that "Mormons don't generally talk a lot about sex or underwear. Nope, says Mason; it used to be much longer and identical for women and men, "which obviously doesn't exactly work. Or, for that matter, what does it really look like? That seems to be one of the questions that the LDS Church is trying to answer in releasing public information about the garments.

The most senior apostle and the newest member are indistinguishable when dressed in the same way. Men and women wear similar clothing. While many Mormons find that the garments "stir the deepest feelings of the soul, motivate them to do good, even shape the course of a whole life of service," the site says, they're also pretty straightforward: "There is nothing magical or mystical about temple garments.

Even within the Church, though, the garments have an almost mythical aura. It's even said by some that "Joseph Smith was not wearing his garments when he was assassinated in To varying degrees, all kinds of religious clothing carry this latent sense of power and otherness and secrecy; it's the physical expression of someone's beliefs about the nature of the universe, an outward claim that the wearer possesses some kind of fundamental truth. LDS temple garments also happen to also be associated with one of the most private, secret spheres of life: sexuality.

Generally, wearing them takes some adjustment at first, but most Mormons report quickly growing accustomed to them. Out of respect to Latter-day Saints, we are not posting photos of the garments here. Garment-wearing Mormons tend to own several pairs, and wear them on a daily basis in lieu of regular underwear. There are obvious exceptions, though: no one keeps them on while playing sports, for instance, or on trips to the beach.

Because of their sacred nature, garments are not sold in retail stores or manufactured by outside companies; they can be purchased at various church-owned stores throughout the world often attached to temples , or online at one of the LDS church's websites.

In a word, no. Though it's common in Mormon-mocking rhetoric to use some variation on "magic Mormon undies" to describe the garment paging Bill Maher , there's nothing especially mystical about them. Mormons are taught that by putting on "the whole armor of God"--a Biblical metaphor regularly employed in LDS discussions of the subject--they are afforded protection from temptation, in that they have a physical reminder not to sin.

But there's no magical guarantee involved. Just as cheating spouses ignore the vows symbolized by their wedding ring, plenty of garment-wearing Mormons sin. The power is in the symbolism of the garments, not any kind of miracles that result from wearing them.

Within Mormon folklore, there are stories of garment-wearers receiving physical protection--being spared from injury in a car accident, for example--but this isn't part of official LDS doctrine, and it's not widely preached.

Elder Carlos E. Asay, a high-ranking church official, explained the garment like this: "It is given to remind wearers of the continuing need for repentance, the need to honor binding covenants made in the house of the Lord, and the need to cherish and share virtue in our daily living so that promised blessings may be claimed.