You’re sitting in the Endowment Room, and you’re not sure if you can remember the New Name you were given.
[poll id = 427]
LDS, Mormon, Mormon Belief, Temple
Ok to Ask?
LDS, Mormon, Mormon Belief, Temple
You’re sitting in the Endowment Room, and you’re not sure if you can remember the New Name you were given.
[poll id = 427]
Wheat & Tares 
You mean, after the point where they ask you if you’ve forgotten? I’ve seen people raise their hands and be escorted out to be reminded at that point.
It took me a long marathon day (back in the days when it was a 7-hour bus ride to Chicago and we’d do 3 or 4 sessions in a row and then get back on the bus to go home) to realize that everyone gets the same new name on a given day.
They’ll remind you at the veil anyway if you stumble going through so no real reason to make a fuss during.
I had a previous bishop of mine who had forgotten the new name but, figured no big deal he would just make one up. Or course this didn’t work out well since as mentioned everyone gets the same name. It was quite fun at the veil as all the workers bout lost their minds that he would make one up.
I voted for it being OK to ask your neighbor, however, I should note that if you do their is a good chance they will lose their minds that you would ask them.
Some people probably do not realize the new name is the same for everyone on that day. So, most people would probably think they need to ask a temple worker. I didn’t realize this for a long time, until I overheard a temple worker, speaking privately to another temple worker, refer to the new name as the “name of the day.”
I did once hear of a sister who served a mission who had forgotten her own new name when it came time for the veil ceremony before her sealing. They were able to tell her by somehow contacting the Temple Department in SLC or something like that. I thought it was cool that someone had actually recorded that for her. It wasn’t until later that I realized all they had to do was check the Name of the Day on the day of her endowment some years earlier. 🙂
So, when you go through to get your endowment, everyone of the same gender knows your new name? Like your mom, and sisters, everyone?
secret alert, its the same for all ‘adams’ and all ‘eves’ per day. so if you ask during the session or at the veil or in the corridor, any worker or patron can remind you what it is…unless the dude is a complete pri.. and tells you off by saving you have to raise your hand during the sesion… “
This is but one reason why I have concluded that these proxy ordinances have no purpose other than to give us a chance to perform service, feel spiritual, be reminded of our promises, etc. If one has become (via one’s agency) righteous enough to live with God, one will. So-called “saving” ordinances and covenants are merely powerful motivations to aid that end–not magic keys to the kingdom.
“No, you should fake it until you have a chance to ask a worker discreetely” should also be an option. I wouldn’t stop a session over it, but also wouldn’t ask a neighbor.
The one time I forgot the name, I was way too embarrassed to ask for help, memory loss was a touchy event for me. Funny thing, the Spirit said to just eavesdrop while waiting in line at the veil. I like how often the Spirit has you break ‘the rules’. Anyways, that’s how I learned it was all the same name for a day. I admit it, I didn’t figure it out until I was in the dressing room, so I was still worried it wasn’t going to work and I would end up causing a disturbance.
I’m a veil worker, and I learn the new name for the men because I’m attending the same session. But if I’m assigned to a sisters’ veil, I have no idea what the sisters’ name is until the first person says it. I have to assume that if the presenter doesn’t correct her, that it must be right. Perhaps there’s some mechanism for veil workers to learn the sisters’ name for the day, but if so, they didn’t tell me. No doubt I could ask a temple worker to tell me the name, but I don’t know the proper time or place to do it that wouldn’t feel awkward. But it works just fine to go with the flow, so that’s what I do.
Whenever I’ve forgotten the name I’ve been given, I just wait to be prompted by the presenter.
I thought it was fairly well known that the name is the same for everyone the same day*. The first time you do two sessions in a day, that should become clear.
*(Actually, those getting their own endowment get a different name than those acting as a proxy.)
I was going to mention that, my aunt keeps a record of all names she does in the temple as well as their new names (don’t ask me why). She told me she thought she now new every one of her daughters’ and nieces’ new names because she’d had a record of her going through the same session with the same new name.
My grandmother, a temple worker, shot her down by mentioning live endowments do get different new names than the rest of us proxy chaps.
My husband forgot whilst waiting in the chapel before we’d headed to the session, and asked me what should he do. I sent him back to the naming area to be reminded. The folks there apparently made a huge fuss of him, saying what a wonderful thing it was that he’d come back to ask them.
On a slightly different note, I do kind of wonder sometimes about the interaction between ourselves and the person for whom we are doing the work, and the extent to which our attitudes might or might not affect them, and whether they might sometimes be the ones forgetting things, or if that’s even possible…
Hedge, that’s a really interesting thought. I’ve never quite looked at it that way before, but I suppose it’s possible. I’ve always just hoped that my own distractedness wasn’t negatively affecting the person for whom I’m officiating – put me in a darkened room for any prolonged period of time, especially in the morning or evening, and I’m fighting sleep and generally losing. Now I can console myself that maybe it’s the deceased person who’s nodding off . . .
Actually, those getting their own endowment get a different name than those acting as a proxy.
That’s not quite how it worked when I was a restricted ordinance worker during the 90s. Own endowments received the same new name as everybody else. However, if they went through a second session on the same day, this time as a proxy, they were given an alternate name (to preserve their sense of uniqueness for at least a day). When the new name was the same as a patron’s first name (whether own endowment or proxy), they were also given the alternate name (otherwise, the new name wouldn’t really be new). The alternate name was always the same and did not change from day to day.
I proofed that comment multiple times and thought I had it straight. Then I hit “post” and shazam! the error revealed itself. Except for own endowments, the patron’s first name doesn’t matter–it’s the first name of the deceased that cannot be the same as the new name.
i dont like the idea that its secret and that the woman cant know the mans but he can know hers
I guess I’m not sure why one would either “ask a neighbor” or “stop a session” when there are multiple opportunities to ask a temple worker without stopping a session.