Mormon Questions: Special Underwear

Carter and I at a rock climbing gym due to some very kind relatives. And, yes, we are wearing garments :)

One of the reasons I really wanted to do this series was so that I could figure out the best explanations to give other people about what I believe. All the questions I'm going to address are ones I've personally been asked and most of them are also questions that I felt I answered inadequately. Instead of feeling like I had clearly and succinctly explained what I believed and why I believed it,  I often felt that I had rambled on incoherently, only confirming what they already thought: Mormons are weird.

The first time I was asked about "special underwear" I was totally taken aback. I had no idea what he was talking about! The questioner was an acquaintance during high school and he had a perfect understanding of everything Mormons believe because he had been to one of those anti-mormon classes his church held (sarcasm). He rambled on about it for several minutes before I put it all together. He was referring, of course, to temple garments.

You can make anything sound odd, if explained in an odd way, and it's the same with garments. So you've heard that we have holy underwear! And that we have to wear it at all times including sex and showers (Carter's gotten this one before). Oh and haven't you heard that garments are even bulletproof? Well, I'm sorry to say folks, that we are all not as exotic as your pastor would have you believe.

Like many religions, we too have outward symbols of our inward commitment to follow the Savior. Jews wear tassels (tzitzit), Catholics wear crosses, and Mormons wear garments. It is a personal reminder to live righteously. We believe that the garment is protective in that God protects and blesses us when we follow his commandments and keep our covenants. We wear our garments with devotion in connection to our devotion to Christ, meaning we wear our garments as much as possible, though not all the time (as in, not during sex, swimming, exercising, and showering!!!).

If you want a more in-depth examination of temple garments, I would look at this article.

Don't you think this is just the weirdest question? Where do people get this stuff?