Did you receive a patriarchal blessing? What did the experience mean to you?

I did. It was generic and the life it foretold made me miserable to think about. The patriarch used what little knowledge he had about me to make a few statements, saying things like "you have the gift of love, service, empathy, and listening", "if you cling to your covenants, you will rise above all your challenges", "when the time comes you will find an eternal companion and enter the temple and get sealed", "you'll have lots of kids who will all look to you as an example of faith" (which was one of my worst nightmares), "you have a duty to do missionary work", and "you'll be resurrected". I was still trying to believe at the time and this "blessing" disappointed me and gave me a lot of anxiety. It didn't mean anything to me and it eventually became one of the items on my shelf.

frey

I did, and it was something that I took very seriously. There were things in my blessing that I took as direct signs of God's knowing of me. In particular the phrase "kindred spirit" being used to describe my spouse (I was a huge Anne of Green Gables fan.) Now I realize that there were large portions of my blessing that were damaging to me--it spoke of being a wife and mother as the most important thing I would ever do, and I always felt let down by that. I had more ambition than a life of motherhood. (In truth, I never really wanted to be a mother.) There's also a line in my blessing about how I wouldn't suffer from any "limiting or devastating diseases," which I now see as incredibly damaging and potentially dangerous. Get your health checked out by medical professionals!

Anonymous