When I attend the temple with my wife, I always look forward to an outpouring of the Spirit as I am instructed during the presentation of the endowment.
Friday night my wife and I enjoyed a special experience as we watched two hearing-impaired patrons view the endowment presented through American Sign Language and closed captioning.
The first time I saw a television in one of the endowment rooms, I thought it a bit odd that such a device would be kept in the temple. Odd, that is, until I saw what it was used for–presenting the endowment to the hearing impaired.
This was not the first time I had seen the endowment presented in ASL and closed captioning, but it was the first time I really paid attention to the sign-language interpreter and the closed captioning.
As the words of the endowment scrolled up the television monitor, I paid close attention to the punctuation and sentence structure. I marveled at the signs used to convey the sacred covenants and instructions, hoping somehow to glean new insights about the endowment from this alternate form of presentation.
I attempted to pick up on certain words and match them to their respective signs. After a few minutes, I was confident on a few of the signs and less so on others.
As I watched the interpreter present the signs for the words of the endowment, I was filled with a sense of wonder and awe. Moreover, I felt tremendous gratitude that the temple is available to bless the lives of all members, regardless of their ability to see or hear.
When it came time for the prayer circle, the two hearing-impaired patrons were unable to see the television monitor that provided the words for them, one of their spouses moved over and proceeded to sign the instructions of the prayer circle and then the words of the prayer.
As the company proceeded toward the celestial room, special care was taken to see that these hearing-impaired patrons were assisted in every way possible to make their temple worship meaningful and sacred. This assistance reminded of the time when I went through the temple in Portuguese, and the great care the workers took to ensure that I could enjoy the session entirely in the Portuguese language.
Later, as I stood with my wife in the celestial room, I reflected on how much technology has improved the overall presentation and availability of the endowment. In any given room of any temple, patrons can wear a headset that allows them to listen to the session in their native tongue, or, as I witnessed Friday night, the ability to see ASL and closed captioning.
I hope someday to see the film redone to allow for the screen to show the closed-captioned words, and for the ASL interpreter to be seen on part of the screen, so the hearing impaired will also be able to see the theatrical presentation of the endowment, without missing the words. (The quality of the film has improved since the 1950s version with Gordon Jump.)
What experiences have you had in the temple with foreign language sessions or ASL/closed-captioned sessions? Would it be distracting to have the ASL interpreter and closed captioning visible on the main screen? What improvements would you make to the ASL/closed-caption presentation of the endowment? How about a temple movie filmed with actors using ASL?
Good post. There’s a false prophet and a half on the radio named Camping who said the deaf are doomed to hell because you have to hear the gospel to be one of the elect. But every religion has such morons, including us.
I’m not sure which temple you were in, but Houston (which is relatively new) is designed so that in addition to the main screen, the wall on either side of it can be used as a screen. So once when we went, in addition to the main screen, the film was shown on both sides with Spanish subtitles.
Julie, this was at the Mesa Arizona Temple, a much older temple–dedicated in 1927.
We may not have large screens, but we have murals on the walls of the endowment rooms. 🙂
Brian, I have been in the Manhattan temple several times when screens are set up on both sides of the room for the endowment sessions. If you pay close attention to the signs, there are additional things you can learn about the endowment because some of the signs involved. It shows you that there are many layers of meaning in the endowment session.
We recently went to my parents’ house in Chandler, mostly so we could accompany my brother as he received his endowment in the Mesa Temple. We also had the ASL monitor, and it heightened my experience. Of course, to me it’ll always be thrilling simply to be in that particular temple, as I spent many many nights in the gardens outside…
I too have enjoyed the ASL possibilities in the Temple. One other experience that has remained with me was when I had the opportunity, as a Temple Worker, to be in the first all Samoan session in the Anchorage Temple. To see the tears roll down the faces of these faithful saints who were hearing the session for the first time in their own language was truly heart warming. No ear phone, the session leader was Samoan, the film was Samoan and I was the only one who couldn’t understand the language but it is beautiful to listen to and I was only there to help.
Geoff, I’m hopeful that I can experience the endowment in ASL again. When I worked as an ordinance worker, I used to love to study the various ordinances of the temple. Now that I am no longer an ordinance worker, I have to rely on what I hear. Seeing the words can be a tremendous help.
Ben, I know what you mean about the gardens. And when you have experienced so many missionary moments around the temple…in the garden area, it is easy to become attached.
Dianna, thank you for sharing your story. The CEO of the company my wife worked for served his mission in Samoa and was present for the dedication of their rebuilt temple. I can imagine that a similar spirit was felt on both occasions.
Living in El Paso, I have had a couple opportunities to visit our temple in Juarez. Being a smaller temple, the run sessions every two hours I believe. The choose the language based on what they have more of in the session – English or Spanish. My first experience with a Spanish session was interesting. I was wearing the headphones, but they also had the TV in the upper right hand corner of the rooms with captions. It was almost a distraction to have both. Next time I will stick with just the captions, if possible. We didn’t join the circle as it was done in Spanish. Overall, it was just an interesting experience.
We also have some deaf members of our ward and have members regularly signing during the block. That is also a very neat experience.
I’m sure that the Spirit was so strong at the Samoan temple rededication that it looked as if the temple were engulfed in flames, which actually would have been quite upsetting to those saints.
Thank you for this post. I have served as a temple ordinance worker specifically to ASL-using Deaf members for the past fourteen years and have, as such, come to see your exposure as normal and common as your experience was uncommon. Though I am not Deaf, I feel somewhat out-of-sorts when I attend services in other temples where the captioning or ASL translation is not present in the room.
Though they are typically located out of the way or, at the least, in the periphery of viewers, patrons still continue to complain about the monitors being a “distraction” to their experience. The Provo Temple has monitors installed in every room which sit on extender arms that can be folded quite clandestinely behind a curtain. I visited the Portland Temple this past summer and noted that a flatscreen LCD monitor now drops down from behind either veil header pieces near the top of the ceiling. Quite impressive.
There are a handful of unique adaptations (logistic, procedural, or linguistic) that have been made to make the experience as egalitarian as possible. In the end, Deaf members are no different than any other Church member in that they want attend the temple, understand what is going on, make covenants with their God, be taught in the experience, and get their babysitter home on time. While technology certainly in a boon in this regard, changed paradigms about _how_ and _that_ Deaf Church members can worship and participate have been far more liberating.
While it may be far off to have a film acted by Deaf people, the SL Temple does offer a live session performed by members of the SL Valley 1st (Deaf) Ward on a monthly basis (http://deaflds.org/utahidaho.html#slc1).
Doug, thank you for sharing your comment.
It’s disappointing hearing that some patrons complain about the ASL monitors as being a “distraction” to their experience. I found it to be interesting and enjoyable. Perhaps the close-minded will someday be a bit more tolerant and understanding.
I have always had a special place for sign language. ever since i was in the mtc i have always been facinated by sign language. it is amazing that people can comunicate with no words. absolutely amazing.
Both my husband and I find it interesting to watch the ASL presentation. Neither of us has difficulty with the captioning, since we routinely use subtitles/captioning when watching TV or videos at home (neither of us is hearing-impaired). We’ve been in wards with deaf members and I’m happy to see more accommodations being made for these brothers and sisters. Those who complain about being distracted might want to try putting themselves in the place of someone who needs that help and see how they feel about being called a distraction or burden on other members.