As my father was a bishop he could not really let women with non member husbands let have their endowment. This was in the 80ies, then a new policy came up and the women could do so with the agreement of their husbands. Does anyone have proof to this? I cannot find an older handbook of instruction than 1998 and one from the 60ies (but this is not complete). There is one recource that claims that women could receive the endowment starting from 1933. Thanks, Sven.

I think that even now, if a couple is married, they want them to get their endowments together rather than one spouse doing it before the other.

I remember when this happened. I grew up in a ward with a lot of part member families. These TBM wives, most of whom were converts, were so glad to finally take out their endowments.

My mom had her endowments without my non-mo dad done in the late 90's

Yes, I remember this too. It was certainly the policy in the 70's when I joined the church as I knew many part member families where the wife was a member but her husband not, & these sisters were not allowed to go through the temple.

I'm not sure when this policy changed, I think it was sometime in the mid to late 80's, but I knew of a sister before the policy change who was terminally ill & really wanted to take out her endowments before she died. As I remember the BP tried his best for her but the SP wouldn't allow her to go because her husband was not a member.

was in the late 1970s. ( I was post-mission; it was a student ward.) I remember how happy she was about it... being able to go, that is, as one of the first of the new policy.

Previous to that, the only women I knew who did the endowment ceremony were married to temple-going husbands, or prospective sister missionaries.

I suspect you're not going to find anything in writing about when it changed.... except for comments like "all worthy members have always had access to the temple" in Ensign-like publications.

I have a sister who married an atheist. She was allowed to be endowed in the early 80's.

Not long afterward her husband developed a drinking problem. They stayed together, but I think it's a marriage made in hell.

Two of their 3 children went on missions. all 3 kids were married in the temple, which means he didn't get to go to any of them.

I don't know how he's stayed with it for 45 years. I feel sorry for him.

>There is one recource that claims that women could receive the endowment starting from 1933

“Some unfortunate incidents following the giving of the endowments to wives of Church members who have not been through the temple, and to the wives of non-members, have brought this matter again in review by the Council of the First Presidency and the Twelve. After fully considering the whole matter the following decision has been reached:
Hereafter you will not give a recommend, under any circumstances, to a wife whose husband is not a member of the Church.”
Heber J Grant, J. Reuben Clark Jr,. and David O’McKay to Stake and Mission Presidents, Oct. 17, 1938
Quelle:
http://forum.newordermormon.org/viewtopic.php?t=20655

Thanks guys! good to know that my memory did not completly suck ;) We have a discussion in a German group and sometimes it´s really hard to find the right stuff...

> We have a discussion in a German group and sometimes it´s really hard to find the right stuff...
hier noch etwas mehr 'diskussionsstoff':
http://exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,519904

My mom had her endowments out without my dad in the early 90s. Before that, her bishop discouraged her because the thought their marriage would suffer with my dad having that daily reminder (via her garments) that they were very different now. Also, he said my mom was cute and smart and there were very few LDS guys in the area her age who were good enough for her. If anything happened to my dad, she might get involved with a non-LDS guy and be tempted to break her temple covenants. So it was better in her case to not take them out at all. Those seemed like pretty lame excuses to me but my mom thought they made sense. Then, at some point, they started encouraging single women and women with non-LDS spouses to take out their endowments and my mom decided to follow suit. I'd been on my mission by then so I was able to go through with her for the first time, rather than her going through with me for the first time. She was really nervous but her best friend and her husband went with us so I think that helped.