I was given a patriachal blessing at the age of 14 back in 1988.I definitely believed the blessing in a literal way.Some parts of it said I would be blessed wit the opportunity to serve the lord in a mission.It said i would be led to the honest in heart and many would listen to my words and be touched through my spirituality.
I tried doing some door to door tracting from late 1992 to early 1993 to experience what it would be like.I did the tracting with an old 72 year old missioanry from Idaho.I did not find people receptive or touched by my spirituality.That was confusing.I wondered where on earth would people be so open to me and be so touched by my spirituality.It was certainly not my local area.This was in Albany,Australia in 1992.

When I was aged 19,I was judged to be to behind in social skills and organization to be legible to serve a mission.This was shocking after believing that patriachal blessing all those years.

One thing that was amazing was how the blessing said for me not believe other people are blessed more than me.That resonated with me,because I was always socially anxious in Mormon crowds and especially around younger Mormons and teens.I always worried how all the pretty young ladies i admired would go on to get married and have a blissfull life and I would not.That turned out to be true now that I am aged 42.I am not married or ahve any children.It does not worry me so much now,because am not aiming for what they call celestial or temple marriage.If I was a still a Mormon,I would find life impossible as I would never succeed at marrying Mormon girl.I would feel really out of place in the Mormon environment.I would feel a failure at Mormon ideals of doing the mission and marrying the temple.

There are Mormon who would say patraichal blessings come true for all those who remain faithful and label peopel like me as unfaithful and not worthy to recieve the blesings etc.


What stories do peopel ahve to tell like this?

My sister's patriarchal blessing said that her children would walk behind her and call her "blessed". - or something to that effect.

My sister never married and has had no children. Her sweet doggie does walk beside her though. He adores her.

She is a wonderful, wonderful, attractive, smart and caring person. Marriage and kids just never worked out. I guess it was ALL HER FAULT though, per the handy-dandy "it's all on you if it doesn't come true" disclaimer at the end of the typical patriarchal blessing.

I think that "will call you blessed" theme was a common one. That was in my Grandmothers blessing. I don't think any of her children felt that way and most left the church and became athiests. Because, they thought her claimed "blessings" were a bunch of hooey!

Mine said I'd go on a mission, I never did. It said I'd marry in the temple, I've never been married. It said I'd be a leader, I've never lead anything. I was a Union rep. for a short time maybe that counts. It says I'll live a long time, I'm not so excited about that now that I'm old and being old really sucks. I don't want to get too much older where parts of me start falling off. So that part isn't really a blessing.
It's all a load of crap, I'm glad I found the truth. Much happier that's for sure.

You made me laugh. I hope everything stays attached. :)

That's the great thing about blessings:

* If they work, it's because Mormonism is TRUE.

* If they don't work, it's because it's OUR FAULT.

Blessings are a microcosm of Mormon evil.

From lds.org: https://www.lds.org/manual/true-to-the-faith/patriarchal-blessings?lang=eng

"...you should not assume that everything mentioned in your patriarchal blessing will be fulfilled in this life. A patriarchal blessing is eternal, and its promises may extend into the eternities. Be assured that if you are worthy, all promises will be fulfilled in the Lord’s due time. Those that are not realized in this life will be fulfilled in the next."

So there is nothing to worry about! There are just too many blessings to be granted in one lifetime! Some of them are being held in reserve for the next life! Yay! Now I have something to look forward to!

What a crock-o-shit.

Well shoot, if you're going to include all of eternity for fulfillment of patriarchal blessings, then we've all been ripped off. I'd expect WAYYYYYY more than a handful of blessings if we're talking ETERNITY.

that dumb cult really does have an excuse for everything. I guess that goes with the territory of being a dumb cult.

mine was in about 1947 or 8 I haven't read it in about 40 years. That should express my belief in it.

Mine said to respect the priesthood in my home (Husband was abusive, so NOT)

Said I would bring souls to the gospel. (Never happened)

Oliver Huntington was quoted in the Young Woman’s Journal, which “was adopted as the official magazine for the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association in 1897.”

“Astronomers and philosophers have, from time almost immemorial until very recently, asserted that the moon was uninhabited, that it had no atmosphere, etc. But recent discoveries, through the means of powerful telescopes, have given scientists a doubt or two upon the old theory. Nearly all the great discoveries of men in the last half century have, in one way or another, either directly or indirectly, contributed to prove Joseph Smith to be a Prophet. As far back as 1837, I know that he said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we do — that they live generally to near the age of a 1000 years. He described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style. In my patriarchal blessing, given by the father of Joseph the Prophet, in Kirtland, 1837, I was told that I should preach the gospel before I was 21 years of age; that I should preach the gospel to the inhabitants upon the islands of the sea, and — to the inhabitants of the moon, even the planet you can now behold with your eyes.”

Patriarchal blessings on the moon no-less! Now that's tough to beat! As Always, tnurg (GRUNT)

My mom's said her ancestors would come to her in the eternities to thank her for doing their temple work because of her extensive genealogy. She started hers at age ten which was years before she converted to Mormonism. She grew up without any relatives so tried finding them through tracing her ancestors.

Mine told me I'd be fine as a counselor to young people. That they'd come to me for advice and guidance and I would "lead them in the paths of righteousness."

Jeane Dixon gave a more accurate horoscope for me at age 16 than my patriarchal blessing. I got my blessing at age 12. It was a great comfort to me when my parents went through a divorce during my high school years. I'd refer to it often as it accompanied me through four different high schools, and the typical growing pains of adolescence.

If I'd waited to get mine in high school I probably wouldn't have. Or the blessing wouldn't have meant as much or been as personal as the one I received at age 12.

You have to buy into the whole Mormon thing to believe the blessing. At the time I did so then it meant something. Now not so much.

My "strange" horoscope at age 16 I still remember to this day. It went something like this:

"Today's babies are one of a kind, highly intuitive, and dedicated to an unusual calling. They are on a long road to success and prosperity."

That 'long road' has been long indeed. From that age when my parents first divorced in the heart of the Morridor, and my life was turned upside down for a time. I was like Dorothy Gale of Kansas, whisked away on a tornado, to 'Emerald City,' only my Emerald City was Palo Alto where I finished high school and I was given the motivation to go to college and succeed - after growing up in rural southeastern Idaho with no more than a hope and a prayer I'd make something of my life.

That horoscope stuck with me for some cockamayme reason like my patriarchal blessing did. It brought me hope and comfort that my life would become better than what I started with, from scratch.

And it did. And it has. Incrementally, but I'm not complaining.

I had to go find it to make sure I got the words right:

"From the Pre-Existence, you were able to look upon the Earth and choose to be born to parents stalwart in the faith, that you might be born under the Covenant and raised in the Father's ways..."

The patriarch should have checked my records first. My family converted when I was 12.

oops! well no one will notice. about 2/3's of mine never happened, all the good stuff, btw. I've lived a life completely different, so far? go figure...

My blessing was at 5:30am on a Sunday morning. Dude was very Busy and had a half dozen or so that morning. I remember all these long pauses. He was falling asleep. I kept moving my head to wake him up. My blessing is very short. Nothing about finding a wife just "take care of your parents". Dude knew my mom when she was a teen. I know this church is NOT true amen.

My parents harbored him and several of his wives in trailers on our farm in Utah. One day he gave a blessing to me and my two older siblings. I sat in the old rocking chair in our kitchen and he put his hands on my head and said I'd live the principle and have a multitude of children and grandchildren.

I left all forms of mormonism early on and married a never mormon. We have two children and two grandchildren, none of whom are polygamists nor mormon.

Mine said I would learn to love and see the beauty in my spouse through faith and temple attendance.

Talk about being dissed.

During my time in Mexico, despite working in two old, well established wards (one chapel dedicated by DOM in 1929), I never met a stake patriarch.

What's the word amongst you outside the USA BIC members, or young converts? How prevalent are patriarchs outside America and Canada?

I was about 16 years old. My mother sat in a nearby chair and did her best to record the words in her journal, as was her habit. The Patriarch said I would have special understanding of the purpose of both life and death, and that because of this, many people would come to me to be understand and be comforted. Fast forward about six months. My mother's brother died unexpectedly. She had lost both parents some years earlier, but this was the first sibling to go. I was lying on my bed (reading scriptures, if memory serves), when she burst into the room. She knelt in front of my bed, sobbing and pleading. She begged me to share with her my special understanding of death's purpose as was promised in the blessing. She said that she had been praying all afternoon for understanding, and that the spirit had prompted her to ask me. Because of my blessing.

Oh my. How hard that must have been for you.

Yeeeeah. Clearly some off beat family dynamics there that made it weird. Not all the blessings fault.

My patriarchal blessing didn't contain anything "strange" as such, it was just plain-out wrong.

It said I would love and marry a lovely woman. I'm gay.

It referred to my "kind father" and "gentle mother". My parents were abusive monsters who had no kindness or gentleness in them.

And, so far, not a one of the things it predicted have actually happened, other than one. And that was one that was already in the works when I got the blasted thing -- me going on a mission.

Mine says that my non member dad will convert to Mormonism through my example. I have resigned in 2013 and my dad never got baptized and still is against organized religion of any kind.

Like many Mormons, my grandfather was promised in his patriarchal blessing that he would live to see Christ's return to earth.

He died in 1949. So much for that nonsense. Perhaps that's one of the reasons the church eliminated the Office of Church Patriarch.

There was a lot of "fluff" and typical stuff in my blessing. One thing that did sort of come true...it said that I would enter a profession and begin "training" and reach the highest level or some shit like that. I actually have gotten to the highest plateau and that's cool. It's great pay (top 2%?) and not easy to reach, but I'm there.

Still, I could see how I could be in any profession and feel like I'm "at the top" even if it's manager at McDonald's. As a previous poster said, a daily horoscope could come closer to accuracy than any given patriarchal blessing.

Apparently I didn't have "a lot of children" (3) and my marriage didn't pan out. But I am blessed that I'm out of the morg and much happier