Consider Yourselves as Adam and Eve

By Hollie Wells

A common scripture study method I have had suggested to me is to replace your name with whatever name is being used in the verses you are reading. This practice can bring deep meaning to your study, as you have to do the mental gymnastics to literally liken everything to yourself. Doing this helps me to relate what is happening in the scriptures– which can sometimes feel foreign and unreachable– to what is happening in my daily life. It takes general spiritual ideas and makes them jump off the page in very specific ways.

Until recently, I had never thought to do this in my temple worship.

At the beginning of an endowment session, we are invited to consider ourselves as if we were Adam or Eve. Sometimes their story can seem over my head and so far from the world I am living in. As I was sitting there listening to that statement, the Spirit whispered to me to mentally replace Eve’s name with mine through the whole endowment, just like I have done in some past scripture studies. I had always tried to consider myself as Eve, but I had never actually replaced my name with hers. Any time Adam’s name was said, or the couple was referred to together, I mentally inserted my husband’s name, too. The result was beautiful.

Why had I never done this before? Maybe some of you are already doing this, but I found this made my endowment experience refreshing and completely new. It made me feel so involved in the covenant-making, and made the promised blessings come alive. It became a personalized endowment, rather than an ordinance being received by a general body.

Applying this study tactic in my temple worship also helped me to stay engaged the entire time. My mind had something to fix on. And because I was more engaged, I could feel my heart and mind were open to the Spirit to teach me beyond just what words were said. I look forward to the next time I can go to the temple to implement this practice again.