I got endowed!
Yesterday I had the amazing experience of going through the temple to receive my endowments. Part of me was really scared though because, while I have a firm testimony, I've also heard lots of things from ex members who made it sound like they left the church soon after going through the temple because we had all these cultist secrets and stuff in it. I was also told pretty often by members around me that it would be overwhelming and I'd need to go back multiple times in order to better understand things. But I didn't want to go and be overwhelmed by things that felt like a cult, so I did a lot of studying and praying to not be led astray by the experiences of others. I also definitely recommend that you specifically don't listen to the experiences of others before going through the temple because doing something new is already scary enough and you don't need people telling you how overwhelming it's going to be. If it does turn out to be overwhelming, then try praying to better understand and then go through again. If it's not overwhelming then try to understand even more and let yourself feel at peace. I'm sure some people feel differently than others, but you don't need someone else scaring you before hand.
Before I go on I would like to mention the fact that I'm being very vague about my experiences not because things on the temple are secret, but because they are sacred, similar to how many people have testimony experiences that they don't share because they're too personal and special.
I was relieved to find that not only was I not overwhelmed, but it was very much NOT a cult-like experience with new secret information and stuff. I was nervous because I didn't fully know what to expect, but I had my mom, other family members, and many amazing temple workers there the whole time to make sure I knew where to go or what to do (I was the only person there for my own endowment so they all knew to watch out for me since I had a cute tag to let them know).
One important thing I learned while preparing myself for the temple was how much symbolism there is to everything. The things in the temple are taught through symbolism specifically because those who are spiritually ready to understand will understand while who are aren't, won't. And most people don't understand all of the symbolism all at once, but as they go through they learn to understand it further. This in no way is the church trying to keep things secret or be weird or anything. Christ taught through parables with symbolism for the same reason in the bible, and I for one loved being taught in a way that was closer to how Christ taught than the way we teach in church.
I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to go through the temple and plan to go through many more times before my mission.
Also, I realize that I'm new to speaking of the things in the temple in ways that don't take away from the sacredness of it, so if anyone older and wiser than me has any problems with anything I said above for whatever reason, please don't hesitate to let me know.