Former Mormon couple detail the ultra-secretive temple ritual practiced only by the religious elites

A former Mormon couple have revealed a lesser known 'sacred' and secretive ritual that happens in the church for only a select few - known as the second anointing.

Alyssa Grenfell, 31, grew up in an ultra-strict household but fled from Utah to New York in 2017 - and has since been focusing on rebuilding her new life with her family.

In a recent video posted to YouTube, the ex-Mormon was joined by her husband of nine years, Jackson, and the couple spoke of the various religious rituals in the church, sharing insider knowledge of the 'cream of the crop' ritual: the second anointing.

'There's ordinances that happen or rituals that happen outside of Mormon temples and rituals that happen inside of Mormon temples,' Jason explained.

He said after a person is baptized, they go into a Mormon temple to take part in what they call the endowment, which is the washing and anointing of a person.

While most Mormons are familiar with the first anointing - which refers to the washing and anointing part of the endowment ceremony in which a person is anointed to become a king and priest or a queen and priestess unto God - few know about the second anointment, as it's a much rarer occurrence.

The pair admitted there are many tiers of rituals within the church, describing the first time they were in a prayer circle in the temple, both candidly reflecting that it was 'the moment you realize that maybe you were raised in a cult.'

'If you are raised Mormon especially like we were, basically everyone you know and trust has done this ceremony [the prayer circle] so it's very much kind of the gravity that pulls you forward,' the mother-of-two explained.

'You're about to serve a mission, you're about to get married - everyone that you know that's in leadership or an adult that's gone before you has done the ceremony so it's very hard to opt out,' she explained.

However, the craziest part of these rituals is the second anointing, according to Alyssa and Jackson.

'Like I said, most Mormons have no idea even exists even in the highest levels of Mormonism,' Alyssa shared.

'Most of those people haven't had the opportunity or been given the privilege to do the ceremony yet it's basically like the cream of the crop.'

Jackson said he first learned of the second anointing as he was leaving the church, only being offered to 'elite' members.

Alyssa Grenfell, 31, grew up in an ultra-strict household but fled from Utah to New York in 2017 - and has since been focusing on rebuilding her new life with her family.

'I'd spent my life in the church in Utah in the in the belly of the beast and had never heard of this,' he recalled.

'You realize that even for us who married in the temple, we got through so many levels, we still didn't get past the final level of... the Mormon game show of getting to be a God,' Alyssa jokingly chimed in.

The duo explained that a second anointing is seen as  a guarantee your entrance into the highest degree of Heaven.

'When we got the endowment we were promised to become kings and queens in the afterlife, contingent upon our faithfulness - so it's basically saying you'll get there but you have to be ultra faithful and then at the final judgment God and Jesus will decide,' Alyssa explained.

The second anointment, she explained, is when they take away that last part where they say 'contingent upon your faithfulness' - it's basically like having the second judgment here on Earth in these days before you even die.'

They added that whoever is officiating the second anointing is far higher up than whoever officiates the first.

Another unusual part of the ceremony is that the woman will often bless her husband - something Alyssa said she had never seen before.

Jackson said the people in the church chosen to get a second anointing by 'stake presidents,' who were instructed to identify people from their local area who should be considered as candidates for the second anointing.

'My understanding is that now really the recommendation has to actually come directly from an apostle and so it's become I think a lot more restricted really to people who exist in the in the sphere of influence,' Alyssa explained

In the past, the ex-follower unveiled her shocking theory on why there were so many Mormon influencers.

She explained that she believed that the church, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was 'sponsoring influencers through travel and meals' - adding that the organization was 'funneling money around the term Mormon.'

Alyssa has previously opened up about her glow-up after leaving the church and the truth about 'Mormon face.'