Free at last. Free at last.
So, I received an excited call from my daughter who lives in SLC, Utah.
She has breaking news.
About the Mormons.
She lives surrounded by Mormons, immersed in a Mormon culture that is fostered onto the society at large.
Make no mistake. She has benefited from the caring of Mormon/LDS neighbors.
She has also endured having her personal boundaries crossed again and again by the "well meaning” Mormons/LDS.
She has been assigned Mormon visiting teachers when she is Presbyterian and she was too kind to disallow the visits and shelved her own feelings in order to protect "neighborhood harmony",
She has listened patiently to her next door neighbor bear her Mormon testimony multiple times when the neighbor knows my daughter is obviously very active in the Presbyterian Church,
She saw her hubby answer the door to an irate Mormon/LDS neighbor who screamed righteous indignation at her husband's “car hobby” in their back yard,
endured the humiliation of that same Mormon neighbor building a 10 foot solid fence clear to the street(it obviously was not just about their back yard) making a huge public statement about the undesirability of “his next door neighbors”.
She has had her children proselyted (unsuccessfully) and also excluded and also demeaned, and blamed unjustly for little things going wrong in the neighborhood.
At first, she (having been raised Mormon/LDS) didn't believe what was happening after she abandoned the Mormon faith and began attending a Presbyterian Church. Surely this treatment by Mormons is a fluke.
“I had heard these kinds of tales , Mom , but I never believed it until I saw it happen to me and my family. At first I blamed my kids and thought they should try harder. But when you see adults “dismiss” your children as contaminants, you finally see the picture.”
The exciting news:
This past week her “best, kindest most helpful” Mormon neighbor visited, drinking his coffee. Such a new behavior!
He, a first class citizen (never speaks ill of anybody), is old, as is his wife, but such good Mormons and my daughter had never seen him with a coffee cup before.
Fifteen years of visits and nary a drop of coffee.
Fifteen years of visits and nary a drop of coffee.
“My goodness, Bill. What's with the coffee??!! I've never seen you drink coffee. Are Mormons allowed to drink coffee these days?!”
Bill smiled. “My wife and I haven't been in that brick building for months ! I did my 50 years. We are so done with that church and now we are so happy. We LOVE Sundays. And our hot coffee! Last Sunday we were hiking the Tetons and we looked at each other at the same moment and laughed, knowing what we were missing.”
Bill smiled. “My wife and I haven't been in that brick building for months ! I did my 50 years. We are so done with that church and now we are so happy. We LOVE Sundays. And our hot coffee! Last Sunday we were hiking the Tetons and we looked at each other at the same moment and laughed, knowing what we were missing.”
Well, you are not surprised if the young take a hiatus from church when they leave home.
But old people bailing out of a church?
It is picking up speed in Utah.
I appreciate your kind visit,
Riverwatch
It is picking up speed in Utah.
I appreciate your kind visit,
Riverwatch
