The low down on us Mormons... (Orem, Oquirrh: for rent, home, college)

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by ShouldIMoveOrStayPut...?

Alright, but you have to delve into these waters ever so slightly on occaision here to project a full dimension of the question and answer, and a certain amont of debate may ensue.

I know, and I've been trying to do that. It's not debating per se that I object to. It's just that it would be so easy for this thread to become a thread on "Is Mormonism True?" Threads like that belong in the religion forum, IMO. It's not my intention to shy away from so-called "difficult questions"; I actually spend most of my time at mod cut: link removed, and love to debate religion. I stumbled upon City-Data quite by accident and when I saw the number of people on the Utah forum who seem to be almost afraid to move to Utah, I thought a thread for them to ask their questions would maybe be helpful. (I haven't spent a lot of time on the religion forum here, though. I'd rather just hang out and talk about Utah.)

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by ShouldIMoveOrStayPut...?

Glad you liked the vid...

Here's the song I was thinking of. It's a Nigerian Christmas Carol called
"Betelehumu". You kind of have to listen to the entire thing so see the best part. It's 5 1/2 minutes long.

[scirocco22]

Because of your comments, Katzpur, this might be a good time to take a little "time-out" in this thread. I want to confer with Jeannie about the thread because we all know when coolcats was moderator of this forum, he didn't want general discussion or debate about the religious aspects of what LDS believe or Mormonism in general in the Utah forum. He wanted those discussions done in our Religion forum here at C-DF.

I believe that was a sound decision on his part. I also think your thread here is a good idea, Katzpur. However, the discussion should ONLY be about the how's, the why's, and the general inquiries about how the LDS influence, customs, etc. effect UTAH.

It shouldn't be a debate or discussion on Mormonism or the LDS Chruch in general. That SHOULD be done in the Religion forum here at C-DF.

Let me discuss this with Jeannie and we'll reopen this thread for further discussion. If she agrees, then it's my desire that the discussion in this thread be pertaining to inquiries regarding how the LDS Chruch influences life in Utah and not general questions and debates about the LDS religion in general.

Thanks.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

This thread has been re-opened. Several of us think it is a good idea and many posters have expressed appreciation.

However, keep to the topic! Go back to the first post to understand what it should be. If it deteriorates, it will be closed again.

[Intermountain Dog]

I'm not mormon, have moved here from Ohio and I love Utah. They accept me and I accept them. Heck, my inlaws are mormon. Interesting that you state that they lack individuality...they are a group that conforms. From their homes, to their fashion style to their cars, to the way they dress their children. Heck, Salt Lake is one big scrapbook page. I have not seen the clothing style for young mormon women change since I've been here for 6 years. Moderator cut: inappropriateAnd it's interesting that halloween is one of the mormons most beloved holidays...go figure. And about the coffee thing...I have seen devout mormons sucking down diet cokes or mountain dews like there is no tomorrow. They don't imbide in coffee because of the addictive nature, but they sure are addicted to ice cream/sugar...open an ice cream store in Utah and you've got it made. Moderator cut: inappropriate

[ShouldIMoveOrStayPut...?]

Just so long as you can get chocolate ice cream, all is forgiven as far as I'm concerned....LOL

Do the LDS have any structured (formal or informal) smaller chiors and or chorales, octets, etc. that get together and sing on a smaller scale than the Tabernacle? Not so much individual chapel choirs but within the wards outside of chapel? I am thinking Sacred Harp "Shape Note" psalm singing in particular.

[Hengist]

We have Mormon missionaries here in England (and no doubt elsewhere). You can spot them a mile off in the street from their smart dress, and up close from their good manners! How organised is that side of things? I vaguely remember an article in the local paper about how they live on basic rations. Can you shed any light on these clean living young men? Don't think I have ever seen a female version.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Hengist

We have Mormon missionaries here in England (and no doubt elsewhere). You can spot them a mile off in the street from their smart dress, and up close from their good manners! How organised is that side of things? I vaguely remember an article in the local paper about how they live on basic rations. Can you shed any light on these clean living young men? Don't think I have ever seen a female version.

Hi, Hengist. Thanks for your question!

Yes, it's pretty easy to spot a missionary -- or a couple of missionaries. They are almost always seen in twos. I remember once on a trip to New York City, my husband and I thought we spotted three LDS missionaries walking along a couple of blocks away from where we were standing on a street corner in Brooklyn. Excited to see some fellow Latter-day Saints, we started yelling, "Elders! Elders!" (as that's how they are addressed, despite the fact that most are young college-age men). We simply could not get their attention, so matter how loud we yelled or how frantically we waved. Finally, just as we turned to go downstairs to the subway, one of them turned and started running towards us. When he reached us, he looked at us, quite exasperated by our naivety, and said, "We're not Mormons! We're waiters!" We felt so stupid!

Anyway, Mormon missionaries are sent worldwide and can be found in nearly 200 countries today, in large cities or small towns. There are more than 50,000 serving at any given time. Missionaries can be single men, between 19 and 25 years of age, single women over 21 or retired couples. The single men and single women work with someone of the same gender who is referred to as one's "companion." Every few weeks, they change companions and must learn to adjust to being with a new, complete stranger 24-7, only to have another swap. Young men serve two year missions and young women serve 18-month missions. It varies somewhat with retired couples. Service is not mandatory, but young men are strongly encouraged to go.

When someone decides that they wish to serve a mission, he submits an application to his bishop, who then gets the ball rolling. A few weeks later, he receives notification from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City as to where he will be serving. He cannot request a specific area or even an area where his native tongue is spoken.

The first few weeks of a person's mission is spent in one of 17 missionary training centers throughout the world. There he learns how to teach the gospel in an orderly and clear way. If he is going to be serving in a country where a foreign language is spoken, he will receive intensive training in the language he will be speaking.

For a missionary anywhere in the world, a typical day would begin by waking at 6:30 and spending some time in personal study. He and his companion would then spend the day proselytizing, following up on appointments or visiting homes or meeting people in the street or other public places.

In parts of the world where proselytizing is not allowed, LDS missionaries are sent strictly for humanitarian purposes. We never send missionaries anywhere where the government forbids our presence.

Missionaries fund their own missions and are not paid for their service, except for the cost of reaching their initial destination, which is paid for by the Church. Contacts with family and friends during a person's mission is strictly limited. They are encouraged to write home often, but may only call home a couple of times a year. They are not permitted to party or even participate in most forms of entertainment such as movies, attending sporting events, etc. They understand when they choose to serve a mission that this will be the case, and that their purpose is solely to serve the Lord and spread His gospel.

I hope this helps some!

[Hengist]

Thanks for that. Loved your story about the waiters. I'm sure there are converts, but it must be a tough assignment falling largely on deaf ears.

[uli2000]

Originally Posted by Hengist

We have Mormon missionaries here in England (and no doubt elsewhere). You can spot them a mile off in the street from their smart dress, and up close from their good manners! How organised is that side of things? I vaguely remember an article in the local paper about how they live on basic rations. Can you shed any light on these clean living young men? Don't think I have ever seen a female version.

I may be able to shed a little more info as to how they work in the UK specifically. I served as a missionary there from 1997 to 1999. Areas are split up geographically, with missions (currently there are 6: London, London South, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Edinborough) It varies, but when I was in London South, we had between 180-200 missionaries at any given time. The ratio was about 10 young male missionaries to 1 female missionary in my mission at the time. Missionaries are assigned an geographical area to perform their work. The missionaries in the area change, for us, 3-5 month was a typical term of service in any one area. This area may cover the whole geographical area of a ward (congregation) or multiple missionary teams have areas covering a single congregation (such was the case paticularly in London and the larger towns in our area). 2-5 missionary areas make a district, and 2-4 districts make a zone. All our zones consisted of geographical congrigations called stakes which usually consist of 4 or more local ward congrigations. Over the zones in the mission was a mission president. This mission president, a volunteer who serves a 3 year term, has direct supervision of all the missionaries in his mission, but little to no control over local congregations. Though we worked with the wards, they had no real accountibility over us. Our days while I was there did constist of the usuall knocking on doors, but for the most part, we would try to avoid that. First, it really isnt an ideal way to engage someone about discussing religion, and in some of the smaller areas, they may see missionaries at their door on a regular basis, and some just dont like that. We tried to work foremost with the local members thru refferals and also with families who were not active in church services and activites. One or our best tools was service. I worked in many charity shops in my years there. Though my favorite service project was working with a convelecent home in Margate where we would befriend and entertain the residents. During these visits, we didnt talk about our faith, we were just friends playing billiards and darts. We did march with them in a summer parade and that was a blast!

As for living arrangments, each missionary pays a set amount into a communal fund which covers all the missions in the church. The funds are divided up among the missions as needed. In our mission, we had older couple missionaries who ran the office. They paid all the rent bills and council taxes for all the missionary housing, plus the utilities. For our personal expenses (food, travel, entertainment) we recieved 140 pounds/month. Some of those travel expenses we could be reembursed for, but for the most part, thats what we got. In many areas it was nice because we had many dinner invites with members and even non members, saving money on groceries. But in some areas, we had little or no dinner invites, so some months, especially if unexpected expenses came up, food could get creative. I lived a whole month on a 20lb bag of potatoes, 3lbs of cheddar, and a big bottle of bransons because I broke my glasses and had to have them repaired. It was many months before I could eat a jacket potato again.