My mom recently was give a book by some LDS person who has had a number of near death experiences (all confirming Mormonism, of course) and this has apparently granted him a certain ability to see future events. Now my TBM mom, who has always been overly interested in prophecy and the end of the world, is in a panic because she's pretty sure Christ is coming again much sooner than she realized. Possibly within the next 5-10 years. She bought me a copy of the book and begged me to read it so I feel justified, having done my part to make her happy, in the following conversation:

Mom: I'm very worried I don't have everything I need and I'm currently checking food and water supplies. I'm also worried you and your sister aren't prepared so you need to check you emergency supplies too.

Me: Mom, aren't you worried that you will become a target for looters who know you are Mormon and have a ton of food?

Mom: Oh yes (proceeds to tell me a story of a friend of a friend who was told by some guy that his food storage consisted of a gun and a list of addresses of area Mormons. Apparently this illusive friend actually saw the list of addresses where this guy can get food in an emergency.)

Me: Well, my friend "Lois" (who is as paranoid as my mom and lives in the SLC area) told me that the rumor back there among her prepper friends is that it won't be safe to store food in your homes when things start falling apart and the church will request all food and supplies be turned in for distribution.

Mom: (Enthusiastically) Yes, I've heard that too.

Me: In fact, I've heard that is why the City Creek mall went so over budget. President Hinckley said it would only cost 500 million to build and ended up being closer to 1.5 billion, according to some GA that was quoted in the Salt Lake Tribune. It's more than any other mall in the US and unless there was some sort of graft or money laundering, the prepper types out there think that the church has built vast underground storage facilities for food and supplies. That's where all the extra money went. But of course, that's just a rumor but it is true how much they spent on the mall so that amount of money is feeding the rumor.

At this point, you can hear Mom's mind thinking about why the mall costs so much and not coming up with an answer so she changes the subject and asks about our solar power needs.

Now granted, most of the info about underground facilities wasn't from SLC prepper friends but from smart alecks here on RfM but the other stuff I heard from "Lois" was from prepper friends and either way, I got Mom wondering about that very, very expensive mall that the church bought. It won't keep her from assigning me irritating books to read but since this one isn't exactly about the church, I'm going to read it just to look for more teaching moments. That is, if she decides to call me back any time soon.

She could win an Olympic medal with those mental gymnastics.

or where her daughter, grand daughter or nieces will get their thyroid during the last days while she is living out of food storage. Ask her who will shoot and sever cattle and knows how to dissect thyroid to keep family members alive. Ask her who will rise up to meet her from the dead, and will they join the first resurrection if they die, without their inhalers nebulizers and asthma medication during the last days great tribulation as she is living on her food storage? Are you sure? Ask her again, Are you sure?

It wouldn't be a kindness, it doesn't seem to be about righteousness as the righteous die without pain medication, withdrawal from tranquilizers, anti depressants, lung nebulizers astmas inhalants, oxygen intubation and hormone supplents or heart medication while they are waiting for the great and terrible day of the lord while everybody is living on food storage.

God is love? ubi est? hello?

try that. see how it goes.

Love is. She has circluar logic because of limited awareness
obviously. such a 'loving' god- torching north central or south america during his 3 days waiting his ressurection *thank YOU teen aged Joseph (NOT!) -needing some action scenes* and *thank YOU teen aged Joseph (NOT!) -torquing all concepts of love into an end game chaotic saddist torture scene- just like a teen age video game or cartoon an animation written by an immature teen for an audience of preteen men. So this is the source of your mother's knowledge.

She really thinks love would do this. That is wrong on so many levels. Its hard to wrap my mind around that- the mormon idea that love is actually on another planet in outerspace, and only visits with a visitor called the holy ghost- but, if you annoy it in thought or deed, all contact with great love- leaves for this (play gloomy music about here) is a gloomy planet with no god present its horrible (sound increase volumn) god had to stay in outerspace-
that is the love, the philosophical love / G-d proposed by idiot very immature teen aged Joseph (can you hear him now: me- so you'll want me- me- so you'll listen to me- me me me look at me yes me because in this ugly reality G-d is only availed to through me- yea um me- memememem) you can hear it right? that's the philosophy proposed by JOSEPH the very young when very dumb

So she thinks Joseph's plan, (complete with Joseph's example of how his version of G-d gutted people in America during the 3 days he was waiting his resurrection- when he came and gutted killed and torched innocent people and children, traumatized survivors who he kindly told he was g-d- then jetted back to Jerusalem and was ressurected) -Joseph's story? that is her example of what will happen now? & she wants water? Like that's going to fix access to the well.

Just start the wheels moving. Ask her how she'll get her thyroid / or your thyroid / or her mom's thyroid (insert essential medication here.)

The mall and the City Creek development project is one of the clearest signs that "the Brethren" do not believe the 2nd Coming or "End Times" is any where near us.

First of all, they spend BILLIONS to INVEST in this development. If they are expecting a return on it, then its going to take MANY years for it to happen, otherwise as an investment it would be a dismal failure and they just threw away BILLIONS in "sacred" church funds.

Secondly, they claim that the PURPOSE of the development is to prevent a "blight" of downtown and to secure a nice area for Temple Square. What's the point of doing this if the world is going to hell in the near future anyway? They obviously expect good times in the future and not the opposite.

Thirdly, if the end was near and the "saints" needed to prepare, then why wouldn't the church use those billions for this preparation? You'd think they would use those funds build underground bunkers, and food supplies, and emergency preparedness supplies, etc.

It would be like Noah and his sons building a fancy palace instead of the ark. One can only assume he isn't too concerned about the earth being flooded.

I tried to bring this up with her a couple of years ago - why build a mall if Jesus is coming again soon? She said something about life having to go on as usual and no one really knowing the time he's going to return ... blah, blah, blah. But that was before this new book got her in a panic. I should bring it up again.

Nice little mind game there!

Is it really the most expensive mall in the US? I assumed the one with the amusement park rides would have been more, but it was built a while ago. Is that the mall of America I'm thinking of?
Wow, I want to find out how much other malls cost now.

Warren Jeffs taught children how to sever the throats of cattle in preparation for the zombie apocalypse when they will have to defend themselves against evil apostates.

I always ask anyone who talks about surviving the end times, WHY they would want to.

Really. Lets say you survive some major disaster. Then what? A world full of anarchy? Why would you want to do that? I don't see years of living in survivalist mode (until i'm dead) as a good thing.

If things get that bad, i'd prefer to be the first to go.