A few months ago I went to Salt Lake City, and Utah, for the first time. I was there for reasons unrelated to Mormonism, but I did take the opportunity to visit Temple Square. This gave me the chance to really interact with missionaries for the first time and also explore the history and architecture of the place, both of which are areas of interest.

I took a tour with two missionaries. I met then in the North Visitors Center and they took me to the Tabernacle and Assembly Hall. After that, I also interacted with some of the other missionaries. In one of my interactions, I pretended to be a Mormon. Because of how much I know about Mormonism, this was fairly easy. Despite how ignorant the missionaries are, I did find them to be nice people, with a lot of enthusiasm and motivation. It's a shame these qualities are being wasted.

In the course of my interactions, I learned several things.

I learned little about what I wanted to learn about Temple Square and more about the importance of the Profit, the priesthood, and other aspects of Mormon doctrine. Actually, I would say THEY didn't know much about the Temple Square area and that this place is simply used by TSCC as another opportunity to proselytize. I told them I already know I a lot about Mormonism, but they still "encouraged me to give careful consideration to the claims made."

I got a better grasp of how some people are so entrenched in this religion. I didn't try to argue with them or try to challenge their beliefs with the facts, but when I simply explained that I found my own path in life and knew about Mormonism and had decided it wasn't for me, they still didn't get it. They don't have a concept of open inquiry and definitely not intellectual exploration...I could tell that much of what came out of my mouth didn't compute.

It is my belief that Mormons are some of the most pushy when it comes proselytizing, even more so then conservative Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses. I've interacted with both of the latter group, and I find in those cases that conservative Christians are supposed to do a lot of evangelism as a part of their daily lives, but I find that in practice, they don't do this like they're instructed to. When I met Jehovah's Witnesses, they handed me some of their literature and gave me the chance to learn more, and that was that. When we talk with Mormons, on the other hand, it can't be limited to you just want to learn more about what they believe and do and so forth--they have to add a component of encouraging you to consider joining the club yourself. I find that here, they attach an emotional quality to it, like it will somehow make your life better.

The time I pretended to be a Mormon, I was hogged with questions about my faith and what I was doing. Here, I learned that there's not a sense of giving things careful consideration but instead just doing things with the idea of trusting God that it will all be alright. I decided that it sucks just as much to be a Mormon around Mormons than it does to not be a Mormon!

Lastly, I noticed a difference between senior and junior missionaries. When I would talk with a pair of them, one of them would do most of the talking and the other would just stand there, sometimes nodding and saying "yup", but not contribute.

RUN as fast as you can and get outta there. No reason to "tempt fate". I still become physically ill when I think about going back to UT in any way shape, or form, even though my former co workers at a company I was employed by for over ten years want to have a "reunion" every summer. I just can't go...I think UT and my nightmare there, well, the whole thing was just toxic for me and I don't want to get sucked back into that evilness of the cult.

Don't panic. I was only in Utah for a couple days. I have no risk of getting sucked into that cult--I thought that was clear.

Your assessment of the missionaries and Mormons is accurate. As an exmo living in utah, it's incredibly difficult. On another note, I've found Jehovah's witnesses to be just as bad as the Mormons. They are Utah jw's maybe they are going along with the culture of shoving religion in your face.

floatingnevermo Wrote:
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> I decided that it sucks just as much to be a Mormon around Mormons than it does to not be a Mormon!

I was once told by someone who had lived in Utah: "The only thing worse than being an ex-Mormon in Utah is being a Mormon." ;)