Posted by:
BYU Boner
(
)
Date: January 28, 2017 12:26PM
Sometimes, the Boner needs to get out and roam around. I found myself gazing at that most exquisite of all Mormon Temples--Manti. Now, you may think it strange that a Boner would keep a picture on his phone of a Morg Temple, but I do--Manti. Why Manti?
My first Mormon love was a woman from my home ward. She was a very recent RM who was going back to the Y to complete her degree. I, too, was on my way to the Y to complete my degree. We spent a lot of time together, and gradually, I found myself in love. Of course, my parents didn't like her--she was Mormon.
Theresa and I explored the beauty of Northern Utah on the weekends. She's the first person I ever explored the Alpine Loop with. Provo, in those days, was a small town with some charm--long lost to sprawl. So, it was fitting that she took me to see that most beautiful of Morg Temples.
We packed a box lunch and headed through the small towns of Springville and Spanish Fork. It was September, and I had never seen Fall colors before. The beauty of the old Spanish Fork Canyon nearly overwhelmed my visual senses. It was a perfect day! We got stopped on US 89 as a rancher moved his herd of black angus cows across the road. Then like a vision, the temple came into view.
Theresa and I sat on the green expanse of lawn, ate, and talked about the beauty of the temple. The Victorian cupolas, covered with silver, glistened in the Autumn sun. After lunch, we went into the small visitor's center where I bought a brochure showing pictures of the interior and a brief history of the building. The couple manning the shop thought Theresa and I were married, I smiled at that.
Later that night, Theresa was making fresh peach pie, and I got chewed out for snitching some of the peaches! As I said, it was a perfect day!
A few months later, Theresa broke up with me because she told me I needed to go on a mission. She would not consider a relationship because she was not willing to keep me from going. It hurt like hell. I would bump into her occasionally, and I later received an invitation to her wedding reception.
During Summer term, I would go to the temple lawn to sit and watch the Manti Temple pageant, and secretly I would laugh at the hyperbole of the dramatic narration of the westward expulsion which, even at that time, I recognized as propaganda.
It would be many years until I was "worthy" to go to the temple. When I got my first recommend, Manti was closed, so I had to go elsewhere for the slicing and dicing.
Eventually, I got to go to the Manti Temple. What a beautiful interior! The temple matron even took us to see the free-standing spiral staircase with their sensuous carved banisters that are no longer used. Supposedly, there are only four such staircases in the US, and two are in Manti! The murals are particularly stunning, and it's easy to find pictures of the domed sealing room on the Internet.
The next time I attended the Manti Temple, my shelf would break. This was the experience where I sat next to a young man who was totally freaked out by the Endowment. When we got ready to go up to the veil he had a look of terror on his face and whispered to me, "I have to say all that!?"
I walked him up and told him someone would whisper it into his ear. I went through first, and being a good Boner would give the name of the token without any errors. Eventually he walked into the room shell-shocked, but as his family hugged him, the look on his face changed to a glazed look of stoned happiness. My shelf collapsed--I realized I was in a cult.
I told Mrs. Boner that the church was a lie and that I didn't believe in it. She told me if I left the church, our marriage would be over...the rest you know.
So, the Manti Temple's silver cupolas have been reduced to black shingles for the last couple of years. It's disgraceful! Of course, the Morg has to build new temples to provide the illusion of participation and interest in temple attendance.
I still have feel mixed feelings for the Manti Temple. It represents my naive TBM younger-self that needed something beautiful to believe in. But, just as the silver has been removed to expose not-so-beautiful black asphalt shingles, so has Mormonism's black underbelly been exposed for me and all the world.
I love the Manti Temple!
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/2017 12:44PM by BYU Boner.