Before I moved to California, I had never met a Mormon, at least to my knowledge. But once I came to the Golden State & the SCV, I met and befriended many. Or rather, I should say, LDS students at Hart High were friendly and open enough to make me, a confused, lonely and lanky Catholic school kid, a friend of their's.
I'll never forget their kindness and openness to me, or how their parents welcomed me over for dinner or out to fun events. Those first few years at Hart were tough for me, but it was great making new friends and being invited to beach parties, dinners, picnics and even dances at the local stake center.
Mormons were my first friends in California, and I remember them all very fondly.
I remember being curious about the Mormons. I didn't know much about them. I noticed they didn't use crosses on their church, the insides of the stake centers were remarkably plane and utilitarian (more like convention spaces than churches), they didn't have professional clergy and they had big families and were very close-knit.
Gradually I learned more. The Mormon kids I became friends with would show me their stash of foods for something called the Relief Society. They had pictures of the LDS' Churches' Temples hung on the walls of their rooms, they were excited about the opening of the San Diego temple, and their older siblings were all off on Missions. I read the postcards from these older college-aged Mormons eagerly, soaking up every detail of their adventure. I realized the kids who ride around on bikes in the SCV in neat shirt & tie were Mormon missionaries themselves, on a visit from some far off place. Sometimes my friends would have these missionaries over for dinner too.
My own parents, nominal Catholics who were once quite religious, saw only alarm bells at this. They were convinced I was being recruited and slowly converted by kindness, a sort of inverse of what the Catholic church had done by force to Native Americans in California 200 years before.
But I have to say, I never felt pressure. They never preached at me or evangelized me through anything but example. But boy was that example powerful. The Mormon girls were very attractive and, what's more, they were nice enough to dance with me at the Stake Center dances. In no other place would a shy and lanky 17 year old get to dance with such knockouts! It was thrilling.
Of course as you grow up, you part ways with friends and make new ones. In college I had my own religious renaissance and grew deeply interested in the Catholic church and other Christian religions. I studied and soaked up as much detail as possible, and even considered the priesthood for awhile.
Part of these studies included a more in-depth look at Mormonism, especially its history and theology. My studies included materials that ran the gamut on Mormonism, from books by fundamentalists who labeled it a cult to more mature works that looked at Mormonism in the context of America's Second Great Awakening, the flowering of religious passion that occurred in mid 19th century America, to getting to know an LDS gay man who had been excommunicated from the church.
I gradually came to realize that Mormonism is an authentically American religion, a religion that couldn't have been born anywhere else. It's a religion so American that it has its own American Exodus story (when the persecuted Mormons crossed the prairie to the promised land, just as Moses had done) and includes an entire book describing how Jesus Christ visited the North American continent, an innovation so brilliant it resonates to this day. It's a religion that goes one step beyond having a "Vicar of Christ," as we Catholics do; no, the LDS Church has living Prophets who can, when necessary, reveal new information that makes the church adaptable and easier to change than the Catholic church yet helps it to retain the authoritative structure that Protestants have never had.
But there was always a mystery to Mormonism that eluded me, even as I learned more and more and matured in my view of the church. Members won't talk about it, and reliable information on it is hard to find. Namely, what went on in those beautiful temples? Why didn't they allow non-members in? Why couldn't I go to Mormon marriages in Temples even when invited by Mormon friends?
Well, to the consternation of many I'm sure, part of that mystery has been revealed. Some guy on YouTube has posted authentic footage from inside the Salt Lake LDS temple during one of the secret ceremonies:
I've watched this video six or seven times. I find the ritual nature of it oddly familiar & comfortable, because we Catholics are nothing if not ritualistic. But I also find it bizarre and strange, and almost somewhat of a letdown. Yet, it's no more strange than believing a piece of bread becomes the actual Body of Christ. Seeing the ox holding up a baptismal font struck me as so pagan, until I realized my church has used pagan themes when it suited its purposes. The secret handshakes and "token" words, however, were thrilling. This video is a religious anthropologist's bonanza!
It's just great to see this video and finally fill in a piece of missing information about the LDS Church that I've had since being introduced to Mormons 20 years ago in the SCV.
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LDS Temple Video Revealed!
I'll never forget their kindness and openness to me, or how their parents welcomed me over for dinner or out to fun events. Those first few years at Hart were tough for me, but it was great making new friends and being invited to beach parties, dinners, picnics and even dances at the local stake center.
Mormons were my first friends in California, and I remember them all very fondly.
I remember being curious about the Mormons. I didn't know much about them. I noticed they didn't use crosses on their church, the insides of the stake centers were remarkably plane and utilitarian (more like convention spaces than churches), they didn't have professional clergy and they had big families and were very close-knit.
Gradually I learned more. The Mormon kids I became friends with would show me their stash of foods for something called the Relief Society. They had pictures of the LDS' Churches' Temples hung on the walls of their rooms, they were excited about the opening of the San Diego temple, and their older siblings were all off on Missions. I read the postcards from these older college-aged Mormons eagerly, soaking up every detail of their adventure. I realized the kids who ride around on bikes in the SCV in neat shirt & tie were Mormon missionaries themselves, on a visit from some far off place. Sometimes my friends would have these missionaries over for dinner too.
My own parents, nominal Catholics who were once quite religious, saw only alarm bells at this. They were convinced I was being recruited and slowly converted by kindness, a sort of inverse of what the Catholic church had done by force to Native Americans in California 200 years before.
But I have to say, I never felt pressure. They never preached at me or evangelized me through anything but example. But boy was that example powerful. The Mormon girls were very attractive and, what's more, they were nice enough to dance with me at the Stake Center dances. In no other place would a shy and lanky 17 year old get to dance with such knockouts! It was thrilling.
Of course as you grow up, you part ways with friends and make new ones. In college I had my own religious renaissance and grew deeply interested in the Catholic church and other Christian religions. I studied and soaked up as much detail as possible, and even considered the priesthood for awhile.
Part of these studies included a more in-depth look at Mormonism, especially its history and theology. My studies included materials that ran the gamut on Mormonism, from books by fundamentalists who labeled it a cult to more mature works that looked at Mormonism in the context of America's Second Great Awakening, the flowering of religious passion that occurred in mid 19th century America, to getting to know an LDS gay man who had been excommunicated from the church.
I gradually came to realize that Mormonism is an authentically American religion, a religion that couldn't have been born anywhere else. It's a religion so American that it has its own American Exodus story (when the persecuted Mormons crossed the prairie to the promised land, just as Moses had done) and includes an entire book describing how Jesus Christ visited the North American continent, an innovation so brilliant it resonates to this day. It's a religion that goes one step beyond having a "Vicar of Christ," as we Catholics do; no, the LDS Church has living Prophets who can, when necessary, reveal new information that makes the church adaptable and easier to change than the Catholic church yet helps it to retain the authoritative structure that Protestants have never had.
But there was always a mystery to Mormonism that eluded me, even as I learned more and more and matured in my view of the church. Members won't talk about it, and reliable information on it is hard to find. Namely, what went on in those beautiful temples? Why didn't they allow non-members in? Why couldn't I go to Mormon marriages in Temples even when invited by Mormon friends?
Well, to the consternation of many I'm sure, part of that mystery has been revealed. Some guy on YouTube has posted authentic footage from inside the Salt Lake LDS temple during one of the secret ceremonies:
An embedded YouTube video appeared here in the original post. View the original — embeds are preserved as links in this archive.
I've watched this video six or seven times. I find the ritual nature of it oddly familiar & comfortable, because we Catholics are nothing if not ritualistic. But I also find it bizarre and strange, and almost somewhat of a letdown. Yet, it's no more strange than believing a piece of bread becomes the actual Body of Christ. Seeing the ox holding up a baptismal font struck me as so pagan, until I realized my church has used pagan themes when it suited its purposes. The secret handshakes and "token" words, however, were thrilling. This video is a religious anthropologist's bonanza!
It's just great to see this video and finally fill in a piece of missing information about the LDS Church that I've had since being introduced to Mormons 20 years ago in the SCV.
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