Category Archives: Uncategorized

Friends,
I just changed one of the settings on the blog to allow people to post anonymously. Hopefully people will take this as an invitation to participate in dialogue without taking undue advantage of the privilege to hide their identity. Remember, I can always change it back or delete your post entirely! Have fun. 😉

Oh, one more thing. This is not meant to discourage you from signing up for a blogger account. Having an account is a neat little way to share a little bit about yourself with others who participate in the same blogs that you do. It is always interesting to see who is addicted to chocolate and which guys really like chic flicks.

Adorable huh?

How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE [tan lined] FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!” (Romans 10:15)

Yeah, they tanned in Sacramento, but they didn’t burn. I had put on the world’s greatest sun block- Bull Frog. I just put it on at the beginning of our shift and didn’t worry for the rest of the day.

I figured this picture would be a good way to conclude the reports about the Sacramento, CA Mormon temple opening. Regardless of our intentions and actions, some folks didn’t think we had good news. I was talking to one of the Living Scriptures (Mormon) guys and he was trying to prove to me philosophically that you can’t know anything for sure. We debated about this for over an hour.

Once I realized that I was not getting anywhere with him, I decided to take another angle. I asked Chad to bear his testimony to me. If you don’t know much about Mormon testimonies, they are all the same. It is always some variant of, “I know the LDS Church is true, I know Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.” Chad was hesitant at first because he thought I was going to mock him. I assured him that I would not do that so Chad started, “I know the…” I gently interrupted- “No you don’t.”

Chad smiled once he realized that he had just nullified his own testimony by declaring that you can’t know anything for sure. I could have kicked myself for not thinking about this during our conversation, but right after he left, it occurred to me, “How do you know that you can’t know anything for sure?” If you know that you can’t know anything for sure, haven’t you just defeated your argument?

Overall the outreach was good. It wasn’t the greatest that I have been involved with, but we did manage to pass out some papers and get a lot of people to look at the web site. It is all in God’s hands and we thank Him that he was able to use our feet.

Today was the last day that Bill McKeever and I were working on the front lines. We had three distinct events that occurred yesterday and today. As the title suggests, one was good, one was bad, and one was just plain ugly.

The Good
A Christian who was driving by stopped to talk with Bill McKeever for a bit. He wanted to encourage us by telling us that we were appreciated. Bill thanked him for his kind words, then the man drove off. About 15 minutes later, he came by again and gave us two large bottles of water. Although we had water, our water was quite warm. That made what he did for us all the more appreciated because his water was nice and cold! We never got his name, but to whoever you are, thank you SO much!
“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.”(Mark 9:41)

The Bad
Yesterday, three of our volunteers toured the temple and could not help but notice that there were four chairs in the little hallway blocking the way to the washing and anointing room (initiatory room). You can read more about the story here. This is the same link I provided a couple of days ago, but it has since been updated.

Personally, I think it is funny that the LDS Church is going through all this trouble to block this one little room. What makes this bad is that the LDS church public relations officials for the Sacramento temple told numerous area papers that they wanted to dispel myths about the temple and that all of the rooms would be open.

At this point the progression is that when asked about the “washing and anointing room,” they lied, they lied again, and then covered up the small sign with white tape, lied again, and then placed chairs in the way to make sure that no one gets back to see it. I would not be surprised if next week they place yellow caution tape up to inform the public that there has indeed been a crime at this place; truth has been murdered.

The Ugly
occasionally, the living scriptures employees will stand near us offering coupons for a free Mormon DVD hoping that it will bring in more business to a new Mormon bookstore five blocks away from the temple. They have their signs, we have ours, and it can get pretty confusing for those leaving the temple to figure out who is who. I have seen people give Bill a “thumbs down,” then give a “thumbs up” to the LDS workers, and then another “thumbs down” to me.

It is eye opening for the Mormon workers to see how we are treated. Often Mormons will drive by, and ignore the Mormons because they think they are “anti-Mormon.” Worse yet, sometimes the Mormon workers will get “chewed out” by their own fellow Mormons.

One such instance was when Helen, one of the Living Scriptures employees, was trying to get the attention of an LDS family. Everyone in the car ignored her and then rolled the windows up. Helen persisted and finally convinced the family that she was a Mormon. She started to give them directions to the LDS bookstore when the light turned green. They continued to talk until the light almost turned red. The Mormon family went through the light only to leave the next car stranded at the red light. A Mormon lady started flailing her arms and yelled at Helen and said, “What are you doing you Moron!”

I looked at the lady and said, “It’s Mormon, Du-uh!

Being at various outreaches gives us a wealth of experience in talking with Mormons and hearing their complaints and protests about our presence at their functions. Every now and then a Mormon will give us what they believe is a clever quip as to why we should not be there. In this post, I will list a few of the more memorable instances and our responses to them.

Yesterday I was walking along the road and a man leaned out of his truck window and said, Hey, haven’t you heard of freedom of religion?
Me- Yes, sir. That is what I am practicing right now.
Protestor- Why don’t you just leave the Mormons alone and let them do their own thing?
Me- Sir, why don’t you just keep driving and leave me alone so I can do my own thing?
Frustrated, he rolled up the window and left.

A couple of days ago, Ron, the head of security, drove down the hill in his golf cart and told Bill McKeever that they were so happy that we were there passing out papers because we were doing them a favor. Bill responded, “If you really believe that, why don’t you send your Mormon missionaries down here to help us pass out the papers?” Ron laughed and changed the subject.

A truck full of Mormons pulled up and one said, “Why don’t you let us practice our freedom of religion?”
Me- I’m not keeping you from practicing your religion. Are you trying to keep me from practicing mine? You know, freedom of religion is not just for you guys.
Protestor- Get a life.
Me- Sir, I have eternal life and that is something your church can never offer you.

Protestor- What are you guys doing out here?
Me- Passing out papers explaining the differences between Mormonism and Christianity.
Protestor- Mormonism is Christianity.
Me- Christians don’t believe they can becomes Gods, sir.

I’ll add more examples later as I remember them.