Day 39 - I'M A MORMON -- MEET THE MORMONS

I’m a Mormon. And although I don’t try to hide it, I also don’t often bring it up outside of my personal circle of family and friends. And this “I’m a Mormon” campaign made me think about that.

   When I was a teenager growing up in Oakland, California, I was very vocal about my religion. Not in an overly-zealous kind of way, but if people had questions they knew I was Mormon and could ask me. For a while in high school there was a group of us that would get together for a “Bible Study” of sorts. A number of my friends were active in a variety of faiths, and we would get together before school and discuss the Bible and our sometimes-varying views. It was all very open and accepting, and it was great to not only share my beliefs but to also learn more about the beliefs of others.

   Then I moved to Utah. And everyone here is Mormon, or so it felt as a teenager in Bountiful, Utah. I literally didn’t know one single person in Bountiful that wasn’t Mormon. And at the opposite end of the spectrum, I got to know a number of General Authorities in the LDS Church – two of them the first week I lived in Utah, and more than a dozen within the next few years. I met them, got to know their families, visited in their homes – and it was great, but I certainly didn't need to share my beliefs with them. I wasn’t trying to hide being a Mormon, it’s just that when literally everyone else is Mormon and believes the same things that you believe – well, what’s the point?

   Then I started working. One of the earliest jobs I had was working for the Family History Department of the LDS Church – again, surrounded by Mormons. I loved the environment, the people, and everything about the job. We even started our workday every morning with Scripture Reading and an Opening Prayer. Not every department does that, but it was actually important to our job to be Spiritually In-Tune.

   But my next job was VERY different. I went to work at an interior design company working on the then-new Primary Children’s Hospital. It was a fabulous job, but it was an interesting and diverse group of people. My boss was LDS, a Returned Missionary, and Gay – not a common combination, especially in the 1980s. I was young, and he was authoritative and a bit confrontational – and it was awkward and uncomfortable.

   And that’s kindof been my pattern – I’ve either worked places that were predominantly Mormon (like Franklin Covey and Tahitian Noni), or quite the opposite (like Essante and InvesTools). And again at this last job with DirecTV, I had another boss who was Mormon and Gay – and somehow she was the “Resident Mormon”. When we’d all get together, with a team that lives across the country and comes from every walk of life – if the subject of religion came up, she would share the Mormon Viewpoint. Now, admittedly she was usually pretty on-point doctrinally – but she is not actively attending church, and is very vocally Gay and in a Committed Relationship.

   To me, being Mormon is more than just knowledge about what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches and preaches. It’s about how you choose to live. And although I was born and raised in the Mormon Church, I haven’t always been an active participant.

   Not long after I got married, my new husband got into a fight with our new bishop – and refused to attend church anymore. I tried to continue attending, but after only a few weeks he began to resent that I was attending church instead of spending all of Sunday with him. I can still remember standing in our Living Room and having to make a decision: I could continue to attend church every week, but my then 3-month marriage would continue to face the growing strain his resentment was creating; OR, I could focus on my marriage and my husband, and give him time to get over his hard feelings – because the church would always be there when he was ready. So I chose my marriage – and ended up being Inactive for the next decade. Oh, we’d go to family things like baptisms, blessings, etc. – but when it was just the two of us, we never went to church.

   Then 6 years ago, when we moved to Provo I made one rule: I am going to attend church, and you are not allowed to say anything negative about it. I really didn’t care if he went, but I had missed everything about it – and I wanted to have Church back in my life. Standing up for myself and my beliefs was one of the best things I've ever done for myself -- and it literally got me back on the right path and changed the course of my life in so many beautiful ways.

   I’m a Mormon because I want to be a Mormon. I grew up in a very Mormon home, and I genuinely loved everything about it. And I spent a chunk of my adult-life without it – and I know that I’m happier now that I am back to attending every week and being actively engaged and participating. And I like the Mormon-y things that aren’t part of Sunday worship too – like personal prayer and scripture reading and trying to live a Christ-like life. Being Mormon is actually more about what happens behind closed doors at home and within my own heart than it is about any of the Sunday services or other meetings.

   Tonight I went to the very first showing of a new movie:  Meet the Mormons. It was great! But I do think a better title might be:  "Meet Some Exceptional People (BTW – they're Mormon)". Because the thing that really stood out to me is that these are Ordinary People striving to live Extraordinary Lives. And really, isn’t that what we all want?

   Meet the Mormons is a full-length documentary, showing in movie theaters – in select locations. If you want to know what Mormons are really about, stop in to see it. Just go to Fandango.com, type in “Meet the Mormons”, and it will list the times and places.

   There’s a great theme song for the movie by David Archuleta called “Glorious” – and you can get a free download of it here (thru Facebook) or see the YouTube video here. Because, as the song says – It’s Glorious! 

   So, yes, I am a Mormon. I know it. I live it. And I love it.