Those Utah Mormons...

[Newbert_Zero]

I used to live in Utah until I was about fourteen and then we moved to Georgia. I've been thinking

why are utah mormons the way they are. If you live in utah and don't know what i'm talking about. Mormons outside of Utah make fun of the mormons inside of utah because they don't really act like mormons. Has anyone else noticed this?

It seems like everyones a mormon in utah but few act like they really should and don't really take it seriously. Does anyone know what i'm talking about? Basically i'm just wondering why they are the way they are.

Btw I dont mean to offend you if you live in Utah because not all Mormons in utah act wild just the majority.

I used to live in utah to im making fun of myself as well.

[Guest Yediyd]

I used to live in Utah until I was about fourteen and then we moved to Georgia. I've been thinking

why are utah mormons the way they are. If you live in utah and don't know what i'm talking about. Mormons outside of Utah make fun of the mormons inside of utah because they don't really act like mormons. Has anyone else noticed this?

It seems like everyones a mormon in utah but few act like they really should and don't really take it seriously. Does anyone know what i'm talking about? Basically i'm just wondering why they are the way they are.

Btw I dont mean to offend you if you live in Utah because not all Mormons in utah act wild just the majority.

I used to live in utah to im making fun of myself as well.

I wanted to relocate to Utah, my Bishop advised against it....his explanation was: Those trees close to the water source don't have to work as hard to find water so their roots are not as strong or deep. When a storm comes up....they suffer more damage then the ones further away from the creek. Trees further from the creek have to "dig in" and can better withstand the storms of doubt.

He also stated that Utah has plenty of Mormons...NY needs me and my testimony. I'm staying put!!!!!! But would still love to visit the water source!

[Canuck Mormon]

My sister married a missionary and went to live in Utah. She absolutly agrees with you. They are different. She hasn't pinpointed what exactly is different, but there is something . My fiance is from Newfoundland, but attended BYU & Rick's (now BYU Idaho) and says the same thing. In fact, I've started to notice a difference in my sister.

[ninjahobbit8]

I used to live in Utah until I was about fourteen and then we moved to Georgia. I've been thinking

why are utah mormons the way they are. If you live in utah and don't know what i'm talking about. Mormons outside of Utah make fun of the mormons inside of utah because they don't really act like mormons. Has anyone else noticed this?

It seems like everyones a mormon in utah but few act like they really should and don't really take it seriously. Does anyone know what i'm talking about? Basically i'm just wondering why they are the way they are.

Btw I dont mean to offend you if you live in Utah because not all Mormons in utah act wild just the majority.

I used to live in utah to im making fun of myself as well.

really? i don't know why but I thought they'd be more...sheltered? Maybe because Utah is usually thought of as "mormon central" or whatever (or so i thought). Then again, no place is perfect, and they did seem crazy in "The Single's Ward" too....but i still want to visit Utah! Does it have good canoeing? I want to go canoeing!!!! back to the subject...most of us Mormons are crazy too...

[Guest MrsS]

The closer to Utah you get, the less "Mormon" the members are.

Yedid, I really love what your Bishop said. Talk about Pearls!!! I was raised in Seattle, found the Church there and then lived in Oregon for 28 years. I am now in Arizona. I want to go back to the Pacific Northwest so badly, back to where the members are Real Mormons and not this Country Clubbing, in words only clique!

[sixpacktr]

Reminds me of when I went to BYU, fresh out of Iowa. Our Bishop's wife's folks lived in Orem, and let me stay for a week until I could get on campus. I went to SS with their son (a good guy) and during the lesson I was introduced as being from Iowa. The asked what it was like living in the hinterlands (i.e., where Mormons didn't rule). I said I loved it, and that we differentiated btw us and the "Utah Mormons" (just to explain, where I grew up there is a Chiropractic College, and Fast and Testimony meeting turned into "I hate Iowa and wish I were back in the promised land", which kind of stuck in my craw. I always thought "GO!") in that we had to be more faithful. Then some bubbleheaded blonde from Orem said "really? I heard that when I visited California. I wonder if it is true?" Then some guy got mad and said they made fun of Iowa Mormons (I would wager he couldn't even point it out on the map!). I had a good time, to be sure.

My girls have all attended or are attending BYU. I have told them: go, soak up the church, attend General Conference and feed your spirit and then get the hell out of Utah and come back where you are needed!

I personally like being surrounded by Baptists (GA) and Catholics (NY). Lots of opportunities to speak religion...

[Newbert_Zero]

good i was hoping people would understand what i was saying. WHen i read my own posts they make no sense to me. but ya now that i live in georgia everyone in my ward has a much stronger testimony than in utah.

Why is that?

[ninjahobbit8]

good i was hoping people would understand what i was saying. WHen i read my own posts they make no sense to me. but ya now that i live in georgia everyone in my ward has a much stronger testimony than in utah.

Why is that?

maybe because you finally got to a place where you could be more serious about the gospel? i know before my ward devided up, we had a lot of nonserious Mormons in my YW who during the lession usually talked about boys and whatnot.One lesson was talking about swimsuits!!!!How i dreaded that day ...Now that we divided and we don't have people like that, it seems easyer to feel the spirit. It's not like i'm glad they're gone but...does this really go along with what you're talking about....?

[Newbert_Zero]

Maybe its just cause they dont really have to show an example because everyone is already morman?

[susieSA]

good i was hoping people would understand what i was saying. WHen i read my own posts they make no sense to me. but ya now that i live in georgia everyone in my ward has a much stronger testimony than in utah.

Why is that?

I think that it could be due to the fact that in allot of other places many members are not "surrounded" by the church & members & have to work harder at being faithful & keeping their testimonies strong.

For example: in Malaysia the church is rather small (the closest temples are in the Phillipines or Hong Kong)The members in the branch I belong to work very hard at being faithful enough to have & keep a temple rec... For many there have been opportunities given to them to be able to attend the temple. The undertanding of gospel principles is also "simpler". And they don't take the gospel for granted because many of them have gone through allot to just be members.

In South Africa I have seen the same. So many (including myself) take the fact that there is a temple in the same country or even down the road or on the same block for granted until they are no longer around that.

[prisonchaplain]

The closer to Utah you get, the less "Mormon" the members are.

Yedid, I really love what your Bishop said. Talk about Pearls!!! I was raised in Seattle, found the Church there and then lived in Oregon for 28 years. I am now in Arizona. I want to go back to the Pacific Northwest so badly, back to where the members are Real Mormons and not this Country Clubbing, in words only clique!

The Pacific Northwest has been called the "anti-Bible belt." Going to church here offers no social benefits, and will result in some thinking your wierd. So, there's no pretense. People go because they are sincerely interested in the spiritual.

I spent four years in Springfield, MO--the buckle of the Bible belt--yes, the believers take much for granted. They are not evil, weak, or bad--just used to being part of the privileged majority.

[a-train]

When I was 18, I was on a trip through Utah and going skateboarding with some locals I rode with them in their car. Most of them were young Priests who didn't even know whether I was Mormon or not, they never asked. As we were driving one of them said:

'Hey, I gotta get home. My dad is making me go to some fireside.'

Another replied with great sarcasm: 'Yeah dude, you don't want to... DIS..honor your priesthood.'

They all sneered in laughter.

I clasped the door handle as I sat in the back seat, ready to eject and roll clear from the vehicle in the event that lightning would strike!

Was this a typical rendition of the Utah attitude prevalent in the Church? I honestly doubt it. Is it typical of snot-nosed teens world-wide? EMPHATICALLY YES!!!

I think Utah Mormons are held to a higher standard and don't have the availability to blend in with the 'gentiles' as we do out here in the 'wilderness'.

-a-train

[Saab900man]

I have never been to Utah but I would like to go.

I was raised in the South....everybody here is a "Christian"

Trust me this is not a "Condition" that only applies to Mormons it is everywhere.

I guess most people just don't except to see a Mormon who is not faithful in every sense of the word.

Most people have come to expect people of other faiths to "backslide" because others are so well known

[StrawberryFields]

I think Utah Mormons are held to a higher standard and don't have the availability to blend in with the 'gentiles' as we do out here in the 'wilderness'.

VERY WELL SAID A-Train

Being a 'Utah Mormon' is like a position of being between a rock and a hard spot.

Those who would poke and make fun don't even have a clue. It's like saying their left arm is better than their right because when they drive and prop their arm out the window it gets tan.

[Guest Username-Removed]

The Utah mormon thing can be associated with Utah, but really any ward that is "cliqish" (sp). When to the Ammon Idaho ward and I was introduced every sunday in church as a new visiting member. That went on for three months. My home teacher stopped by the day I was moving to utah.

My ward in Utah is awesome. Better than any ward I've been in. We all have pretty much the same thing because we live in the same apartments, so material things really dont get in the way.

[john doe]

I grew up elsewhere, but now live in Utah. I know what you're talking about. I think part of the reasons for it have been discussed.

Some thoughts:

This is not an unusual situation where there is a large concentration of adherents to a particular religion. I imagine it could be compared to a Catholic living in Italy. While there are certainly many good and earnest Catholics living there, there are also many not-so good, organized crime is a huge thing there and most of the US early Mafioso traced their roots to the cradle of Catholicism, Italy.

People are people no matter where you go. You will find good people who live their religion most anywhere, and you will also find many who are members of a church merely because their family or ancestors were. Sometimes tolerance for those who don't truly have a testimony of the Gospel gives way to standards, and inconsistencies creep in.

Many people who live outside Utah hold those who live in or come from Utah to higher standards than they are used to. Sometimes those who move from Utah go elsewhere and struggle because they are held to these higher standards than when they lived in Utah. See, in Utah, not everybody looks at LDS as being different, and it's permissable to do some things anonymously that you can't get away with in places where the church is not such a large presence. In the 'mission field' everybody knows you are LDS, and hold you to the standards of the church. They question you when you don't live the standards as they understand them to be. So the 'mission fielders' accept that they have to live their religion religiously, where as in Utah they don't.

Some LDS in Utah smoke, drink, swear, shop on Sunday, and do various other things that they shouldn't. But so do a lot of non-LDS. They know they shouldn't, but they do it anyway. It's their cross in life to bear. We all have weaknesses, we all need to learn how to overcome them. Looking down your nose at Utah LDS does not help them, maybe they just need your help to overcome their weaknesses.

There are also a lot of good, upstanding LDS who live their religion to the fullest in Utah. It seems to me that a large portion of the church's higher leadership still comes from the intermountain US area of Utah, Idaho and Arizona. The reasons for this aren't merely because they happen to live closer to Salt Lake than anyone else, it's more likely that it can be traced to those people living the Gospel the way they should.

[Palerider]

you bunch of mean ole Mormons in Utah..........

[Traveler]

I have lived on both the East Coasts and West Coasts. I have also lived in Utah. I have lived in wards and I have lived in a branch (more like a twig) I have traveled around the world and have gone to church in many different nations, kindred’s, tongues and peoples. I have never been in a congregation of “bad” Mormons. I have even attended other churches and I can say that I have never been to a religious congregation of “bad” anything.

I have never felt too good to attend church anywhere. I know there are many that struggle to live their religion and I know this is quite common among youth. But you know what? I have gathered with smokers, drunkards and adulterers and all kinds of young men with all kinds of problems on the eve before combat and we have prayed to G-d for mercy and I could not find a fault in any of them – especially the ones that never came home.

I wonder – when you stand before G-d the Father and the Son Jesus Christ and tell them of how you feel about some of his children in Utah not being as worthy as you non-Utah types – I really do not think you will get as much agreement as you do on this forum.

The Traveler