My 3 short months being a member of the LDS church and living outside of Utah have been a very eye opening experience. Not only for me but for our whole family. It never ceases to amaze me the misconceptions people have about our religion. One of the first few days of school Whitney overheard a group of boys talking next to her in class. 3 boys were talking about making the basketball team. One asked if another friend had made the team and the other one replied "no because he is Mormon". The other one said "didn't he move here from Utah?" The other one replied "yes, that's were all those Mormons live".
Things were different here and we were going to have to be strong. There are curious people that have heard crazy things and we were going to have to be good examples and share the truth.
Whitney has had numerous situations where once they realize she is Mormon they ask her things like, what does your family "make" (like the Amish), I heard they don't use protection (she was not even sure what they were saying let alone how to answer that), I heard you can't date, once while sitting by a friend from the ward, another friend of Whitney's asked how they knew each other, Whitney told her church, She said "wait you guys are Mormons? I didn't think you could touch the opposite sex?" Whitney poked him "touch", one of the best yet is, I heard you can't look at boys! (her parents wish :)). I do feel that although people are misinformed they seem very accepting of it and don't judge you.
The interesting thing to me is that they know (or think they know) a lot about us but yet we are still so small in numbers. We live in a pretty big neighborhood and there are no members right around here. I could not wrap my mind around this. I knew it was not going to be like Utah by any means but I figured they were planted around at least 1 in a neighborhood. And like any city there are definitely neighborhoods in our ward where a large group of members ended up (interesting note, my observations are the neighborhoods that have the "family" feel) . I learned from a conference talk that
the Book of Mormon makes it clear that we never will dominate by numbers. At 14 million members, we are a tiny fraction when compared to the billions of people on the earth. But, we are who we are, and we know what we know and we are to go and preach the gospel. -Pres Boyd K. Packer. So where are these people getting all their information? (light bulb moment) This is why it is so important for their to be members out in the mission field. There have been 2 incidences where I have felt very strongly and have shared with Whitney that this is why we are here, so that one girl who thought Mormons couldn't look at each other can say she meet a Mormon and they are normal, they are OK and maybe one day when she meets the missionaries she may take a second to listen to them because she once knew a cute, nice, fun, NORMAL girl who was Mormon. And as Landon says "Mom we didn't move here for the church" (no light bulb moment for him). I realize what a blessing it is.
So, I ask myself "have I taught my kids well enough that they can answer the questions?" The answer is no, because although basic, these are questions I have not really ever been asked and had to explain. So we take the opportunity to find out the answers, teach in family home evening, ask our friends "how would you answer this?", Listen better in Seminary and church classes because we aren't somewhere where everyone knows and doesn't ask the hard questions. We are in a sea of fish and instead of swimming downstream with everyone else we are now swimming up stream against everyone. We are being asked "what do you believe?" and we have to be strong enough to answer that even though we are 11. We have to learn to share that burning feeling in our hearts.
I never expected to have this kind of experience living my religion outside of Utah. I realize how naive I was and although I have a strong testomony, how easy it was to be a member and attend meeting when everyone else was. Last Sunday I sat next to an investigator and got an opportunity to listen to why she wants to join the church and all that she has been through and is willing to give up. I watched her as the relief society lesson was being taught and as she kept nodding in agreement as the spirit testified to her that it was true. I was so impressed with her spirit and her enthusiasm. I don't think I have ever had that kind of experience before. I am thankful that my family has the opportunity to live in the mission field, to be good examples and learn the answer all those hard questions.
