Sacred... Not Secret

So... yes, we’ve moved to Utah. And as you can imagine, the most common questions and comments we get from our friends are smart alecky remarks about Mormonism, or as they prefer to be called, LDS.

Of course this is something we considered before we moved here. Neither of us had much exposure to this religion or culture. All we knew, or thought we knew, were the sterotypical and sometimes absurd things we grew up hearing... you know, that all Mormon men have multiple wives, the families are huge, and there’s something about going to different planets when you die. We did have a little exposure to it from some friends of ours who were LDS who came to YoungLife in Oregon. But that’s about it.

We did some research before we moved here and found that Sandy, the town we live in, has a staggering 83% LDS population, 9% Catholic, and 8% other. But now, because of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, those percentages are changing. The closer you get to the city, the more diverse it’s becoming. Since we’ve been here, we’ve been told that the Olympics helped change the culture here pretty dramatically. It exposed Utah to the world and people found out that Utah was breathtakingly beautiful and the cost of living wasn’t too shabby either.

My Mom came out for a visit a couple weeks ago and we were both intrigued and anxious to get to know more about the LDS culture here... I made a commitment that I would embrace the culture and educate myself so I knew where they were coming from. I don’t want to be an ignorant Christian that condemns, but instead be a Christian that understands and loves. So we took a field trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It was pretty amazing.

It was an immaculate park with extraordinary buildings. The thing we couldn’t get over though was the Truman Show/Stepford Wives atmosphere we were feeling while we were walking around. We were greeted multiple times by a variety of LDS folks... but there was something a little off about it all.

After we left, we were even more intrigued and wanted to know more. So we went to Barnes & Noble to look for a book that would help explain everything. The LDS section at B&N was huge... but right smack dab in the middle of it all was the bright yellow “Mormonism For Dummies.” Bingo.

I wanted to avoid a book that was light hearted or had a negative perspective on Mormonism. I wanted something that was fair and told it like it is. This book was written by 2 legitimate LDS members, one of whom is a professor at BYU... so it seemed like a safe buy. Within the first several pages, nearly all of my previous knowledge and stereotypes either defined or changed. It’s so fascinating to finally learn what it’s all about. So refreshing to hear it from their mouths and to learn where they’re coming from. One of the things I grew up thinking was that Mormons had a lot of “secret” things going on within their religion, temple, worship, etc. I heard that there were handshakes, ceremonies, and more... but one of the more interesting things I’ve learned from this book is that they refer to those things as “sacred, not secret.” This doesn’t, of course, mean that I’m on-board with any of it... but it’s so nice to get their point of view. It has already helped SO much in many of the conversations I’ve been having with people I’ve been meeting here.

I am totally looking forward to what God has in store for us here. We know that besides our love for the outdoors, we’ve moved here for a reason. I’ve met with several pastors of Four Square, Baptist and other protestant churches since I’ve been here and they’ve all been like-minded in sensing that God is indeed doing something miraculous here in Utah. It’s an exciting time be living here and an awesome opportunity for our faith to be challenged and strengthened.

Mt. Olympus

So, a week in to living here, Tuesday was hankering for an epic hike. So she came home from work with 3 different trail guides. The Wasatch Mountains are literally in our backyard, so it’d be a crime not to explore them. She chose Mt. Olympus for our first Utah hike, being that it was the one we could see from our deck. She sold it to me by saying “We’re gonna go to the peak! It’s ONLY 9,026 ft.” “Oh...” I thought “that doesn’t seem too bad...”

We headed out early to try and beat the heat. The first thing we learned about this particular hike was that there was nothing gradual about it. You see, I’m used to long approaches and long steady hikes. Not here folks. You literally walk to the base of the mountain and basically look straight up. It’s a lot like the Canadian Rockies in BC that jet straight out of the ocean. The first few steps were monsters each about 3 feet high. From there on the mountain was basically a stair stepping machine the entire way up. It wasn’t until later that we found out that the Wasatch Moutains is the steepest mountain range in the world. Nice.

I won’t bore you with the sweaty details of the hike, but near the top it turned into about 600 ft of pretty technical scrambling. We turned a corner and spotted a woman stuck on a large rock. I shouted to her “Are you headed to the top?” There was no answer. When we got closer, we found that she was pretty shaken up and had bitten off more than she could chew. “I was headed to the top, but I don’t know how...” she said. Her name was Lea, turns out she’s an ultramarathoner that went out for a leisurely hike. She basically sprinted up the mountain not expecting such a technical climb at the end. We told her that we were headed to the top and that we’d love to help her to the top as well. We warned her that sometimes it’s easier to go up than down, but she didn’t want to be alone and didn’t want to quit.

“I must warn you...” she said “I will probably cry and will definitely swear.”

“Whatever it takes” I responded.

Finding Lea is actually just what I needed. Right before we found her, I was spent. I wasn’t even sure I had the energy to finish. Tuesday had the energy of mountain goat this day and was basically dragging me up. But now I had to ignore my own fatigue and turn my concentration to Lea. There were several times I didn’t think she was gonna make it, but she gritted her teeth and made it to the top with us. When we reached the top, there was a mailbox with a notebook you could sign to record your summit day and time. We spent about 30 minutes on top while Lea told her life story to Tuesday. Turns out that Lea is a “recovering LDS trying to start he life over...”

Funny how God will put people in your life right when you need them... both mine and hers. She needed someone to help her to the top, and I needed someone to help to the top.

We headed down and found that going down turned out to be the most strenuous part of the hike. Lea didn’t want to go at our slow pace so she took off in a near run. As we got back to our Jeep, there was a note on our windshield “Thanks for the help! Got down at 3:45 pm. -Lea”

It was 5:00 pm.

Welp, See ya later!

3+ years ago, in the comfort of our little townhouse in Eugene, OR I asked Tuesday what she thought about moving to Minnesota. “Sure! Why not!?” she said... I had been offered a job as the YoungLife Area Director in the Twin Cities. It was a chance for us to go back to the place where I studied youth ministry and played hockey for 4 years at Bethel University. There was this poetic opportunity for me to come full circle and work in the same place where I began my ministry training 16 years ago. So, we packed the cars and headed north. It was an incredible experience for us both. I got to work students from Bethel, coach hockey, and even taught a course in youth cultures at Bethel. How ironic to teach the same class I had been kicked out of 14 years ago for disruptive behavior. I had indeed come full circle. Tuesday got to finish school and her part-time job at REI became her full-time career. Meanwhile, we were dreaming of moving back to the mountains, but we weren’t sure how that opportunity would present itself. Until one day, Tuesday was offered a promotion as a supervisor in Sandy, UT. Boom.

Now, after 3+ years in Minnesota, making a handful of amazing friends, going to the nations largest state fair, making fun of ice fishing and enduring the most disappointing professional sports seasons ever, it was time once again to hit the road.
“Utah? Isn’t that were Mormon’s live?” This was by far the most common thing we heard from everyone we told. More about this later.
We packed a 26’ UHAUL, attached the Jeep to the back and hit the road. After a rest-stop at my Mom’s in Colorado, we finally arrived in Sandy. We found an apartment with a view, got out hiking boots and filled our bike tires with air and began exploring. I wasn’t quite sure what it was that I would be doing once we arrived in Utah, but we decided to let God figure that one out.

John 14:1-2 “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In my Fathers house there are many rooms... I am going there to prepare a place for you...”