82 replies to this topic

[volgadon]

With unassuming, quiet dignity I will note that you are all wrong and will leave Josephus the last word.

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Skirting the lake of Gennesar [Sea of Galilee], and also bearing that name, lies a region whose natural properties and beauty are very remarkable.There is not a plant which its fertile soil refuses to produce, and its cultivators in fact grow every species; the air is so well-tempered that it suits the most opposite varieties. The walnut, a tree which delights in the most wintry climate, here grows luxuriantly, beside palm-trees, which thrive on heat, and figs and olives, which require a milder atmosphere. One might say that nature had taken pride in thus assembling, by a tour de force, the most discordant species in a single spot, and that, by a happy rivalry, each of the seasons wished to claim this region for her own. For not only has the country this surprising merit of producing such diverse fruits, but it also preserves them: for ten months without intermission it supplies those kings of fruits, the grape and the fig; the rest mature on the trees the whole year round. Besides being favoured by its genial air, the country is watered by a highly fertilizing spring, called by the inhabitants Capharnaum [Capernaum]…. This region extends along the border of the lake which bears its name for a length of thirty furlongs [5.6 kilometers] and inland to a depth of twenty [3.8 kilometers]. Such is the nature of this district (The Jewish War 3:516-521, translation by H. St. J. Thackeray in Vol. II of Josephus [London: William Heinemann, 1927], in the Loeb Classical Library series).

[blackstrap]

Duncan, on 15 March 2012 - 03:59 PM, said:

I have been to Banff or as my son called it "Gamph" Great Place, many memories!

Banff, talk about Asian Fever. Alberta has every kind of climate one could wish for,all one has to do is wait a couple of minutes.

[Duncan]

blackstrap, on 15 March 2012 - 06:11 PM, said:

Banff, talk about Asian Fever. Alberta has every kind of climate one could wish for,all one has to do is wait a couple of minutes.

I heard they have a very, very high rate of std's with all the tourists and people working in the hotels. I got sick going up the gondola ride and then spent $8 for a dry burger!!!!! that's highway robbery!!! Loved the hotel we stayed at with the pools and oh the memories of that trip!

Edited by Duncan, 15 March 2012 - 06:29 PM.

[KevinG]

Kenngo1969, on 15 March 2012 - 02:53 PM, said:

You forgot the rim-shot.

www.instantrimshot.com

[Anijen]

I have it on good authority that Nebraskans make the best Mormons.

[KevinG]

Jeff Holt, on 15 March 2012 - 06:36 PM, said:

I have it on good authority that Nebraskans make the best Mormons.

Your mother is not an unbiased authority.

[Kenngo1969]

KevinG, on 15 March 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

www.instantrimshot.com

That's better!

[gmormon]

Scott Lloyd, on 15 March 2012 - 11:53 AM, said:

No need to mount any real defense. I'll just remain characteristically standoffish,  arrogant and quirky. That has worked well enough for us in the past.

I have met Mormons just like this who have never been to the Rockies let alone Utah...

BCSpace, on 15 March 2012 - 12:06 PM, said:

Texas Mormons are superior in every way to Utah Mormons.

See...

[guitarist]

Scott Lloyd, on 15 March 2012 - 01:31 PM, said:

We might have crossed paths. Did you ever serve in any of the Crescent stakes?

Ironically, my biological father lived in the Sandy Crescent stake during my mission.  My mission president found that out at our first meeting, and when he introduced us to our trainers, he mentioned it, and said, "Well, we all know where he won't be serving..."  In the beginning, I was limited to the west half of the valley.  Then, halfway through my mission, my father & his family moved to Portland, OR, and I was later allowed to serve in Big Cottonwood stake, and White City, immediately adjacent to Alta Vista Hospital (the smallest geographical area in the mission--not a single shop (Except Big Lots) lay within that area--had to go to an adjacent area just to find a fast food joint).

[guitarist]

KevinG, on 15 March 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

See those Utah Mormons need more repentence preached per square mile than any other place in the world.

(digging a little deeper now!)

Yeah, Utah Mormons didn't seem to realize that they were a mission field in and of themselves--I frequently heard them refer to "outside of Utah" as the mission field, but statistically, SLC Valley itself only had 25% of the population "active"--another 25% were "less active", and 50% non-members.  Plenty o' work to be done.  In fact, at least at the time, it was one of the highest English baptizing missions in the world.  That said, there were still 94 stakes in my mission area then.  I understand that number has blossomed considerably, not the least of which was with populating Herriman (which was virtually uninhabited during my mission--the road to Kennicott was a lonely one).

'Course, this thread is the perfect place to reveal my mission's "slogan"--"Every member a mission president."  I can't tell you how many "active" members (and inactive/nonmembers too, ironically) would watch us with a critical eye, to make sure we were obeying the mission rules, or at least what they thought were missionary rules.  I regularly had people come up to me & my companion on P-Day (The SLC-South mission's P-Day was Tuesday, the North's was Monday), and ask what we were doing at the store.  We'd reply how we needed some groceries or some such, and they'd continue to hound us thinking that P-Day was the day before, 'till we'd correct them, and they'd finally relent and go away.  Even my mission president would regale us of stories at zone conferences about how many calls he'd receive from members daily about his missionaries.  My favorite one that he said was some lady called him up one day, and said she saw some Elders going to a convenience store and that they bought Cokes.  To which he replied, "Well, were they thirsty?"

[Nofear]

Among the best reasons not to live in Utah was given by Brigham Young:

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I … testify, that unless the Latter-day Saints will live their religion, keep their covenants with God and their brethren, honor the priesthood which they bear, and try faithfully to bring themselves into subjection to the laws of God, they will be the first to fall beneath the judgments of the Almighty, for his judgments will begin at his own house.

I look to Utah as a canary for the desolations prior to the Second Coming.


PS: I also whole-heartedly agree with those who object to using "mission field" for a term to refer to outside Utah.

[Buzzard]

gmormon, on 15 March 2012 - 07:53 PM, said:

I have met Mormons just like this who have never been to the Rockies let alone Utah...



See...

I have every reason to carry a non-residents fondness for Texas, since my daughter is serving a mission there.  However, the place is just too stinking flat for my taste.  And don't tell me about the "Hill Country" .  If it's not at least 8K high, it's not a mountain. If those monotonous prairies were so special, why are the following not in the Hymnbook?
"Firm as the Prairies Around Us"
"O Ye Knolls High"
"High on a Hilltop"
The MOUNTAIN west is where it's at.  You don't even have to be LDS to know that.

"West Texas-more oil rigs than people, and more cattle than oil rigs".
I rest my case.

[Pa Pa]

KevinG, on 15 March 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

No real discussion here.  I just wanted to see how many people (Scott Lloyd) would jump on this thread to quickly defend the Saints in Zion from my provncial intolerence.  Watch the view count.

Georgia is Zion...surly you know this.

[KevinG]

Pa Pa, on 16 March 2012 - 10:01 AM, said:

Georgia is Zion...surly you know this.

Of course.  I'm just giving them milk before meat.

(On the bright side it looks like I may have a shot at another local job + I'm working with a consulting firm that will allow me to stay in Georgia! - now if I'd just land the job and make some money with the firm...)

[Pa Pa]

KevinG, on 16 March 2012 - 10:02 AM, said:

Of course.  I'm just giving them milk before meat.

(On the bright side it looks like I may have a shot at another local job + I'm working with a consulting firm that will allow me to stay in Georgia! - now if I'd

God is good!

[Scott Lloyd]

guitarist, on 16 March 2012 - 05:11 AM, said:

... immediately adjacent to Alta Vista Hospital ....

It's Alta View Hospital, not Alta Vista.

All of our children were born there except the eldest. I was a recipient of their ER services just last Halloween after a bicycle accident.

Edited by Scott Lloyd, 16 March 2012 - 11:09 AM.

[KevinG]

Scott Lloyd, on 16 March 2012 - 10:32 AM, said:

It's Alta View Hospital, not Alta Vista.

I was a recipient of their ER services just last Halloween after a bicycle accident.

Now there is a story I would like to hear!  I can conjure up images of a grown man in a Harry Potter Wisard costume getting tangled in the spokes of a BMX bike.

[Scott Lloyd]

guitarist, on 16 March 2012 - 05:27 AM, said:

Yeah, Utah Mormons didn't seem to realize that they were a mission field in and of themselves--I frequently heard them refer to "outside of Utah" as the mission field ...

Odd, I was born here and have spent most of my life here, and I haven't heard the term used in that manner since, oh, the late '70s.

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but statistically, SLC Valley itself only had 25% of the population "active"--another 25% were "less active", and 50% non-members.  Plenty o' work to be done.  In fact, at least at the time, it was one of the highest English baptizing missions in the world.

Of course, none of that success had to do with member missionary work, referrals, or the efforts of ward mission leaders and such. We [Darn] Utah Mormons don't have time for such trivialities.

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'Course, this thread is the perfect place to reveal my mission's "slogan"--"Every member a mission president."  

Hmm. When I was on my mission we were instructed to never speak disparagingly of the area or the people where we were serving. But that was back in the mid-'70s. Maybe the rules have changed since then. I'll have to consult my copy of Preach My Gospel.

Edited by Scott Lloyd, 16 March 2012 - 11:06 AM.

[Scott Lloyd]

KevinG, on 16 March 2012 - 10:34 AM, said:

Now there is a story I would like to hear!  I can conjure up images of a grown man in a Harry Potter Wisard costume getting tangled in the spokes of a BMX bike.

Well, since you ask ....

I was coming from work and riding my bike home from the light-rail station. We have a paved bike trail that runs parallel to the railroad right-of-way. They are doing construction work to extend the light-rail line further south. It will be nice when it's finished, because I'll be able to board the train just behind my house to go to my office, which is also next to a light-rail platform.

Anyway, the construction workers had cut a trench in the pavement to install a utility line. It was just deep enough, and I hit it just hard enough, to throw me down.

Too embarrassed to lie there in shock and agony, I picked up my bike and walked it the rest of the way home, appearing at the front door, eye swollen and bloody, looking like a zombie from "Night of the Living Dead." Very appropriate for the Halloween revelry.

In short, I required out-patient surgery to repair an ocular blowout fracture, but I'm doing OK now.

[KevinG]

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'Course, this thread is the perfect place to reveal my mission's "slogan"--"Every member a mission president."

Quote

Hmm. When I was on my mission we were instructed to never speak disparagingly of the area or the people where we were serving. But that was back in the mid-'70s. Maybe the rules have changed since then. I'll have to consult my copy of Preach My Gospel.

Heh.

I can see where a critical mass of LDS could make being a missionary in Utah an overly supervised experience!  Busybodies are not a Utah only pheonomenon but I'm sure there are harder to avoid than they are in the wilderness of North Georgia.