Utah Mormons

[Grundelwalken]

Utah is a good place to be FROM.

I'm not a native Utahn so I will give you my perspective. I was raised in Arizona and spent years hearing about the Utah brand of people (church and otherwise). My wife and I lived in California for a few years and finally decided to return to Utah (she IS a native). One of our first discussions was to consider how we would handle all the problems encountered because of all the Mormons in our area. Even she had some ideas that were pre-conceived because she was raised in the hinterlands of the state.

Thirty years later we are comfortable with our existence in the Beehive State. There have been some issues over the years but they are generally the same issues we encountered in our time in other states (Arizona and California). Our children have had struggles with some of the "mormon" (cliques, bad examples, etc) but they are the same things I encountered in my youth in AZ. Frankly, I have a hard time seeing the difference between Utah Mormons and Other Mormons. And I have lived amongst both types. MW

[mfbukowski]

That was quick!

Love you Scott - and all your quircky intermountain friends!

We like to blame Utah for all of the weird Church policy announcements we get here in the mission field. But in truth a lot of those probably stem from events in California.

I resemble that remark.

[mfbukowski]

The Lord is able to raise up children of Abraham from rocks ... in Texas, and Arizona, and California, and Utah.

You almost got that right. It's not that we ARE rocks but that we just plain ROCK. So if we are NOT rocks, what are we? Fruits and nuts of course!

[Scott Lloyd]

I'm not a native Utahn so I will give you my perspective. I was raised in Arizona and spent years hearing about the Utah brand of people (church and otherwise). My wife and I lived in California for a few years and finally decided to return to Utah (she IS a native). One of our first discussions was to consider how we would handle all the problems encountered because of all the Mormons in our area. Even she had some ideas that were pre-conceived because she was raised in the hinterlands of the state.

Thirty years later we are comfortable with our existence in the Beehive State. There have been some issues over the years but they are generally the same issues we encountered in our time in other states (Arizona and California). Our children have had struggles with some of the "mormon" (cliques, bad examples, etc) but they are the same things I encountered in my youth in AZ. Frankly, I have a hard time seeing the difference between Utah Mormons and Other Mormons. And I have lived amongst both types. MW

Thank you for this wise perspective.

As I have pondered this somewhat troubling antipathy among some Church members toward their fellow Latter-day Saints in my native state, I have often wondered whether there is some confirmation bias at play. That is, some of the same annoyances and effronteries apt to transpire in most any locale where a substantial number of Mormons reside draw greater attention, get more emphasis and are noised about more extensively when they occur in Utah because they confirm some hypersensitive observers' expectations. With their expectations thus confirmed, these observers feed the rumor mill, and the stereotype continues on in a never-ending spiral.

And so it goes.

Edited March 19, 2012 by Scott Lloyd

[guitarist]

It's Alta View Hospital, not Alta Vista.

Yeah, 12 years can do a lot to ones memory.

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.

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.

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.

Believe it or not, I had no problems with the people actually in my areas, they were pretty much all great people, many of whom I'm still friends with today. But because the areas were so small, the ones sticking their nose in our business were usually from another part of the valley.

[Buzzard]

Born and raised in Utah, moved to SoCal after college and lived there for over two decades. After being laid off, ended up back in Utah. We had a slight amount of trepedation based on rumor and stereotypes, but the neigbors seemed nice, so that helped. Then when we walked in the chapel door our first Sunday here, the first person to greet us was sporting a goatee and a powder blue shirt. He introduced himself as the first counselor in the bishopric. So much for stereotypes. This was not only in Utah, but in northern Utah County.

[Scott Lloyd]

Born and raised in Utah, moved to SoCal after college and lived there for over two decades. After being laid off, ended up back in Utah. We had a slight amount of trepedation based on rumor and stereotypes, but the neigbors seemed nice, so that helped. Then when we walked in the chapel door our first Sunday here, the first person to greet us was sporting a goatee and a powder blue shirt. He introduced himself as the first counselor in the bishopric. So much for stereotypes. This was not only in Utah, but in northern Utah County.

There you go. Outsiders move in, and there goes the neighborhood.

(Of course, there is the outside chance that the guy was born and reared in Utah, then let himself go.)

[Buzzard]

There you go. Outsiders move in, and there goes the neighborhood.

(Of course, there is the outside chance that the guy was born and reared in Utah, then let himself go.)

Well, he was from out of state, but his lovely wife is a member of the family that founded our little burg 170 or so years ago.