ElPatron Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 My family and I will be attending General Conference in April for the first time. We've traveled to SLC a few times but never for conference. We are staying downtown for the full weekend. What can we expect as far as the atmosphere around downtown and Temple Square. We've heard about protestors but what else should we expect? Will all the "touristy" places be open during the weekend? Link to comment
bluebell Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 It will be very busy-lots of people. Link to comment
rpn Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 If you don't have reservations yet, you may have trouble getting them. The train operates during conference, so if you stay at any of the hotels in downtown, you should also be able to get around. (And you can always walk, the blocks are long, but it is doable). There are also some bed and breakfast and staying with people in their homes airbnb.com or other home switching sites. Bring an umbrella. And warm clothes. SLC is pretty clean and orderly. The protests tend to be fiery and include sacred clothing. Some people just start singing a hymn as they walk past. Leaders discourage any kind of interaction or response to the protesters. Link to comment
Kenngo1969 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 You will likely encounter protesters on one side telling you you're going to Hades and groups of Church members (many composed mostly of young people and perhaps missionaries) singing hymns on the other side. Feel free to join in with the latter. I bid you an early welcome to Our Fair City and State, and hope you enjoy your stay. Link to comment
Coreyb Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 My family and I will be attending General Conference in April for the first time. We've traveled to SLC a few times but never for conference. We are staying downtown for the full weekend. What can we expect as far as the atmosphere around downtown and Temple Square. We've heard about protestors but what else should we expect? Will all the "touristy" places be open during the weekend? Don't park in the residential areas near downtown, park at city creek or the many other pay lots/structures. It really sucks when us residents have to park several blocks away from our own houses Link to comment
Coreyb Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 You will likely encounter protesters on one side telling you you're going to Hades and groups of Church members (many composed mostly of young people and perhaps missionaries) singing hymns on the other side. Feel free to join in with the latter. I bid you an early welcome to Our Fair City and State, and hope you enjoy your stay. I always shake hands with the protesters and thank them for coming out. It takes a lot of guts Link to comment
Calm Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I always shake hands with the protesters and thank them for coming out. It takes a lot of gutsNot always. Some get paid for doing it and on occasion have little personal commitment...at least in the past. For others it is a major sacrifice. The truly serious ones of the past have in recent years chosen to stay away because they don't want to be associated with the more in your face offensive types. At least so it was a few years ago, don't know if they've made a reappearance or not. 1 Link to comment
Stargazer Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 I always shake hands with the protesters and thank them for coming out. It takes a lot of guts I don't think it takes any guts at all. "Guts" implies that they have to put some aspect of their well-being at risk. I'd say they had "guts" if they tried to pull something like that in the middle of downtown Riyadh, or even better, Mecca. And I hope they DO give that a shot. 3 Link to comment
ElPatron Posted January 23, 2015 Author Share Posted January 23, 2015 Good info! Thanks everyone. We already have a hotel in down town reserved and will just walk to and from for conference. As far as the protestors go, I'm pretty thick skinned but I'm worried about my teenage boys being exposed to it but I'm sure they'll survive it. Anyway, we are looking forward to this opportunity to attend conference and to spend some time in SLC! Link to comment
Calm Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 (edited) If you google "conference protesters mormon" and then click on images, you will get lots of pictures of protestors and the 'antiprotestors'. For the 'antiprotestors' see the "free hugs" and those singing songs, generally nice people saying nice things or just keeping the protestors busy so they won't bother those walking by but on occasion you will get someone dressed up with a sign about a protestor being stupid, see http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7RUF7Vw5wQw/hqdefault.jpg You can prepare your boys for what they will see by showing them these if you want. And talking about their claims. This page which has pictures and info on it may be helpful as well as it has links to videos and photo essays along with explanations from a number of years: http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/publications/neighborly-christian-love-or-hate-speech-anti-mormon-protesters Allen has made it a practice to engage civilly with the protestors for a number of conferences, he knows many of the regulars by name and they know him. Edited January 23, 2015 by calmoriah Link to comment
The Nehor Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I always shake hands with the protesters and thank them for coming out. It takes a lot of guts Can anyone join the protesters? If so I have a plan........ 2 Link to comment
Calm Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) You need to have a legal permit or you could be asked to move on.And if it is to dress up as Satan and have a sign saying "I'm with stupid" and then stand next to an obnoxious EV street screecher, it has been done (not all are obnoxious, some are very nice and wish the obnoxious ones would change their ways according to people who have interacted with them). Edited January 27, 2015 by calmoriah Link to comment
strappinglad Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Can anyone join the protesters? If so I have a plan........ Does it involve eating a whole pile of burritos and boiled cabbage prior to shaking hands with the protestors? If so, I'm in ! 1 Link to comment
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