April 26 was
the day we went to Salt Lake City. We are both interested in culture and
history, and Mary is especially interested in religion, so we had been looking
forward to learning a little more about The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Jesu Kristi Kirke af Sidste Dages
Hellige) (Mormoner). We both enjoyed the day, learned and saw
lots, and came away with a very good impression (indtryk) of the city and the
Mormons. (Don’t worry, we are not going to convert!)
The city is clean and orderly, and there are flowers, fountains, and landscaping everywhere. We had a little trouble getting orientated, but after that, everything went well. Temple Square was full of missionaries and volunteers, that we could ask, whenever we had a question. They were all very friendly, positive, helpful…. We got a tour of Temple Square from 2 young women. They told us history of both the square, it’s buildings, and the Mormon church.
The city is clean and orderly, and there are flowers, fountains, and landscaping everywhere. We had a little trouble getting orientated, but after that, everything went well. Temple Square was full of missionaries and volunteers, that we could ask, whenever we had a question. They were all very friendly, positive, helpful…. We got a tour of Temple Square from 2 young women. They told us history of both the square, it’s buildings, and the Mormon church.
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| The first Mormon church in Salt Lake City |
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| The Tabernacle on Temple Square |
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| The Salt Lake City Temple |
During our
short visit in Salt Lake City we have talked to 4-5 people with Danish
ancestors (forfædre).
A Jørgensen, a couple of Christensen etc. That seemed to be more than you would expect, so JJ wanted to know how many Danes emigrated to this area. We went to the Mormons family history library to find the answer. The Mormons believe strongly in the importance of family. They have built archives that contain copies of church records (kirkebøger) etc. from all over the world. They have a lot of people there, ready to help you, and a lot of archives.
We met with their Denmark specialist. He could not answer the question, but instead he showed us
their website, where you can search for your family history. And all of a sudden, we were looking at a copy of the church records from 1930, when JJ’s dad was entered in the parish (sogn) of Rostrup, Denmark.
A Jørgensen, a couple of Christensen etc. That seemed to be more than you would expect, so JJ wanted to know how many Danes emigrated to this area. We went to the Mormons family history library to find the answer. The Mormons believe strongly in the importance of family. They have built archives that contain copies of church records (kirkebøger) etc. from all over the world. They have a lot of people there, ready to help you, and a lot of archives.
We met with their Denmark specialist. He could not answer the question, but instead he showed us
their website, where you can search for your family history. And all of a sudden, we were looking at a copy of the church records from 1930, when JJ’s dad was entered in the parish (sogn) of Rostrup, Denmark.
We also went
to the Museum of church history. There we found out more about Joseph Smith
(founder of the LDS church), some more church history, and especially about the
Book of Mormon (a book that Joseph Smith found and translated from an ancient
language, “through the grace of God”). The Mormons base their religion on three
books – The Old Testament, The New Testament, and The Book of Mormon.
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| Joseph Smith |
Finally, we
went to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir practice (they only practice once a
week, so we were glad we hit the right day).
The choir has almost 400 members and is accompanied (akkompagneret) by a big
symphony orchestra. It sounded very good, especially when they did “When the Saints go Marching in” (which we
did not hear in New Orleans).
Written by JJ
and Mary
P.S. the
people around Salt Lake City, are some of the friendliest we have met on our
trip. We realize that the Mormon missionaries are friendly, to try to make a
good impression (but only half of the people of Utah are Mormons). We ran into friendly people at the optometrist, the
campground, the gas stations etc. etc. It seems like it would be a nice place to live.
I had a co-worker who lived in Utah several years ago. He said Mormons are very friendly to your face, but if you are not a Mormon, you cannot break into their clicks, and they are not always so friendly behind your back.... Not to bring you down.... He finally had to move back to Minnesota because he could not stand the back-stabbing anymore.
ReplyDeleteThere are some positive aspects to the LDS church. The are some dark, cultish things as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you both very much for your concern. It is nice to know, that you are looking out for us. As I wrote, we are not considering conversion. But I do admire people, who have such strong faith, and are willing to sacrifice for their beliefs.
ReplyDelete