In this episode of "Lisa Joins a Cult," join Lisa as she embarks on a journey deep into the heart of Mormonism. It all begins with her fascination with touring a temple, leading her to anticipate visiting the iconic Washington, D.C. temple for its open house. However, plans take an unexpected turn, and Lisa finds herself heading to Idaho to explore a newly constructed temple, immersing herself in encounters that provide fascinating insights into the Mormon faith.
As the episode progresses, listeners are taken on a deep dive into the complexities of Mormon family dynamics. Through candid conversations and observations, Lisa juxtaposes her own familial experiences with those she encounters within Mormon gatherings, shedding light on the significance of large families and the theological underpinnings driving procreation within Mormonism. With thought-provoking discussions on the similarities and differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity, "Lisa Joins a Cult" offers a captivating exploration of faith, culture, and identity, blending personal anecdotes with insightful cultural analysis to engage listeners throughout the episode.
Welcome to Lisa joins a cult
In this episode of "Lisa Joins a Cult," join Lisa as she embarks on a journey deep into the heart of Mormonism. It all begins with her fascination with touring a temple, leading her to anticipate visiting the iconic Washington, D.C. temple for its open house. However, plans take an unexpected turn, and Lisa finds herself heading to Idaho to explore a newly constructed temple, immersing herself in encounters that provide fascinating insights into the Mormon faith.
As the episode progresses, listeners are taken on a deep dive into the complexities of Mormon family dynamics. Through candid conversations and observations, Lisa juxtaposes her own familial experiences with those she encounters within Mormon gatherings, shedding light on the significance of large families and the theological underpinnings driving procreation within Mormonism. With thought-provoking discussions on the similarities and differences between Mormonism and mainstream Christianity, "Lisa Joins a Cult" offers a captivating exploration of faith, culture, and identity, blending personal anecdotes with insightful cultural analysis to engage listeners throughout the episode.
Welcome to Lisa joins a cult
00;00;01;10 - 00;00;13;03
Unknown
So I'm eating a potato in Idaho at the Potato Museum with Miss Idaho. Bitches like this is the pinnacle of potato consumption experience.
00;00;31;21 - 00;00;51;14
Unknown
We're back with our second installment of Lisa's Adventures into the World of the Latter Day Saints Church, commonly known as Mormons. If you didn't catch the first episode, make sure you go and listen to that one as well so you don't miss out on any of the stories. Without further ado. This is Lisa joins a cult. So something I had wanted to do was tour a temple.
00;00;51;17 - 00;01;19;02
Unknown
So the only way that an outsider can go into a mormon temple is if it's just been built and it hasn't been dedicated yet. They'll have an open house where literally anyone can come in and tour themselves around, or if they undergone major renovations and they're going to rededicate it, they'll have an open house prior to that. And I had seen online that the Washington, D.C. temple was going to have an open house.
00;01;19;02 - 00;01;44;08
Unknown
And I was like, Fuck, yeah. This is the very East Coast thing. But a lot of people from this area, if you've ever driven down to D.C., odds are at some point you've been on the Beltway and seen this building just above the trees and been like, What the hell is that? And then you ever you're driving with, it's like, Oh, that's the Mormon temple.
00;01;44;17 - 00;02;14;04
Unknown
It looms in front of you. It's it's like when Dorothy and the Tin Man and the and the Iron and the Scarecrow see the Emerald City in the desert and this lake looming above. That's what's happening. Like children in D.C. grow up being like, Yeah, that's a castle. We can't go in. Well, it's just this whimsical and mysterious thing that you cannot miss.
00;02;14;10 - 00;02;40;20
Unknown
And so it's like a very. And there's not a lot of Mormon temples on the East Coast to begin with. So it's very, very iconic and mysterious. So for them to be having an open house is a huge deal. And it was supposed to be in, I want to say, September of 2020, that obviously did not happen. And I'm like, okay, well, I am going when it finally does happen.
00;02;41;09 - 00;03;03;17
Unknown
So then I find out that I'm going to get to do a show. And I'm like, I really want to tour a mormon temple before that happens that I have the option of including that in the show and the DC Open House kept getting pushed back. So I'm like, I need a different temple to go to. And one was being built in Idaho.
00;03;04;10 - 00;03;23;02
Unknown
I meant they were going to have an open house. So I booked a trip to Idaho to go see the temple and I figured, I've never been to Idaho. I don't know why the hell else I would ever go there. So I can like, you know. Yeah, I've heard, I've heard. It's beautiful. It is? Yeah. So I was like, I'll cross that off the list.
00;03;23;02 - 00;03;51;09
Unknown
I had made a list of things that I wanted to do in middle school, and on that list was to eat a potato in Idaho. So I like seventh grade. Lisa, this is your moment. I put this trip and I'm like, Okay, I need to figure out somewhere to stay, but I know nothing about Idaho. So I found the open houses, Facebook events and messaged it and was like, Hey, I'm coming to Pocatello, Idaho, specifically for your open house, but I don't know the area at all.
00;03;51;09 - 00;04;18;16
Unknown
Can you recommend somewhere to stay that would be closed? Because I'm not going to have a car that like I could Uber for a reasonable amount. Or even better yet. Do you know of any like Mormon owned hotel or anything so that I can have a more immersive experience? And they were like, you could stay at this place, which is like a like a very cool hotel with like over-the-top themed rooms, and that's owned by a mormon family in our ward.
00;04;18;16 - 00;04;42;22
Unknown
You could stay there. And I was looking at it and I was like, These rooms are stick tacular, but they're so expensive. And so then I said to them, Is there any chance that anyone would be interested in hosting me? Because I would love to have just the full on immersive experience of living with the Mormon Stanley while I'm there and seeing this exciting event through their eyes.
00;04;43;12 - 00;05;11;28
Unknown
And so the lady in charge of the Facebook thing put it out there and a really lovely family said, yes, we would love to host her. And so we were put in touch. They were so lovely. Okay. So you did you visit this village? You stay with them? Yeah. They they were so incredibly kind. My flight was getting me in late at night and my flight out was meeting obnoxiously early in the morning.
00;05;11;28 - 00;05;35;08
Unknown
They took me to and from the airport. Yeah. So Pocatello, Idaho, small town, then a mormon temple is opening. There is like a really huge thing because it means that they don't have to travel all the way to Salt Lake City for a temple anymore. So it's a really huge deal. It's the talk of the town. Pretty much everyone who lives there is Mormon.
00;05;35;22 - 00;06;00;17
Unknown
And again, like you attend your church based on where you live. So it seemed like there were like a few different rewards that this would be the temples or all of them and the family that I stayed with. I get like caught up in the gratitude when I think about this trip, because at first I was like, Wow, it it sucks that I'm like having to, like, paid for this flight because the D.C. temple is an open.
00;06;00;17 - 00;06;33;21
Unknown
But it was like above and beyond was what I paid to have this experience. These people really rolled out the red carpet for me and maybe it was love bombing, or maybe they were just good people, I don't know. But they picked me up from the airport super late at night. They just they were incredible. I found out later that, like, the husband was like in the middle of cancer treatment and they still signed up to have me come and showed me a good time.
00;06;34;07 - 00;07;05;05
Unknown
And they took me to everything I wanted to see. They took me to Yellowstone Bear World, which is like near ish to Yellowstone, but not really where you'd like, just drive around and there's bears everywhere and they showed me everything there is to see in their town. They took me to church with them. They had a huge like family party because they have and you look and they have a guest bedroom, I assume.
00;07;05;12 - 00;07;28;29
Unknown
Yes. Most of their children are out of the house. That they. Okay. Our mostly guest room situation at this point. The husband seemed to really, really enjoy just having someone to tour around to like, have an excuse about where he lives and to go to like this tourist trap. Like, I think it was just really good for him to have someone seeing where he lives.
00;07;28;29 - 00;07;52;02
Unknown
That is through fresh air, I guess. Idaho is kind of a sparsely populated state. Like what do you think the population was like? And that's not a lot. It's pretty rural. Things are spread out like their yard was massive and there's like mountain is right behind it, you know. So there had a lot of people and very, very spread out as well.
00;07;52;02 - 00;08;25;05
Unknown
Like it's normal to drive a pretty far distance to to do things just because everything is so spread out. But it is yeah. Yes. Small town, little. I feel so fortunate. The day I arrived was sun y. I got there very, very late Saturday night. So Sunday we went to church and the pastor essentially was like, Listen people, if you know what's good for you, you will take a drive through the canyons because the leaves are on point because autumn starts very early there in Idaho.
00;08;25;13 - 00;08;48;04
Unknown
Like I had just been living at the beach a few days before this, but it's autumn there and they're having a heat wave. But like, the leaves are already at their peak. So after church, we took a drive through the canyon and just these fire red leaves like it was gorgeous. And it's different landscape than what I have here on the East Coast.
00;08;48;04 - 00;09;18;03
Unknown
So I was just very filled with appreciation for it. It was really wonderful. And then they had this huge I mean, I guess it was just immediate family. They have ten children, two of whom they've adopted, and most of them are married with children. So they had really just family get together. So I couldn't tell all of their people who live locally and like you just you can't all sit at one table when they have a family dinner.
00;09;18;03 - 00;09;41;07
Unknown
There has to be multiple tables because it's ten children plus spouses plus grandchildren, and some of them have spouses now, you know. So it was surreal. And for me, coming from a family that's like mostly estranged, to have that many people and to hear so much, this is my son. This is his life. He's like my great like just like it was a lot.
00;09;41;17 - 00;10;00;00
Unknown
So even though it's weird that they have such large families and I can talk about why that is, it is like a blessing in ways. Like if you have the means to have a family that big and you can all get along, it seems like a very nice thing. It's a luxury that I have not been blessed with.
00;10;00;17 - 00;10;21;21
Unknown
So like they explain to me why they have so many children, but more and families have been big for a long time. Yeah. Square one. They've always been big by virtue of the fact that polygamy is happening. But they're still but I mean, I guess, like, what do you think? Like, I mean, they still have lots of children.
00;10;21;21 - 00;10;41;08
Unknown
I mean, you're talking about getting introduced to all these relatives. Why are the families like so big? And from an outsider standpoint, you look at any cults where people have lots of children and you're like, well, it's a lot easier to bring people up in a religion than it is to bring people a hell of a lot easier.
00;10;41;08 - 00;11;06;18
Unknown
Yeah, I remember in middle school going to use Group and the youth pastor citing a statistic about like how the vast majority of people who accept Jesus as their senior do so before turning 80. And that's why youth ministry is so important. They want us to know Jesus and they want to give us a strong foundation for our faith.
00;11;07;01 - 00;11;26;01
Unknown
It's so much easier to bring people up with crazy ideas than it is to convince them of them as they as outsiders who are coming in with life experience. Yeah, I. I'm glad you I'm glad you brought that up. But yeah, so as an outsider, I look at that and I'm like, Well, yeah, they want them to have kids because that's easier and more cost effective than the whole missionaries thing.
00;11;26;14 - 00;12;00;26
Unknown
Not that they're not nailing that as well, in fact, to them, but their belief for why they have so many children is another area where they differ from conventional Christianity is they believe that like free humanity, there was this war in heaven between Lucifer and God. So like there's the good guy spirits and the bad guy spirits, the bad guys spirits are already in like their equivalent of hell.
00;12;01;06 - 00;12;31;00
Unknown
The good guys spirits are these, like, conscious entities that are waiting to be born and be given the chance to have a body. And while being in that body had the opportunity to choose a faith and to live a good life. And that's what they need to do to then be in the celestial kingdom. So every Mormon, you know, is a he is a human in a body that has a spirit inside of it.
00;12;31;00 - 00;13;01;19
Unknown
That was once one of these people in the East, beings in like make believe war from heaven. Yes. They're the good guys from the war who are waiting their turn to have a body. So they are all about having as many children as possible because we got to get these beings into bodies. We're not going to reach the end of the world and everyone get to go to the celestial kingdom until we get all the beings into bodies.
00;13;01;24 - 00;13;31;24
Unknown
That means we got to push out the kids. That's also why they're pro-life. They're not assholes. You like to blame women for everything the way that, like Christian pro-lifers are. They're they're just pro-life by virtue of the fact that they're babies. And. Yeah, yeah. So that's why they have lots of children. And that plays into like the old FLDS belief that the more wives you have, the higher you'll be in heaven because you're making more babies, the more wives you have.
00;13;31;24 - 00;13;52;04
Unknown
And their goal is to have three wives or. Yeah, it's like when they have all of these children, whether they're FLDS or LDS, it is a long term investment in the kingdom. So you must be something that they explained to me. Yeah. And you and you and you were at what was this event where you were? Were you met like, oh, like, oh, here is my like, here's my.
00;13;52;19 - 00;14;18;11
Unknown
Yeah, they had a picnic after church on Sunday and everyone it was like an army of blonds and they were all very sweet and very cool. I sat around talking with the adults and eating far too much dessert for hours, and just none of them shied away from hard questions. None of them struck me as, like, psychotically prude or anything.
00;14;18;26 - 00;14;38;28
Unknown
They were all like, from what I could see, good people, generally speaking, I think I got placed with a family who I mean, could they have been on their best behavior? Because they're showing God's light to an outsider? Sure. But I think they also had to just in general, be good people to be willing to open their home like that.
00;14;39;15 - 00;15;03;10
Unknown
LEE And also fostered a boatload of children. They had one wall in their house with pictures of all of their ten children and their spouses, and then they had a wall in their house with all of their grandchildren on it. And then they also had a wall with pictures of all of the children they fostered, whether they had them for an emergency week or for years.
00;15;03;10 - 00;15;25;17
Unknown
Every kid that entered their house is being remembered forever, you know. And I thought that that was a very loving and beautiful thing. And that's what it really is to be pro-life. I think you went on this trip and you met these people. Yes. Oh, to the temple. Like the the the open house. So that was on Monday.
00;15;25;17 - 00;15;47;28
Unknown
Monday was when they took me to a bunch of places around town and Yellowstone. There. It was like the most jampacked day of my life. Okay. And then they also took me to the open house to paint a picture that almost everyone who lives in Pocatello is Mormon. And it's a huge deal that they finally have their own temple locally.
00;15;47;28 - 00;16;11;24
Unknown
So this is a big deal. Thousands of people have already come through. It's not unusual for Mormons to like make a field trip of it, to take their families to whatever temple is. Having an open house, whether it's going to be their temple or not. It's just like a nice thing. The family gets dressed up. You go see this thing that your church built and you can, you know, save your kids, like live, right?
00;16;12;06 - 00;16;36;00
Unknown
And you'll be part of all of this when you're old enough to get your own. Recommend Everyone there, with the exception of myself that day, would have been more bit like youth groups coming, families coming. The family I was staying with were actually like involved in planning and coordinating the open house. So they were telling me like, yeah, we had like a day for the press.
00;16;36;00 - 00;17;18;22
Unknown
We had an interfaith day where like the local rabbi and the local pastor and all of those people came and they, they do have interfaith work, which I think is a cool thing too. And so now it's like normal people open house and because this guy was like involved in the people who are doing the open house and coordinating all of that, I was able to have a private tour myself and before I knew that I was staying with people who could make things happen for me, I had booked several tickets to go through a like you get a timed ticket and you show up and then essentially what happens is like whoever has that
00;17;18;22 - 00;17;41;24
Unknown
time slot, you get in line, they search your bags, you know, they give you these little things to put on your feet because the the place is pristine and they don't want you tracking your shoes through their and you go through silently and like a single file line and there's like just there's like easels holding descriptions of each room and where the stuff came from, like what the room is for and everything.
00;17;42;07 - 00;18;04;13
Unknown
And I did do one of those after work. But first they took me through on my it was just me, the couple I was staying with and maybe some other coordinator type person, as well as the lady who had set me up with this family, the lady who handling the social media. She was very eager to meet me.
00;18;04;14 - 00;18;24;18
Unknown
Like for someone to come from so far away for this was the talk of the town. I met a lot of people that day knew had heard I was coming. Yeah, it's like, Oh, this is the girl from Pennsylvania. A lot of people were like, Oh, she made it. That's so great. Yeah. So I went there with just my little posse of people who were invested in me being there.
00;18;25;03 - 00;18;45;01
Unknown
So I was allowed to like, talk. We were still like, you know, library in like we're being quiet, but I got to, like, go slower than other people. I was able to ask questions as we went like, Oh, well, what is that painting about? And, you know, they let me like, see myself in the eternal mirrors in the wedding where I was, which you wouldn't normally get to do.
00;18;45;13 - 00;19;08;21
Unknown
So I got a bit of star treatment there and they just like, made the other tour. Wait. So I went through and then I did another normal tour after that with normal people. But it was spectacular and inside and, you know, they told me like, oh, these, these flowers that you see in the stained glass, these are flowers that are indigenous to Idaho.
00;19;08;21 - 00;19;33;19
Unknown
So yeah, like details like that, this was imported from here. You see these tiles, look at the detail type stuff. And it was very, very interesting and something cool that happened when I went through on the public tours. When I came out, there was a praying mantis like this big ass praying mantis, just like hanging out on this little wall.
00;19;34;09 - 00;19;54;00
Unknown
And so they have a picture, like I angled it just right. And I have a picture of the praying mantis at the temple. And it's so good because it was new. There is like these little cards you can sign and then they put them into the cornerstone. And that's going to stay in there until it gets renovated in however many decades.
00;19;54;00 - 00;20;13;07
Unknown
So it's kind of like a time capsule type thing. But yeah, so like had a wonderful time with them. I at first I was not keen to be spending the money and I was like, why couldn't DC just have its open house in time? But it was just like such a wonderful adventure. And I said, Sounds like I mean, and you get to visit.
00;20;13;13 - 00;20;39;07
Unknown
It is an absolute treat all around. Met really lovely people. I'm still in touch with them and they sent me a Christmas card this year. It generally texts the husband to ask about his health and everything and we had really good chats while we were driving. He is a person who will not straight away from the hard questions, just that he was able to explain all that stuff about abortion and why they have so many kids.
00;20;40;01 - 00;21;02;00
Unknown
A lot of people wouldn't be able to face that. You know, he was clearly an intelligent man. Yeah, we were talking the other day and I had asked him like, hey, like, I don't really know how like media consumption works for you because some calls they'll be like, no TV, no this, no that. They clearly watch TV. They have no issue putting on a football game on a Sunday.
00;21;02;12 - 00;21;31;26
Unknown
I'm sure that they mostly watch things that are like not R-rated, but like Mormonism puts out its own films, so they do partake of media. And I asked him, like, Have you ever watched anything that is like critical of the Mormon Church? Because at some point we had passed some sort of billboard for some sort of website that's like trying to pull people out of Mormonism, like ex Mormons who want to help other people get out.
00;21;31;26 - 00;21;54;01
Unknown
And his just Yeah, because it's a cult. Yeah. His perspective on that was like, oh, these are just people who want to shit on what we believe. And I'm like, Well, they probably got out and want to help other people get out because they had bad experiences. I don't think it's as black and white as that. So when I had asked him, I said, I've, as you know, like loved to watch religious documentaries and stuff.
00;21;54;01 - 00;22;30;28
Unknown
And I've been thinking of you. I had just watched some stuff and I was wondering if you ever watch those things that things that are, if not critical, then at least skeptical of your faith. And he said, well, what are they? I'll watch and go, Oh, what did you say? I told him I had reasonably watched Mormon No More, which is the documentary, I think it's on Hulu, about two women who came out of the closet and left the Mormon Church and got married and had kind of like a reality TV vibe to it, which I wasn't into, but it was it was telling.
00;22;31;04 - 00;22;50;16
Unknown
Yeah. I mean, it's every Yeah. And I said, I watch this Mormon no more thing And also under the banner of had been see I wanna what do you think of that. Yeah. And I was like do you ever watch stuff like that. I'd be curious to like talk about it with you as you do. And he said, Well I will watch them and we can talk and you can ask me whatever questions.
00;22;50;20 - 00;23;11;26
Unknown
So he's a cool guy. He does not shy away. I mean, I need like, I need to see like, I need to log into his profile and make sure you watch. Well, I know that the not about the series, but about the book itself, which is not at all new. It's no, it's about well, they have like an official statement about the book.
00;23;12;09 - 00;23;32;23
Unknown
I don't remember what it said, but I look forward to having that conversation with him when he has time to watch that stuff and talk about it with me when, okay, he was backing up a little bit. When did you go on this trip? This is post-COVID or like I mean, there's no such thing as post-COVID. What, a year ago, it was late September of 2021.
00;23;32;23 - 00;23;55;19
Unknown
So just last year. Okay. Okay. Coming up on one year. It was a wonderful trip. I'm really glad it happened. I thought my Mormon adventures would be over for a while, but so so there's. Okay. So we would have been to Salt Lake City. We've been to, you know, Nairobi. We've been to a temple open house. Yeah, urban Idaho and more like.
00;23;55;24 - 00;24;27;09
Unknown
So that holiday season that my mom and I are decorating our Christmas tree and the doorbell rings. And so she goes, Answer the door and I hear, Hello, are you Liesl? And she's like, Nope, I'll get her for you. And you should be on my porch. The two Mormon missionary Yeah, these two girls. And they're like, We agreed that you went to the Temple Open house out in Pocatello.
00;24;27;09 - 00;24;45;11
Unknown
And I'm like, Oh, yeah, I filled out a card or something. That's. That's why they're here. I was like, Yes, I did. It was wonderful, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, Well, we wanted to make sure that you have a Book of Mormon. And like, actually this family I stayed with already gave me one. So I'm all set there and I'm in the middle of something right now.
00;24;45;11 - 00;25;16;18
Unknown
But like, if we can exchange contact info, I will totally sit down and chat with you at another time. So we exchanged numbers. As they know, I am a person who loves people and I love to build incense is an unlikely connection with people. But and so I have now had several sit downs with Mormon missionary girls as they circle in and out of their posts near me.
00;25;16;29 - 00;25;39;22
Unknown
And the first time I met up with these two, we just went to their ward in the evening and sat in an empty room and talked. The second time I brought a charcuterie board and we were like eight cheese and crackers and talked and they told me about missionary life. And I told them about like the 12 tribes and my spiritual upbringing and all of this stuff.
00;25;40;08 - 00;26;03;24
Unknown
Yeah, And one of them was moved somewhere else because they moved them around every few weeks. But the other one was still there in February when Omicron had calmed down a little bit, they came to a house where I was house sitting and I made dinner and we continued to talk with the new girl. And then I've actually had them for dinner here at this house where I'm housesitting.
00;26;03;24 - 00;26;23;18
Unknown
Do not the same girls, but the ones you took over because it's still the same cell phone. And my number is in there and I'm like, on their list of people to follow up with. Are they like, Do you communicate on Snapchat with these people or no? So they're they can have social media, but they can't have like Google.
00;26;24;02 - 00;26;44;08
Unknown
So like they have on whatever phone they're supplied with like an app for weather, an app for direction. It's like an app for anything they would need because they're not allowed to like watch movies or TV or YouTube or like a Google thing was, yeah, you don't want permission from their point of view. It's because, well, we're missionaries.
00;26;44;21 - 00;27;12;14
Unknown
We're supposed to be focusing on what we're doing, which is fair. But this is different than like you go away to camp for a week and there's no phones and no TV because you're out in nature being together. So I end up having several really lovely get togethers with these Mormon missionary girls. And the girls are slowly changing each time because they moved them around so frequently.
00;27;13;22 - 00;27;43;04
Unknown
But I'm Facebook friends, the couple of them now, and we would just I would hear about what missionary life is like, which is just such a fascinating aspect of Mormonism. And I would tell them about all of the groups that I've been to visit and they would have questions for me about that. And I think it was a really nice thing for everyone involved because even though they were here late talking to me as missionaries, you never get to take that hat off.
00;27;43;22 - 00;28;09;17
Unknown
They could ask to do this like be a little more chilled and be themselves like the first set. I told them, like, you know, we can get together and we can chat and you can tell me about your stuff and I'll tell you about my stuff. And hopefully this will be a situation where we can learn about our differences and also like celebrate what we have in common and appreciate who we all are as people.
00;28;09;17 - 00;28;37;02
Unknown
And I had also told them, like, you know, I know you've got a lot going on, like as missionaries, you've got tight schedules, you've got goals. Everyone is constantly relying on you. And that's got to be really emotionally draining. And you also have to be keeping track of everything you're doing to report back and I want you to know that like as young people who are leaving home for the first time, I see how hard what you're doing is.
00;28;37;16 - 00;29;00;18
Unknown
And if you ever need an adult for anything, you have my phone number. If you just need someone who is outside of your church that you can speak candidly with for a moment, or if you need help in any way, let me know. Like if you need an adult, I am here. And the one girl like, almost cried when I told her that.
00;29;01;11 - 00;29;25;19
Unknown
So eventually the DC Open house finally got rescheduled and could happen. And so I went down to DC. I have a very good friend who lives there. It's the same friends who kept my stuff for me when I was at the 12 Tribes and we went to the DC Open house and it was everything I hoped it would be.
00;29;26;06 - 00;29;52;17
Unknown
It was a little different than the Pocatello Open house in that in DC. Like I said before, this is a building that everyone knows. It's shrouded in mystery, so there's a ton of outside leaders who want to go. So it wasn't all Mormon families like the way it was in Pocatello. There is plenty of that too. But this open house literally went all summer because there was that much demand, because they've been because of COVID.
00;29;52;18 - 00;30;13;18
Unknown
Yeah, it had been pushed out for a long time because of COVID. But to see this building for outsiders was a huge deal. So there were plenty of outsiders in the line that day and plenty of Mormon families as well. I wore I have a mask with the Salt Lake City temple on it, so I wore that and I wore my Mormon underwear under a modest dress.
00;30;13;27 - 00;30;37;29
Unknown
Nice. And it was just so exciting because like at these other temples, the Salt Lake City Temple, the Pocatello Temple, even though you can't get inside, you could still go park there and like, enjoy the gardens. This place. You can't even do that. You would need to show your temple recommend to even get into the park. So it's always just been this mysterious thing peeking through the trees.
00;30;38;21 - 00;31;02;25
Unknown
So this is not the most respectful thing I've ever done in my life. But I'm also not sorry for it. My friend and I had a drink in the parking lot before we went in. Oh, okay. I have a picture of me. I work for a company that makes alcohol and I have a picture of me holding the cam like this with this temple.
00;31;03;10 - 00;31;23;26
Unknown
And you are wearing Mormon underwear. That's terrible. Yeah. Under my dress, we took pictures in front of it, and they've got, you know, a million missionary volunteers who were there to take your picture for you and everything. And we were joking. We should have brought years with us because this place is just so whimsical, looking like it's like you're in front of the castle and Disney.
00;31;24;01 - 00;31;43;08
Unknown
Yeah, we went through and toured all of it and it was wonderful. It was everything I hoped it would be. At the end of the day, I'm glad it was pushed back so that I had the reason to still go to Idaho and have all of those wonderful experiences. And I have one more Mormon story. This is unbelievable.
00;31;43;10 - 00;32;09;03
Unknown
You know? All right. I had the most wonderful full circle moment a couple of months ago. So one thing I haven't mentioned that I did when I was in Idaho was they asked me to commit to the Potato Museum. Oh, yeah. I mean, because I got to Idaho about going to the potato Museum. Yeah. Like, did you even go like, it doesn't even count?
00;32;09;03 - 00;32;29;25
Unknown
So we go to the Potato Museum and you learn about the history of, like, the potato industry and, you know, all this stuff. And they have a potato bar there where you can, like, you know, get a baked potato and put cheese and all that stuff on it. So I'm eating my baked potato and I'm like, seventh grade, Lisa, eat your heart out.
00;32;29;25 - 00;32;58;20
Unknown
And not only am I eating it in Idaho, I'm eating it at the fucking potato Museum. It's so perfect. The most authentic experience. It gets better. The wife in this family is a former Miss Idaho. Damn. So I'm eating a potato in Idaho at the Potato Museum with Miss Idaho bitches like this is the pinnacle of potato consumption experience.
00;32;59;07 - 00;33;22;12
Unknown
It sounds so surreal. It is so delightful. And as we're eating our baked potatoes, she's trying to like, remember this commercial she did like 40 years ago as Miss Idaho for Idaho Potatoes. She's like, I don't remember how it went, but it was something like three of the best, probably like it was just like the greatest experience. So fast forward nearly a year later.
00;33;22;13 - 00;33;42;08
Unknown
So last month, August, there's a huge music festival that happens where I'm from call a music Fest. It's spelled with a K. Oh, I was going to say, I was going to say that was a pretty bland name for it. It is the largest string music festival in America. I'm very fortunate to be from the place where it happens.
00;33;42;20 - 00;34;15;03
Unknown
So in addition to like tons of different stages to hear music, there's also like promotional stuff happening there for like, you know, radio stations and different brands and things. There was an immersive promotion happening for Idaho and the company that makes like instant mashed potatoes in Maine. So they've got this whole section where you can come in and you get free samples of the mashed potatoes, which is not what you want to eat on a hot August day in Pennsylvania.
00;34;15;03 - 00;34;40;20
Unknown
But it's also like not what you want to eat, sleep and struggle. Yeah, you can also play mash a potato, which is like whack a mole. But instead of moles, it's potatoes, man. This the potato industry, It's this is amazing. It's the first time like this. The first day I show up to the potato promo spot and I'm already drunk.
00;34;40;20 - 00;35;02;23
Unknown
And I am delighted that I'm about to eat free mashed potatoes. And I'm delighted by the whack a potato thing. Yeah, so I am. Tell that through the promo girls who are they're like running this. Like I went Idaho and I went to Idaho and I went to the Potato Museum and I ate a potato in Idaho and I was with was Idaho.
00;35;02;23 - 00;35;26;13
Unknown
And it was just like the best thing ever. And they're like, That's actually pretty awesome. So I'm like, bragging about this. And then there is got a big fake baked potato couch there. It's a it's a couch potato. Ha ha ha ha. I guess you can get your picture taken on it. And they've got pillows that look like squares of butter and a giant spoon.
00;35;26;18 - 00;35;46;17
Unknown
Love it. So I took everyone that came to Music Fest with me to take a picture on the baked potato. Like I have pictures there with a shocking number of people that one day this couple I know had come with me and I was telling them about how I ate the baked potato with Miss Idaho at the Potato Museum.
00;35;46;20 - 00;36;16;12
Unknown
And and I said, Oh, that reminds me, I need to make sure I take like an appropriate picture here at some point so I can send it to that family in Idaho. And I was like, Well, I'll do that the next time. And as believe in the potato promo area, who should turn the corner? But two Mormon missionaries here and I was like, Guys, guys, guys, you have to come with me right now.
00;36;16;12 - 00;36;36;19
Unknown
We have to take a picture on the on the couch potato. And they were like, okay, I'm not going to say no. So I now have a picture of me with our Mormon missionary on either side of me, the one guy, and he's holding up the Book of Mormon in the photo, and I'm just like, delighted to be holding the spoon.
00;36;37;02 - 00;37;12;10
Unknown
And that was the picture that I then sent the family in Idaho to be like, Look, full circle of Mormon potato moment here. And I'm still just like, so delighted that that happened. Yes. So what makes what makes the Mormons different to you there? I mean, they are separate from mainstream Christianity in that like a mainstream Christian would likely believe that there are no more prophet after Jesus dies, which is why they're not much, which is why they're not any of a number of things.
00;37;12;10 - 00;37;40;28
Unknown
And Joseph Smith was claiming to be a prophet, so that would be a deal breaker to the long string Christian. So that's like what set them apart that like a prophet came along. So, so long after Jesus and has this revelation that and that results in like additional scriptures being written, you know, it definitely like it's, it's like virgin from, from typical Christianity.
00;37;40;28 - 00;38;05;06
Unknown
But I mean there's a lot of stuff that's the same. Like, it's not like they threw out the Bible, you know, they would consider themselves followers of Christ. They like they acknowledged that Joseph Smith, while a prophet, was not God, he was a simple human like anyone else. And they're at the point in like the cycle of cultish ness where they have mellowed out.
00;38;05;17 - 00;38;30;09
Unknown
And then it's what happens, like and, and sometimes you mellow out to the point where it's no longer really a cult like that. There are Mormons who are like Christmas and Easter crowd, the CNE club. Totally, yes. But you're not getting into the temple pool like, you know, they they're second generation or they're not second generation. They're there many generations or whatever, but they're not Mormon really anymore.
00;38;30;10 - 00;38;54;14
Unknown
Yeah. And they might even have the occasional drink or whatever. There's different like levels of intensity as there are in most scenarios. Yeah. Have you read Cults Is by Amanda Montell I know I am not. I guess what she point out toward the beginning and it's a wonderful book. I would recommend it to anyone. Is that because cult isn't an inherently pejorative term?
00;38;54;24 - 00;39;17;05
Unknown
They call something a call. If you're trying to be nice, if you tell someone they're in a call, it's fighting words like you're going to alienate them. Yeah. And cults are like, they're bad. Like, we also talked a lot about about cult. Yeah. Because it's an inherently pejorative term and essentially, like, almost an insult. You can't really define it all.
00;39;17;05 - 00;39;42;11
Unknown
You can really do is look at something like the Stein criteria and say, Well, these are things that a lot of cults have and check however many boxes there are, you know, the charismatic leader, the the ends justify the means. The controlling isolation is the dominating your time, controlling your sexuality, the us versus them mentality. The ends justify the means, like all of those things.
00;39;43;11 - 00;40;23;14
Unknown
And not every cult will check every box like. There is a spectrum to cultists. I think when you're involved as a mormon missionary, that's like a very cultish situation because you literally have to like let the person in charge of, you know, what you're doing every 30 minute increment throughout the day. And they have rigorous schedules. And literally, unless you're in the bathroom, you are never alone in the same room as your partner and they move you around every few weeks, every few months that you're not building secure attachments with your partner, because then you guys might start thinking together.
00;40;24;25 - 00;40;46;22
Unknown
They want to keep you guessing. Where am I being sat next to? Will I be with what will it be like? It's very a very, very controlled situation and I'm glad that it's not like that. It every aspect of Mormon life. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that's the value in having conversations like this is realizing that like things can be cults, even if you wouldn't necessarily them the label of cult.
00;40;47;25 - 00;41;16;26
Unknown
I wanted to end by saying my list of Mormon things to do while already pretty impressive, have never been done. I There are still things that I hope to do. I learned from the missionary girls who came here to have dinner that only a couple hours away is like a holy Mormon site where Joseph Smith was supposedly baptized in the Susquehanna River and it restored the priesthood of whatever.
00;41;17;03 - 00;41;39;25
Unknown
And there's like a visitor center there. So I plan to go there at some point when I've got a free day and need a road trip at the the Hill camera pageant. Doesn't happen anymore, but the Northview pageant does. That's in Illinois. I would really like to go on a trek which is meant for younger people, but I hope to be involved someday.
00;41;39;25 - 00;42;07;02
Unknown
A trek is when you dress up like the old school original Mormons, you know, like Little House on the Prairie type shit. And you go walking for like three days and you sleep overnight and you carry like, the handcarts like they had when they were on their way to Salt Lake City. And like, they do like a reenactment, like a miniature reenactment for a few days.
00;42;07;02 - 00;42;37;08
Unknown
And you have those like babies that died of dysentery and shit and you, like, eat what they ate and stuff. And it just sounds like a very interesting experience and I hope to find a track to be involved. This is a mormon. This is like a mormon Civil War reenactment. Sort of. Exactly. Yeah. Or like this might be an East Coast thing, but like, we had Ellis Island Day where we were assigned an immigrant and we had to learn about them and the country they came from and dress like them.
00;42;37;08 - 00;42;56;24
Unknown
And like that Time seven I'd like to go spend like kind of an open ended amount of time in Utah to check them out because there's so many different varieties in there as well of poor to and everything. And in a few years the Salt Lake City temple was scheduled to have an open house. So I want to go to that too.
00;42;57;14 - 00;43;27;03
Unknown
I think that's it for there's more Minneapolis. There was there was a lot here. There's a lot here. And I just want everybody to have that. The mental image of we saw eating a baked potato at the Baked Potato Museum with Miss Idaho. Yes. Living my best life. We appreciate you guys listening in. And as always, please like and review and share and subscribe and spread the word as far as you can about this show.
00;43;27;13 - 00;43;48;03
Unknown
We really love making this show and we really hope you guys are enjoying it as much as we are. Until next time we.