Cult prophets

A friend of mine did a tour of cult sites in Utah, and was talking to me about it yesterday. Several of the cults he visited believed in a prophetic type figures, and it led into a brief discussion of LDS prophets.

I invited him to our ward Christmas party.

Sharing mission experiences

Someone asked me over the weekend about what it was like to serve a mission in Utah. I used that as an opportunity to share a few experiences with them.

Book of Mormon musical

Someone asked me tonight, knowing I am Mormon and a drama student, what I thought of the Book of Mormon musical, so I gave my opinion.

Airport security

While sitting in the green room after the play tonight, someone mentioned being old enough to remember going through airports before security was a big deal. I remembered a story about airport security from when I was coming home from my mission, and I shared it.

Working Sundays

I couldn’t help out with the play yesterday, it being Sunday. The Stage Manager came up to me today and asked why Mormons can’t do things like this on Monday. I found that question interesting because I had no idea anyone in the cast or technical crew knew I was a member of the church.

Anyhow, I told him Sundays to Mormons is like Saturdays to Jews.

Temple Desktop

A classmate noticed the desktop background image on my laptop is of the local temple. She asked me if it was the Mormon temple. It was a short conversation, but she knows I’m a member.

Family History

A classmate of mine started talking about Jean-Baptiste Landé, and I mentioned I have a lot of Jean-Baptises in my genealogy. We talked about family history for a bit.

Are you Christian?

Our instructor asked who among us was a Christian. I stuck up my hand. How can it get better than that?

Being Catholic

A classmate shared with me her story about becoming Catholic. I thought it was a good opportunity to mention I was baptized Catholic.

Seminary. Again.

I had another opportunity to bring up seminary, but this time to someone on the bus. We were talking about what time we get up in the morning, and she was surprised at how early I get up. I told her, I teach a  seminary class in the morning.

Compared to the last opportunity I had to bring up seminary, this conversation was more in-depth, but still fairly superficial.

Teaching investigators

I was asked to teach the elders quorum lesson today. It was on the Spirit World, and I think it went well. We had some visitors who were of another faith, and they asked some great questions. I enjoyed visiting with them after class (together with the ward mission leader) to answer some other questions they had.

Getting up early

My boss and I were talking about what time we get up in the morning. He was surprised to find out I get up at 5:00 in the morning. I told him it was because I teach a class. When he asked what type of class, I told him Seminary.

CTR Ring

I caught a classmate checking out my CTR ring. No conversation started because of it, but we’ll see how the semester goes. :)

Labels

I was chatting on the bus with a fellow passenger about labels. I mentioned how the phrase “I’m Mormon” automatically raises stereotypical ideas in the minds of non-Mormons, and we discussed how that is problematic because a personality is more diverse than simply one’s religion. Even the phrase “I’m Mormon” can mean different things to different people.

Seminary

I ran into an acquaintance of mine at the university today. Out of the blue, she asked me about seminary. I explained to her that it is like a bible study class for high school students. We talked about it for 5 or 10 minutes.

Grand Canyon & Missions

I was talking with an old classmate, who had just returned from a trip to Las Vegas. She was talking about her tour trip to the Grand Canyon, and I saw an opportunity to talk about my mission since one of my areas covered the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and I had gone to church there.

Tithing and Garments

Our neighbours had us over for a backyard barbecue, and at one point, the husband asked us about tithing. We talked a bit about it. Just before we left, he asked us about garments. Apparently, our 6 year old has been talking about garments when playing at their house.

Mormon Men

A classmate said that my being in the class has completely changed her outlook on religious men.

This goes back to my two reasons of why I share the gospel in everyday conversation: to brand myself as a Mormon in order to encourage friends to come to me with questions, and to convince people that Mormons are not homogenous.

Taking the bus to church

I take the bus to church for my early morning meetings Sundays. This way my family can use our one vehicle to get to church, and I don’t need to go back to get them.

This morning, when I was getting ready to disembark, the bus driver asked if I were going to church. When I affirmed I was, she pointed to our church, which is across the street from the bus stop, and asked if that was the one where I go. I said it was. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to talk about it further since I was getting off the bus, but she is my weekly bus driver, so maybe there will be something next week.

Mormonism Class

A classmate told me she is going to take the Mormonism class next summer. She took North American Religions from the same professor this summer, but I like to think some of my comments in class helped her make that decision.

Drinking

A classmate related to me how he thinks he drank too much at a wedding this weekend because one of the hotel’s staff threatened to call security. He said to me, “You know how it is when you can’t piece together what happened to you the night before.” Sometimes, I just wonder if Heavenly Father loves throwing these opportunities into my lap. Nevertheless, I explained how I have never drank alcohol in my life.

Why I share the gospel in everyday conversation

Some of my readers might ask why I try to take advantage of opportunities in everyday conversation to mention the LDS Church. I actually do it for two reasons:

First, I’m a bit quirky. Whatever stereotypes people have about Mormons, I guarantee I don’t fit them. As a result, if people know I am Mormon, they might change any stereo types they might have about us.

Second, it’s sort of about personal branding. If I regularly mention the church in passing, eventually when someone wants to know more, they will come to me and ask. This has happened a few times.

I never try to be overbearing or evangelical. I just try to let the conversation take its natural course. If it fizzles out, I let it go, even if there is more I want to say.

Missionary discussions

We had the missionaries over for supper tonight. We had my brother-in-law, who has been away from the church for several years, over, too. The missionaries taught him a discussion, and he has agreed to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and come to church this Sunday.

Toilet paper & Crying

In class today, we were discussing roommates expecting each other will buy the groceries. I shared how on my mission, every time a missionary got transferred into a new area, (s)he was expected to buy the toilet paper.

We also discussed how it’s acceptable for women to cry in public, but not for men. I explained how that in our church, crying while speaking publicly is a sign of spirituality, but it’s still more acceptable for women to cry than for men to.

Fasting & Missions

A conversation about McDonald’s at school today prompted me to share a story about McDonald’s from my mission. Also, I was talking to a Muslim classmate about Ramadan, and we spoke a bit about fasting in Islam and Mormonism.

Word of Wisdom & Caffeine

Someone in class had seen a photo of me drinking caffeinated pop, and asked about Mormons being able to drink caffeine. I told her caffeine isn’t off-limits, but that coffee and tea are, and that they both happen to have caffeine in them.

Judging the poor

In a class discussion about giving to panhandlers, I said I believe God judges us not by what is done with the money we give to those who beg for it, but whether we simply give.

Sacrament Meeting

In class today, my discussion group were talking about the difference between services at the Catholic and Pentecostal churches. I used this as an opportunity to explain the differences between typical LDS Sacrament Meetings and a Protestant meeting I attended a few years ago, focusing on how uncomfortable it made me because it was something outside of my norm.

Temple

I received an email from someone I know asking about the local temple. I used this as an opportunity to explain at a fundamental level what happens there, as well as outlining some of the symbolism in the architecture of the temple.

Iced tea & the Word of Wisdom

I made a comment on Facebook about missing iced tea, and a friend responded indicating he had no idea it was restricted. I used this opportunity to explain tea is restricted despite what temperature it was.