The Mormons

Last week, I was on my way to the grocery store, when I discovered that I could easily do this virtual cache on the way there, it would only add maybe forty minutes of driving time or so. I could easily just do less grocery shopping to compensate for that, right? And I knew a virtual would be fast, there isn't any physical things to be found, usually you just have to get some information about the landmark that the cache is at.

I had read the logs and figured out it was something religious, and in talking with other caches, it was mentioned that it was related to the Mormon religion. It turned out to be something at the birth place of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I was the only visitor, so got a private tour of the visitor's center. Very interesting, I learned a lot of things I didn't know, including the information I needed for the virtual cache. I enjoyed the tour, but it didn't make me want to convert to the LDS religion. I also enjoyed the video about Joseph's Smith life, especially the part where he unearthed the gold plates, The way they portrayed it, made me think 'Oh wow, this looks just like he is geocaching!'

It took longer than I really had intended, but I did learn a lot of interesting tidbits, and when she asked whether I would like a book of Mormon, I replied 'Sure', expecting her to go over to a closet and grab a book for me. I like to expose my kids to different religions, so they can figure out which one fits them, and I thought it would be good to have a book of Mormon around, to let them read it if they were interested in the LDS religion. She perked up when I agreed to the book of Mormon and told me that their missionaries would contact me and drop it off at my house.

Yikes, what did I get myself into? I was too polite to change my reply to 'No, thanks!', so I just smiled and nodded and drove to the grocery store, hoping that maybe she wouldn't get around to notifying their missionaries.

The next morning, at 9am, the phone rang... Yes, the LDS missionaries. I wasn't even at home, so dh got them and was all surprised, since I hadn't quite told him about my religious adventure yet :-) He told them I would be back in an hour and indeed, at 10am the phone rang again, and a sister asked me whether they could come over today to drop off the book of Mormon. We had all kinds of stuff going on on Friday, homeschool meeting, geocaching, so I proposed a Monday visit instead.

Monday night, the door bell rang, and I opened it, expecting one person with one book. Instead, in come FOUR people, all with their own bible / book of Mormon and installed themselves in my house. They tried to convince me that their religion was the only right one, I kept repeating that I thought that different religions work for different people and that every one finds the religion that is perfect for them. They came up with all kinds of analogies, none of which made a lot of sense. They also did a building with papercups, showing how the church fell apart after the Apostles died, but then eventually Joseph Smith was born to fix it again. They obviously very much believed in what they were telling, but they weren't able to convince me. I guess the LDS religion just isn't the right fit for me. We had a pleasant talk though, and I learned even more about the mormons which I didn't know before.

During the first prayer, the timer for my bread went off. During the last prayer, Sylvia started pooping and pooping. They stayed for more than an hour, but I now do have my own copy of the book of Mormon. They wanted to come back next Monday, but I politely refused. I still can't believe I got myself into this, just by going geocaching!