lately, i've been putting forth a conscious effort to be less judgmental--
i received my visiting teaching assignment--here's what i've learned:
my companion is a girl from the "ghetto" in maryland...she hates utah mormons...she spent the first 18 years of her life being black, and acting white doesn't come naturally to her--that's why she hates living in utah...she hates utah mormons...she's got street cred because she was engaged to a black guy, then a hispanic guy...she hates utah mormons because we're sheltered and judgmental...her high school is one of the top 100 performing arts schools in the nation (she's a bio major)...there were 39 maryland high schools in the top 500, and only 12 utah schools...it's so much better there...and at the same time, in her high school 1 of 6 students is not expected to graduate...she hates utah mormons...she knows how to make very tasty mixed drinks ...she's been in utah for four years- oh, and did she tell you she hates utah mormons?
some things just don't add up, and
if there are two things i cannot stand, they are:
1. people talking themselves up to sound "bad"
2. people telling me i'm sheltered and judgmental because i'm a utah mormon
ya, the spirit was really strong during our lesson
peace+love
10 comments:
I HATE utah mormons! Seriously though it is so stupid when people stereotype utah mormons! We are not sheltered or judgmental. One time someone said I didn't know what temptation was because I am a utah mormon. What the heck!
ugh...if there was one thing i hated about byu-i it was that all the non-utah mormons bagged on the utah mormons. it usually came up in religion class, but one time someone even said, "utah mormons didn't deal with the same temptations we dealt with in high school." like what? promiscuity, drugs, pornography, alcohol, and so on and so forth? yeah, because there's NONE of that in utah. whatEVS! i always wanted to ask those people if they had any seriously CLOSE friends who were from utah. i guarantee nine out of ten times, they wouldn't have. i also think in some ways it could have been harder to grow up a mormon in a utah high school because you saw the bishop's kids or the laurel president or the seminary president doing those things and so it seemed like it was okay. can you tell i am passionate about this? haha.
I think being Mormon is the same everywhere. It's hard no matter where you grew up, because you would see other kids your age from your ward doing things that you knew they shouldn't anywhere. But I find your companion interesting does she know you are Mormon and from Utah? Lol!! Maybe you should tell her that I will cut her.
kerri- really? they said you didn't know what temptation was?
mattie- promiscuity, drugs, alcohol, pornography....check check check and check-yup, i had a friend with problems in each area
alicia- i completely agree, the gospel is the same, the people are the same...no matter where you go you're going to find people who "interpret" the law their own way and you'll find faithful upstanding members everywhere you go...yes, she is aware i'm from utah. i'll tell her you'll shank her cause you're from da hood of pheonix AZ
i'm sorry but this made me laugh! have fun kelli, you can still accomplish your goal, and like you said you got just what you asked for. :) just love her and smile. pretend she's your mission companion. (again this is natalie - i have to figure out how tomake it say my name & not pete's, not that i don't like his name...)
lame. that is lame. And let me just say this about being "sheltered"...I don't have to stand IN the rain to KNOW that it is raining...I can be in the SHELTER of my home and STILL know it is raining! That is all.
pete/natalie- yay, you found me! is the blog on the profile of pete yours or pete's? yes, you are right, i smiled the whole time and i will try to love her.
brooke- i really like that analogy, i think my favorite part of the whole post, though, that no one has said anything about yet is that acting white doesn't come naturally to her...she's 4'11" with all european heritage
KJ, it is me, Alicia's older sister, Lindsey.
I think there are different types of Mormons everywhere. There are Mormons that live the gospel, there are Mormons that don't. there are Mormons that care more about Mormon culture, there are Mormons who don't. There are Mormons that have a need to believe they are more righteous than other Mormons, there are Mormons that don't. There are Mormons that live sheltered lives, there are Mormons that don't.
I think a lot of Mormons that grow up in Utah don't understand what its like to not grow up in a Mormon populated area. And Mormons that don't grow up in a Mormon populated area don't know what its like to grow up in a Mormon populated area. Neither is better or worse.
I had a friend at BYU who liked to have " bad girl righteous offs." (I call them that because its like you said, they gotta seem hardcore, but also more righteous because they persevered in wickedness.) She was also from Maryland. So, lets start stereotyping Mormons from MD as haters. :) J/K by the time she left Utah she had calmed down a little about her need to have a distinction between innocent sheltered people and herself. Just be patient and when she gets to know you I bet she'll drop the front and you'll see that she is a much better person than you realize.
Interesting. I used to hear that a lot at BYU and when I told people I was a UTAH Mormon they were a bit chagrin and said I was different - hardly. Keep smiling and be yourself. (Does she hate you?) Do we get to meet her this weekend? LM
PS I can truly say I HATE mice!!!!!!!!!!! Can't think of anything else though - except maybe cheap perfume.
ok...after reading my comment and others comments, i feel like mine was a little harsh. i want to apologize for that.
i agree with renny. i shouldn't lump all non-utah mormons into that group that bags on utah mormons because i know a lot of non-utah mormons and most of them never said anything like that to me. maybe it's because they knew me and i'm so awesome. jk.
i was also wondering about this girl's background. i couldn't figure out by your post if she was white or black...i wonder why it's so hard to act white when you ARE white...
anyway, just thought i would clear up my first comment. have fun this weekend! i wish we were coming down there.
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