the "mission field"
I know this has been hashed over and over again, but why do people who live outside of Utah have to continuously say, "I live in the 'mission field'." I hate that! Just because Utah does have the highest amount of LDS people in the nation, doesn't mean that there aren't people here serving missions and people needing to be served by missionaries.
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And, in fact, perhaps we ought to call Utah "the complacency zone" (CZ). I was really, really excited to move to the seat of the Church, years ago. And then I discovered that, here, the opposition comes as often from within the Church as elsewhere. Perhaps more.
Some people here have temples within driving distance, even walking distance, and don't go. When people in other parts of the world still sell all they have for one trip to gain their endowments and seal their families.
Some people here feel like, as long as they adhere to the basic list -- you know the list -- their celestialization is made sure. Mission. Marriage. Kids. But do they truly gain a powerful testimony, inside? Are they maintaining appearances for their neighborhoods, wards and such, and neglecting the needs of their children, behind the façade, at home? I've seen that.
Some people here will completely ostracize nonmembers. Won't talk to them, won't let their children play with nonmember children. Where is it written in our doctrine to do that? Where did Christ say to do that? Yes, we need to protect our children from darker influences, but other faiths are NOT those.
I expected a more "in, but not of, the world" mindset of most Utahns, especially since so many of them go out and serve foreign missions, learning the lingo and culture of other peoples. But it's amazing how many of them retain their naîvete‘.
I can't generalize this to ALL Utahns, but I can be frustrated at such things. Perhaps, like urban renewal, this is a place where we can afford to do some greater teaching of those supposedly already IN our church. As Captain Moroni of old, we must cleanse the inner vessel before we can concern ourselves with the outer.
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