Eric R.
Yelp
"They say never meet your heroes. But the addendum to that is.. unless they're Harrison Ford." - Ryan Gosling
I'm a bad Mormon, okay I confess I'm actually Roman Catholic pretending to know the Book of Mormon, well... well? Ryan Gosling is Mormon, well more like raised in the Mormon faith by his parents, but as he grew into adulthood drifted away. According to Katherine Heigl, another part-time Mormon, "I... didn't want to live together before we were married. I still have enough Mormon in me--not a lot, but enough--that I wanted to keep that a little bit sacred," she said of living with her husband, from an interview with Vanity Fair. Hmm.
I yam, who I yam, and it's okay here...
The thing I like about this place called Temple Square is you can be of any faith and still admire the architecture and the early Mormon pioneers who obviously poured much love into this land. If you haven't been here before and consider Mormonism as a form of a cult... stop those silly stereotypes, and just realize it's nothing more than the Stepford Wives club lol. Kidding aside I have never felt so welcomed anywhere else on earth. Like everyone's smiling here. Ok, tad weird, but refreshing too, as long as you're not running in the classic movie, Logan's Run. That would be awful.
The early pioneers & Brigham...
In 1847, when Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Brigham Young selected a plot of the desert ground and proclaimed, "Here we will build a temple to our God." Hence the name "Temple Square". The Square is surrounded by a 15-foot tall wall that was built shortly after the 10-acres of land was designated for God by Brigham Young and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And no silly, the walls were not to keep the people in lol. Although I admit it gave me a cult-like eeriness the first time I set eyes on the Osmond family, I mean the walls, oh sigh I need to stop. Those teeth doe.
I'm a regular here, well kinda...
No, silly I didn't convert, mainly cause I'm not into name badges or being called an "Elder". I'm okay being the former altar boy for the Roman Catholic Church. I still attend my catholic services whenever it's Christmas. Yet how odd my entire life I've been surrounded by Mormons, I mean the blonde Yeman girls in school (wowzaa), my good friend Josh (who wasn't a bore for not drinking a mai tai), and gosh darn even my oldest RL brother who converted to this faith a decade ago. Yet, I'm good with just "visiting", unless Mitt Romney runs for president again then who really knows, nah. Maybe, yah.
I'll be back, Marie...
In the end, I will always be that curious Roman Catholic altar boy that just believes in humanity and good is good if it's from the heart. My religion is within myself... a kind heart is the best way to live your life, no matter what book you read. I'll be back to Temple Square to admire the architecture, breath in the fresh Rocky Mountain air, smile at "Space Jesus", listen to hymns of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and holy heck, just be somewhere with a good aura around me. And by golly who knows maybe this part-time Roman Catholic Boy can get lucky with a part-time Mormon gal... Amen;)
"Sometimes I think that the one thing I love most about being an adult is the right to buy candy whenever and wherever I want." - Ryan Gosling