In case you haven’t heard, the mormons are on my ass to convert.
Here is the story:
On September 6 I was flying to St.Louis from Dallas and found myself sitting to a nice, friendly, middle-aged couple. Picture it: Aisle-Me (Katie), Middle-Man (Dee), Window-Woman(Anita). SO the man in the middle has a book titled “The Gates of Heaven” or something very similar. In casual conversation as we were taking off, before electronics were allowed, I asked him what his book was about and if it was good, because honestly the title was intriguing. It turns out the book was about mormon temples and how they are the place where heaven and Earth meet. I don’t know much about mormonism, so I kindly nodded and then minded my own. Thankfully the pilot announced it was fine to use electronics so I immediately whipped out my laptop and the 4th season of the office. RIGHT BEFORE I COULD START good old Dee asks me if he can tell me a little more about the mormon faith, I didn’t want to be impolite, and honestly I didn’t know much about it, so I said sure. Turns out he told me an hour and a half’s worth. At the end of the flight he asked if he could have my address and phone number so that he could send a missionary to see me, I politely obliged. He was so nice, he gave me his phone number and said if I ever needed somewhere to stay I was welcome with their family, which I know sounds creepy, but I know that they were being genuine. They were two of the nicest people I have ever met. NICE PEOPLE ARE MY WEAKNESS. Really though, under no circumstance would I usually be so sucked into something to give them my information.
SO a week passes and I hear nothing, I begin to think I’m off the hook. wrong. The following tuesday I am driving to Jeff City to walk around the capitol (one of my favorite past times) and I get a random phone number. It had a 573 area code (Missouri) and I assumed it was the bike shop saying a part I had ordered was in, so I answered. Again, wrong. It was the mormons. So I told them they could come visit two days later after my psych class.
I immediately warned my roommates, because lets be honest….this shit is weird and unexpected.
They come. I can hardly sit through their first talk with a serious face. Everything they’re saying sounds totally normal, and really lines up with everything I believe in my current faith. (That is how they get you, foot in the freaking door. Then they start to slowly introduce you to the weirdest crap ever, more to come). At the end they gave me a Book of Mormon (what they believe to be another gospel) and asked me if I would read a few chapters, I agreed. Then they asked if they could return the following week to discuss what I had read and see if I had any questions. Again, I agreed.
So, here we are one week later. They return, basically its the same story as last time, just introducing me to new concepts but in a sly way that makes it seem as if it is already part of what I believe. Which upon reflection it is most certainly not. It ends the same way, so they are returning in two days.
This has brought us to the present, my current messy dilemma. I know what I know to be true, meaning I know what they know to not be true. BUT they know what they know to be true, meaning they know what I know to not be true. Sticky situation, right? How can we both be right, or both be wrong? Plain and simple, we can’t. BUT I truly believe we both know what we know to be truth.
Faith and religion is a funny thing, and really confusing. So I am currently anticipating their visit in approximately 48 hours and 20 minutes trying to figure out what I’m going to tell them. I’l probably just tell them what I stated in the previous paragraph and leave it at the fact that all we can do is agree to disagree. Perhaps I’ll even challenge their faith, I think its fair…they have challenged mine.
So, til thursday.
AND NO ONE TELL MY MOM THEY ARE COMING, I told her about sitting next to the old couple on the plane, but kind of lied about the end, saying I didn’t give him my information because before I had a chance to finish Pam (my mom) interjected “YOU BETTER HAVE NOT” so I said “don’t worry I didn’t”
oops.
