WHAT IS TO BE LEARNED IN A MORMON TOWN?

I ENGAGED THIS UNUSUAL PAIR ---Sonny and Joy-- outside a small town in Nevada.  They met on the internet and agreed to travel and hike together.  Both were delightful and fun to chat with.

Sonny threw together this ad-hoc camper and they hit the road. 

Have been all over the west seeking out hiking trails and interesting places to camp.

While sharing a melon and other goodies with me they told me about a warm spring I might enjoy visiting just outside Panaca, Nv.  

So I went there!

and settled in!

From the hilltop you can see the 3 square miles that constitute this squeaky clean old (1864) Mormon settlement of 900 souls---with nary a liquor store---the only "dry" town in Nevada and one of two with no gambling.

From my doorway I can see my neighbors, a sizable Latino family, at the pool on this Memorial day weekend.

I join them and the local folks in the pool.

Strike up a friendship with the father.  Soon he comes over with a delicious chicken and avocado dinner for me.

This local oldster speeds over on a newfangled recumbent bike.

Next day a flock of bikers drop in for a swim.

I walk the countryside in the evenings and this herd of cows came over to greet me.  They stood in rapt attention as I quoted my poem about cows. Read it here:

http://mobilecodgers.blogspot.com/2010/06/where-exactly-is-shangri-la.html

RANDY PHILOSOPHIZES: So what have I learned about Mormon towns?  Basically this:  THAT VERY NICE PEOPLE CAN BELIEVE CRAZY THINGS WHILE CREATING A VIGOROUS AND VIABLE CULTURE.  If you doubt this consider the Greek civilization--- built on a set of myths about Zeus and Poseidon---or the Early Islamic culture built on the crazy notion of an angel dictating the Koran to Mohammed.  The Christian culture is likewise based on myths.

What is unique about the Mormon myth is that it is PROVABLY FALSE---SCIENTIFICALLY.  You can satisfy yourself on this point by simply googling: Mormons and horses or how science invalidates Mormonism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeology_and_the_Book_of_Mormon 

Recently I engaged 3 Mormon Missionaries and asked them if they knew about the BOOK OF

 ABRAHAM  Neither of them did-- though it is right there in their Holy book, The Pearl of Great Price and is the single most damning evidence of fraud.  They never heard of it---was not a part of their indoctrination.

A little more research persuaded me that Mormonism is a dying religion: 40% of returning missionaries leave the church after their mission. Fully 50% of new converts are no longer active after a year.  And of the 15 million members the church claims---only 5 million are active in the church.  I believe it will fade to insignificance in a hundred years and it will be the exposing  internet that did them in.  Had the internet been around in the first century--it would have doomed Christianity also.

The world is moving rapidly toward I DON'T KNOW--ISM---a very honest and healthy place regarding the great mysteries of life.