Help! I'm Surrounded!

Help! I'm Surrounded! By Mormons! It's not like they slowly invaded my space. It wasn't gradual or anything like that, I happen to live in Utah County where the population is 88.2% LDS. But sometimes I feel TRAPPED! I know everyone is different and has their own unique personality, but I've never lived where everyone has basically the same belief system. It's really creepy! It makes me feel like a clone at times.

Growing up I was different from other people. And even though it made some things hard, I enjoyed the individuality that my religion gave me. Now I feel as though I am just one more drone. Except that I'm not an Institutionalized Mormon. I know that sounds harsh but sometimes I feel like I'm living in Rome amongst the Catholics. They don't know why they do things, it's just always been that way.

I'm lucky in the fact that my parents joined the LDS church when I was a baby. They had to learn everything on their own. They had no Primary as youngsters that taught them the gospel principles on which our religion is based. They had to learn it all from scratch. And they took their new religious conversion seriously. They were not lackadaisical in their approach at all. They approached it with all the enthusiasm that they could muster. They did not take anything for granted like so many members around here do, including me at times. We attended all our meetings and even lived across town, half an hour away from the church.

So often I wish I didn't live in Utah. I wish for a normal life in the real world where no one assumes I'm Mormon. I love finding friends who aren't Mormon and befriending them. They're so appreciative to find a Mormon who is willing to be their friend and not need to bring them to church. I want to live where no one but me knows how to make bread or cookies. I make a damn good pie crust but no one in my ward knows it because of another sweet old lady who used to own a coffee shop and made them regularly, she's the expert. I'd love to live where I'm not judged on my spirituality by my next door neighbor. I'd love to live where being a member of the church isn't a criteria for your children being able to play together. I'd love to live where people aren't judged as 'bad people' because they smoke or 'alcoholic' because they had a glass of wine or beer with dinner. I'd love to live where someone else is mowing the lawn on Sunday, shopping on Sunday, and playing on Sunday. And I'm especially tired of locals referring to the rest of the world as the "Mission Field." I want to be different again.

Help! I'm Surrounded!