Salt Lake City - Part 2 of 2 (November 2013)

November 2014 Salt Lake City (Part 2)

I booked us into a special Thanksgiving recreation event called 'Eat Like a Pilgrim', located at Thanksgiving Point outside of the city. Of course, everyone on our table was a Mormon. One guy had a grandfather with 100+ children!!

 

You may notice the absence of a fork - back in Pilgrim times they ate with their knife. We found this tricky as there was nothing to stop the meat moving around our plates as we cut into it.

Men traditionally laid their napkins over their shoulder - their left if they were single and their right if they were married. Women would tuck their napkin under their chin.

A goblet of warm cider...or, what they call cider over here. We would call it apple juice.

 

 

The food was basic but tasty, starting off with creamed corn, mashed pumpkin and sweet potato, salad and bread. Afterwards we had turkey and pork.

 

 

 
A couple on our table had been the previous year and, knowing that the food was traditional and 'basic', they came prepared with salt, pepper and a can of squirty cream for the pie!

 

As a result our table was marched to the stocks and we here given a chorus of 'shame'...

 

On the Sunday morning we went to the Tabernacle (basically a meeting hall) in the famous Temple Square, where they were recording a special broadcast of 'Music and the Spoken Word' with the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This broadcast is the world's oldest continuous nationwide network broadcast in the world (started in 1929). The building, built before the invention of the microphone, was designed with acoustics in mind.

 
Gemma was excited that the actor who plays Richie Rich's Dad was the celebrity guest. He is the second man to the right of the woman with brown hair in the foreground's head.

 

 

You can drop in to watch the choir rehearse on Thursday nights, which we did before the Sunday service.

Also in Temple Square is the main Salt Lake Temple itself...it's like the Vatican for Mormons. The prophet Brigham Young designated the site of the temple through 'divine inspiration' after he and his followers travelled a thousand miles from Illinois to escape persecution. It took 40 years to build (1853 -1893). The purpose of the Temple is to provide a peaceful setting for followers to learn, worship and make higher covenants to God.

The Temple is closed to non-Mormons (and even Mormons cannot enter until they are 'ready'). Below is a scaled replica showing the interior...it is like a palace!

The different rooms have different purposes. At the bottom left is a pool surrounded by golden cows (representing the twelve tribes of Israel):

It is for baptisms of the dead. Mormons believe that families are eternal so once we die we meet up with our dead relatives in heaven. However, we can only reach heaven if we are baptised into the Mormon faith. So, Mormons spend a lot of time researching their family trees to track down unbaptised dead relatives for baptism. The baptism is performed in this pool using a living proxy. This is so important to Mormons that there is a library dedicated to family tree research.

Gemma had a personal tour of Temple Square by some missionaries. She said it was 'interesting', ha. Only female missionaries attend to the Temple complex. They come from around the world. All Mormons are required to spend at least 18 months performing missionary work. When Sisters have completed their assignment at the Temple, a little ceremony is held for them.

We took a tour of the Beehive House, which was Brigham Young's residence.

Outside I was collared by some people from the local radio station. They loved me!

Continuing the theme of healthy eating we went to a diner one evening - Johnny Rockets. Unlimited fries with every burger!!

A random song and dance by the waiting staff:

Definitely needed to walk it off afterwards. The City Creek mall is one of the nicest we have ever been to.

A local delicacy - 'scones'. Not scones as we know them - they are like a cross between a muffin and a rock cake. You have to get up early to get some as they sell out quickly. Gemma loved them, but I was less impressed.