My Experience Passing Out Fliers During LDS General
Conference, Oct. 7, 2001
What an interesting day I had passing out 1700 fliers to LDS General
Conference goers titled "Book of Mormon Commentary on Sept. 11 Attack on
America."
Here is what the flier looked like, except it was black ink on a florescent
light-red paper. (The background image did not show nearly as clearly as
it does here.)
Quarter-page Flier
To complete the picture, I should tell you that I dressed up in a white
shirt, suit, and conservative red tie; so other than the flier part, I fit
into the crowd appearance-wise. I had a button on my lapel that I got
from Kinko's when I made the copies. It had an American flag in the
background, with the words, "Our Grief, Our Prayers, Our Resolve: UNITED
States of America." I spent most of my time on the west half of the
sidewalk north Temple square, north of the old Tabernacle.
The first thing I have to mention is that the overall and nearly unanimous
reaction I got by the look of people's faces was one of carefully concealed,
confused, troubled, bewilderment. I think they would have been pleased
if the flier said something like "America is wonderful and Bin Ladin is
terrible." But when they saw the commentary suggesting that America
is wicked and had this coming, they just didn't know what to think.
Because the quotations were from the Book of Mormon, they couldn't quite
just dismiss it out of hand. But because the flier was not passed out by
the Church, they were not prepared to believe it.
None of the General Authorities, in any of the talks given during the three
sessions Saturday and Sunday, so far as I am away, said anything that even
comes close to the idea that we as America may have deserved the attack on
Sept. 11 to stir us up to repentance. Yet every single person attending
that conference, General Authorities and members, know full well that such
messages of calling a people to repentance lest they be destroyed is a theme
of scripture, Noah being the most obvious example.
Then they wonder why it is that the people in the scriptures get so mad at
the prophets who come among them warning them of their iniquities.
In the six some hours I was there passing out fliers, no one, not even one
person, came to me to talk about the flier, one way or the other, for or
against, after getting the flier and reading it.
One lady, after glancing at the title, enthusiastically volunteered that
Alma 16 [see chiasm of Alma 16]
and 44 are applicable to the Sept. 11 incident and the subsequent war.
Alma 16 is the story of the sudden destruction of the wicked city of Ammonihah.
Alma 44 is the story of Moroni saying (to paraphrase) "we would not go
after you if you didn't come after us and seek our destruction. If you
will not put down your weapons of war, we will destroy you." She,
of course was thinking that Ammonihah would apply to Afghanistan, and Bush is
Moroni.
Though I certainly do not see Bin Laden as Moroni, I think she has it
backwards so far as who deserves what. America is Ammonihah. Bin
Laden is king of the Lamanites who the Lord uses to punish the backsliding
Nephites -- the Americans. The promises of the Lord are extended to the
Lamanites when they repent, and they will become even more righteous than the
Nephites, while on the other hand, the Nephites are under great condemnation
because of sinning against so great light and knowledge that they have been
given. They are in an awful situation, and they don't even realize
it. They won't realize it.
Probably half of the people I approached declined taking the flier,
presuming that the flier was anti-Mormon, which is the nature of most fliers
distributed during General Conference.
One thing that was really quite amusing was that the accepting or refusal
of the flier would go in cycles. If one person took a flier, the next
person was far more likely to take the flier, and so forth, going like that
for about 5-8 people on average. But once one person declined, the same
process repeated itself except to the opposite effect. A few times
during the day, there would be a "flier frenzy" phenomenon in which
I could hardly pass the fliers out fast enough. This would go on for
about half a minute.
More often, though, was the "repulsion frenzy," in which one, two
or three people would avoid me, and it would catch on to those around, lasting
for about the same amount of time. This was most pronounced when I was
standing in one place and people were walking by. Suddenly there would
be this big gap around me.
All we like sheep!
Some people (usually who looked like Stake Presidents, Elder's Quorum
Presidents, or missionaries and their female counterparts) seemed to be
hard-wired to refuse any fliers no matter what. Once in a while one of
these types would surprise me and take a flier.
Rarely, a person would actually come up to me and ask me for the
flier. One person, and one person only, a Japanese girl of about 22 year
of age, actually asked for several copies to take to friends. She had a
look on her face as if to say, "Finally, something of substance!"
Generally speaking people 18 through 30 years of age were the most likely
to take the flier. I didn't hand them to children except rarely, when
they put their hand out for one; and older people were far more inclined to
decline.
At first, while handing out the flier, I would say, "Book of Mormon
about September 11," and that seemed to appease people into taking a
flier, whereas at first they thought it would be anti-Mormon and did not plan
to take one.
Several times, a clever discerning Mormon would ask, "Are you
LDS." My response was, "Are you Christian?" What I
was trying to get at, and what I tried to explain, but to no avail, was that
even though I am no longer on the rolls of the LDS church, that I still
consider myself to be part of things LDS (in a pure sense), just as they
consider themselves to be part of things Christian, even though Christians
often do not consider Mormons to be Christian. "It's the same
thing," I would say. They didn't agree, and they, along with three
or four others in their vicinity who overheard the conversation, handed the
flier back.
I don't think anyone got it. They couldn't fathom that there is
anything better than Mormonism, so this line of thinking had no way of getting
into their heads. The only direction outside of the LDS Church, in their
minds, is down, never up.
Between noon and 2:00 pm, when the ushers pack people into the Conference
Center for the next session beginning at 2:00, I worked the
"standby-with-tickets" line as it proceeded west on the sidewalk
north of Temple Square, just before crossing the street to the new Conference
Center, where the line wove back and forth, in and out, for probably 1/4 of a
mile.
About half-way through that period, I came up with the ideal statement to
allay people's worry that I was handing out anti-Mormon literature.
Every three people or so, I said simply, "Pro-LDS," as I extended my
hand with the flier for the next person to take. That was what people
wanted to hear, and I had no problems in my conscience saying it. I am
all for the idea of "Latter-day Saints." I even have a website
www.patriotsaints.com I also
believe that there is much good within the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Yes, there is a setting in order needed, which will
come in due time, but I am no more anti-Mormon than David was anti-Saul.
One person angrily said, "Who gave you permission to pass these
out?" to which I replied, "It's a free country, and I'm sure glad it
is" (well sort of free anyway).
The usher nearby told me, "You have a right to be here, but I sure
wish you would leave."
Several guys came to the Conference dressed in their spiffy blue military
uniforms. They looked sharp, but they were less inclined than average to
take the flier. I think maybe three of 20 I offered it to took it.
Can was say, Pride?
They were the men of the hour as far as people around them were concerned,
and it showed in their faces.
After the last Conference session, ending at 4:00 PM, I stood at the North
entrance/exit from temple square, at the cross-walk going over to the
Conference Center.
Behind me, standing against the middle post of the open gate, was an older
lady, apparently blind, holding two pot holders in her hand that she had
made. She would recite, as if a tape recording, a sales line saying that
she was selling them for $10.00, but that a one or two dollar donation would
be appreciated as she was not able to do for herself any more. She
recited the cost of the materials, along with the mark-up. Then she
would repeat the same thing. She couldn't tell if people heard her or
not, so she just did this over and over again.
When I heard her story, I gave her a dollar that I could not afford to
give. (I couldn't afford paying for the fliers either.)
At the end of the rush, she still stood there with those two pot holders in
hand. No one had bought them.
At the end of the day, as the crowds had petered out, I took occasion to
speak to a couple of people at length. One was a gentleman, very kind,
who works for the Church translation department. In fact this morning as
I pulled out the Ensign to read through it while going to the bathroom, after
flipping through one or two pages, I was astonished to stumble onto his
picture (the gift of serendipity). (Ensign, July, 2001, p. 31.)
He was actually acting as a mediator between myself and another guy who
wanted to tear me to shreds. He was defending my position most of the
time.
The more we talked, the more he couldn't understand why I wasn't in the
church.
At one point, the guy who was debating me said that anything he is going to
learn he is going to learn it from "them," pointing to the
Conference Center.
I said something to the effect, "Well, then, you're not going to learn
very much, because they have to tailor their words to the least common
denominator -- the new converts who are in any audience they
address." It's a choice they've made, and it's not very conducive
to further light and knowledge.
Finally, in desperation, the translator gentleman pleaded with me,
"Come back; you will be blessed far beyond your expectations if you
do."
To that, I replied, "You should go back to being a
Methodist." He mentioned earlier that he had been a Methodist prior
to converting to the LDS Church. I then asked him how that felt to him
for me to say he should "Go back." I reminded him of how many
of his acquaintances surely must have thought he was so deceived to convert to
Mormonism." I then said that this was how I felt when he told me I
need to "come back" to the LDS Church. To me, it would be a
mater of reverting, rather than improvement.
He didn't like that at all. His demeanor changed, and he said I had
deceived him by saying I was for the LDS church when it turns out I am against
it. I said I am not against the LDS Church, any more than he is against
Methodism.
That was about the last thing spoken as he walked away with almost a look
of betrayal on his face. I probably had as much of a look of sad
astonishment.
After that, I returned to my car five bocks away in free parking, passing
fliers to people on the sidewalks along the way, including a couple of groups
of punk-rockers.
To make this story complete, I have to tell you about the first part of the
day. Before I do that, I want to thank a friend of mine, who I will keep
anonymous, who let me use his car to drive up to Salt Lake, because my car was
overheating.
Anyway, my first stop on the way to Temple Square was Kinko's, to make
copies of the flier. I was nearly done, when I turned around and saw a
familiar face. I didn't remember the name for sure, so I said,
"Hey, don't I know you?"
Well, yes I did. It was R.J., who poses in his life as a homeless
person, and plays the role well: long unkempt beard, matted hair, knitted cap,
grungy coat, carrying a blanket and a grocery bag with a few morsels of
food. He spends a lot of time camping out at Temple Square, kind of like
a perpetual Samuel the Lamanite. He was there when the crazy lady
stormed the Family History Center. A day before the Aug 11, 1999 tornado hit
Salt Lake City, he stood up on a city bus in Salt Lake and told the passengers
that there was going to be "a tornado in the toilet."
So there is R.J. He said he had walked all the way from Sugar House
and was on his way to Temple Square, when the Spirit told him to go into Kinko's. "Why
Kinko's?" he said to himself. The Spirit
said, "Just go inside."
Well, the irony of this was that the day before, I had sent a message
to several of my mailing lists, inviting anyone who wanted to, to come join me
passing out fliers. I didn't really think anyone would, but I thought I
would ask. No one volunteered.
So now, God has this bottom-of-the-barrel personified person showing up to
help.
As we walked along, R.J. went on and on about how precariously we sit as a
nation, and especially how the Mormons are on the brink of disaster because of
their being incongruous with the teachings they espouse.
He talked about how he has been brutally handled by the police, and how he
expected they would not take kindly to his showing up on Temple Square, but
that he was going anyway.
I said I wished we had a picture to take of us, at which he stopped, pulled
a small camera out of his pocket, and we had a passerby take a shot of us
standing in front of Zion's Bank on Main Street. I hope he can locate me
to send me a copy of that when he gets it developed.
When we arrived, he was skittish about passing out fliers just yet, as he
didn't want to get kicked off the minute he arrived. So I suggested he
wait until the rush when the first session lets out and people come in for the
last session. I set my extra fliers down on the ground next to his
blanket, and there they remained safe.
I only saw him once after that. In exasperation, he said he had tried
to hand out a handful of the fliers but that a lady took five of them and
threw them on the ground.
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my
brethren, ye have done it unto me."
Thanks, R.J., wherever you are. You are an inspiration to me.
On the way home, I stopped by the Relief Mine East of Salem Utah.
Seeing as I've started a website www.reliefmine.com
I thought it would be a good idea to see the mine. I've been on the
property before, but not up to the mine.
Walking up the road (beyond "No Trespassing" gate), I stopped at
a mobile home to inform them of my presence. The guy there said,
"You don't believe that stuff do you?" He has lived there all
his life, but does not believe there is anything to it. He said,
"The only person who receives revelation is the Prophet," implying
that the mine's founder, the visionary John Koyle, couldn't possibly be
legitimate.
I take comfort in that statement, hoping he is just as wrong about the mine
as he is about the prophet being the only one to receive revelation.
This morning (the day following Conference), I pulled up some statistics on
my website, curious to see what kind of response there may have been to the
flier I passing out yesterday. I generally handed out only one flier per
group, usually composed of at least two people, though often more; so the
number of people who actually saw the flier is easily twice 1700.
The site statistics did not reflect any surges whatsoever. In fact,
the main URL listed on the flier, www.greaterthings.com/News/911
had nearly a third LESS traffic on Sunday than it did on Saturday.
No email messages were in my box from any of these conference-goers.
No messages posted to the discussion boards.
Nothing.
Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello!
Anyone out there? out there? out there?
out there?
If you happen to have been one who was at General Conference and received
the above flier, drop me a line.
Surely there was someone among the thousands who received the flier, who
appreciated it enough to end up on this website, subscribed to the newsletter,
and hence will read this account. I would
be curious to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
October 8, 2001
