Mormon WikiLeaks (MormonLeaks)

[smokymountainrain]

SU, who was the MTC president when you were there?

[smokymountainrain]

Ed Pinegar was mine. I really loved him.

Is Ed the bishop on that sacrament meeting tv show? or is that a different pinegar? seems like a good bishop, tbh.

[falafel]

I've thought about this over the past week quite a bit. I believe I have a better-than-average memory, so I don't hold people to my standard when it comes to stuff like this (even though that is tempting--especially when my client is being deposed and I know the GeeDee answer and my client doesn't, and I didn't even go through whatever is being questioned. I digress.) I remember a lot of things about the MTC. Tons of things. Minute details, down to the names of the Elders in my District, my teachers and where they served their missions, my branch presidency members and what they did for a living, etc. But for the life of me, I can't remember who the MTC pres was. That said, how well someone remembers (or doesn't) remember the MTC pres is pretty irrelevant as it pertains to this discussion. And I'm certain I would remember his name if I had any sort of meaningful interactions with him during my stay there.

Can't remember his name either. I think we were probably there during the same time. June/July-August/Sept. 1998?

[Donuthole]

Can't remember his name either. I think we were probably there during the same time. June/July-August/Sept. 1998?

We definitely overlapped. Aug 5 - Oct 14, 1998.

[SeattleUte]

SU, who was the MTC president when you were there?

I remember what he looked and sounded like, things he said, vividly. But I can’t remember his name. That’s typical for me.

[falafel]

We definitely overlapped. Aug 5 - Oct 14, 1998.

You remember the exact dates - so you DO have a good memory for those things. I remember the hot dog bar, but I can't remember which day it was on. Wednesdays? Also I think rapes were on Thursdays, but it could have been Fridays.

[Donuthole]

You remember the exact dates - so you DO have a good memory for those things. I remember the hot dog bar, but I can't remember which day it was on. Wednesdays? Also I think rapes were on Thursdays, but it could have been Fridays.

Really long layover (and then a delayed flight) in Houston, so I technically didn't arrive in Guatemala until October 15, 1998. But who's keeping track?

[jay santos]

Is Ed the bishop on that sacrament meeting tv show? or is that a different pinegar? seems like a good bishop, tbh.

Same person.

[Pelado]

Am I the only one who has no idea who the President was of the MTC when they were there?

Shoot...I can only name one member of the district that I was in, and that's only because he was my comp.

Don't remember who the MTC president was. Probably heard from him on the first day, in that meeting where parents and family go out one door and missionaries out the other. Probably also at the weekly devotionals. I think I heard of someone else in our district or "dorm" who got sent to the MTC pres for some disciplinary issue or something.

I wouldn't have a clue who it was. the only guy I remember was my branch president who later was on that exciting show on KBYU where you watch a panel of of 4 or 5 people (usually BYU profs) study and discuss the scriptures. I used to brag to my wife that I knew him personally.

I had much more interaction with the branch president and his counselors, but I don't remember any of their names either.

That said, if any of those guys had attempted to sexually assault me, I'd probably remember them better.

My 13 year old son watches these comedic YouTubes called “Adam Ruins Everything.” Sometimes here I feel like I’m that guy. But like Adam, I’m only ever trying to help. I’m glad you have all had a good discussin, but if I may, I think you’re asking the wrong question in even addressing the supernatural.

Harari, the author of Homo Deus and Sapiens, takes a very expansive view of what is a “religion”. In his view, any ideology or even abstraction that brings a group of humans together to cooperate toward a value system is a religion. So, Mormonism, Communism, Capitalism, human rights, liberal humanism, fascism, corporations, legal codes, environmentalism, “dataism,” and much more are all religions. Obviously, he’s totally non-judgmental in identifying what is a religion. I don’t have a problem with this, but if to you religion has to connote belief in god, I submit this construct still helps in a discussion such as this.

Harari in Homo Deus raises the question, why are some religions more successful than others at different times? It completely depends, he submits, on which religion is best answering the big questions of the day. Capitalism, he submits, is the most successful religion of all time (Harari is a vegan who believes that the agricultural revolution was a catastrophe for the planet overall including humans). Why? Capitalism is the only religion that has figured out how to create value (and value creation not value distribution is the real economic problem).

So, how well do LDS leaders answer the big questions of the day? About value creation, sex, LGBT rights, women (arguably the most oppressed of all time), data, technology, the environment? For all this power of “revelation” why are they almost always late to social progress?

For some reason, while reading your post, an image came into my mind of someone attempting to place a round peg into a square hole. Call it revelation, if you must.

[smokymountainrain]

I remember what he looked and sounded like, things he said, vividly. But I can’t remember his name. That’s typical for me.

interesting. I don't even remember the face of mine. must have been entirely inconsequential to me.

[smokymountainrain]

You remember the exact dates - so you DO have a good memory for those things. I remember the hot dog bar, but I can't remember which day it was on. Wednesdays? Also I think rapes were on Thursdays, but it could have been Fridays.

too soon.

[Donuthole]

For some reason, while reading your post, an image came into my mind of someone attempting to place a round peg into a square hole. Call it revelation, if you must.

In your vision, was this feat complicated by the limpness of the round peg?

[falafel]

too soon.

it was almost 20 years ago for me.

[creekster]

I can recall the names of just about everyone in my MTC district, including 2 of our 3 instructors. I have zero recollection of even being organized in branches. Were we, back in the dark ages? If so, I have zero memory of any branch presidency. But I do recall the MTC president was Joe J. Christensen, who I liked very much, although I don't think he ever spoke to me or acknowledged me individually. But I never liked hanging around authority figures, so that may be why.

[Pelado]

In your vision, was this feat complicated by the limpness of the round peg?

Nope. What did seem odd about it was the woman holding the round peg and the silver-bearded dude holding the square hole. I swear I had seen him before - maybe even at a BYU basketball game.