After reading the post about the BYU students who went to Vegas and got married just to have sex and were then excommunicated, I started thinking about other myths and legends I heard while in TSCC.

Anyone remember this one:
http://www.holyfetch.com/talk_faves/temple_elevators.html

We were always wowed by Sunday school teachers who talked about the elevator shafts inside SL Temple. The teacher would say something to the effect of BY told the designers to leave big empty shafts open even though they didn't know why. These were later discovered to have been left for the eventual elevators that were installed. Super inspiring, but super false. The designers knew about elevators because they were installed in New York and in buildings in Europe years before.

Anyone else remember any silly 'inspiring' myths?

...when elevators were eventually installed, they had to rip out some existing rooms to make enough room for them.

The Seagulls and crickets story...my understanding is that this is not an uncommon occurrence. Interestingly, I learned that in my evolution class at BYU.

As I recall from reading "Blood of the Prophets" by Will Bagley the seagull story might never have happened. The pioneers kept records of their daily lives in their journals. And there are no contemporary accounts of seagulls coming to the rescue. The seagull stories started to appear about a generation later. (At least that's what I remember reading.)

I was with my TBM brother at temple square once and told him the whole story might be made up. I thought it was an interesting sidenote to the historical record. He got mad at me for challenging his faith.

...a legend about a legend, perhaps.

So the Utah state bird is a seagull because of a rumor. That's funny.

I always heard various accounts of the three Nephites coming to the rescue of missionaries.

They're probably buying new sandals at the Dillards at City Creek Mall

that no one else wanted it.

In fact it was green in many areas, crossed by many streams, rich with game (which they quickly slaughtered), well treed in the canyons.

"We gazed with wonder and admiration upon the vast rich fertile valley which lay for about 25 miles in length & 16 miles in width Clothed with the Heaviest garb of green vegitation in the midst of which lay a large lake of Salt water . . . After gazing awhile upon the seenery we travled across the table land into the valley 4 miles to the encampment of our Brethren who had arived 2 days before. [-] they had pitched there encampment upon the bank of two small streams of pure water & had commenced plowing. Had broke about 5 acres of ground & commenced planting Potatoes." Journal of Wilford Woodruff, July 24, 1847

Looks like the mormon church can't even get THAT lie straight.

(I forget) are the ANY evergreen trees in the SL valley, or only those 'other' ones?

Mormonism has Always encouraged those FPRs, but it may be going out of fashion now with the Big I.

myths/religion; can Anyone tell the diff?

Lights on in the Temple as Christ was working there that night (though I bet he wouldn't hev beeen cleaning the temple lavatories).

Temple garments providing super-physical protection to folks in accidents or fires etc, while the un-garmented parts of their bodies cops an unfortunate one (very generous blessings there, God!)

Don't go swimming as that's Satan's domain.

The perrenial stories trotted out by members regarding finding car keys, cash etc.

As mentioned, the sightings of the Three Nephites (think they'd get tired of perennially tramping round the globe by now wouldn't you.)

I love how TBM's declare any positive financial change as a 'blessing of tithing.'

Find a twenty in your pocket? Blessing of tithing!

Get a raise at work? Blessing of tithing!

Stocks go up? Blessing of tithing!

Find a penny in your loafer? Blessing of tithing!


My mother heard a story from my, at the time, TBM sister about getting an insurance refund check to the tune of $250 or so. First thing my TBM mother says, "blessing of tithing!" What she didn't know was that my sister had recently stopped paying tithing.

The blessing there was a 10% raise and the $250

Funny experience...I was in the Salt Lake mission home and listening to a talk by S. Dilworth Young (a Seventy). He asked the audience, "Why shouldn't missionaries go swimming?" A lady missionary raised her hand and said, "because Satan has power over the waters." Young got a bit agitated and said, "That's false doctrine sister, don't you believe it."

I think we all felt bad for her. Then he answered his own question by saying, "It's because you could drown."

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/2012 04:34PM by steve benson.

That it is perfectly understandable that Joseph Smith would have been attacked by a White Salamander as explained by an Apostle of the Lord, Dallin Oaks.

Though it was all a farce, as a missionary they would always say, 'every time you get rain on your name tag your wife gets prettier.'

Tracting in the rain sucked. I guess mishies need some sort of motivation to go out and do it. I served in one of the rainiest places in the US. My GF is beautiful. I'm counting on her getting prettier when we get married because my name tag always had rain on it.

https://ojs.lib.byu.edu/spc/index.php/BYUStudies/article/view/6369/6018

(See pages 212 and 213-216.)

There are two things that I heard. First, a family came home from vacation and bore their testimony at F&T meeting. Said they felt to pick up a hitch hiker and he advised them to get things in order and also told them to get their years supply of food on hand, they were going to need it. Husband said he felt sure the man was one of the three nephites because he asked to be let out in the middle of no where.
Second, some friends and I were talking about UFOs and one man told us that he had lived in SLC on a hill near the temple. He could sometimes see UFOs or spaceships landing at the temple to get the records that were being sent to other locations. He believed that the records were being sent to the lost ten tribes that were somewhere out in space.

I was told that the roads in SLC were built extra wide because BY was "inspired" to do this because he knew that there would be more need for wider streets in the future.

They were built that wide because he didn't like backing up a wagon with a team of horses. He made them wide enough he could do a U-turn

Finally! Something BY and I agree on!