Monumental stupidity to faith promoting story

[Just This Guy]

My TBM parents decided to take a three week cross country drive to see the sites, visit old friends, and be good Mormons.

My parents are mid-late 60s, but my dad had "health problems" that are so severe that he can't do much more than watch TV for 10-12 hours a day. Taking the riding mower out is such an undertaking for him that he lets us hear about it for at least two days. He can't even walk to the microwave to heat up his Nutrisystem packet. However, when something comes up that he is interested in, he is miraculously cured and will just jump up and do it. Basically, while he may have legit medical issues, he has found a way to guilt everyone around him to do everything for him so he can be uber lazy. The majority of his heal issues are from the fact he does nothing except sleep, eat, and watch TV.

So while they were out in Wyoming, the decided to try to find the graves of some of my dad's ancestors who died along the Oregon Trail back in the 1850's. These graves were really out in the middle of nowhere, in US forest service country. Several hours drive from any city, up the in mountains, a few miles from even a paved road. So they follow some maps to find it. This leads them up into the mountains, where even though its June, are still snow covered. They are driving a new, but trouble prone Honda CRV.* My dad won't drive so my mom is. She isn't very good in snow to start with** and has no experience with driving off road. The car it not equipped for winter driving since it is summer back home. They have very few provisions, no backup communications, etc.

They find the grave site and actually manage to find two additional children that were not known before.

On the way out, they get lost between snow covered roads and issues with their paper maps. There is no cell service at all, let along data. So they can't use the GPS on the phone since it can't download the local map package. During this, they manage to slide the car off the road and into a ditch, getting stuck. They spend the night in the car. In the morning, my dad is too scared to go out, so he had my mom go for help. She hikes 4 hours until she can find a local rancher who can contact help. A couple local ranchers work with the Forest Service Ranger and they pull my parent's car out of the ditch and get them back to paved, weather treated roads, and "escort" them to more developed roads. Needless to say, the locals were not impressed. During this hike, my mom damages her phone when it gets dropped in a steam and she injures her foot, requiring her to visit a local urgent care when they finally get pulled out and into town somewhere.

Even with my mom's foot bandaged up, they make sure they stop at the next temple they can, Boise, to do the work for the two children they found.

So to the normal person, this would be a monument to stupidity. A couple of old easterners, playing around the the mountains of Wyoming without basic precautions. This could have turned into something a lot worse.

But to my dad, it's a wonderful faith promoting story about how they struggled though adversity to find two missing names and to get their temple work. When he tells the story, it varies between just some minor interlude with some slight inconveniences to them taking on the devil himself to do the work of the lord.

It makes me think about a lot of the faith promoting stories you hear. Many of them, once you take a step back and look at the situation, it is either someone makes a mistake, or they do something stupid and manage to get out of it. Like the story about the apostle who took a wrong turn and decided that the lord was trying to make a point about something or other. No, they made a wrong turn. Something basic gets turned into something that it is not, or it's an attempt to spin a story to save face.

What really happened? What do they not want to say over the pulpit?



* They had already had this thing into the dealer twice for engine problems. On the way home, it had repeated fuel injector problems that several dealers could not fix because they were traveling. When they got home and took it to a dealer, they ended up having to replace the whole engine because the failed fuel injector had damaged the cylinder. This car has less than 20,000 miles on it.

** She usually puts a car into a ditch at least once a winter.

[RubinHighlander]

Ug. So frustrating, compounded by the faith spin they put on it. If one or both of them had not made back it would have been "It was their time." or "God had a mission for them on the other side." Not, "Yes the dumbasses drove their crappy little car into the middle of fricking WY and died."

Now I've been a bit of a dumbass in the middle of a WY winter, stuck out in no cell range wilderness, digging for six hours to get my butt out of there, so I have some first had experience with this, but I was also prepared with the right gear and plenty of food, water, predownloaded maps, etc.

But to my dad, it's a wonderful faith promoting story about how they struggled though adversity to find two missing names and to get their temple work. When he tells the story, it varies between just some minor interlude with some slight inconveniences to them taking on the devil himself to do the work of the lord.

I don't think I would be telling the story of me sending my poor wife out into the wilderness to save us, unless I was badly hurt and could not do it myself. But kudos to your mom for toughing it out and getting them out.

My mom just burned up the engine on the car I gave her a couple years ago; it could probably have gone another 100k if she had not run it when it was overheated. I guess these are the times that are part of that parental curse you get because of all the dumbass crap we pulled as kids to drive our parents crazy.

[Not Buying It]

The handcart fiasco immediate jumps to mind. What a stupid idea. If Brigham Young had been the one who would have had to pull a handcart, it would never have been suggested, but he was happy to suggest it when other people were the ones who had to do it. Apostolic promises of safe arrival failed to shield the Willie and Martin companies from utter disaster, and the whole stupid mess has turned into such a “faith in every footstep” inspirational story that members regularly send their young people out to play handcart and feel the spirit while mimicking Brother Brigham’s horrible idea.

I can think of no better example of “monumental stupidity to faith promoting story”. That such idiocy has become enshrined as something so faith promoting really floors me.

[Hagoth]

What a blessing it is to live in an age of miracles! Thank you so much for sharing that inspirational, heart-warming story, JustThisGuy. I will share it on social media with as many needy believers as I can so it can enter the echo chamber and reinforce for all of us just how incredibly, really, really true the church really, really is.

[Corsair]

But to my dad, it's a wonderful faith promoting story about how they struggled though adversity to find two missing names and to get their temple work. When he tells the story, it varies between just some minor interlude with some slight inconveniences to them taking on the devil himself to do the work of the lord.

Seriously, there is a non-zero chance that this faith promoting story will end up in a general conference talk.

[Mormorrisey]

The handcart fiasco immediate jumps to mind. What a stupid idea. If Brigham Young had been the one who would have had to pull a handcart, it would never have been suggested, but he was happy to suggest it when other people were the ones who had to do it. Apostolic promises of safe arrival failed to shield the Willie and Martin companies from utter disaster, and the whole stupid mess has turned into such a “faith in every footstep” inspirational story that members regularly send their young people out to play handcart and feel the spirit while mimicking Brother Brigham’s horrible idea.

I can think of no better example of “monumental stupidity to faith promoting story”. That such idiocy has become enshrined as something so faith promoting really floors me.

That's the first thing I thought of when I read your story, JTG., was the handcart disaster. A great example of HOW these stupid decisions can lead to hagiography and inspirational worship - and that's why I'm completely done with the magical thinking that subscribes everything that happens in my life to God or the devil. Sometimes $@#% happens, and that's that.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

Reminds me of the time JS got scared by some rapids and twigs on the river and it became the Devil riding upon the waters in the D&C.

[MoPag]

JTG, I'm glad your parents are okay. I can totally see my parents doing something like that.

But to my dad, it's a wonderful faith promoting story about how they struggled though adversity to find two missing names and to get their temple work. When he tells the story, it varies between just some minor interlude with some slight inconveniences to them taking on the devil himself to do the work of the lord.

Seriously, there is a non-zero chance that this faith promoting story will end up in a general conference talk.

Oh oh oh!!! Let's submit it as a story to the Ensign. We can call it: Angels in the Snow

A righteous couple brave a snow storm to bring the names of their ancestors to the temple. But when the adversary intervenes, will the Lord send His angels?

[Just This Guy]

My mom is normally the more TBM of the two, but I will say, as funny and faith promoting as my dad finds it, she is much less impressed with the experience.

[nibbler]

It makes me think about a lot of the faith promoting stories you hear. Many of them, once you take a step back and look at the situation, it is either someone makes a mistake, or they do something stupid and manage to get out of it.

Like Fanny Alger and polygamy?

I don't think I would be telling the story of me sending my poor wife out into the wilderness to save us, unless I was badly hurt and could not do it myself. But kudos to your mom for toughing it out and getting them out.

This. I found myself wondering how that little detail made it into the final draft.

[Wonderment]

JTG, you're an excellent writer, and this is certainly a 21 century version of a handcart story. It's dangerous to get lost in the mountains, especially when the landscape is still covered with snow, with a faulty vehicle, with travelers have taken no emergency precautions. That's a recipe for disaster. Your parents were fortunate. Congrats to your mom, who at an advanced age, was able to hike for 4 hours to find help.

[Angel]

...

It makes me think about a lot of the faith promoting stories you hear. Many of them, once you take a step back and look at the situation, it is either someone makes a mistake, or they do something stupid and manage to get out of it. Like the story about the apostle who took a wrong turn and decided that the lord was trying to make a point about something or other. No, they made a wrong turn. Something basic gets turned into something that it is not, or it's an attempt to spin a story to save face.

What really happened? What do they not want to say over the pulpit?

Sounds like you have an awesome mom.

So.... two kids die on the Oregon trail .... then years later their relatives almost kill themselves at the same spot???

Like all those poor kids who starved to death in the exodus from Egypt... Oh wait, I don't remember anyone starving to death on that trip...

Take something, instead of admitting a mistake, repenting for not being prepared - blame it on the devil instead of on yourself or on bad leadership. If someone dies as a result? Well - they are taken care of in Heaven.

It really is a way to pass the buck and avoid personal repentance - to call things a "trial from God" rather than call things "a mistake I made"