UTAH GENERAL

>ask if anyone is there
>i pause for a moment and i dont hear anymore noise
>i rationalize that it must have been an animal
>voice in the back of my head tells me it wasnt an animal
>tell the voice in my head to fuck off
>as i begin to pull out my tent from my pack
>i hear that moan from the hills again
>i reckon that if it is an animal then i can spook it away
>stand up straight with arms over my head to seem tall and start yelling at the top of my lungs
>do this for a solid minute
>no more sounds
>problem solved
>i set up my tent and get my dinner ready and am ready to sleep but i cant get jacks words out of my head
>stay off the roads at night
>fuck
>as im about to fall asleep i hear that moaning again
>at this point the sun has set but i decide to investigate the area where the sound came from and grab my flashlight from my bag
>i walk towards the hills
>i search for a few minutes and i dont find anything
>i hear that low moan again right ahead of me
>so i carefully walk over to look where the noise was coming from
>i find a dead deer
>it is mangled and the blood is still wet and fresh
>its body is completely torn open and its ripped to shreds
>i hear something running in the bushes near me as i investigated the corpse
>oh fuck
>i begin to sprint back to my tent but i only make it about 100 feet from the corpse when i hear this awful scream
>like some mixture of human and animal
>i check over my shoulder and its a fucking person on all fours covered in ragged fur
>after looking at it some more i realize its more like a wolf/human it has the general face of a wolf with the protruding snout
>but its body is more human with the arms and legs they are disproprotionately longer than a humans and human hands and feet but still covered in fur
>it sniffs the corpse and then looks directly at me
>i cant move i can only stare at this creature
>it stands up on its two hind legs and its 7ft tall and starts to walk towards me
>fuck me

>the creature is still coming closer walking at a slow pace and makes that awful moan
>not a second goes by and all of a sudden i hear more of these sickly animal/human hybrid screeches
>the entire fucking hills erupt into screams
>this is how i die
>i sprint as fast as i can back to the road fuck my tent
>all around me the screeching gets louder and louder
>i make it to the road and i see a trucks headlights down the road
>know that if i am going to live i need to get in that truck
>the screaming is still getting louder as i start running towards the truck
>run the fastest ive ever ran in my life and waving my flashlight around
>thank god the truck sees me and slows down as i jump in
>its fucking jack
>he floors it
>the whole valley is echoing from this godawful screeching
>the creatures pour onto the road
>i am literally shitting myself
>jack drives fast as fuck and we escape them
>eventually the screaming gets quieter each midle we travel
>jack doesnt say anything for the longest time
>about an hour after he picked me up he tells me that i shouldve stayed off the roads
>i ask him what in the fuck were those things
>he says theyve been around these parts since before his great grandparents lived here
>silence again for a few hours
>i couldnt even sleep if i tried
>roll up in a town called delta
>pulls up in front of a motel
>before i leave i ask him how he knew where to find me
>he tells me that he went back to where he dropped me off and looked for me once he couldnt find me he decided to look for me
>i thank him profusely he tells me that i got lucky and he drives off
>get a room at the motel and law awake for hours but i eventually fall asleep
>the next day i wake up and think about how fucked up that whole situation was and how i could have died had it not been for jack
>stay in delta for a few more days and buy a new tent and gear and i eventually make it to cali and chill on the beaches

Yeah Utah is the strangest place I've ever been. Never have I got such an overwhelming all encompassing "vibe" from an entire state before. The salt flats and Salt Lake City in particular. I don't know what's going on out there but I don't plan on ever passing through again.

I live in Utah. Can confirm there's some legit spiritual shit going on in this state, and not necessarily in a good way.

I'm not a Mormon, but I visited the Temple only once, and that made my skin crawl so hard I had to leave. Almost the strangest shit I've ever encountered.

>>19189645
fuck that place holy hell

nothing spooky happened while i was there but everything felt wrong. Like something was perpetually "off" that affected the whole state.

fuck you joseph smith.

>>19188779
have you talked to anyone about it?

>>19188779
>>19188790
LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA this is literally one of the worst fucking stories I've ever read, seriously OP. Seriously...

In a split second of seeing this beast, you're able to discern it's full body shape, facial features, and it's fucking height? It casually sniffs the corpse that it's already torn open while you get to admire its fur?

THEN YOU OUT RUN A FUCKING WEREWOLF back to the fucking trucker that dropped you in that area for the lulz? As if a paid trucker could afford the extra time to fucking hunt you down (not to mention it would be illegal to drive over his hours)?

Seriously OP, this isn't even a creative creative-writing piece. Pack up. Go home.

what's so bad about utah

>>19189645
lol you never visited the temple if you're not mormon. most mormons can't go to the temples

>>19189908
been inside actually.
non mormon but I bullshitted my way in out of curiosity.
As soon as my sister walked inside, she heard the word "sacrifice" loud inside of her head.
Utah is a weird place overall. I love the snow though and SLC is crazy

>>19189923
Jack mormon here. you can't bull shit your way in. Good try.

>>19189815
Kill yourself, you drooling autistic cunt.

>>19188779
I bet you got trolled hard by a boy scout troop, and let adrenaline fill in the gaps in your memory. The deer you found was roadkill, and was probably responsible for the howls.

We used to play some seriously fucked up pranks after dark at campsites when I was a kid.

Or maybe it all happened. Who knows. Utah is a pretty weird vibe if youre not used to the culture. Kinda feels like everyone knows something you don't. The reality is, its just stuck-up rich christains with a serious supriority complex.

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I was born in Utah. I moved away with my family but I still visit.

One summer we were driving to my aunts house outside of Provo. Just driving in the woods looking for her place when the car suddenly dies. No battery, no engine, nothing is working. Dad trying to start when the sound of the wind in the trees stops. Cant hear bugs or animals or wind or anything. Car starts again and we peel outta there.

Prob aliens

>>19190156
I did.
Used to have pictures too.
they have this weird area where the have constellations, statues, videos and whatnot in an aggregated building.

why even bother lying.
it's not like they were in the middle of anything at that moment.

>>19190696
You can't get into the temple without what we call a "temple recommend", we don't have statues in the temples, nor videos playing. You sound like you are talking about Temple Square which anyone can go on....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw_3wyVJbEI
3:19

>went to Utah
>Salt Fucking Lake City
>Saw demonic temple
>Had a statue on top called macaroni
>delirious racist white people everywhere claiming to be new messiahs
>demanded 10% of my labors for the safety of my soul.
>barely escaped

>>19192154
I'll join their silly religion if they hook me up with a fat paying job that i can afford to give 10% of pay from
and if they give me a hot young virgin for a wife to make my meals and do my laundry
i want to see the inner secret temples and the escape caves and shit

>>19191899
ah I see, thanks for clearing that up.
still we experienced what we experienced.
what's your opinion on forced polygamy?

Also in Utah we have Lagoon Amusement Park. Dracula's Castle and the Terroride are legit scary dark rides. Last I heard, tho, they were both closed for renovations.

I have to spend a week in SLC this fall for a conference. Never been, what spooky places are safe to check out alone?

I've been to Utah and it looks like it's stuck in the 1980s, very cold and unremarkable.

>>19192614
>what's your opinion on forced polygamy?
>virtually unlimited amounts of pussy
what could possibly go wrong?

>>19189645
Raised LDS, left the church when I was 18.

You're allowed to enter the front building of the temple when you turn reach a certain age and have been baptized, but you can't progress further than that unless you qualify for baptisms for the dead or other temple work.

My father was a convert, so when I was younger I had the opportunity to be sealed to them in the temple. It was the most uncomfortable experience of my life, everything about it just made me so completely uneasy. "Be reverent" they tell you "That's the spirit", but it feels like this overwhelming pressure that makes you want to crawl out of your skin and run far, far away from the building. I remember sitting in the sealing room, staring into the mirrors that represented my family being together for eternity and I was so anxious I couldn't stop fidgeting. I wasn't allowed to ask questions, just sit there and keep my mouth shut while everything was going on. Then it was over, everyone got up and mingled a little bit as my sister and I were taken back down to a separate room while my parents got changed out of their temple clothes.

The thing I struggle with still is even in the car on the way home, or later on that night, or ever, any questions I asked never got answered, just brushed away with "They'll tell you what it all means when YOU get married in the temple one day".

>>19189908
You can if it's an open house, but not once it's been dedicated.
>>19191899
Don't some temples have videos playing in certain rooms that depict the fall of Adam and shit? Or is that by spoken word in almost play form now? It's been years since I had to go to a temple dedication.

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I just finished doing a round baptisms at the timpanogos temple AMA.

>>19194499
Round of*

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>>19194499
Does your temple do anything for 4th of July?

I would imagine that the heart land throws some pretty cool BBQ's for America's birthday.

I'm southern baptist/Pentecostal myself. What would you say is the biggest difference between the two?

Also, my church is pretty big on the whole "Armageddon and revelations" type of sermons and many believe the end of the world is within our lifetimes and we should all be preparing and prepping

Are mormons big into the whole Armageddon thing?

Thanks!

>>19194499
do you have to wear a special garment to be baptized?
Do you get completely dunked?

>>19194573
There's nothing special done at the temple for holidays, though individual wards often organize events in church houses.

And I don't know much about pentacostalism or baptism so I can't say too much on that.

In mormon churches the bishopric (leaders) assign diffrent members topics to speak on each week. So eventually everyone (whose an adult ) in the congregation has gone up and given a "sermon" at some point. Also one Sunday a month there are testimony meetings where anyone can come up to the pulpit and talk.
So far as armageddon, there is defiantly a sort of "prepare of the second conning vibe" but not overwhelmingly so. People will call attention to "signs of the times and such.

>>19194611
In the temple doing baptism for the dead you wear a white jumpsuit. And they actually have observers there to make sure every part of you goes underwater so the baptism is valid.

>>19194652
>So far as armageddon,
so don't Mormons have massive underground bunkers full of supplies so they can survive underground and live through the end times?

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>>19194652
Neat, thanks!

I like the idea of everyone having to participate, at least a little, by hold a sermon at least once. I think our churches down here could use that practice. It would help a lot of people really flesh out and think about their beliefs and the congregation a little more.

Everyone in the Baptist churches, from the smallest Pentecostal to the biggest mega church you see on the tv are absolutely bananas about 'The end times' and the Apocalypse.

Every little thing, I mean everything, will be seen as a sign of the end of the world. We take vacations and 'field trips' to Israel twice a year and do the whole bible tour that ends with us praying for the end of the world on the actual fucking field that Armageddon is supposed to take place. It's a beautiful area, Israel has great weather and great people, but it's a super weird trip where they are constantly pointing out the the streets will soon run red like rivers of blood heh

There are touring companies that make money on just coordinating these trips for American churches. You can even get baptized in the same river that Jesus was supposedly baptized in.

>>19194679
We're encouraged to keep food storage, and the church does keep reacords in a mountain bunker, but by and large no.

>>19194679
They're supposed to have six months of supplies in hand, just in case.
Also some of them have hidden cabinets in their houses where they stash booze (although few admit to this).

>>19194704
How on earth do you find biannual trips to Israel. Is that all tithing?

>>19194713
Fund*

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>>19194713
When everyone is required to tith about 10% in a middleclass to upper middle class area, the amount of money needed gets raised pretty fast. Adults are expected to pay for themselves still, but the money will go towards paying for kid's tickets and food and stuff.

Last year we had about 30 kids go with 6 adults, and this was considered one of our smallest tours yet. Most parents wait until summer to let their kids go so it's during summer break. We have about 75 kids and 15 adults going in August.

Also, the touring company we and a lot of other churches use offer deals and packages for all of your airfair and hotels/buses. It's basically an Armageddon themed vacation trip.

>>19194735
>everyone is required to tith about 10% in a middleclass to upper middle class

what if you're below middle class?
do you have to tithe something?

>>19194735
>>19194735

Neat, I've always wanted to go there.

While were on it, I might bring up that it's pretty common for mormons to do that sort of thing as well, but back east to palmyra, new york, kirtland, ohio, and nauvoo, Illinois, because that's where the Mormon church started and that's where sites such as the first Mormon temples and the sacred grove are.
But usually those are payed for by participants.
When I went it was with my family.

>>19194761
Generally if you are planning to join a church and become a member, it would be at a local church and the people around you would be in your same income bracket. A lot of the giant mega churches will have a flat fee for memberships while the smaller/older and more traditional churches will have a screening for new members. You couldn't just show up out of nowhere and demand to join the Church properly. Sure, most are not going to turn you down if you show up for a sermon and everyone is always welcomed on Sundays, but to really join you have to be from the area.

and require the members to handover pay stubs to prove you are tithing your share. When you join a church you join a community and are expected to do your share. The saying 'God helps those who help themselves' applies to the church as well.

If your church offers private schooling, you are required to usually pay for that separately. Our church offered schooling but my parents decided on public instead because of the costs.

>>19194765
I bet that's fun too. I have never really been to the north east before but I heard that upstate New York is great. I'm sure it's a lot easier to travel there too

>>19194798

Don't know if you are the same guy, but thats not the way the mormon church does it.
They do have a sort of waiting period for converts, but tithing is a flat 10% across all income brackets, and they dont check you salary or anything. You could lie through your teeth while paying 5% and no one would know. At the end of the year there's "tithing settlement" where you meet with the bishop and he asks you if you pay tithing in full on the honor system, and if you say yes you're good to go. People who willfully don't pay full tithing are kept from going to the temple though.

>>19194824
>People who willfully don't pay full tithing are kept from going to the temple though.

what kind of things do i miss out on if i don't get admitted into the temple?
is that where you see the true inner secrets of everything?
like the ancient secret mystical knowledge?

>>19194798
Good job proving churches are just as money driven as anything else on this planet

>>19194824
Interesting

Im sure most churches will use the honor system when it comes to people's money. It's a touchy subject to say the least. I distictly remember my family church growing up making at least one working adult hand over their paystubs to prove they were giving the correct amount. There was a bit of a fuss when they started, but in the end everyone complied. Our church started out really small and has tripled in size since it started 20 years ago, I'm sure they probably don't require it anymore heh

>>19194824

Also, because of how the church is set up, most of the money from tithing goes to salt lake and then gets redistributed from there. A lot of it is used for building and maintaining buildings. A lot is used for charity work and subsiding missionaries. Some goes to charity and paying office workers and grounds keepers and such. And a bit goes back to the wards to fund events and scouting/youth programs. So big intercontinental trips wouldn't really work out.

>>19194499
Alright man I'm not Mormon but I live in Utah County and I just gotta ask, have you talked with your bishop about you browsing 4chan? Because I don't think you can hold a temple recommend if you hang out on here.

>>19194836
If you have been paying attention to reality you would have realized this a long time ago.

suck it up and get a job

>>19194836
I was wondering these things.
if they have a congregation of even just 100 people.
and the average income is $5,000/mo.
x %10 = $500/mo x 100 people = $50,000 / mo the church in bringing in, tax free.

that's $600,000 / year tax free to the church per 100 tithers

>>19194835
Not really, I could probably tell you what goes on it the temple with no real consequences, and trust me it's nothing big or shocking, although maybe a little weird. I'm breaking the rule here, but I've never been a really good mormon so bear with me.

For baptisms you go underneath the temple to a font, a big basin full of water supported on statue work. There you go in with a priesthood holder and get dunked. pretty straight forward. No one gets baptized in the temple though. It's only proxy baptisms for the dead. I'll get to that though.

Stay tuned for more.

>>19194842
Yeah, most of the money goes to that stuff too. It's just that these trips are a big part of the church community and since we don't really have missionaries, we send members at least once to visit Israel, usually when you are a senior in high school.

If church members plan on sending their kids to christian colleges to start their own ministries/continue working in some way with churches, they will pay for some or all of the scholarship money for them. My church sends at lest three kids a year to college for this.

>>19194860

For endowments it's a bit more complicated. You go in first do what's called a washing and anointing.
Basically you get oil poured on you a la anointing ceremonies of old.
Then you go meet up with a group of people and go through a reenactment of the creation of the earth, while going over certain signs and signals which Mormons believe will be useful in the second coming. If you were going through for the first time this is when you would receive the "magic underwear" garments, which are symbolic of the cloak of skins which Adam received after exiting the garden of Eden. Then you join together in a circle holding hands and say some prayers. After that you walk through a veil symbolizing the veil which separates the earth from god. Then you enter a room where you can sit and ponder.

Weird I know, but not ritual sacrifice or orgies or some "ultimate secret" or anything.

>>19194890
The main point of the temple is work for the dead. Mormons believe that if you died without the opportunity to join the church, if a person does proxy baptism and endowment for you on earth you can still get to heaven. That's why getting to the temple is so important, you're not just saving your self, you're saving your ancestors.

>>19189802
it might rather be the reason joseph smith was drawn there and had all those weird experiences himself

>>19194704
>There are touring companies that make money on just coordinating these trips for American churches
jews, amirite?

>>19194853
whew lad

>>19195736
Joseph Smith never went to Utah. He died before the mormons even got that far west. He did, however, predict that the church would settle in the Rockies.
Brigham Young was the prophet at the time the mormons first moved into utah, and he's the one who marked where the salt lake temple would be built.

>>19188779
Few days ago, walk near bush in neighborhood hear "SHH!" its a thick scrub oak thicket i ignore it assume it was a deer rubbing against a leaf or something, then i heard a human sneeze and start moving a lot faster, it was about 4am.