- John Mansfield on “Modar” is a Thing: “A decade ago, before self-scanning took over, if I went to Safeway after 9 PM on a Saturday night, I would often find myself in line for the cashier with someone else from my ward. Once three of us in a row. Another time the DC North mission president picking up a few things on his way back to the mission home. Dividing the count on the ward list by census tract totals I once came up with 1.1% latter-day saint. If I wanted to find random latter-day saints, I might try looking around a grocery store on a Saturday night.” Apr 23, 17:33
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “Last time I checked, missionaries have never worn white sleeveless shirts. Did you perhaps mean white short-sleeved shirts?” Apr 23, 16:30
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “MODAR was described this way in 1860-1870s in a report filed by the US Senate: “The yellow, sunken, cadaverous visage; the greenish-colored eyes; the thick protuberant lips; the low forehead; the light, yellowish hair; and the lank angular person, constitute an appearance so characteristic of the new race, the production of polygamy, as to distinguish them at a glance.” https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/conference_home/august-2015/rethinking-the-mormon-racial-story I find this funny as he’s just trying to say white pioneer stock LDS folks look like a Danish, Scandinavian, English mix. We still kind of look like this unless we go EX and then it’s the same look but with tattoos and more internet posting for men or a nose ring and more shoulder bearing for women.” Apr 23, 15:25
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “Stephen C, since there aren’t Cafe Rio locations in the metro areas outside the Intermountain West, Costa Vida is the closest we can get :)” Apr 23, 14:07
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “Maybe I have to turn in my temple recommend, but I never got the Costa Vida thing; now Swig I can get behind.” Apr 23, 12:03
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “You can totally pick out LDS families on Cruise ships. Also at Costa Vida outside of Utah This might fade away though as less and less women are now wearing garments Modar is real at least for now.” Apr 23, 10:49
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “My wife and I engage in “Mospotting” in our local Costa Vida here in Texas. Because suburban Texas has become a destination for many Utah LDS folk for the great cost of living and booming job market, we expect many of them will find a home-away-from-home in this recognizable Utah Fresh-Mex chain. We think we’re pretty good at spotting them. We just got a Swig in the area, so we will probably try it there on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening some time.” Apr 23, 06:52
- on “Modar” is a Thing: “I feel like clothing also factors in, especially for women, especially in warmer weather. There is a specific look that results from needing to cover garments. Maybe that will lessen somewhat with new sleeveless garments but not completely. As far as health, I am also skeptical but there may be something to it. Seventh Day Adventists are healthier than we are but I don’t notice a “look”. I have been in so many social situations where I think my choice of beverage gives me away.” Apr 23, 06:47
- on Beyond the Lippelt Letter: The Strategic Reality of the First Brazilian Missionaries: “My sense is that there’s a lot of that “behind the scene” work going on all the time–and most of us don’t know the half of it. The spreading of the kingdom is really a product of a continuous outpouring of small miracles–a large portion of which, I’m sure, is an answer to the faith of local converts.” Apr 22, 16:50
- on Rejecting the Restoration in 1654: “Yes, these are all topics that interest me greatly. This stuff starts with Luther who wanted to reject all prophets as schwamer, and as I’ve shouted for a very long time, orthodox Protestants were in no way precursors to the Restoration. As JS said in his very last church, “the old Catholic church is worth more than all” the Protestants. JS had some praise for Methodism and John Wesley, but not the Reformers. This didn’t mean that JS wanted to join the Catholics, but he was correct that Mormonism is closer to Catholicism than Protestantism. And thanks for noting Plato. There is ANOTHER Christian tradition of Christian mysticism that draws heavily on Plato that is much closer to Mormonism. It has roots in early Christianity, but really gets revived by medieval German mystics like Meister Eckhart. Persists into the Reformation especially the Family of Love who have a big influence in 17th century England. Jane Lead noted she was tapping into that network in the autobiography she wrote for her German followers that you translated for me, Jonathan. Thanks again! A number of Lead’s German followers settled in eighteenth-century Pennsylvania: the Society of the Woman in the Wilderness, the Dunkers, and the Ephrata Cloister. The Thirty-Years War left many on the continent hyper interested in what they saw as the coming end times and saw Lead’s visions as a sign of the outpouring prophecy marking that the end was near.” Apr 22, 09:21
