Moroni's House
Mary’s friends, Ann and Ron, came from Vancouver to visit with us for ten days. One of the things we did was to visit a Mormon temple. The Mormons had been working on it for over a year, but now it was finally done. They ran an ad in the newspaper announcing an “open house”. We knew that it was very rare for non-Mormons to be able to see the inside of a temple, because once the building is consecrated, non-Mormons are not allowed inside. It was pretty much the chance of a lifetime, so we took it.
We parked the car in the lot of a nearby 7-11 type store and walked toward the temple’s entrance. I could tell before we even walked through the gate that the building would be unusual. For one thing, the sidewalk wasn’t cracked. Broken sidewalks are a big problem in Mexico. They are caused by tree roots. The law says the property owner adjacent to the sidewalk is responsible for repairing it, but nobody does. I’ve read that falls from broken sidewalks is the number one cause of death in public places, especially for old people, but nobody gives a damn because it is virtually impossible to sue in Mexico. The woman back in the US who sued a hamburger chain because a hot pickle was “defective” wouldn’t have much luck here.
Another thing I noticed was that a sprinkler system had been installed to water the plants along the sidewalk. Nobody else does that because labor is so cheap in Mexico. Why invest in infrastructure when human labor costs next to nothing?
We walked past the gate and into what can only be described as a compound. There was a private parking lot toward the back of the compound. A cement driveway bisected the compound to connect the parking area with the street. There were two buildings. The one to the left was the temple itself. The function of the building to the right was not readily apparent, but there were a lot of people buzzing about it. I could see right away that the layout had a problem, which was that people walking from one building to the other would have a stream of cars to deal with during busy times.
Mary, Ann, Ron, and I were a little confused, not knowing what to do first. A young gringo-looking guy wearing the typical Mormon uniform of a black suit and a white shirt took us in tow into the building on the right. We walked down a hallway, passing room after room, most of which appeared to be meeting or classrooms.
The guy led us to the door of a room filled with people and told us that he wanted us to watch a five-minute movie, which would explain the significance of the things in the temple. Smelling a prostelyzing rat, we declined his invitation. He continued to try to convince us, but I noticed that as he spoke, the movie went from five minutes to seven minutes, and then to ten minutes.
I figured the truth was that it would probably be closer to a quarter of an hour or maybe even more. I got so upset over the hassle that I started to walk out of the building while Mary and Ann continued to argue with the guy (generally women are more verbal than men). Finally the guy capitulated and said we could skip the movie. As we walked outside, I wondered if the sheep waiting for the movie to start would revolt too, but probably they did not.
We crossed the driveway and climbed up some steps to the temple entrance. We had to sit in some chairs so that some Mormon women could put plastic shower caps over our shoes. It reminded me of the stories in the Bible about people washing each other’s feet.
Immediately inside the temple was a reception desk similar to the kind they have in restaurants. Apparently they are very careful about who gets inside. We were handed off to our tour guide, a largish man with a very sincere air about him. The most memorable thing about him was his hair. He had a deep part on the right side of his jet-black hair, with a little bit of a receding hairline on each side of his forehead.
The guide took us into an uncarpeted baptism room, which was immediately to the right of the temple entrance. The room was fascinating. It was circular and had religious paintings on the wall, including pictures of Jesus preaching - with Aztec pyramids in the background. The pool itself was set below floor level so that a ring of spectators could get a completely unobstructed view of the baptism. A short flight of steps with handrails on both sides (in Mexico!) led down into the pool, which smelled of chlorine (in Mexico!).
The pool rested upon a pedestal, which had ring of twelve ox heads facing outward in all directions. The oxen’s ears were almost as long as their horns and they flared outward as if they were intensively listening. Around the pedestal was a clear area where a person could walk, but the area was unreachable from where we stood. I did notice a door, though, set into the wall below us giving access to the area. I would guess that a water pump and a chlorine dispenser were hidden inside the pedestal. The whole layout of this room was absolutely ingenious and most impressive.
We left the baptism room following a curved hallway, which led to a men’s changing room (they have a women’s one as well). Our guide told us that everyone is required to wear white clothes while in the temple. In fact, the entire temple was done in shades of white, which to Mormons symbolizes purity.
We went back to the baptism room and exited it back to the temple entrance area. The guide next walked us down a hallway carpeted with light colored carpet. We could now see the reason for the shower caps. It was a better solution than having everybody remove their shoes.
We were shown the “computer room” which is linked to the Mormon’s genealogy database in Salt Lake City, Utah. Next we were guided down the hall to where a woman was waiting by a doorway. She waved her arms and bowed slightly to indicate we were supposed to enter the room all without speaking a single word, but with a big smile. The effect was rather weird.
We entered the first of a series of three rooms. The first one was had rows of chairs bolted to the floor as if the room was a movie theater, and that’s exactly what it was. The room was dimly lit, which the guide told us was symbolic of man’s understanding of existence without God’s guidance. The room was both for meditation and for watching movies. In my cynicism I thought to myself “Yeah, indoctrination from headquarters”. I’m very leery of anything that smells like thought control maybe too leery.
Next we walked into a room with more light. The guide told us that this symbolized progression in understanding. Other than the level of illumination, the room was very much like the first one except that the whisper of the air conditioning (in Mexico!) was a little more noticeable.
In neither of the first two rooms had there been any windows, but that changed dramatically in the third room. One whole wall consisted of a leaded window. Sunlight came streaming in. The whole room was alive with light. There was a great chandelier in the center of the room. Its glass crystals were absolutely spotless. The wall opposite the window was covered with mirrors. The guide told us the room symbolized being near to God. And yet, with all the light, the room was oddly restful. The guide sat in one corner of the room and asked us to meditate with him.
After leaving the sunroom, we walked down a hallway to where another woman with a fixed smile waved us into a room used for weddings. We were rather surprised at the smallness of the room. The centerpiece was a small cloth covered altar, about three feet high, which was surrounded by a low ledge for kneeling. Around the altar, along the walls were curved gold leaf chairs. The effect was that of the intimacy of a small group, unlike the public displays of other churches.
The guide told us that Mormonism teaches that a marriage is valid even after death and that the prime directive in life is to have children. Two mirrors on opposite walls faced each other creating the illusion of an infinite series of views of yourself. My guess is that this symbolizes how part of you lives on in your children or perhaps the many facets of marriage or how you are part of other people’s lives.
We walked down the hall to the bride’s changing room. Then the tour was done. The guide mentioned that non-Mormons were not allowed in the temple after the dedication. In fact, even Mormons need to be a member for one year before they get a card that allows them to enter the temple. That is very picky. We had been very lucky to be at the right place at the right time to see the inside of the temple. To my taste, the Mormons are too cult-like but I think they would probably make excellent neighbors.