Coffinberry–I’ll have to tell you who I think it was!

1. I do.
2. I can’t think of any signs that haven’t already been mentioned.
3. It would say: “All your onties are belong to us”
4. See my comment #3 above.

About Nauvoo, I don’t really know what it was like before the temple was rebuilt, but my wife and I spent a couple of nights there on our honeymoon almost seven years ago. The temple was closed (unfortunately), and it was March, so it didn’t seem too touristy, just quiet and nice with actually a little less LDS marketing than we were used to, being from the Salt Lake metro area.

Maybe it hadn’t been long enough since the rebuilding to create the changes you mentioned? Maybe it was the timing? Or did we still not get an authentic taste of “old Nauvoo?”

My mind wanders to my secret thoughts: I liked Nauvoo the way it *was*, before it became an overwhelming tourist trap with the rebuilding of the temple, but I’m pretty sure I’m in a very tiny minority on that point.

I wore a CTR ring in law school for the very purpose of locating other LDS students (we were a vanishingly small minority at CU). It worked on day one of orientation, when the fellow with a Weber State t-shirt walked up and called me Sister Coffinberry. (Well, not Coffinberry, but you know what I mean.) Which was nice, because some things have to be grappled with and shared with someone who understands both what is going on at school and what is going on in the underlying personal culture.

We can look at these symbols as boundary markers, but to me, they’re more about possible permission to open to another person a certain door of thoughts and feelings.

Yes, I’ve noticed that it’s not as exclusively R.S. as it seems like it used to be, but there are still clues. I look for words or phrases that are direct quotations of LDS scriptures or that refer to some prophetic statement, cultural icon, or other uniquely Mormon sentiment. It’s not foolproof, but it’s a potential indicator.

My aunt from South Carolina once said that in her town, how well you can carve a watermelon is part of the neighborhood ladies’ judgment of how good a cook you are. I wonder sometimes if how cute a scrapbook (now with the digital option), yard sign, or living room you can craft is part of how good a housekeeper/mother/saint you are in certain circles. That might sound really cynical, but it does feel almost obligatory for even me, and I’m not even a woman (shocking revelation)! Maybe its because I do most of the decorating at my house. I don’t know.

As for the BBB, its only “kind of” Mormoning it. I had some family over the other day and the conversation turned towards marriage. We started discussing the implications of a BBB like organization for marriages or potential spouses, and someone said that the Church is kind of like a Better Marriage Bureau. I thought it was a fun concept, so decided to write a script that explores the idea. I was actually working on it while I read your initial post. It may or may not go anywhere, and it doesn’t directly implicate the Church organizationally, but it’s bound to be influenced by my LDSness, particularly my ideas about what good marriage looks like.

So that’s where that came from.

Adam–I used to think the toll painting stuff was a dead giveaway for RS BUT my little suburban neighborhood is filled with toll painted stuff. Some of them even say things like, “Bloom where you are planted” and “The greatest is Love.” Same with scrapbooking and stampin’. I thought it was a Mormon thing, but lots of mommies and even chicks without kids do it. However, if I do see a wall clock with the family’s name on it, well, that’s still a giveaway :)

How do you Mormon the BBB?

William–good point!

Nosurfgirl–I like your point about the irony button. If you catch me in the right mood at the kitschy stuff we do just makes me smile. Sometimes it makes me want to scream, but a lot the time it’s nice.

As to pop-culture fluff;I think it has its place. When I’m sick I don’t want to read Proust. I want a nice, fluffy chick lit novel and a piece of cake. And if I’m really depressed on a Sunday, a nice, warm-fuzzy JKP solo sung by a sweet-voiced adolescent or YW group can get me teary eyed.

There are things I absolutely love about Mormon Culture, when find myself able to turn off my irony button.