Mormon Movie Night

After another evening of sleeping like the dead (still a little jet-lagged, one would really think three hours would not wreak so much havoc on a person), it is the day before Canadian Thanksgiving. It is exactly like American Thanksgiving, except it is about six week earlier and it is sensibly on a Monday, but often celebrated throughout the preceding weekend. Having a major holiday always land on a Thursday, I thought, was sort of sadistic for a wide variety of reasons.

In the religious tradition that my mother has now devoted her life to, the baptism is only the first of two parts of initiation into the church, the other part occurs at the beginning of the next church service: receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost/confirmation (Wikipedia). The previous day, I had struggled to navigate the hills of Port Coquitlam, especially in the dark on the way home, in the daylight it was a breeze to find the church (which was a lucky break, mom and her friend were running late getting ready, so much so that I almost gave up on waiting for them because I assumed they had found a ride with someone else). One thing I do like about the LDS church is that the services are programmed by the members, the clergy is less formal. It reminds me of the churches of the Anabaptist faiths you’ll see in places like Pennsylvania, belonging to the Amish, Mennonites, and, that’s right, the Quakers. It was a pleasant service in a lovely space.

After the main service, there are a few events: Sunday School and then Relief Society (for the ladies). Though during these festivities, Misty (the friend from Idaho) and I took a walk around the neighborhood to look at the stunning homes and get a little bit of fresh mountain air. We hadn’t had the chance to catch up in years ourselves.

In order to accommodate a greater number of parishioners, this LDS church services two wards (or parishes or whatever). The one my mother is part of meets earlier and then a second one has worship beginning about an hour and a half later. This means that, while she goes to church on the earlier side, you finish at a great time for lunch. Which was awesome because I was craving Red Robin.

We don’t have a Red Robin in the Morgantown area, but the Pittsburgh-Washington, PA area has a few, though I have found each of the locations I have tried in that region to be deeply disappointing compared to the Red Robin locations in the Greater Vancouver area. I was in chicken tender, Caesar salad, garlic cheesy bread paradise.

To celebrate my mother’s baptism, Misty had brought with her three spiritual movies to share with my mother. Never one to turn down snacks and movies, I joined in the fun. We watched 17 Miracles, the Saratov Approach, and Heaven is For Real. These are not the kinds of movies I will usually seek out, but it was a good time, even after my mom fell asleep about 45 minutes into 17 Miracles.

17 Miracles is based on and is a composite of the stories of several of the handcart convoys of early Mormon settlers going to Utah and how a series of miracles enabled the safe passage for any of them to actually successful manage the journey. Of the three movies this is the one I liked the most because even if you removed the spirituality component of the story (which certainly added to it), it was telling an interesting chapter of history, particularly history of the American west and I am ALL OVER THAT.

The Saratov Approach is also based on a true, but much more recent, chapter of Mormon history: the kidnapping of two missionaries in Saratov, Russia in 1998. Heaven is for Real is also based on a true story, this mainstream release film (starring Greg Kinnear) details the encounters of heaven that a little boy experiences during an emergency surgery—and the lackluster response from what is supposed to be a spiritual community. Like I said, bring on the historical flick, though the movies were not chosen to appeal to me, but to appeal to my mother and tailored to what was a very special weekend for her.

With this event in the past, the remaining week of the trip is dedicated to getting outside, eating tasty food, and spending time with my 95-year-old grandmother.