Two Christians visit the Manti Pageant

On the 20th and 21st, last week, Ryan and I drove down to Salt Lake City in Utah to stay with Bill McKeever of mrm.org. Bill, with several of his friends, along with Ryan and I, attended the Manti pageant. It is an event were Mormons gather to watch a pageant put on by the Mormon church. Basically, it is a public play where actors recount the means by which the "gospel was restored." I watched it and it is a blatant misrepresentation of the state of the Christian church in the early 1800s. The play represents Christianity as a mass of churches that do nothing but contradict each other while each one claims to be the only true church. This, of course, is not how it was but this is how the Mormons represent Christianity. It is a straw man, a false representation of the facts.

Because it is an annual event, a lot of Christians go there to witness. So picture this. 10,000 to 15,000 people milling around in a half mile by half-mile area were Mormons and Christians are interacting, arguing, debating. Both Ryan and I spoke with several Mormons over the two nights that we were there. We got to share the Gospel many times. One of the Christians at Manti named Aaron, who works with Bill McKeever, was standing on a small pedestal and preaching the gospel. A small crowd gathered around him to listen. As he would gather the crowd, a lot of Christians would gather as well and listen to the comments made by the Mormons. Then, they would start conversations with the individual Mormons and try to witness to them and present them the truth. As you can imagine, a lot of the conversations were heated but most of them were quite polite.

At one point while Aaron was preaching a young teenager approached Aaron and threw a cup of water on him. Aaron reacted in the most gracious manner possible. He called the young man back and gave him five dollars. The young man accepted it and then Aaron used the altercation as an illustration to talk about Grace, getting what you do not deserve. It was great!

Here's something that was quite interesting. There were bathrooms on private property attached to the street in Manti where people were milling around. Since it was a public event, the bathrooms were open to everyone. However, at one point the Mormons with the help of security and the police said that the Christians could not use the bathrooms. You might ask how they could tell the difference. Apparently the Mormons in security had been watching the Christians who kept starting conversations in the street near the bathrooms. As the night wore on and some of the Christians tried to use the facilities, the security and police turned them away. So, we call this bladdergate. Anyway, the Mormons did not come off looking too good and on Saturday night there was no such restriction.

So what is the Manti Pagent? It seems to be a Mormon Passion Play of sorts, reliving the splendor of the founding of the Mormon faith. The below material is from this web site.

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On eight evenings in June, a cast of over 500 depict with dance, music and drama, on a stage larger than a football field, some of the most compelling and dramatic scenes from ancient American history. Witness for yourself an epic struggle of good and evil and characters you will never forget: Captain Moroni, Ammon, King Lamoni, Mormon, Samuel the Lamanite and others.

As you sit under a canopy of stars --the beautiful Manti Temple rising before you -- you can look to the east and see the beauty of the hills much as it was when these ancient people lived and died. For the first time, the visit of the resurrected Christ to these ancient people will be portrayed in The Mormon Miracle Pageant. You will see Him appear to the people at the end of the terrible destruction that accompanied His crucifixion. You will see Him heal the sick and comfort their children. You will learn how the record of this sacred visit was written and preserved for our time.

You will see this ancient record delivered to Joseph Smith. As the events surrounding the translation of the records are portrayed, you will meet the people God selected to help Joseph with the translation and publication the Book of Mormon. You will follow the lives of a fictional couple, Robert and Mary Henshaw, as they search for religious truth. In a breathtaking finale, you will receive with Robert and Mary the profound knowledge that love and families are truly eternal in nature.

Imagine yourself seated at the base of the majestic Sanpete mountains, with a crisp canyon breeze tickling your cheeks and a ceiling of stars overhead as the saga of the Mormon Miracle Pageant unfolds before your eyes. During the past two years, major enhancements have been made. All the sets have been completely replaced. To match the new sets, every scene in the pageant has been newly staged and most costumes have been redesigned. We are also pleased to announce that the long awaited scene of the resurrected Christ's appearance to the people on the American continent will be included in the pageant this year. The Mormon Miracle Pageant waits to share with you and your family another testament of Christ.

Although food is not allowed on the temple grounds, fast foods of several kinds are available near the pageant area. For pageant information, call (888) 255-8860. The Sanpete County Travel Council, 345 West 100 North, Ephraim, UT 84627, (435)283-4321 or (800) 281-4346 has further information about the local area. Many families camp at local parks and campgrounds. We urge all pageant visitors to strictly observe speed limits and traffic laws. Please, treat the private property of local residents with respect.

This is an UNOFFICIAL SITE of the Mormon Miracle Pageant. This site is maintained to provide local information for those wishing to visit the Sanpete County area during the pageant. This site is designed to provide information regarding lodging, dining, directions, events and other general information about Central Utah. This site has no affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but is designed to aid those wishing to attend the Mormon Miracle Pageant.

I wonder whether "Aaron" is Aaron Shafovaloff (shah-FAH-vah-loff).

If so, he's an excellent young man, with a deep, deep care for the lost Mormons. I preached at a church in Tennessee, had the pleasure of talking with Aaron and hearing him present his mission.

From Aaron I learned the jaw-dropping truth that Mormons are fine with the idea that God the Father may have sinned; not only fine with it, but in some cases really love the thought. Chew on that one for awhile, if you have any temptation to think of Mormonism as pretty close to Biblical Christianity.

Anyway, if it was that Aaron, they should have credited him. One of his sites is Mormon Coffee, where you can find documentation of his conversations with Mormons about the sinning Father.

From the above website:

The Mormon Miracle Pageant has the largest attendance of any outdoor pageant in the United States, attracting an average of 100,000 visitors every year. The average nightly attendance hovers around 15,000. Since 1967, over 4.4 million visitors have come to see the annual production.
The American Bus Association recognizes the Mormon Miracle Pageant and Temple Square in Salt Lake City as the top two summer attractions for those touring by bus, during the summer months in Utah.
Today, the Mormon Miracle Pageant involves over two thousand people with eight performances over a two week period in June. The production includes approximately 800 cast members and 300 prop and technical crew members. Another 900 volunteers assist with traffic control, ushering, meals, emergency medical services, and maintenance.

WOW! Who knew?!?

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