I’m tired of filtering my search for places with a hot tub, and almost all of them are community hot tubs and not private. There’s no distinction between the two. I get that it’s not a dealbreaker for some, hell if the price is significantly better I’d even make that trade off. But not listing it as a shared/community hot tubs seems misleading.
I’m not sure what the promotions rule is here so I’m going to be vague as I can. I’m trying to find out which people and accounts to reach out to for an upcoming event in downtown SLC. Are there any specific pages/accounts/people you go to to find out things to go to?
Wasn’t sure to flair this culture or doctrinal discussion. I feel like this post belongs somewhere in between.
One of my biggest fascinations within the history of the church is the members’ view of caffeine. When I was growing up, it seemed like there was a pretty big divide on the topic, without many official statements by the church itself. I’m wanting to make a video essay on this topic, but I wanna make sure I have my facts and my timeline straight here.
1833 - Joseph Smith reveals the Word of Wisdom. In it is specified hot drinks are not for the body or the belly.
While not clarified, hot drinks would likely have been understood by most as coffee and tea without the need of specification. This is because of the popularity of American Temperance Society, who had a chapter in Kirtland. They argue that coffee and tea, defined as hot drinks, are bad for the stomach because of their unnatural temperatures.
Still, the lack of clarification led to speculations and justifications as to what was and wasn’t okay within the Word of Wisdom.
1842 - Hyrum Smith clarifies in the newspaper Times and Seasons that hot drinks means coffee and tea. But no elaboration is given.
1868 - George Q. Cannon says in a general conference talk that hot drinks means coffee, tea, hot chocolate and *hot soup.
*while not official, this could be why the soup at BYU Cannon Commons is not good.
(I will be noting this part as more of a fun tidbit. While the talk itself was about the Word of Wisdom, here he is explicitly speaking to the healthy diets of children. It’s a piece of history I find entertaining.
Full quote here: “My theory is, that if we wish to raise a healthy, noble looking, intellectual and perfect race of men and women we must feed our children properly. We must prevent the use by them of every article that is hurtful or noxious in its nature. We must not permit them to drink liquor or hot drinks, or hot soups or to use tobacco or other articles that are injurious.”)
1919-1921 - Prohibition is in full swing. Heber J. Grant—a staunch supporter of prohibition—makes the Word of Wisdom mandatory for entering the temple. The Word of Wisdom is elevated to a commandment.
We are now almost a hundred years removed from the revelation of the Word of Wisdom. The ‘why’ of hot drinks isn’t really clarified. Only that it means coffee and tea (Cannon’s soup thing didn’t really stick around. There were other drinks associated by others, too, but coffee and tea has always been the only officially named drinks for hot drinks). The association with the American Temperance Society that Joseph Smith and the members of that time would have known is not known by today’s members.
1937 - Apostle and chemist John A. Widtsoe cowrites The Word of Wisdom: A Modern Interpretation with his wife Leah D. Widtsoe. In it, he cites the “habit-forming caffeine” as the common reason tea and coffee should be avoided. He also includes caffeinated sodas as a drink that should be avoided.
Sometime during David O. McKay’s presidency - An employee apologizes for giving him a cup with the Coca Cola logo on it. He responds “I don’t care what it says on the cup, as long as there is a Coke in the cup”
1972 - The first presidency, via the newsletter Priesthood Bulletin, advises against the use of any drink containing harmful habit-forming drugs.
It’s important to note that none of these advisories and warnings against caffeine are given as commandment or doctrine. It is never a temple qualifying requirement.
Yet caffeine does become a bit of a buzz topic internally with its members. Some members swear they shouldn’t drink it. Some swear that it’s fine. Both hold their beliefs firmly, yet coexist with each other.
This is why you might have heard Mormons don’t drink caffeine or soda.
(I’ll admit that this part is anecdotal and may reflect my experience growing up more that others. I’m curious to hear if other members had a similar experience?)
2012 - While Romney runs for president, several news articles include caffeine as part of the Word of Wisdom when discussing Romney and his faith. The church puts out a newsletter clarifying that caffeine is not prohibited.
2015 - I, a BYU-Idaho student giving out free cans of Coke to students in line at the testing center during finals week, cite this newsletter when I get reported to the Honor Code office.
2017 - BYU starts selling caffeine on campus for the first time since the mid 50s. BYU-Idaho students remain punished until 2024.
Mid 2010s to present - The Soda Wars. Swig, Sodalicious, Fizz, etc. skyrocket in popularity in Utah. Dirty Sodas becomes a massive trend in the USA. Because Utah culture is speedily associated with Mormon culture, caffeine—a once hotly divided subject amongst Mormons—is now heavily associated with its members by the general public.
I tried searching the sub first and the most recent post I could find is over two years old. What are your favorite Thai Restaurants?
I'm looking for a bike to get me around the city (Salt Lake City) for the evenings and weekends. I'm about 7 miles from downtown, and there are a few things in that area I do frequent. There's also a doable train system that I can take advantage of.
I'm a bigger guy, about 6'0 and 300 lbs. Out of shape, but still comfortable moving around quite a bit. My experience level would be somewhere between beginner and casual. I'm comfortable on a bike, but it's been a while since I've used one consistently.
Some bike enthusiasts at work suggested a single-speed, since where I am, it's mostly flat. But they didn't suggest any specific bike.
Price range: I'd love to stay under $500 if I can, with a hard cap of $700. I'm comfortable, excited even, with assembling/replacing parts if needs be. I did check a few thrift stores already, and nothing really seemed right for me—though I admit I don't exactly know what I'm looking for. My city does have a bicycle co-op, but I also don't exactly know how those work.