California Trip

I don't have any pictures to post just yet but I just wanted to write about my experience with the Yes on prop 8 sign rally yesterday.

Let me just say that I felt like I was really missing out on this whole Prop 8 fight, being a Californian and living in Utah I don't really get the opportunity to voice my thoughts on controversial issues. I think the most controversial issue in Utah is that people have lost their minds and want to vote for Obama.

So I got flew into Orange County on Saturday morning and went into action. My friend Brody picked me up and him and his wife Ann took me to an organized sign holding event. There were so many prop 8 supporters there it was great... there were people from different denominations there not just "the mormons". At one point the couple next to us even turned and asked, "Are you guys Mormon?" we said that we were and they said, "I never thought I could have so much with a bunch of mormons!" We were really having a lot of fun out there. There was a happy peaceful feeling among the vote yes people. The vote no people unfortunately were a little less accepting of our beliefs... apparently one of them stole a sign from the stack that was laid out for new people coming to help. One of the guys who helped organize the event called the police and pressed charges against her for stealing and sign defacing. She was asked to leave with all her signs and apologize to the people. It was completely uncalled for that she would steal and rip up a sign when we are all being so friendly and nice to them. Especially considering that the No side is so big on accepting others how they are.

Some reactions:

-Most people honked and waived and gave us thumbs up!

-Some people just pretended that the hundred or so of us werent there cheering for protecting the family.

-I have never seen so many middle fingers in my whole life. The most shocking was from the littlest middle fingers. There was a car that had younger kids in the back and they flipped us off as they drove by... their parents had been setting the example.

-The best for me was when a woman drove by with all of her windows down and yelled at the top of her lungs and her middle fingers pointing... "Hate Mongers!" It was great but unfortunately she was the only one.

-Large big rigs would drive by and honk at us as well, the trash trucks, fire trucks, and most of the mini vans would honk.

-The bentley GT driver wouldnt look over at us... the Lamborgini just turned the corner with no honking but a sweet red Porsche GT honked in support!


We were right in front of In-n-out burger burger so our location was prime... someone even went and bought hundreds of burgers to pass out to everyone... needless to say it was a lot of fun supporting such a great cause. Even though I am currently living so far away from California I can finally feel like I did a small... very small part in supporting something I feel so strongly about.

One thing that confuses me are the many LDS people including Steve Young and his family that have chosen to go directly against what the prophet has said and announced that they are voting No on Prop 8. I don't think its a matter of them not following the prophet, its a matter of them not understanding what a prophet is and who he speaks for and represents. I think this is a great time for all of us to analyze how willing each of us are to follow what the prophet tells us to do. I know I can be better at it myself but it certainly should open our eyes to who is on the right side!