Guest Writer: Kathy Parish Gilpin

Before I copy Kathy's post, I have to mention that she attended a prom with my hubby, and she's from Pennsylvania, like me, which I find amusing! Thank you Kathy!


I moved to Utah from Pennsylvania when i was in the fifth grade and lived there until I was 21 ish. As the predominant faith in Logan, Utah is the LDS Church I definitely did not blend in with the locals. At that time I didn’t even know what a Mormon was so when kids would ask me if I was a LDS I would respond with is that a good thing? On another note I had no clue what a stake house was, when I was asked about which stake house I went to in my mind I was thinking steak house and I wondered where they were hiding the Brown Derby restaurant. Stake houses and wards are the way the church divides up neighborhoods so that different congregations can go to the same church at their allotted time slot I guess, i can’t honestly remember now how all that works and I could be entirely wrong.

Aside from one girl telling me she could not play with me because I was not a Mormon all the others were just like kids anywhere except most did not know what double dutch jump roping was. There was not much talk of faith and affiliations in the fifth grade, we were all just trying to get through that “Growing up and Liking It” movie without giggling and the interest focused more on tetherball, riding bikes or sledding depending on the season.

My first few weeks were spent living in the Baugh Motel while my folks were waiting to close on the house they made an offer on. My first day of school at Wilson did not go as well as one would like. The well meaning principal introduced me as a straight A student and told the others to watch out for me...gee, um...thanks? When we finally did move in to our home on Cliffside my first two friends, Kim and Miesha were eager to meet the new girls and welcomed us with open arms. It was a pretty great neighborhood to live in and as probably the only non-Mormon kids on the block we were invited to a lot of church activities of which I went to a few, had a great time but never did convert.

Because of my history of living in Utah whenever people find out I’ve lived there I am often asked if I am a Mormon. I will constantly be answering that no, I am not LDS nor have I ever been LDS. I will forever be defending Utah when people make assumptions that if you live in Utah you must be a polygamist. I will gladly point out how beautiful it is there, how much the community really takes care of their own. Case in point, our non-LDS neighbor down the block broke his back and the neighborhood LDS church ward made sure his driveway was shoveled or the grass was cut and the family had casseroles brought to them to help them get through those tough days regardless of their family’s affiliation with the church. You don’t see that everywhere so i am grateful to grow up in such a community.

I am now living in and loving Oregon but I have my moments when I think to myself that I could easily move back to Utah. The biggest reason being my brother and sister who both live in Salt Lake City. I have moments here where I miss the big mountains and the beautiful, powdery snow. I miss all that snow shoveling. Really.