Broadcast Conspiracy

One of Salt Lake's pearls of great price is the Sunday morning broadcast Music and the Spoken Word, a 30 minute radio broadcast which has been emanating weekly from Temple Square in the heart Salt Lake City. I was raised in a home that listen to the broadcast nearly every Sunday as we got ready for church. I really didn't think much about the broadcast when I ended up here back in the 80s. I never thought about attending the broadcast. It was sometime later maybe almost 10 years that I began showing up at the Tabernacle on Sunday mornings.

My wife at the time Dianne had just moved to Salt Lake and so she was still getting to know the lay of the land. We were a little family, sort of, living out in Murray Utah just South Salt Lake City. Dianne and family knew nothing of the Mormons actually so I was the native guide. I don't quite remember how The Spoken Word came up but one Sunday I suggested that we attend or actually Saturday night because in order to get to the Word which is broadcast at 8 o'clock in the morning have to be up and out the house fairly early. But we did it. I knew all about the radio show but I have never gone there for the broadcast. Music And The Spoken Word, was broadcast out of the old tabernacle, a domed facility which is rich in pioneer history. It was the major meetinghouse for the early morning who settled Salt Lake Valley. Supposedly the tabernacle was first constructed was built with wooden pegs the iron or steel nail in the joint.

I was fascinated by the welcome and the building itself and most of all the technology. TV cameras all over the place this was a real operation. This was entertainment. The first morning we got there. We parked the car and of course all walk in is a family. I was not surprised but I was surprised at the grand welcome that we got. I took it personally. I thought to myself Wow, these people really care. They smiled at us, seniors that were just normal people, I could tell. They are probably all on service missions plucked from local wards or who knows from where. They indicated how nice it was to to meet us, did we come from far away, as is our first time here. We kindly answer all the questions indicating we were local just exploring this local treasure. The oldsters look little befuddled which I write off as a function of their age. The broadcast is great. I didn't really care much about the music or the spoken word but I love the technical drama, the technicians sitting on the cameras zooming here and zooming there. Everybody was impressed.

We totally enjoyed the experience so much so we decided to go the next week. We parked our car get out enter in the same door and are greeted by the same people. We expect to be recognized and probably asked why we were there again but were kind of shocked but readers acted as they had never seen us before. The asked the same questions. Was this our first visit to the tabernacle? Had we traveled far? It was almost a little creepy but judging from their age we figured it was just senior moments plus the fact that they see thousands of people probably weekly.

The third week we went, we were faced with the same routine – – it was becoming our Sunday thing the broadcast then out to breakfast – – we began to feel like we were in the equivalent of an episode of the twilight zone or an ecclesiastical Groundhogs Day. The same people, the same looks, the same questions. The following week was the same. Even the most brain-dead should've recognized us by now. I personally think it was a conspiracy. I know the knew us but for some reason they just couldn't let on.

I don't know how long we continued with the broadcast maybe a year, it was free entertainment why not? I just wonder how long the androids at the door could've kept up the conspiracy.