There is a small town on the Hawaiian island of Oahu called Laie (pronounced Lay-ee) that is virtually owned entirely by the Mormon Church. This town is home to the Laie Temple and a Visitors Center, a place I visited in January while in Hawaii. This is a formal written complaint.

Dear Proprietor of the Laie Temple Visitors Center,

As a member of the Church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I clarify to be sure that we are both on the same page through I doubt you had any doubts in your mind), I found my visit to be quite dissatisfying. Not to say that the facility is poorly maintained or that the lovely Senior Missionary couple were rude or unwelcoming. Everything in those regards were just fine.

I am aware that there is a lot of history behind both the Temple and the town of Laie, which most likely would not exist without the Church’s involvement. The Temple is the fifth oldest in the world, and the first one built outside of Utah. It practically represents the Church’s movement in the islands of the Pacific, one of great Missionary movements in the Church’s history.

And yet, I come to the Visitors Center, and it is entirely dedicated to Missionary work for the hear and now. No information about the history of the Temple, or the history of the town. No video presentations about the construction of the Temple, or the early members of the Church in Hawaii, or the early Sandwich Islands Mission. Nope, all you had was a pile of free Books of Mormon and various Church literature, a video presentation of members of the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency giving their testimonies, and so on.

My point is, the vast majority of the 100,000 people who visit the Center every year are probably already members of the Church. So, why the exclusive Missionary work? Why not give the people who are already members a lesson about the history of their Church and hose down the non believers in back?

Sincerely,
Andrew Davis, a ranting blogger.

Mormon Fun Facts is an occasional segment here on Duo CItizenship dealing with little known facts about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Disclaimer: None of the information presented on Duo Citizenship should be construed as facts.

In 1989, then President of the Mormon Church, Ezra Taft Benson made a bid the purchase the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise from then Owner, Bum Bright (I’m not making that up, that was the guy’s name). Bright had been accepting bids for the team for the past few months, and Benson had decided that it was time for God’s church to acquire God’s football team.

President Benson had made the bid with the intention of moving the team from their home in Dallas to the Salt Lake Valley. Benson expedited plans to renovate and rename Cougars Stadium (now called “LaVell Edwards Stadium“) as Cowboys Stadium. Benson also expedited plans to paint the Cowboys logo on the silver metal roof of the Tabernacle in downtown Salt Lake City.

However, the NFL’s lawyers had many concerns about the Church acquiring the franchise. They were afraid the Church would insist on only having games on Monday night and not on the sabbath. This caused ABC, the exclusive broadcaster of “Monday Night Football“, to threaten to pull their broadcasting contract with the NFL, losing millions of dollars for the league.

That was when Paul Tagliabue, a lawyer for the NFL at the time, stepped in. He proposed to the franchise owners to donate money to a gentleman by the name of Jerry Jones so that he could acquire the team, keep them in Dallas, and playing games on Sunday.

The money gathered was laundered through Jones’ to that point unsuccessful oil and gas prospecting company. Jones acquired the Dallas Cowboys, outbidding the Church by $50 million, after the Church failed to sell Ricks College (now BYU Idaho) to Ore-Ida for $35 million, who planned to turn the land into a potato plantation for tater tots (Frankly, a better use for otherwise wasted land). Paul Tagliabue was awarded for saving the Cowboys by being elected the Commissioner of the league that same year.