CLASSED AMONG THE WICKED CITIES OF THE WORLD

Well, two Christmases ago, I was contacted through facebook about the first family that I had the privilege of teaching and baptizing in Brazil.  The oldest girl, who at the time of the parents' baptism, was just three years old and who used to climb on me like a jungle jim, was now a beautiful young woman and a recent new mother who had married a BYU law student, finishing up their last few years at school.  The mother, whom I had baptized years ago was in town to visit her new grand child.  So - not wanting to miss this opportunity for the world - I asked my kids who was up for a winter Christmas break adventure and we started off into some very bad weather the day after Christmas.  We eventually made it to Provo, UT after some harrowing driving and had a wonderful reunion - although I have to admit, my Portuguese was definitely in need of some shoring up.....

While driving from Ogden to SLC and further down into Provo, my 15 year old daughter could not help but notice the number of billboards involving plastic surgery and "body alterations".  I had to say she was onto something - and I could not dismiss it as a bunch of plastic surgeons who were really hurting at the time (we were in a recession - and that kind of thing is typically funded by discretionary income....).  It really left an impression on me - I am married to a gal who has tons of natural beauty and that may put makeup on just a couple of times a week on average - and not much at that.  So this phenomenon left an impression on me and reminded me of the prophecy of how SLC would be classed among the wicked (vain/homosexual) cities of the world.  According to Wikipedia, this is actually the case:

Less than 50% of Salt Lake City's residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a much lower proportion than in Utah's more rural municipalities; altogether, LDS members make up about 62% of Utah's population.^[59]

Salt Lake City has been considered one of the top 51 "gay-friendly places to live" in the U.S.^[64] The city is home to a large, business savvy, organized, and politically supported homosexual community. Leaders of the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Utah,^[65][66] as well as leaders of Utah's largest Jewish congregation, the Salt Lake Kol Ami,^[67] along with three elected representatives of the city identify themselves as gay. These developments have attracted controversy from socially conservative officials representing other regions of the state. A 2006 study by UCLA estimates that approximately 7.6% of the city's population, or almost 14,000 people, are openly homosexual or bisexual, compared to just 3.7%, or just over 60,000 people, for the metropolitan area as a whole.^[68]
In 2007 Salt Lake City was ranked by Forbes Magazine as the most vain city in America based on the number of plastic surgeons per 100,000 and their spending habits on cosmetics, which exceed that of cities of similar size.^[69] However, this likely reflects a concentration of plastic surgeons within the city limits but whose client base includes the entire metropolitan area. Forbes Magazine also found the city to be the 8th most stressful. In contrast to the 2007 ranking by Forbes, a 2010 study conducted by Portfolio.com and bizjournals concluded Salt Lake City was the least stressful city in the United States.^[70]

Now, I have nothing against anyone who is homosexual - they should be loved with an extra measure in order to ensure that they know where they can find a haven when they are ready to repent - but the practice and creeping/slide of morality should not be tolerated in the least.  I just saw a  great (wholesome) movie called Shunned and it illustrated the example of how a lack of love can lead to unwanted consequences in someone who has gone astray.