Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MALE TEMPLE GARMENT SET

Date Range From

2002

Date Range To

2016

Materials

POLYESTER

No. Pieces

7

Length

129.3

Width

71.0

Description

A. WHITE ROBE WITH OPEN SIDES, RIBBON TIE CLOSURE. TAG UNDERNEATH RUFFLE ON SHOULDER, FRONT OF TAG READS, “4321619-24 MENS L AUTHORIZED PATTERN R MADE IN U.S.A… CARE INSTRUCTIONS ON REVERSE SIDE…” IMAGE OF A ‘THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ CHURCH ABOVE ‘AUTHORIZED IMAGE.’ BACK OF TAG READS, “100% POLYESTER… CUT/CORTE #06342.” WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS WITH SPANISH TRANSLATION IN BETWEEN TEXT. ROBE IS CREASED THROUGHOUT, LOOSE THREADS WHERE RIBBONS ATTACHED TO ROBE, LOOSE THREADS ON SHOULDER RUFFLES, ENDS OF RIBBON TIES ARE STARTING TO FRAY. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 129.3CM LTH X 71.0CM WTH B. GREEN APRON WITH LEAF DESIGN EMBROIDERED ON ONE SIDE, RIBBON TIE. TAG UNDERNEATH RIGHT-SIDE RIBBON READS ON FRONT, “4302037 SIZE/TALLA 00 9/04 AUTHORIZED PATTERN R MADE IN U.S.A… CARE INSTRUCTIONS ON REVERSE SIDE…” IMAGE OF A ‘LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ CHURCH ABOVE ‘AUTHORIZED IMAGE.’ BACK OF TAG READS, “100% POLYESTER… CUT/CORTE #06424.” WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS WITH SPANISH TRANSLATION IN BETWEEN TEXT. FOLD LINES PRESENT THROUGHOUT GREEN APRON, LOOSE THREADS ON RIGHT-SIDE WHERE RIBBON TIE ATTACHES TO APRON, ENDS OF RIBBON TIES ARE STARTING TO FRAY. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 0.2CM HGT X 45.0CM LTH X 41.5CM WTH C. WHITE SASH. SASH HAS CREASING PRESENT THROUGHOUT, MEDIUM-SIZED BLACK MARK NEAR MIDDLE OF SASH, LOOSE THREADS THROUGHOUT SEAM. OVERALL VERY GOOD – EXCELLENT CONDITION. 0.2CM HGT X 262.0CM LTH X 14.5CM HGT D. WHITE BAKERS-STYLE CAP. RUFFLE DESIGN ON SIDE, RIBBON TIE WITH VELCRO ATTACHED TO INSIDE OF CAP ON INSIDE. PLASTIC WAFFLED SUPPORT ON INSIDE OF CAP. TAG ON INSIDE OF CAP, RUFFLE SIDE, FRONT OF TAG READS, “4301627 SIZE/TALLA 00 6/04 AUTHORIZED DEALER R MADE IN U.S.A… CARE INSTRUCTIONS ON REVERSE SIDE…” IMAGE OF A ‘LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ CHURCH ABOVE ‘AUTHORIZED IMAGE.’ BACK OF TAG READS, “100% POLYESTER… CUT/CORTE #06207…” DUST AND FABRIC PILLS PRESENT THROUGHOUT CAP, LOOSE THREADS PRESENT WHERE RIBBON TIE ATTACHES TO CAP. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 10.0CM HGT X 29.0CM DIA E. WHITE SLIPPER. TAG ON INSIDE OF SHOE, LEFT SIDE. TAG READS, “L.D.S AUTHORIZED PATTERN 4387250 6/04 SIZE/TALLA 11 CUT/CORTE #06217… MADE IN THE U.S.A 100% POLYESTER…” WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS WITH SPANISH TRANSLATION IN BETWEEN TEXT. INSIDE OF SHOE SOLE IS WORN AND DISCOLOURED, BOTTOM OF SHOE IS WORN AND DISCOLOURED FROM USE, LOOSE THREADS WHERE TAG ATTACHES TO SHOE, SHOE HEEL IS FOLDED INWARDS. OVERALL VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT CONDITION. 41.4CM HGT X 27.3CM LTH X 12.5CM WTH F. WHITE SLIPPER. TAG ON INSIDE OF SHOE, RIGHT SIDE. TAG READS, “L.D.S AUTHORIZED PATTERN 4387250… SIZE/TALLA 10 CUT/CORTE #06217… MADE IN THE U.S.A 100% POLYESTER…” WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS WITH SPANISH TRANSLATION IN BETWEEN TEXT. INSIDE OF SHOE SOLE IS WORN AND DISCOLOURED, BOTTOM OF SHOE IS SLIGHTLY DISCOLOURED FROM USE, LOOSE THREADS WHERE TAG ATTACHES TO SHOE, SHOE HEEL IS FOLDED INWARDS. OVERALL VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT CONDITION. 5.7CM HGT X 26.5CM LTH X 12.0CM WTH G. WHITE TEMPLE GARMENT BAG, ENVELOP-STYLE. TAG ON INSIDE READS, “4301644 SIZE/TALLA 00 5/04 AUTHORIZED PATTERN R MADE IN U.S.A… CARE INSTRUCTIONS ON REVERSE SIDE…” IMAGE OF A ‘LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ CHURCH ABOVE ‘AUTHORIZED IMAGE.’ BACK OF TAG READS, “100% POLYESTER… CUT/CORTE #06075…” WASH AND CARE INSTRUCTIONS WITH SPANISH TRANSLATION IN BETWEEN TEXT. BAG IS CREASED THROUGHOUT, DUST AND LINT PRESENT THROUGHOUT BAG. 1.7CM HGT X 39.5CM LTH X 27.5CM WTH

Subjects

CEREMONIAL ARTIFACT

CLOTHING-ACCESSORY

CLOTHING-FOOTWEAR

CLOTHING-HEADWEAR

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

CLOTHING-UNDERWEAR

Historical Association

RELIGION

PERSONAL CARE

History

ON OCTOBER 23, 2020, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED SAMUEL YAMAMOTO ABOUT HIS DONATION OF ‘THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS’ (LDS) TEMPLE GARMENT SET. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS DERIVED FROM THAT INTERVIEW. ON WHERE THE LDS GARMENTS ARE SOURCED FROM, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “ALL OF THESE CAME WITH ME FROM UTAH. THESE ARE MY ORIGINAL TEMPLE GARMENTS THAT I RECEIVED WHEN I FIRST GOT ENDOWED IN 2002.” YAMAMOTO COMMENTED ON THE CONDITION OF THE GARMENTS: “…I TOOK GREAT PRIDE AND CARE WITH THEM. THESE [ITEMS], WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SLIPPERS… HAVE NEVER BEEN WASHED WITH ANY OTHER THING. THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WASHED ALONE, ON [THE] GENTLE CYCLE...” ON WHAT HIS ORIGIN STORY IS WITH MORMONISM, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…I THINK TO UNDERSTAND MY JOURNEY, WE HAVE TO START WITH MY PARENTS. MY PARENTS WERE BOTH BORN AND RAISED IN JAPAN; MY FATHER [WAS BORN IN ’48], HE GREW UP IN YOKOHAMA, WHICH IS A SUBURB OF TOKYO, AND MY MOTHER GREW UP ON THE NORTHERN PART OF THE MAIN ISLAND, HONSHU, IN AN AREA CALLED YAMAGATA… MY DAD WAS LIKE A MISSIONARY’S DREAM… MUCH LIKE JOSEPH SMITH, HE WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. HE SAW THESE MISSIONARIES IN THE SUBWAY SETTING UP A TABLE JUST PROSELYTING TO PEOPLE [IN THE] COLD… (SIX WEEKS LATER) HE WAS A MEMBER; HE WAS BAPTIZED. THEY TAUGHT HIM AND INTRODUCED TO HIM THE MAIN TENETS OF MORMONISM THAT MISSIONARIES TEACH…” “…PART OF THE THING THAT I THINK THAT DREW [MY DAD] TO MORMONISM IS, MY DAD HAS ALWAYS BEEN INFATUATED WITH WESTERN CULTURE. MY DAD IS AN ILLUSTRATOR, HE’S AN ARTIST AND HE JUST LOVED WESTERN CULTURE. HE LOVED, AND HE STILL LOVES, THE EPIC MOVIES OF THE TIME LIKE ‘SPARTACUS’, ‘LAWRENCE OF ARABIA’, ‘BEN HUR’, ‘TEN COMMANDMENTS’; ALL OF THESE EPIC FILMS… AND I THINK… ALL THOSE MOVIES THAT I JUST LISTED OFF [HAVE] A CHRISTIAN THEME TO THEM. I THINK THAT INFATUATION, TIED WITH MORMONISM COMING… STRAIGHT FROM THE UNITED STATES… THE GROUND WAS FERTILE FOR HIM TO CONVERT. HE [THEN] MET MY MOM IN UNIVERSITY AND INTRODUCED THE CHURCH TO HER AND SHE CONVERTED. THEY BOTH SERVED [SEPARATE] MORMON MISSIONS WITHIN JAPAN… THEY BOTH CAME BACK FROM THEIR MISSIONS ON THE EXACT SAME DAY AND MARRIED SOON AFTER IN THE HAWAIIAN TEMPLE… THEY IMMIGRATED TO TORONTO IN [‘74]…” ON HIS SIBLINGS AND IMMIGRATING, YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “…MY OLDEST BROTHER WAS BORN IN JAPAN, AND THEN SOON AFTER HE WAS BORN MY PARENTS IMMIGRATED TO TORONTO… [THEN] MY ONLY SISTER, AND MY NEXT BROTHER, THEY WERE BORN IN TORONTO… AND I WAS BORN IN TORONTO IN ’83…” YAMAMOTO ELABORATED ON WHY HIS PARENTS DECIDED TO MOVE TO TORONTO FROM JAPAN: “WELL THE EVENTUAL GOAL WAS UTAH WHERE MORMONISM ABOUNDS, BUT IT’S MUCH EASIER TO IMMIGRATE TO CANADA THAN IT IS THE US. SO, THEY LIVED IN CANADA FOR TEN YEARS WHILE WAITING FOR THE GREEN CARD TO COME TO THE US AND THAT PROCESS TOOK TEN YEARS.” YAMAMOTO STATED: “…EVER SINCE AUGUST OF 1984, I WAS LIVING IN UTAH AND THAT’S WHERE MY WHOLE UPBRINGING WAS. I WAS ONLY EIGHTEEN MONTHS OLD WHEN WE MOVED TO UTAH, SO I WAS REALLY YOUNG, OF COURSE I DON’T REMEMBER TORONTO AT ALL, BUT I RETAINED MY CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP…” ON WHAT HIS SCHOOLING JOURNEY WAS LIKE IN UTAH, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…I GREW UP… MOSTLY IN SANDY [UTAH], WHICH IS A SUBURB OF SALT LAKE… PRIMARY SCHOOLING, SECONDARY SCHOOLING AND GOING TO UNIVERSITY. I WENT TO THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH FOR A YEAR (2001-2002), THEN SERVED A TWO-YEAR MISSION IN CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (2002-2004), AND THEN CAME BACK, FINISHED ANOTHER YEAR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH (2004-2005), THEN TRANSFERRED TO BYU [BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY] (2005-2008).” ON GROWING UP IN SANDY, UTAH, AS A PART OF THE LDS CHURCH, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…[SANDY WAS] VERY, VERY MUCH SATURATED IN MORMONISM. I WENT TO SEMINARY IN HIGH SCHOOL AND… I WAS AN ACTIVE PART OF SCOUTING BECAUSE THE CHURCH AND THE BOY SCOUTS HAD, AT THEN, A GOOD RELATIONSHIP… I VERY MUCH WENT TO YOUTH ACTIVITIES ON WEEKDAY NIGHTS AND WAS PART OF A THREE-HOUR CHURCH ON SUNDAYS… AS A YOUTH I WAS IN IT TO WIN IT!” YAMAMOTO CONTINUED TO COMMENT ON WHEN HE FIRST RECEIVED THE GARMENTS: “…THE FIRST TIME I WENT TO THE TEMPLE, I BELIEVE WAS MAY OF 2002, [AT NINETEEN YEARS OLD], AND IT WAS IN THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE… EVERYONE’S FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE, THEY’RE HEARING A LOT. EVERYTHING’S COMING AT THEM FOR THE FIRST TIME AND… WHAT GOES ON IN THE TEMPLE’S SO DIFFERENT THAN WHAT GOES ON IN OUR REGULAR SUNDAY WORSHIP THAT IT CAN BE QUITE OVERWHELMING. NOW, WHEN I FIRST WENT THROUGH, I JUST KIND OF… ACCEPTED ALL OF IT. IT WAS, ‘OKAY, THIS IS WHAT I DO NOW.’ LOOKING BACK, I REMEMBER SOME QUESTIONS THAT I HAD IN MY MIND… I REMEMBER BEFORE [GOING THROUGH] THINKING, ‘IS THERE AN ANIMAL SACRIFICE THAT [WILL] HAPPEN?’ I REMEMBER THEM TALKING ABOUT A SACRED ALTAR AND A SEALING ROOM AND THAT’S PRETTY MUCH ALL THAT I KNEW. I REMEMBER WONDERING, ‘DO PEOPLE CONSUMMATE THEIR RELATIONSHIP IN THE TEMPLE?’ NOW THESE ARE QUESTIONS THAT I NEVER ASKED BUT I REMEMBER THEM BEING QUESTIONS THAT I HAD BEFORE WENT. I [ALSO] REMEMBER WONDERING, ‘DO I GET NAKED IN THE TEMPLE?’ THAT WAS ACTUALLY CONFIRMED; I WAS ACTUALLY NAKED WHEN THEY DO THE INITIATORY. THEY NO LONGER HAVE YOU STRIP YOUR CLOTHES, THEY STILL COVER YOU WITH WHAT THEY CALL THE GARMENT; BUT BEFORE, ALL YOU HAD WAS WHAT THEY CALLED A LONG ‘SHIELD’. [THE SHIELD] WAS JUST A REALLY LONG PIECE OF FABRIC WITH A HOLE FOR YOUR HEAD AND IT JUST COVERS THE FRONT AND BACK, BUT THE SIDES ARE EXPOSED…” WHEN ASKED IF THERE WAS A PARTICULAR REASON HE WAS AT THE TEMPLE, YAMAMOTO REMARKED: “…USUALLY THE CHURCH HAS MOST, IF NOT ALL, PEOPLE WHO GO ON MISSIONS. THEY WANT THEM TO GO THROUGH THE TEMPLE BEFORE AND THEY CALL IT ‘RECEIVE THEIR ENDOWMENT’. THE MAIN TEMPLE CEREMONY IS CALLED ‘THE ENDOWMENT’ AND BEFORE THAT, THERE IS A CEREMONY CALLED ‘THE INITIATORY’ WHICH IS ALSO CALLED ‘THE WASHING AND ANOINTING’, AND THAT IS THE ONE WHERE I WAS LEGITIMATELY NAKED WITH THAT SHIELD.” YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED WHAT IS ENTAILED WHEN GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS FOR THE FIRST TIME: “…THE ENDOWMENT IS ONE THING, AND YOU HAVE THE INITIATORY SESSION, BUT IT IS ALL WITHIN THE SAME SORT [OCCASION]… YOU GO IN THE TEMPLE… [AND] YOU PICK ONE PERSON TO SORT OF ESCORT YOU… I REMEMBER MY ESCORT, (THE PERSON WHO IS MORE EXPERIENCED AND HAS BEEN THROUGH THE TEMPLE MANY TIMES)… WHO WAS MY SCOUT LEADER AND MY BISHOP, WHO STILL TO THIS DAY, I VERY MUCH RESPECT AND ADMIRE. (HE WAS QUITE AN INFLUENTIAL LEADER FOR ME DURING MY YOUTH)… AND I REMEMBER HIM TELLING ME… ‘YOU WILL REMOVE ALL YOUR CLOTHES AND YOU WILL BE AS NAKED AS THE DAY YOU WERE BORN,’ WAS I THINK HIS WORDS. HE, OF COURSE, HAD THE SHIELD, SO I TOOK OFF ALL MY CLOTHES AND PUT THE SHIELD ON… YOU DO THAT, THEN YOU GO TO A SEPARATE AREA AND DO YOUR INITIATORY; THEY HAVE A SCRIPT THEY FOLLOW AND… THEY CALL IT ‘ANOINTING YOUR HEAD WITH OIL’. THEY WASH YOU FIRST, SYMBOLICALLY WITH WATER, AND THEY TOUCH VARIOUS POINTS ON YOUR BODY WITH WATER, AND THEN THEY ANOINT YOU WITH OIL, AND TOUCH VARIOUS POINTS ON YOUR BODY WITH OIL; THAT’S THE WASHING AND THE ANOINTING. AFTER THAT YOU ARE CLEANED FROM THE BLOOD AND THE SINS OF THE WORLD… [AND] YOU ARE READY FOR YOUR ENDOWMENT… THE WASHING AND ANOINTING IS ONLY AROUND FIVE TO TEN MINUTES LONG. IT IS NOT LONG AT ALL, IF THAT… BUT THEN YOU GO TO THE ENDOWMENT SESSION AND THAT SESSION TAKES AROUND TWO HOURS; IT IS A WHOLE LONG SCRIPT WHERE THEY HAVE YOU, AT LEAST IN THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE AND IN THE CARDSTON TEMPLE, MOVE FROM ROOM TO ROOM. (SOME TEMPLES YOU JUST STAY IN THE SAME ROOM THE ENTIRE TIME)…” YAMAMOTO RECALLED A VOLUNTEER POSITION HE HELD AFTER GOING THROUGH THE ENDOWMENT PROCESS: “…WHEN I WAS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS IN CHURCH, THEY HAD A CALL FOR TEMPLE WORKERS AND I WAS LIKE, ‘YEAH, I’D LOVE TO DO THAT.’ SO, I WAS A VEIL WORKER FOR THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE FOR A LITTLE OVER A YEAR. FOR MOST OF THAT YEAR… I WENT [ALMOST] EVERY WEEK [FOR THAT YEAR] AND SPENT ABOUT FOUR TO FIVE HOURS IN THE TEMPLE EVERY WEEK.” ON IF THERE WAS ANY EXPECTATION, AS A MEMBER OF THE LDS, TO PARTICIPATE AND CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEMPLE, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…FOR MORMONS, TEMPLE WORK… IS INGRAINED IN YOU THAT IT IS REALLY SPECIAL. THEY CALL IT SACRED… AND I BELIEVED AT THE TIME THAT IT WAS A REALLY BIG DEAL. NOT MANY PEOPLE CAN SAY THAT THEY WERE TEMPLE WORKERS IN THE SALT LAKE TEMPLE… LOOKING BACK ON IT, I THINK ONE OF THE COOLEST THINGS, WAS [THAT] I WAS ABLE TO SEE PARTS OF THE TEMPLE THAT MOST PEOPLE WERE NOT ABLE TO SEE. THAT TEMPLE, IN AND OF ITSELF, IS QUITE A FEAT AND SO, I FELT LIKE A MILLION BUCKS, HAVING THAT AS A RESPONSIBILITY AND A CALLING; AND I TOOK IT VERY SERIOUSLY THAT I WAS ABLE TO FULFILL THAT ALMOST EVERY WEEK. AND THE REASON I WAS NOT ABLE TO [FULFILL THAT RESPONSIBILITY], IRONICALLY, WAS BECAUSE I TRANSFERRED TO BYU… BECAUSE THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH AND THE [SALT LAKE] TEMPLE, THEY’RE LITERALLY FIVE TO TEN MINUTES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER AND SO IT WAS EASY FOR ME [TO COMMUTE]… ONCE I TRANSFERRED TO BYU IT WAS MUCH HARDER TO MAKE THAT COMMUTE AND THE TIME COMMITMENT WAS MUCH MORE ONEROUS AS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT.” WHEN ASKED IF THERE WAS SOME KIND OF STATUS THAT CAME WITH HOLDING THAT POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE TEMPLE, YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “IT IS KIND OF WEIRD BECAUSE, YOU ASK ANY MORMON IF THERE’S STATUS WITHIN THE CHURCH AND THEY TRY TO DIMINISH THAT. ‘YEAH, THERE’S NO STATUS IN THE CHURCH; WE’RE ALL THE SAME.’ LIKE EVERY CALLING IS EQUAL… BUT IT IS NOT TRUE, SOCIOLOGICALLY IT IS NOT TRUE. AND THE TEMPLE IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WHERE IT IS LIKE, ‘YEAH, IF YOU’RE A TEMPLE WORKER YOU HAVE GOT GOOD BRAGGING RIGHTS… YOU HAVE GOT SOME GOOD MORMON ‘CRED’.’ AND I WAS KIND OF PROUD OF THAT, BUT THEN AT THE SAME TIME YOU WANTED TO TRY TO BE AS HUMBLE, WITHOUT SHOWING AS MUCH ‘HUBRIS SABATA’ AS POSSIBLE. I DEFINITELY FELT REALLY GOOD ABOUT MYSELF, HAVING HAD THAT ROLE IN THE TEMPLE.” YAMAMOTO CONTINUED ON HOW, AND WHY HE MOVED TO MAGRATH, ALBERTA IN 2008: “…AT BYU I WAS TECHNICALLY AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT BECAUSE [OF] MY CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP… EVEN THOUGH I GREW UP, LIKE FORTY MINUTES AWAY. UPON NEARING GRADUATION (I MAJORED IN MUSIC/EDUCATION)… [MY PROFESSOR] FORWARDED ME THIS EMAIL AND THEN IN PERSON HE SAID, ‘YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THIS. IT’S A JOB OPENING IN MAGRATH, ALBERTA,’ BECAUSE OF COURSE HE KNEW I WAS THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FROM CANADA… I LOOKED INTO [THE JOB POSITION] AND I HAD NO IDEA, AND HAD NEVER EVEN HEARD OF MAGRATH, ALBERTA SO I HAD TO GOOGLE SEARCH WHERE IT WAS; [MAGRATH, ALBERTA WAS] AN ELEVEN/TWELVE HOUR DRIVE STRAIGHT UP I15 AND JUST ACROSS THE BORDER. SO, I APPLIED FOR THE POSITION, AND I CAME UP AND SPENT A DAY AT THE SCHOOL AND INTERVIEWED WITH THEM. THEY LIKED ME AND I LIKED THEM, AND OF COURSE I GOT THE JOB. I COMPLETELY TOOK EVERYTHING WITH ME AND MOVED UP IN AUGUST OF 2008 [AT TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OLD], NOT KNOWING A SINGLE SOUL… IT WAS AN EASY PROCESS, BECAUSE I WAS A CANADIAN CITIZEN, MOVING ACROSS THE BORDER [SO] I DIDN’T HAVE TO REALLY FILL OUT ANY PAPERWORK AND I JUST CAME BACK WITH A MOVING TRUCK FULL [WITH] TONS-OF-STUFF… THE TEN YEARS FROM 2008 TO 2018, I WAS TEACHING IN MAGRATH, AND I REALLY ENJOYED IT THERE, AND THEN FROM 2018 TO NOW (2020) I TEACH AT LCI [LETHBRIDGE COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE] AS THE BAND DIRECTOR THERE.” WHEN ASKED IF THERE WAS ANY MEANING BEHIND HIS DECISION TO MOVE UP TO MAGRATH, YAMAMOTO REFLECTED: “…I REMEMBER WHEN I GRADUATED (EVEN BEFORE I GOT THIS JOB [IN MAGRATH])… I APPLIED FOR AN INTERVIEW TO PROBABLY HALF A DOZEN PLACES, AND I REMEMBER BEFORE EVEN THAT MY MANTRA WAS, ‘I JUST NEED A CHANGE OF SCENERY.’ UTAH IS ALL I KNEW, SO I NEED A CHANGE OF SCENERY, AND I DON’T CARE BEYOND THAT, WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE. SO, WHEN THIS OPPORTUNITY CAME UP [IN MAGRATH, ALBERTA], THAT QUALIFIED MY ONE CHECK POINT, THE CHANGE OF SCENERY, SO I CAME UP HERE READY TO EMBRACE THIS NEW LIFE… I WAS JUST READY FOR THE ADVENTURE… I VIEWED IT AS A NEW CHAPTER AND READY TO EMBRACE EVERYTHING THAT CAME TO ME. IT WAS REALLY MORE EXCITING THAN ANYTHING TO MOVE TO CANADA, TO MOVE TO ALBERTA. I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT AND OFTEN TIMES FOR ME PERSONALLY, WHEN I PREPARE MYSELF FOR SOMETHING UNKNOWN, I TRY TO JUST ELIMINATE ALL EXPECTATIONS AND JUST KIND OF IMMERSE MYSELF IN WHATEVER COMES. I THINK THAT IS MY ADAPTIVE STRATEGY… JUST [TO] KIND OF TAKE LIFE BY ITS HORNS…” ON IF BEING BORN IN CANADA, AND HAVING CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP, CAUSED ANY CURIOSITY AND AFFECT HIS DECISION TO MOVE UP TO CANADA, YAMAMOTO REFLECTED: “YEAH. MY WHOLE LIFE, KNOWING I WAS A CANADIAN, I HAVE ALWAYS HAD A DRAW TOWARDS CANADA. I HAVE ALWAYS HAD THIS, MAYBE SUPERFICIAL AFFINITY TOWARD CANADA… BEING A CITIZEN OF A LAND THAT I DON’T KNOW. COMING UP HERE [TO CANADA] WAS A KIND OF FULFILLMENT OF, I WOULD SAY A FANTASY… I’M MOVING TO THIS SUPPOSED HOMELAND SO THERE WAS NO HESITATION TO MOVE UP HERE OTHER THAN LEAVING MY CHERISHED FRIENDS.” YAMAMOTO REFLECTED ON MOVING TO MAGRATH AND ADJUSTING TO A NEW PLACE: “I REALLY HAD NO PROBLEM ADJUSTING. THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA MORMON COMMUNITY… IS A MICROCOSM TO ITSELF.” YAMAMOTO ELABORATED ON THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA MORMON COMMUNITY, AND HOW IT DIFFERS TO THE MORMON COMMUNITY IN UTAH: “…WHAT PERPLEXES ME ABOUT SOUTHERN ALBERTA MORMON CULTURE IS PROFESSION, NAME, AND WHO YOU KNOW AND ARE RELATED TO; THOSE [NOTIONS] KIND OF PRIVILEGE YOU WITHIN THE CHURCH BY CALLINGS, AND CULTURALLY, SOCIOLOGICALLY WITHIN THE CHURCH OFFICIALLY, AND THEN SOCIOLOGICALLY WITHIN THE CULTURE OF THE CHURCH. NOW, CAN ANYONE DISAGREE WITH ME? YEAH, THEY TOTALLY CAN AND I HAVE NO WAY OF QUANTIFYING WHAT I AM SAYING, BUT I FIRMLY BELIEVE IT. I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT YOUR PROFESSION, YOUR LAST NAME, AND WHO YOU ARE RELATED TO AND WHO YOU KNOW, VERY MUCH HOLD MORE WEIGHT THAN HOW HONEST YOU ARE OR HOW KIND YOU ARE; THE ACTUAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR DECENT PEOPLE THAT SHOULD PROPEL ONE.” ON HOW PROFESSIONS ARE ASSIGNED PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE WITHIN THE CHURCH, YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “WELL, I THINK PEOPLE CHOSE CERTAIN PROFESSIONS TO SUPPORT THE GENERAL BELIEFS WITHIN THE CHURCH BECAUSE FAMILY IS HELD IN HIGH ESTEEM, AND SO WE WANT TO CHOOSE PROFESSIONS THAT WILL SUPPORT THE FAMILY, AND PARTICULARLY [HOW] THE MALE IS THE BREAD WINNER. HEALTH CARE, PARTICULARLY DENTISTRY, AND IRONICALLY LAW, (EVEN THOUGH IT DOESN’T LEND PARTICULARLY WELL TO HAVING A LOT OF TIME AT HOME)… ARE ONES THAT IF YOU ARE IN THAT [FIELD], YOU ARE GOING TO BE PROMOTED OFFICIALLY WITHIN THE CHURCH FAR FASTER AND HIGHER THAN THOSE THAT ARE NOT OF THOSE PROFESSIONS. AND I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY THAT [THAT] CAN EASILY BE QUALIFIED THROUGH CASUAL RESEARCH… I WOULD BE SURPRISED TO HAVE ANYONE DISQUALIFY THAT.” YAMAMOTO CONTINUED TO SPEAK ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND UTAH MORMON COMMUNITIES, AS HE PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED: “…WHAT I AM SAYING NOW IS JUST SOMETHING THAT I HAVE OBSERVED HAVING LIVED [IN BOTH PLACES], BUT WHEN I IMMEDIATELY MOVED HERE, I JUST WONDERED WHY IS IT SO HARD TO CONVERSE WITH PEOPLE HERE? WHY IS IT SO HARD TO MAKE FRIENDS? [NOW I’VE] MADE FRIENDS AND I BELIEVE THAT I AM GENERALLY A VERY GREGARIOUS AND FRIENDLY PERSON. I NEVER HAD A HARD TIME MAKING FRIENDS AND I DIDN’T THEN [IN 2008], BUT IT WAS HARDER AND THAT’S SOMETHING THAT I PICKED UP RIGHT ON… WHY IS IT SO MUCH HARDER TO MAKE ANY SORT OF FRIENDLY ASSOCIATIONS HERE THAN IT IS BOTH AT BYU, [AND] THE UNIVERSITY OF UTAH? IT WAS REALLY PERPLEXING, AND I THINK PART OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA DYNAMICS THAT I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT. THOSE BELIEFS, AND CERTAIN PROFESSIONS, AND CERTAIN LAST NAMES IS DISTILLED TO A SOCIOLOGICAL LEVEL IN THE YOUTH OF THE CHURCH.” WHEN ASKED IF A MEMBER FROM OUTSIDE THE MORMON COMMUNITY WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THE PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF CERTAIN PROFESSIONS, YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “I THINK YOU WOULD SEE IT. AND I THINK… NON-MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH, IF THEY ARE OBSERVANT ENOUGH, DO SEE IT PLAY OUT IN THE WIDER COMMUNITY. I ACTUALLY THINK IT WOULD BE HARD NOT TO, THE REASON BEING IS, YOU TAKE ANY OF [THE] MAJOR LEADERS OF THE CHURCH CURRENTLY, WHAT PROFESSIONS ARE THEY? THAT IS ALL DISTILLED TO THE SOCIAL LEVEL OF YOUTH, AND I THINK THAT IT KIND OF REINFORCES EACH OTHER. DOES THAT HAPPEN WITH THE WIDER CHURCH? YES, I THINK IT DOES, VERY MUCH SO, BUT I DON’T THINK IT HAPPENS AS MUCH AS IT DOES IN UTAH. NOW, GRANTED I HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM UTAH FOR A WHILE NOW… THE DYNAMICS DOWN THERE HAVE VERY MUCH CHANGED, SO I CANNOT SPEAK TO WHAT IT IS CURRENTLY. BUT IT WAS VERY INTERESTING TO SEE THOSE DIFFERENCES FROM WHEN I WAS DOWN IN UTAH TO HERE [IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA]… MY LEADERSHIP IN UTAH REFLECTED A LOT MORE DIVERSITY IN PROFESSIONS AND BACKGROUNDS THAN IT DOES HERE [IN ALBERTA]… ” YAMAMOTO CLARIFIED THAT HE DID NOT MOVE TO CANADA WITH A PARTNER AND COMMENTED ON THE RACE DYNAMICS OF DATING: “IT IS INTERESTING… BECAUSE I THINK I WAS ALWAYS NAÏVE TO THIS, AND THIS WAS KIND OF A SECOND AWAKENING FOR ME, IS UNDERSTANDING RACE DYNAMICS. HERE I AM, BOTH IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA, AND ALSO, IN UTAH [WHERE] I WENT TO A HIGH SCHOOL WITH TWENTY-FOUR HUNDRED STUDENTS. (MY GRADUATING CLASS WAS SEVEN-HUNDRED-AND-NINETY-EIGHT)… AND THERE WERE SIX ASIANS IN THAT CLASS. THAT IS MY LIFE… BUT I ALWAYS WONDER ABOUT HOW MUCH OF THE RACE DYNAMIC, BEING A MINORITY, BEING AN ASIAN, PLAYED INTO THAT [IN TERMS OF DATING]. NOW, OF COURSE, IT NEVER REALLY PLAYED INTO THE GIRLS THAT I DATED, AT LEAST HAD A RELATIONSHIP… [AND] IT CERTAINLY DID NOT PLAY INTO LINDY, MY WIFE. BUT I REMEMBER LINDY… SHE HAS TOLD ME THIS A FEW TIMES, HOW GIRLS WOULD BE LIKE ‘OH YEAH, YOU ARE DATING [SAMUEL]. OH, THAT IS REALLY NEAT.’ LIKE, ‘GOOD FOR YOU FOR TAKING ON THIS PROJECT’… BUT IT IS SUPER SUBTLE AND YOU CAN NEVER SAY FOR CERTAIN HOW MUCH [RACE] DOES PLAY INTO THINGS…” YAMAMOTO DETAILED HIS MARRIAGE TO LINDY IN THE MORMON TEMPLE: “…WE [GOT] MARRIED IN THE TEMPLE. MY WEDDING, I HAVE VERY CONFLICTED FEELINGS ABOUT MY OWN WEDDING… LINDY DOESN’T SHARE THESE [FEELINGS], SHE HAS GREAT MEMORIES AND FEELINGS ABOUT OUR WEDDING, AS DO I. BUT THE TEMPLE PORTION OF [THE WEDDING] HAS REALLY TAINTED AND POISONED MY OVERALL RECOLLECTION OF OUR WEDDING FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS… LINDY COMES FROM, NOT ONLY A LARGE FAMILY HERSELF, BUT HER WHOLE EXTENDED FAMILY IS QUITE LARGE… THEY ALLOWED HER [AUNT CAROL] WHO DOES NOT APPROVE OF THIS MARRIAGE, TO WITNESS THAT WEDDING, TO BE IN THAT ROOM, AND ALSO TO HELP WITH EVERYTHING; [IT] MAKES ME VERY ANGRY STILL… I DON’T THINK ANYONE WHO IS NOT A PERSON OF COLOUR WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE, TO HAVE YOUR MARRIAGE SHUNNED BECAUSE OF WHO YOU ARE, AND NOT ONLY [HAVE] THAT FEELING, BUT ALSO TO BE SO VIOLATED ON WHAT SHOULD BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE; TO HAVE IT VIOLATED BY ALLOWING THAT RACIST TO PARTAKE IN THE VERY CEREMONY THAT THEY DO NOT WANT TO HAPPEN. LIKE, THE HYPOCRISY OF THAT IS JUST BEYOND ME… I TELL LINDY OFTEN THAT WE ARE GOING TO RENEW OUR VOWS AND IT IS GOING TO BE AWESOME AND IT’S GOING TO BE ON OUR OWN TERMS. THAT IS GOING TO BE HEALING FOR ME… AND LINDY IS AWESOME; SHE UNDERSTANDS; SHE GETS IT, AND SHE IS SUPPORTIVE…. YAMAMOTO SHARED HIS THOUGHTS ON POWER AND EQUITY, AND WHEN HE CAME TO THE REALIZATION THAT HE DID NOT AGREE WITH CERTAIN STANCES THE CHURCH TOOK: “… THE CHURCH HAD SO MUCH POWER IN MY LIFE, AND I WOULD EVEN SAY IT EMPOWERED ME. WHEN I WAS AN ACTIVE, BELIEVING MEMBER, I FELT EMPOWERED. WHEN I WAS A MISSIONARY, I FELT LIKE A MILLION BUCKS. AND FOR THE TIME THEREAFTER, I GREATLY BENEFITTED FROM IT, AND I FELT GREAT ABOUT IT, BUT AS TIME WENT ON, I REALIZED THAT THERE WAS HARM BEING CAUSED BY THE CHURCH… I THINK I REALIZED IT EXTERNALLY FIRST… I WAS LIKE, ‘OKAY, THE CHURCH IS AGAINST MARRIAGE EQUALITY,’ AND AT FIRST, I WAS TOO. THEN I JUST KIND OF LISTENED TO FRIENDS AND LISTENED TO STORIES AND REALIZED, ‘WHY? IF TWO PEOPLE LOVE EACH OTHER, WHAT IS THAT TO ME?’ AND I REALIZED THAT WAS WRONG AND SO MY JOURNEY KIND OF PROGRESSED, LITERALLY, IN THAT WAY. THEN I THINK I REALIZED SLOWLY, PARALLEL TO THAT, THE CHURCH WAS CAUSING HARM IN MY LIFE AS WELL. SO, THERE WAS QUITE A BIT OF TIME IN WHICH I BECAME INCREDIBLY ANGRY BECAUSE THIS THING THAT I DEVOTED SO MUCH OF MY LIFE TO WAS HOLDING SO MUCH POWER… I DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S EVER A COMFORTABLE PROCESS ANYWHERE WHEN POWER SHIFTS, ESPECIALLY UNWILLINGLY. FOR ME IT WAS THIS PROCESS THAT I WAS WAKING UP TO, AND IT WAS INCREDIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE; IT WAS INCREDIBLY ANGERING AND MY EYES JUST KIND OF WOKE UP TO THAT. I BECAME VERY VOCAL, [AND] SPEAKING OUT; I BECAME VOCAL… MAINLY THROUGH THE INTERNET, MAINLY THROUGH FACEBOOK BUT ALSO LOCALLY, I WOULD SPEAK OUT IF I COULD.” YAMAMOTO ELABORATED ON THIS REALIZATION AND EXITING THE CHURCH: “…MY JOURNEY EXITING THE CHURCH KIND OF STARTS… WHEN I FIRST MOVED HERE [TO MAGRATH]. A PRELUDE TO THAT THOUGH, [WAS] I THINK THE GROUND WAS FERTILE AT BYU… I CHERISH ALL THE FRIENDSHIPS AND ALL MY RELATIONSHIPS THAT I HAD AT BYU. AND I HAD MANY PROGRESSIVE FRIENDS, FAR MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN I WAS AT THAT TIME, THAT WOULD, JUST THROUGH THEIR CONVERSATION AND THROUGH POSTING ON FACEBOOK OR WHATEVER, WOULD CHALLENGE MY WORLD VIEW AND WOULD MAKE A SLIGHT SHIFT TO MY PERSPECTIVE. THAT [IS WHAT] MADE THE GROUND FERTILE WITH ME, JUST KIND OF OPENING MY WORLD VIEWS TO OTHER VIEWPOINTS, ESPECIALLY ONES THAT CHALLENGED MINE. WHAT REALLY SET IT OFF WAS IN 2008 WHEN THE CHURCH REALLY DUG IN ITS HEELS ABOUT MARRIAGE EQUALITY. AT THAT TIME IN 2008, PROPOSITION EIGHT WAS IN FULL SWING IN CALIFORNIA… (THIS IS THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY PROPOSITION THAT WAS UNDER THE BALLOT IN CALIFORNIA)… BUT THE CHURCH WAS [FOR] PROP EIGHT, OR AGAINST MARRIAGE EQUALITY… SO AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THAT, I WAS VERY ‘OH YEAH, I GOTTA SUPPORT AND PROTECT THE INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE. MARRIAGE ONLY BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE’… BUT THEN I HAD ENOUGH OF MY FRIENDS THAT DISAGREED WITH THAT. THE GIRL I WAS PARTICULARLY DATING [AT THE TIME]… SHE WAS LDS AND SHE WAS ADAMANTLY [‘VOTE NO’] AGAINST [PROPOSITION 8] AND MY BRAIN WAS KIND OF EXPLODING TRYING TO WRAP AROUND THAT. SHE WAS TELLING ME ALL THE REASONS AND ALL THE REASONS MADE SENSE… WHY WOULD WE BE AGAINST OTHER PEOPLE WANTING TO MARRY AND WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE IN MY RELATIONSHIP? IT DOESN’T DIMINISH MINE AT ALL. IT WAS A SLOW PROCESS THROUGH THAT BUT NEAR THE END OF 2008 I HAD PRETTY MUCH DONE A FULL PENDULUM SWING AND WAS LIKE, ‘I DON’T THINK WE’RE ON THE RIGHT SIDE ON THIS.’ AND ALSO, THROUGH SEARCHING THAT… ‘THERE HAS TO BE SOME PRECEDENT THAT THE CHURCH HAS MADE REGARDING MARRIAGE. LET ME JUST LOOK UP MARRIAGE AND SEE WHAT PREVIOUS PROPHETS HAVE [SAID] AND PREVIOUS LEADERS OF THE CHURCH HAVE SAID REGARDING MARRIAGE’ AND HERE I COME ACROSS THESE QUOTES BY BRIGHAM YOUNG THAT ARE ANTI-MISCEGENATION, ANTI-INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE AND THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST TIME I HAD READ THESE THINGS. I WAS LIKE, ‘WELL, HE’S DEFINITELY WRONG ABOUT THAT,’ AND SO IF HE WAS WRONG ABOUT THAT, THEN COULD WE NOT BE WRONG ABOUT THIS. [SO], UPON FINDING THOSE [NOTIONS], IT CONFIRMED TO ME THAT THE CHURCH IS ON THE WRONG SIDE… YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “…I THINK IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE WITHIN THE CHURCH THEY WOULD SAY, ‘YEAH, LIKE IT’S A SLIPPERY SLOPE,’ BUT IT IS!... IT’S KIND OF A RABBIT HOLE, BECAUSE IF YOU ALLOW YOURSELF TO DISAGREE WITH THE CHURCH, THERE’S A LOT TO DISAGREE ABOUT… FROM THERE, IT KIND OF JUST TRICKLED… I WOULD FIND THINGS HERE AND THERE THAT I WOULD DISAGREE ABOUT AND I WOULD BE LIKE, ‘YEAH, I DON’T THINK THAT’S RIGHT’…” YAMAMOTO RECALLED HOW HE AND LINDY CHALLENGED EACH OTHER’S WORLDVIEWS WITHIN THE FRAME OF THE CHURCH: “…I REMEMBER WHEN LINDY AND I WERE DATING (I FORGET IF WE WERE MARRIED OR DATING AT THIS POINT), BUT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A FRIEND OF HERS THAT HAD JUST COME OUT AND SHE WAS SO SAD ABOUT HIM COMING OUT. AND I REMEMBER KIND OF CHALLENGING HER…. ‘WHY ARE YOU SAD ABOUT HIM?’ AND SHE SAYS, ‘WELL BECAUSE HE’S GAY.’ AND I WAS LIKE, ‘WOULDN’T HE BE HAPPIER, LIKE, COULD HE NOT BE HAPPIER NOW [AFTER COMING OUT]?’ THAT JUST KIND OF BLEW HER MIND, THAT THERE IS HAPPINESS THAT CAN BE FOUND OUTSIDE OF THE PARADIGM OF THE CHURCH. OUR JOURNEYS, ALTHOUGH SEPARATE, WE KIND OF COMPLEMENTED, OR CHALLENGED EACH OTHER… ON OUR WORLD VIEWS IN REGARDS TO HOW THEY WERE SHAPED BY THE CHURCH. LINDY REALLY INFLUENCED ME ON FEMINISM AND HOW PATRIARCHY DOES SO MUCH DAMAGE TO BOTH MEN AND WOMEN WITHIN THE CHURCH… LOOKING BACK, THAT WAS VERY MUCH AN ACCELERANT [IN MY LEAVING THE LDS] BECAUSE AT THE TIME THERE WAS THIS BLOG… [TITLED] SOMETHING LIKE, ‘FEMINISM IS NOT A FEELING’ OR ‘EQUALITY IS NOT A FEELING’… THE WHOLE INTENT OF THE BLOG WAS TO QUANTIFY IN REAL NUMBERS HOW WOMEN ARE DISCRIMINATED WITHIN THE MORMON CHURCH. IT WOULD HAVE THIS INFO-GRAPH OF… ABOUT THIRTY-THOUSAND BLOCKS AND IT SAID HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD ACCESS TO THIS HANDBOOK... THAT THEY GIVE TO ALL THE LEADERS… THE MEN WERE ALL BLACK AND THE WOMEN WERE RED, AND OUT OF THE THIRTY THOUSAND BLOCKS IT WAS LITERALLY SIX [WOMEN]. I REMEMBER THAT WAS ONE OF THE [EXAMPLES] THAT JUST BLEW MY MIND AND I WAS LIKE, ‘YEAH THAT IS FUCKING WRONG!’… SO THAT BLOG AND LINDY WERE BIG CATALYSTS, BECAUSE LINDY WAS A LITTLE ANGRY… THE WHOLE SEXISM IN THE CHURCH… AND IT TOOK A WHILE FOR ME TO OPEN MY EYES TO THAT… I WAS EMBARRASSINGLY ‘MANSPLAINING’ A LOT OF THINGS TO [LINDY] BY DEFENDING THE CHURCH, BUT I JUST WASN’T READY YET. I REMEMBER IT WAS ABOUT 2013, GOING INTO 2014, THAT I JUST KIND OF HAD MY OWN AWAKENING TO THOSE ISSUES.” ON THE FINAL CATALYST TO LEAVING THE CHURCH, YAMAMOTO RECALLED: “IT WAS ALL SLOW BURN UP UNTIL THE DAY I LEFT… THAT WAS A SINGULAR MOMENT. IT WAS NOVEMBER 5TH, 2015, AND LINDY AND I LIVED IN AUSTRALIA FOR THE ENTIRE CALENDAR [YEAR] OF 2015 BECAUSE WE WENT ON A TEACHER EXCHANGE… BY THE END OF 2014 I WAS VERY ANGRY WITH THE ISSUES IN THE CHURCH. IT HAD KIND OF COME TO A HEAD, SO IT WAS REALLY GREAT TO LEAVE SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND HAVE A BIT OF BREATHING SPACE AND GO TO THIS TOWN OF ABOUT TWENTY-THOUSAND [PEOPLE], CALLED WHYALLA IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. WHEN WE WENT TO CHURCH THERE [IN AUSTRALIA] WE WERE EMBRACED; THEY WERE FANTASTIC, THEY STILL ARE. I WILL FOREVER CHERISH OUR EXPERIENCE THERE AND OUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE CHURCH AND THE MEMBERS THERE… BECAUSE WHEN PEOPLE HAVE ISSUES WITH THE CHURCH, THERE IS A LOT OF COMPLEXITY. YOU CAN HAVE ISSUES HISTORICALLY WITH THE HISTORICAL CLAIMS; YOU CAN HAVE ISSUES DOCTRINALLY; YOU CAN HAVE ISSUES WITH THE CHURCH STRUCTURE ITSELF; YOU CAN HAVE ISSUES SOCIOLOGICALLY; WITH THE SOCIAL ISSUES IN THE CHURCH… MY CO-WORKER IN MAGRATH WAS MY BISHOP AND I WAS SO RELIEVED TO JUST LEAVE THAT. [BY LEAVING SOUTHERN ALBERTA] WE WERE ABLE TO KIND OF REALLY INVESTIGATE AND THINK ABOUT THE ACTUAL, [PRESENT] ISSUES, UNENCUMBERED BY THE LOCAL, SOCIAL ISSUES…” YAMAMOTO CONTINUED: “…(THIS DIDN’T HAPPEN IN AUSTRALIA), [BUT] THERE WAS THIS POLICY THAT WAS LEAKED ONLINE THAT STATED THAT CHILDREN OF HOMOSEXUAL-MARRIED COUPLES CAN’T GET BAPTIZED, NOR CAN THEY RECEIVE THE BLESSINGS OR ORDINANCES OF THE CHURCH, AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IF YOU ARE A GAY MARRIED COUPLE IN THE CHURCH, YOU ARE SUBJECTED TO CHURCH DISCIPLINE; YOU ARE AUTOMATICALLY AN APOSTATE. WHEN THAT FIRST CAME OUT IT WAS SO OUTRAGEOUS TO ME THAT I DID NOT BELIEVE IT. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS THAT, ‘THIS IS JUST SOME ANGRY EX-MORMON, JUST POSTING BULLSHIT. HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE TRUE?’ BECAUSE IT WAS SO OUTRAGEOUS. I WENT TO WORK THAT DAY, AND OF COURSE THERE IS AROUND A FIFTEEN-HOUR TIME DIFFERENCE. BY THE TIME… I CAME HOME FOR LUNCH, IT WAS CONFIRMED [AS TRUE]. IT WAS ALREADY GETTING COVERED BY THE NEWS IN SALT LAKE. ONCE I SAW THAT NEWS ARTICLE I WAS DEVASTATED, ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATED; DEVASTATED IN THE FACT THAT HOW COULD MY CHURCH THAT I CLAIMED TO BE A PART OF, COULD BE SO OUTRAGEOUSLY CRUEL AND SO INCREDIBLY BIGOTED… I REMEMBER TELLING [LINDY], ‘I CANNOT BE PART OF THIS ANYMORE. I AM DONE, ABSOLUTELY DONE.’ SHE HAS BEEN SO GREAT; SHE WAS SUPPORTIVE AND SHE SAID, ‘I KNOW. I UNDERSTAND.’ I REMEMBER GOING BACK TO WORK AND I WAS SO DISTRAUGHT THAT… [THE HEADMASTER] COULD TELL I WAS INCREDIBLY DISTRAUGHT, SO MUCH SO THAT HE SENT ME HOME. HE WAS LIKE, ‘YOU CAN GO HOME; YOU’RE OKAY.’ SO, I SPENT THE REST OF THE DAY [AT] HOME, JUST REELING OVER THIS. IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT GETS UNDER MY SKIN AND GETS TO ME IT IS VIOLENCE TOWARDS CHILDREN, AND THIS WAS SUCH A VIOLENT ACT. I STILL CAN’T PROCESS HOW AN INSTITUTION CAN BE THAT CRUEL. IT TOOK A WHILE TO PROCESS BUT RIGHT AWAY MY GUT INSTINCT WAS TO RESIGN. THAT WAS PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY THING IN MY DEPARTURE FROM THE CHURCH THAT WAS DEFINITIVE MOMENT… I REALLY BECAME OUTSPOKEN FROM THAT MOMENT… (WHO AM I KIDDING?) I WAS OUTSPOKEN BEFORE THAT, JUST POSTING ISSUES THAT I HAD INTO MY OWN BUBBLE ON FACEBOOK… I CAME BACK TO ALBERTA AT THE END OF THAT YEAR, ONLY WITHIN TWO MONTHS OF THAT [NEWS] HAPPENING, TO A LIBERAL GOVERNMENT IN CANADA, TO A LIBERAL PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IN ALBERTA, NDP [NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY] TO BE EXACT… AMIDST THAT WAS THIS WHOLE CONTROVERSY ABOUT BATHROOM POLICIES AND SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS. COMING FROM THAT TRAUMA AND THEN COMING TO AN ATMOSPHERE OF THIS TENSION AROUND THESE POLICIES, HERE IN AN AREA STEEPED WITH MORMONISM, TRYING TO INFLUENCE POLICES IN ALL THE SEPARATE SCHOOL DIVISIONS…” YAMAMOTO COMMENTED ON HIS DECISION TO RESIGN FROM THE CHURCH: “…WHEN I TOLD LINDY I WAS GOING TO RESIGN, I GAVE MYSELF A YEAR BEFORE I ACTUALLY RESIGNED, JUST SO I CAN KNOW FOR SURE THAT IT IS THE RIGHT DECISION AND I NEVER VEERED FROM THAT DECISION THAT WHOLE YEAR…” ON RETURNING TO CANADA, AFTER THE CATALYST EVENT, YAMAMOTO SPOKE ON WORKING IN A SCHOOL DURING THIS TURBULENT POLITICAL CLIMATE: “…I RETURNED BACK AND WORKED WITH WESTWIND, AND EVERY SCHOOL DIVISION WAS DRAFTING THEIR OWN POLICIES AROUND ‘SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS,’ AND WESTWIND WAS DOING THEIRS… I LOOKED INTO [WESTWIND’S POLICY], AND VETTED THEIR POLICY WITH A SEX THERAPIST, A MORMON SEX THERAPIST, AND A TRANS-ADVOCATE THAT I KNEW ONLINE. I VETTED IT WITH SEVERAL PEOPLE AND I WAS LIKE, ‘CAN YOU READ THIS OVER AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK?’ AND ALL OF THEM [SAID], ‘THIS IS GOOD. THESE POLICIES ARE GOOD’… THAT WAS VERY REFRESHING THAT WESTWIND SCHOOL DIVISION, STEEPED IN MORMONISM, WERE ACTUALLY DOING A GOOD THING HERE…” YAMAMOTO RECALLED: “…I REMEMBER GOING TO THE WESTWIND TOWN HALL AND LETTING THE BOARD KNOW, ‘THIS WAS GOOD. THANK YOU’… [ADDITIONALLY] THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE THERE [AT THE WESTWIND TOWNHALL] THAT WERE ANGRY THAT [WESTWIND] WOULD EVEN CONSIDER CREATING A POLICY AROUND ‘SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS’. I WAS JUST SHAKING MY HEAD…” YAMAMOTO COMMENTED ON WESTWIND’S POLICY AROUND SAFE AND CARING SCHOOLS: “…THE WESTWIND POLICY WAS NOT WITHOUT CRITICISM… THEY CREATED A POLICY IN WHICH ANY KID, REGARDLESS OF WHO THEY ARE, COULD HAVE ACCOMMODATIONS MADE FOR THEM. HAVING FOLLOWED IT, THE ADMINISTRATION WERE VERY CONCERNED THAT THEY WANTED THEIR LANGUAGE TO BE APPLICABLE TO ANY KID, THAT IT WAS NOT JUST NARROWING ITS SCOPE… I THINK THE ONLY DOWNSIDE WAS THAT IT WASN’T SPECIFIC. I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE SEEN LGBTQ LANGUAGE IN THERE… [BUT] IT MET THE GRADE. WAS THERE PUSHBACK, YEAH THERE WAS, BUT THE PARENTS THAT PUSHED BACK, WHAT COULD THEY PUSH BACK ON?… THERE REALLY WAS NOTHING THEY COULD PUSH BACK ON BECAUSE THE BOARD MADE IT VERY EXPLICIT THAT, ‘YOUR KID IS COVERED BY THIS [POLICY]; SAME WITH THE LGBTQ KID; SAME WITH THE INDIGENOUS KID. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS [COVERED]’… THE PROCESS HERE IN LETHBRIDGE WAS DEEPLY FLAWED… IT JUST ENRAGED ME THAT THE WESTSIDE [LDS] STAKE AND I THINK THE SOUTHSIDE [LDS STAKE], CANCELLED ALL THEIR ACTIVITIES THAT NIGHT SO THAT THEY COULD SEND THEIR MEMBERSHIP TO IT… [THERE WAS] THE FACT THAT THOSE WHO SUPPORTED THE TRANS POLICY WERE ENCOURAGED TO WEAR PINK, (WHICH WAS AWESOME), BUT THAT GAVE THE MORMONS AN EASY WAY TO IDENTIFY THOSE OF THEIR OWN AND TO HAND OUT PIECES OF PAPER ON WHO TO VOTE FOR. WHAT ALSO ENRAGED ME WAS THE FACT THAT AS SOON AS THE VOTING WAS DONE, MOST OF THE MORMONS LEFT AND THEY DID NOT STAY TO HEAR THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO SPOKE AFTER, INCLUDING ME, AS TO HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO PROTECT LGBTQ CHILDREN. I FELT SUCH A NEED TO CALL THE MORMONS OUT ON THEIR BULLSHIT IN THAT MEETING AND AS A MORMON MYSELF I FELT VERY SAFE TO DO SO. AND OBVIOUSLY I DID [SPEAK] BECAUSE, I THINK RELIGION AND IDENTITY IS VERY TOUCHY AND I THINK… IT’S ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT YOU CAN MORE EFFECTIVELY, OR SAFELY DO IT, IF YOU ARE A PART OF THAT IN-GROUP. OTHERWISE, IF YOU ARE NOT IN THAT IN-GROUP, THERE IS A LOT OF FALLOUT THAT CAN HAPPEN. I FELT IT WAS PART OF MY OWN MORAL DUTY TO LET EVERYONE KNOW WHAT REALLY IS OBVIOUSLY GOING ON, BUT MOST PEOPLE WON’T BE ABLE TO SAY EXCEPT FOR A MORMON…” YAMAMOTO STATED: “…THAT WAS KIND OF A TURNING POINT TO ME AS WELL. IN MY OWN PERSONAL JOURNEY, I THINK THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST ACTIVIST THINGS THAT I HAD DONE, AND IT GAVE ME A LOT OF CONFIDENCE TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK OUT MORE, AND TO BE OUTSPOKEN.” ON THE LAST TIME YAMAMOTO WORE HIS LDS TEMPLE GARMENTS WHILE IN AUSTRALIA, HE STATED: “…WE ACTUALLY WENT TO THE AUCKLAND TEMPLE AND THAT WAS THE LAST TIME I WORE IT ‘DOWN UNDER’…” YAMAMOTO ADDED ON WHAT LEAD UP TO THE LAST TIME HE WORE HIS LDS TEMPLE GARMENTS: “AFTER [WEARING THE GARMENTS AT AUCKLAND TEMPLE] I USED IT A FEW MORE TIMES. ATTACHED WITH YOUR TEMPLE ATTENDANCE IS WHAT THEY CALL A ‘CURRENT TEMPLE RECOMMEND’, AND IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A ‘CURRENT TEMPLE RECOMMEND’ YOU NEED TO ANSWER BEFORE THE BISHOP AND STAKE PRESIDENT, CERTAIN QUESTIONS THAT THEY USE TO EVALUATE YOUR TEMPLE WORTHINESS. I HAD [A CURRENT TEMPLE RECOMMEND], FULLY AWARE THAT I WOULD NOT BE RENEWING IT… (I THINK WE RENEWED IT IN AUSTRALIA AND THEY ARE GOOD FOR TWO YEARS)… I WENT TO THE AUCKLAND TEMPLE IN DECEMBER KNOWING THAT I WAS GOING TO RESIGN. BUT THEN MY TWO SISTERS-IN-LAW WERE GOING TO GET MARRIED…” “…(LINDY’S SISTER) JENNY GOT MARRIED IN THE CARDSTON TEMPLE AND WE WERE ABLE TO SEE THAT, AND (LINDY’S SISTER) KATIE GOT MARRIED IN THE NEW PROVO TEMPLE, THAT WE DROVE DOWN FOR JUST FOR A WEEKEND. DURING THAT WEEKEND [OF KATIE’S WEDDING] I WENT TO AN ENDOWMENT SESSION IN THE OTHER PROVO TEMPLE, AND I WAS ALL ALONE. I WOKE UP REALLY EARLY. (I THINK THEIR EARLIEST SESSIONS ARE 5:45 AM)… I WENT TO ONE OF THE FIRST [ENDOWMENT SESSIONS OF THE DAY]; THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT I NEEDED TO DO JUST FOR MYSELF. IN THE ENDOWMENT SESSION, ONE THE THINGS IN WHICH THEY ASK NEAR THE VERY BEGINNING (WITHIN FIVE MINUTES)… THEY SAY LIKE, ‘BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WELCOME TO THE TEMPLE. WE HOPE YOU FIND JOY AND PEACE IN WORSHIPPING IN THE TEMPLE THIS DAY’… ‘WITHIN THE TEMPLE TODAY, YOU WILL BE MAKING PROMISES AND COVENANTS WITH THE LORD. IF ANY OF YOU WISH TO WITHDRAW FROM SAYING THE COVENANTS, YOU CAN DO SO BY RAISING YOUR HAND.’ NO ONE EVER DOES… BECAUSE YOU HAVE YOUR FAMILY THERE, AND THESE STRANGERS THERE, AND YOUR WHOLE PURPOSE IS TO MAKE THESE COVENANTS, COVENANTS THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE… SO I WENT IN [THAT MORNING SESSION] AND WHEN THEY SAID THAT [BEGINNING QUESTION] I RAISED MY HAND JUST TO DO THAT. JUST FOR MYSELF SO THAT I CAN VISIBLY LET THEM KNOW THAT I AM NOT COMPLYING WITH THIS. IN THE TEMPLE ENDOWMENT, THERE IS AN AISLE IN THE MIDDLE THAT LEADS TO THE ALTAR AND ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE, FACING IN, ALL THE WOMEN SIT ON THE LEFT-HAND SIDE, AND ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE ALL THE MEN SIT; AND IF IT IS NOT A CROWDED SESSION THEY USUALLY SIT EVERY OTHER CHAIR JUST TO GIVE EVERYONE SPACE. THE PEOPLE WHO SIT IN THE FRONT, CLOSEST TO THE MIDDLE, ARE THE WITNESS COUPLE, (THEY ARE USUALLY A COUPLE). I WAS SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO THE MALE WITNESS… AND I WAS REALLY CLOSE TO THE OFFICIATOR, AND THE OFFICIATOR… [WHEN] I RAISED MY HAND… (I’LL NEVER FORGET), BECAUSE THE OFFICIATOR AND I, WE LOCKED EYES AND MY HEART WAS POUNDING. I WAS NERVOUS BECAUSE HERE I AM VISIBLY GIVING MY OWN PERSONAL, ‘FUCK YOU,’ TO THE TEMPLE... [WHEN] WE LOCKED EYES FOR PROBABLY WHAT WAS, REALISTICALLY […] TWO SECONDS, BUT IT FELT [LIKE] FOREVER. WE WERE JUST LOOKING AT EACH OTHER, AND THEN HE HITS THE PAUSE BUTTON, AND HE LOOKS BACK AT ME WITH EYES WIDE OPEN AND DIRECTED ME… TO THE BACK OF THE DOOR. I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYONE DO THAT, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT HAPPENS AT THAT POINT. SO I GET UP AND I HAVE MY STUFF AND I WALK BACK, AND THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE BACK THAT ARE ALL TEMPLE WORKERS… ONE OF THEM TAKES ME OUTSIDE, AND I KIND OF FORGET WHAT WAS SAID FROM THERE, BUT I THINK HE ASKED ME IF I WAS OKAY AND IF I NEEDED ANYTHING, AND I SAID ‘NO, I AM FINE,’ AND HE SAID, ‘SO WE’LL NEED YOUR TEMPLE NAME,’ BECAUSE WHEN YOU GO IN, YOU HAVE THE NAME OF SOMEONE WHO IS DECEASED AND YOU ARE GOING THROUGH THAT [EXPERIENCE] FOR AND ON THE BEHALF OF THEM. HE JUST ASKED ME FOR THAT [NAME] BACK AND I WENT DOWN TO THE LOCKER… CHANGING OUT OF THESE TEMPLE CLOTHES AND CHANGING BACK INTO MY REGULAR DRESS CLOTHES…” “…ANOTHER TEMPLE WORKER CAME TO ME, AND HE WAS COMING FROM A GENUINE POINT OF CONCERN AND ASKED, ‘ARE YOU OKAY, BROTHER?’ I WAS LIKE ‘YEAH, I’M FINE,’ AND HE SAID, ‘I HEARD YOU LEFT THE TEMPLE SESSION,’ AND HE WAS LIKE, ‘YOU PROBABLY KNOW THAT IS QUITE UNUSUAL.’ I WAS LIKE, ‘YEAH, I KNOW,’ AND HE ASKED, ‘IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK WITH THE TEMPLE PRESIDENT, I CAN ARRANGE FOR THAT RIGHT NOW,’ AND I SAID… ‘THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN SAY THAT WILL RESOLVE THIS.’ BLESS HIS HEART, HE WAS VERY GENUINE, VERY CONCERNED… I DIDN’T GO IN THERE WITH THE INTENT TO MAKE ANYONE FEEL BAD. I NEEDED TO DO IT FOR ME; TO LET MYSELF KNOW THAT I CAN SAY ‘NO’ TO THEM [THE CHURCH]. AFTER THAT [CONVERSATION] I GOT READY AND WENT BACK… IT WAS STILL DARK OUTSIDE WHILE I WAS DRIVING HOME IN PROVO. THAT WAS THE SECOND TO THE LAST TIME [I WORE THE GARMENTS]… YAMAMOTO SHARED THE DEFINITE FINAL TIME HE WORE HIS TEMPLE GARMENTS: “…THE LAST TIME [I WORE MY GARMENTS], WE WERE BACK IN ALBERTA AND UP IN EDMONTON… I FORGET WHAT BROUGHT US TO EDMONTON, BUT I THINK IT WAS A PROFESSIONAL OBLIGATION THAT I HAD. WE BROUGHT THE WHOLE FAMILY TO EDMONTON. SO I WENT TO THE EDMONTON TEMPLE; IT IS ONE OF THE SMALLER TEMPLES AND IS NOT AS GRANDIOSE AS MOST OF THE TEMPLES ARE. I DID THE SAME THING [AS IN THE PROVO TEMPLE] AND MY HEART WAS STILL BEATING AND RACING, BUT NOT AS MUCH AS THE FIRST TIME. I RAISED MY HAND AND IT WAS PRETTY INTERESTING. IT WAS NONCHALANT; IT WASN’T A THING. THE GUY JUST LOOKED AT ME, HE JUST PAUSED AND I DID THE SAME THING; I WALKED OUT AND I WENT TO MY LOCKER AND NO ONE, NO ONE ASKED ME ANYTHING… [I] LEFT AND LINDY WAS WAITING FOR ME OUTSIDE. SHE HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT SUPPORTIVE; SHE HAS BEEN FANTASTIC. THAT WAS MY LAST TIME IN THE TEMPLE [OCTOBER 2016]…” ON THE RESIGNATION PROCESS, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…I SENT IN MY RESIGNATION NOVEMBER 5TH, 2016… BECAUSE MY CO-WORKER WAS ALSO MY BISHOP, IN MY RESIGNATION LETTER I BELIEVE I WROTE, IF I CAN RECALL CORRECTLY, ‘BECAUSE OF MY PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION WITH MY BISHOP AND THAT WE ARE CO-WORKERS-‘ (BECAUSE USUALLY WHEN YOU RESIGN YOU HAVE TO GO UP THE CHAIN OF COMMAND), BUT I PUT SOMETHING LIKE, ‘-I WISH NOT TO MEET WITH HIM AND JUST GO STRAIGHT TO YOU.’ THE [STAKE] PRESIDENT WAS GREAT THROUGH THAT WHOLE PROCESS AND HE RESPECTED THAT [ASK]… HE WANTED TO MEET AND I WAS LIKE, ‘ALRIGHT, YOU ARE GOING TO COME TO OUR HOUSE; I AM NOT COMING TO YOU,’ AND HE RESPECTED THAT. HE WANTED TO OUTLINE THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT RESIGNING MEANS AND I WAS LIKE, ‘LOOK THE ONLY CONSEQUENCE TO ME RESIGNING IS YOU LOSE A TITHE-PAYER. THERE IS NO CONSEQUENCE TO ME.’ IT WAS CATHARTIC DOING THAT IN PERSON BECAUSE THERE IS A WEBSITE CALLED ‘QUITMORMON.ORG’, WHICH YOU LITERALLY SUBMIT PAPERS, AND THEY HAVE AN ACTUAL ATTORNEY PROCESS THE PAPERS AND SEND IT TO THE CHURCH. YOU COMPLETELY REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE BUREAUCRATIC PROCESS OF RESIGNING… [BUT] I FELT LIKE I NEEDED [TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS] MYSELF…” YAMAMOTO REITERATED HIS FEELINGS ABOUT GOING THROUGH THE RESIGNATION PROCESS: “…IT WAS CATHARTIC FOR ME WHEN HE FIRST CAME AND HE WAS EXPLAINING [EVERYTHING] TO ME, THAT HE WAS MORE VISIBLY NERVOUS BEING THERE THAN I WAS. IT WAS CATHARTIC TO ME TO KNOW THAT THEIR POWER OVER ME IS BEING RELINQUISHED. IT IS STILL A PROCESS, BUT IT WAS EYE OPENING TO REALIZE THAT THEY NO LONGER HAVE THE POWER THAT I GAVE TO THEM FOR SO LONG.” WHEN ASKED WHY IS IT, AT THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW, THAT HE IS GIVING UP HIS TEMPLE GARMENTS NOW IN 2020 COMPARED TO FIVE YEARS AGO, YAMAMOTO EXPLAINED: “…I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO DONATE THIS, MY TEMPLE CLOTHES, FOR ABOUT A YEAR SINCE MY FRIEND GRAHAM RUTTAN APPROACHED ME ABOUT IT. BUT, I THINK FOR ME PERSONALLY, THIS KIND OF SIGNIFIES AN OFFICIAL ENDING OF A PART OF MY LIFE AND… I GUESS IT IS KIND OF A PIVOT POINT [IN MY LIFE] SO TO SPEAK… I THINK PART OF THE REASON WHY I AM DONATING THIS IS PAYING RESPECT TO MY PREVIOUS LIFE AS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE [CHURCH], [AND] AS A MORMON. SO, THIS, I THINK, PAYS HOMAGE TO [MY] PREVIOUS LIFE AS A MORMON BY PRESERVING IT. MANY PEOPLE WHO NO LONGER HAVE A DESIRE TO OR WISHES TO DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES WITH TEMPLE, THEY SIMPLY THROW THESE [GARMENTS] AWAY. I’VE SEEN PEOPLE BURN THEM, I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE DO LOTS OF THINGS WITH [THEIR GARMENTS], (IT IS JUST KIND OF THEIR WAY OF PROCESSING THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THESE)… IT IS GIVING THESE UP BUT ALSO RESPECTING MY PAST THAT VALUED THESE [GARMENTS] SO MUCH AND THAT USED THESE QUITE A BIT, BUT IS [ALSO] NOW READY TO KIND OF MOVE ON FROM THAT [ENVIRONMENT]…” YAMAMOTO COMMENTED ON THE FEELINGS ASSOCIATED WITH TEMPLE GARMENTS: “…THESE TEMPLE GARMENTS, I WOULD SAY, ARE VERY HIGHLY CHARGED REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOUR EXPERIENCE IS, WHETHER IT IS POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE WITH THE CHURCH, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTIVE [AND] IN-BELIEVING MORMONS, THEY VIEW THESE AS VERY SACRED, AND PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ACTIVE AND WHO ARE NOT-BELIEVING, OR EVEN VIEW THE CHURCH QUITE ANTAGONISTICALLY, HAVE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON [THESE ITEMS]… THERE IS A BIG WEIGHT THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE…” ON IF THERE WAS ANY RELUCTANCE TO DONATING HIS TEMPLE GARMENTS, YAMAMOTO REFLECTED: “…THERE WAS A BIT OF RELUCTANCE. THERE IS A BIT OF A SENTIMENTAL PART OF IT, TO KEEP [THE GARMENTS]… [THE OTHER] PART OF THIS IS JUST KIND OF A ‘FUCK YOU’ TO THE INSTITUTION THAT BROUGHT THIS INTO MY LIFE… IT IS SUCH A MIXED BAG BECAUSE PART OF ME IS VERY COMPLIANT, PART OF ME IS VERY LOYAL, BUT THEN THERE IS A PART OF ME THAT IS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT DISMANTLING POWER; JUST WHEN I SEE POWER INEQUITIES, I HAVE A NATURAL DESIRE TO WANT TO DISMANTLE IT. AND SO I THINK THAT [PART OF] ME WANTING TO DONATE [THE GARMENTS] BACK [IN 2019], AND OF COURSE NOW [IN 2020], IS KIND OF BRINGING ALL OF [THOSE NOTIONS] IN SOME WEIRD ALIGNMENT; BECAUSE I’M NOT… THROWING [THE GARMENTS] IN THE FIRE, BUT THE COMPLIANT PART OF ME IS FINDING AN OFFICIAL WAY TO, I GUESS, DISCARD THEM…” YAMAMOTO ADDED ONTO WHAT WAS THE DELAY IN DONATING HIS TEMPLE GARMENTS: “…ONE OF THE REASONS, TO BE HONEST, [THAT] WAS THE BIGGEST DELAY… I WANTED TO HAVE A TOGA PARTY WITH THESE [GARMENTS] BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN MY FRIENDS DO IT, AND THAT IS LIKE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ‘FUCK YOU’S’ THAT YOU COULD DO; TAKING THESE GARMENTS THAT ARE SO SACRED AND MIXING IT WITH ALCOHOL AND HAVING A PARTY IN THEM. NOW ONCE ‘COVID’ HAPPENED, THERE IS NO WAY FOR ME IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE TO DO THAT [TYPE OF PARTY], UNLESS I WANT TO REALLY PUT MY HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND MY FRIENDS’ HEALTH AND SAFETY AT RISK… SO WHEN I FULLY REALIZED THAT I WON’T BE ABLE TO DO THAT I WAS LIKE, ‘OKAY THIS IS THE TIME TO DO IT’.” WHEN ASKED, WHO IS SAMUEL YAMAMOTO NOW, LIVING IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA? YAMAMOTO REPLIED: “…I HAVE GROWN TO LOVE THIS PLACE. IT WAS HARD AT FIRST, BUT I HAVE A BEAUTIFUL WIFE, AND I HAVE TWO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS, AND WE HAVE PLANTED OUR FEET HERE [IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA]. I HAVE A JOB AT LCI THAT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, AND I HAVE CO-WORKERS THAT I LOVE. I REALLY AM IN SUCH A GREAT SPOT. IN TERMS OF MORMONISM, IT IS REALLY INTERESTING BECAUSE I STILL CLAIM PARTS OF MORMONISM AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT. SOMETIMES WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE [THE CHURCH] THEY WANT TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES SO MUCH, BUT I AM SO FASCINATED WITH HOW MORMONISM INTERACTS WITH THE WORLD. I DON’T THINK THAT [FEELING] WILL EVER LEAVE AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT. I STILL VERY MUCH FOLLOW THE OFFICIAL CHURCH AND ITS POLICIES, AND WHAT COMES OUT. I STILL FOLLOW WHAT HAPPENS SOCIOLOGICALLY BECAUSE IT IMPACTS SO MUCH IN THE FABRIC OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA… I AM OKAY WITH EMBRACING PARTS OF [THE CHURCH TENETS] STILL; OTHER PARTS OF IT I TRY TO DISTANCE; THERE ARE PARTS OF MORMONISM THAT ARE SO INCREDIBLY HURTFUL AND HARMFUL TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT HAVE NOT GIVEN THEMSELVES SPACE TO DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM IT LIKE I DID FOR MANY YEARS. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE BECAUSE OF THE POLICIES OF THE CHURCH AND THAT WEIGHS ON ME. I HAVE PEOPLE THAT I LOVE IN MY LIFE THAT STILL EMBRACE MANY OF ITS TENETS AND MANY OF ITS HARMFUL ELEMENTS. I DON’T FEEL LIKE I NEED TO MOVE ON FROM THAT; I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO BE ABLE TO BE AROUND TO CHECK ON THAT AND SPEAK OUT AGAINST IT. I AM OKAY WITH MORMONISM STILL BEING A PART OF WHO I AM, AND I THINK THAT IS WHY [DONATING MY GARMENTS AND] DOING THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME, BECAUSE THIS VERY MUCH RESPECTS MY LIFE AS TO WHO I WAS OVER THREE DECADES…” YAMAMOTO COMMENTED: “…I DON’T REGRET MY JOURNEY THROUGH MORMONISM. I DO REGRET THE HARM I MAY HAVE CAUSED [AS] A MORMON, BECAUSE I KNOW I VERY MUCH HAD HOMOPHOBIC AND BIGOTED VIEWPOINTS BECAUSE OF WHAT I WAS TAUGHT THROUGH MORMONISM. I HAD, AND STILL HAVE TO DISMANTLE THEM. I AM NOT CLEAN FROM THAT [PERSPECTIVE] AND IT IS VERY LIKELY I MIGHT HAVE TO BATTLE THAT DEMON FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. AS LONG AS I AM AWARE OF IT AND FIGHTING AGAINST THAT, I THINK I AM IN A BETTER SPOT...” YAMAMOTO RESTATED, WHO HE IS NOW IN 2020, AND WHAT HIS CORE VALUES ARE: “…I AM VERY HAPPY WITH WHO I AM NOW. IT TOOK MY DEPARTURE FROM MORMONISM TO FIND THAT… MY [SLOW] BURN STARTED IN 2008, AND MY DEPARTURE OUT OF THE CHURCH RAN PARALLEL… WITH ME FINDING MORE AND MORE OF WHO I WAS AS A PERSON, AND WHAT MY CORE VALUES ARE AS [SAMUEL] YAMAMOTO; INSTEAD OF THESE VALUES THAT I HAD BEEN LITERALLY OUTSOURCING TO THE MORMON CHURCH MY ENTIRE LIFE. THAT’S KIND OF HARD AS A THIRTY-YEAR-OLD, TO TRY TO REDISCOVER WHAT YOUR CORE VALUES ARE. I DON’T THINK MY CORE VALUES ARE REALLY THAT COMPLEX; I THINK AS A PERSON, I TRY NOT TO DO HARM TO OTHERS; I TRY TO MAKE MY INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS AS POSITIVE AND UPLIFTING AS POSSIBLE, AND DISMANTLE THE FUCKING POWER THAT IS OUT THERE… I THINK PART OF [THOSE CORES] WAS FOUND AFTER ALL THE SMOLDERING OF LEAVING THE CHURCH… I HAD TO GO THROUGH DEVOTING MY LIFE TO A POWER STRUCTURE AND STRIPPING THAT AWAY IN A VERY PAINFUL PROCESS TO FIND THAT [FOR MYSELF].” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON SAMUEL YAMAMOTO’S CHURCH OF LATER-DAY-SAINTS MALE TEMPLE GARMENTS, EMAIL CORROSPONDANCE, PHOTOS INCLUDED WITH THE DONATION, RESEARCH RESOURCES, OR TO SEE THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20200034000

Acquisition Date

2020-10

Collection

Museum

Less detail