New Sayings for Mormon Walls (and Decorative Tiles)

August 15, 2009    By: Kent (MC) @ 4:45 pm   Category: Mormon Culture/Practices

If you live outside the Mormon corridor, you may not have seen these types of signs or tiles up in people’s homes (as illustrated in the photo to the left). It seems like every Mormon home I go to has a sign up in awesome stenciled lettering which provides opportunities for reflection on deep gospel principles (like “Choose the Right” or “Love is Spoken Here”). I haven’t loved the new fad of the decorative tiles or the vinyl stenciling on the walls until I saw one that stated, “What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about?” At that moment I realized that we could start something wonderful that will catch on, especially in Utah Valley. I thought of some new ones that would work well in our home and hope you will share some sayings that you think could catch on. My wife thinks about 1/3 are totally dumb, but who knows which one will soon be hanging in our home? You may hold the key to swaying her with your vote.

Honoring your agency means telling you no.

I never said it would be easy.

Obedience is the first law of heaven. The second is like unto the first.

It is always darkest before God opens a window.

I love you no matter how I treat you.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Everything happens for a reason you couldn’t understand.

Return with honor; I’m holding the iron rod.

Save the cheerleader, choose the right.

Sacrifice. Just do it.

Men are that they might be giants.

There are no sins, only weaknesses and shortcomings.

Be still and know that I know what you did last summer.

Remember who you are; if you don’t already know, I’m not going to tell you.

The field is white, the sky is blue.

Find joy in the journey, right in the last place you left it.

Faith: knowing is half the battle.

33 Comments

  1. These aren’t the members your looking for.

    May the force be with you after midnight.

    With every fiber of my being, I know this is a home.

    Comment by Tod Robbins — August 15, 2009 @ 5:17 pm

  2. “What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it’s all about?”

    Yes, what if….

    You have some good ideas for the tiles. (Yeah I see them everywhere too!) I hope to see them one day. :)

    Comment by Joseph Smidt — August 15, 2009 @ 5:48 pm

  3. “What if the entire point of your life is to serve as a warning to others?”

    Comment by Seth R. — August 15, 2009 @ 6:25 pm

  4. Faith: knowing is half the battle.

    FTW! That is so circular that my mind can’t stop chasing it. If we’re allowed two votes, my second goes to, “Men are that they might be giants.”

    How about one for hanging above the computer: “Remember who you are, but don’t tell anyone on the internet.”

    Or above the Xbox: “Idle hands are the devil’s playground.”

    And last, a good motivator: “What Wouldn’t Teancum Do?”

    Comment by BrianJ — August 15, 2009 @ 6:40 pm

  5. One I stold from Homer:

    “Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I’m not listening

    Comment by John Scherer — August 15, 2009 @ 7:31 pm

  6. “There are no sins, only weaknesses and shortcomings.”

    This is a saying for a Mormon wall? Sounds like something that Nehor or Korihor would say.

    Comment by Hunter — August 15, 2009 @ 7:47 pm

  7. How about the Dumbo’s Feather principle?: “Not everything that is useful is true”

    Comment by Geoff J — August 15, 2009 @ 9:25 pm

  8. Euphemism, man, euphemism.

    Comment by Mark D. — August 15, 2009 @ 10:10 pm

  9. I know Hunter, I know! Think about the prayers people give in church. How often do we ask for forgiveness of sins? At least where I live it is always “please forgive us of our shortcomings and weaknesses.”

    Comment by Kent (MC) — August 15, 2009 @ 10:39 pm

  10. Appropriate all throughout the Great Basin: “Did you think to pray (for moisture)?”

    This should have been hung up at every Boy Scout campout I ever went on: “God made dirt and dirt don’t hurt.”

    Comment by Ben Pratt — August 15, 2009 @ 11:05 pm

  11. John:

    That’s an absolute classic HS line. I’ll use it on my wife the next time she give me grief about daydreaming while I get the play-by-play from the last girls night out.

    Comment by Paul M — August 16, 2009 @ 10:54 pm

  12. Remember who you are –– but don’t let it get you down.

    WWJD (for a Klondike Bar)?

    Comment by Latter-day Guy — August 17, 2009 @ 1:49 am

  13. Kent, this is a brilliant idea. Where the bacon is, there will my heart be also.

    Comment by Jacob J — August 17, 2009 @ 9:10 am

  14. There could be some money made with these.

    Comment by Eric Nielson — August 17, 2009 @ 9:42 am

  15. Here are a couple of others:

    No, Jesus never actually said, ‘I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it.’.

    and

    He who has the most church quotes stenciled on decorative tiles wins.

    Comment by Hunter — August 17, 2009 @ 10:07 am

  16. I’m trying to convince my wife to let me hang quotes from Denis Leary on our wall. One of my favorite Denis Leary quotes: “Life sucks, get a helmet.”

    Comment by Brian Duffin — August 17, 2009 @ 10:39 am

  17. These are laugh out loud funny.

    “Choose you this day what ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve gluten-free cuisine.”

    “Some 900 miles north of Salt Lake City is the beautiful city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, home of the famous Calgary Stampede, one of Canada’s largest annual events and the world’s largest outdoor rodeo.” –President Thomas S. Monson

    Comment by Ben Pratt — August 17, 2009 @ 10:40 am

  18. Ben Pratt, from that same talk:

    [M]ay I just say that egg salad must be refrigerated. If it is not, and if it is subjected to high heat such as that which would be produced by the sun beating through a bus window on a sunny day, it becomes a rather efficient incubator for various strains of bacteria that can result in what may commonly be referred to as food poisoning.

    Ah, I can see the stenciling now . . .

    Comment by Hunter — August 17, 2009 @ 11:07 am

  19. I can see it too, and it’s a beautiful thing, Hunter.

    Comment by Ben Pratt — August 17, 2009 @ 11:38 am

  20. Wickedness never was happiness, but it’ll do in a pinch.

    Comment by Bruce H. — August 17, 2009 @ 11:54 am

  21. Bruce, that is a GOOD one! However, my wife would never put that one up. Maybe in the bathroom.

    Comment by Kent (MC) — August 17, 2009 @ 12:18 pm

  22. I know the Calgary Stampede is true.

    Comment by BrianJ — August 17, 2009 @ 12:18 pm

  23. “Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps the Lord just plain doesn’t care?”

    Boyd K. Packer

    From here

    Comment by Matt W. — August 17, 2009 @ 12:58 pm

  24. You forgot the standard missionary classic:

    Do it, dammit!

    Comment by cadams — August 17, 2009 @ 3:16 pm

  25. My husband always want to put this one on our wall, just to make our very conservative bishop do a double-take.

    “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. –Karl Marx”

    I mean, it’s practically the law of consecration.

    Comment by Allie — August 18, 2009 @ 12:49 pm

  26. This is on the wall in the bathroom at my relief society president’s house:

    “Save water, bathe with a friend.”

    Comment by L-d Sus — August 19, 2009 @ 7:02 pm

  27. Doubtless found on the wall of many a Utah County den:

    “I have a testimony that MLM is true.”

    Comment by BJohnson — August 20, 2009 @ 10:54 am

  28. Another classic:

    “Friends welcome anytime. Relatives by appointment only.”

    Comment by BJohnson — August 20, 2009 @ 10:55 am

  29. “Water snakes have a way of being where you least expect them.” -Thomas S. Monson

    or from the same address: “Frances! Here comes Herman!”

    From here.

    Comment by BHodges — September 24, 2009 @ 1:37 pm

  30. Wo unto them which are with child, for they shall be heavy -Helaman 15:2

    Comment by Jacob J — December 10, 2012 @ 11:11 am

  31. …and cannot flee!” I like how well it speaks comfort to the soul Jacob.

    Comment by Kent (MC) — December 16, 2012 @ 10:58 am

  32. Truth is eternal…until God tells us differently.

    For are all alike unto God – selfish and rebellious.

    Faith is a fact. -George Bluth

    Testimony: fake it till you make it, one fiber at a time.

    As for me and my house, we will wear pants.

    Pants: isn’t it about time?

    Martin Harris and Mormon Activism: we won’t take no for an answer.

    Don’t judge me because I [am righteous] differently than you.

    Comment by Riley — December 28, 2012 @ 10:15 am

  33. “One fiber at a time,” that is a good one.

    Comment by Jacob J — December 30, 2012 @ 7:40 pm