Sister missionaries clash with energy protesters at Festival of Lights

Source: Mary Holly Daiz

The Festival of Lights closed early Saturday evening after a fight broke out between sister missionaries and environmentalists at the Washington, D.C. Temple Visitor’s Center. Witnesses were unable to identify who instigated the brawl, but many believe fighting started after a protester pushed away a sister missionary trying to offer a Book of Mormon.

Each year, the Visitor’s Center puts on the Festival of Lights, decorating its grounds with thousands of Christmas lights and sponsoring concerts from various area music groups. “It’s a great way to get in the spirit of the season,” commented Sister Paulsen, a sister missionary from Utah. “It’s a wonderful way for family and friends to celebrate their Christmas cheer.”

Protesters arrived early in the evening, before lights at the Visitor’s Center were turned on. One member of the group stated, “The Festival of Lights is an energy consumption nightmare. Billions of watts of energy are used to power the display for hours each night. We’re here to let them know that such waste is despicable with all that’s been going on with the ice caps.”

Protesters unsuccessfully attempted to confuse Visitor’s Center officials by counting in reverse during the traditional “countdown to lights-on.” They displayed signs with charts from Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth. One sister missionary expressed confusion, “Their axes aren’t even labeled.”

Sister missionaries eventually approached the protesters, allegedly attempting to share a Christmas message. Violence quickly ensued and lasted several minutes until Festival patrons forcibly separated the groups. One patron, who receive a black eye while attempting to hold back a sister missionary, related, “I knew our sisters had passion for the gospel, but oh holy night they put the smack down on those protesters.”

Police opted not to file any charges after interviewing witnesses.