Mormonism is hard to shake loose from those who are long-time adherents.
Allen McWhite, chairman of the Intercultural Studies Department at North Greenville University, says missions work in Utah is almost like being outside the United States.
“It is as cross-cultural as you can get without having to learn another language,” he said, referring to Provo, Utah, or what he calls the “heartbeat of the LDS church today.”
NGU students are in Utah this summer sharing the one true gospel with the Mormon community. The students, through a GenSend program, are working with church plants in Provo and West Valley City.
More than 61.46 percent of Utah’s population belong to the Mormon religion, meaning more than 2 million people in the state are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
In areas like these, Mormonism seeps into the culture and becomes not just a religion, but a lifestyle. Those who choose to leave the church are often rejected by family and friends and become outcasts.
“Mormonism pervades the culture, and it’s very difficult, and very costly, to come out of,” McWhite said.
Students serving there this summer hope to bring the light of Jesus into a spiritually dark area. In towns saturated in LDS culture, being able to put faces and names to the religion they’ve learned about personalizes the evangelism work they are doing.
NGU’s team is mainly engaging in what is called frontline evangelism. This means talking to people on the street, in coffee shops, and restaurants. It means knocking on doors and even attending classes at the LDS Institute of Religion. They are seeking opportunities for gospel conversations.
Hannah Welch is one of the students serving in Utah this summer. A rising junior, she is pursuing a degree in intercultural studies. Welch is in West Valley City, Utah.
Welch and the three other girls in her GenSend cohort are volunteering with ValleyLight Church. Along with holding Bible studies and sitting in on LDS institute classes, they also set up activities like distributing free snow cones at the park and helping at a festival called WestFest, handing out church fliers and bringing food and water to vendors.
These casual activities allowed Welch and her fellow Christians to start conversations about life and faith. Despite the constant LDS doctrine that they encounter, Welch said they are able to build friendships that provide the opportunity to share the gospel.
“I think it’s really important for someone to be here to show them who Jesus really is.” Welch said, “We like to say we just want to put pebbles in their shoes and plant seeds in their life.”
Welch was able to see the fruit of one “pebble” when one of the girls she met asked to meet up for lunch to talk about the differences in their religions and learn more about Christianity.
While it may not have been an immediate and earth-shattering instance of salvation, there was curiosity. The girl was questioning what she had known to be true and was beginning to see life in light of the truest Truth.
Connor Crusco, a rising NGU senior, is also serving in Utah this summer. He is there through Gen-Send as well, but located in Provo.
Crusco and his cohort are volunteering with Mosaic Church, located in downtown Provo. His team holds Bible studies and attends institute classes, but they have also had opportunities to engage in conversations and build friendships through everyday activities.
Crusco and other young men in his cohort got memberships at a local gym and start conversations with people when opportunity arises. They play pickleball and build friendships with the people who are consistently there.
On the first game night, the attendees consisted of Christians, LDS members, ex-LDS, and atheists — young adults from wildly different backgrounds all sharing in the common ground of snacks and games.
“Getting to know these people, and continuing to do that over time, is absolutely crucial to developing relationships and showing them that you’re trustworthy in the testimony you give them when you tell them the gospel,” Crusco said.
— Samantha Meyeres is a senior journalism major at North Greenville University who served as a summer intern with The Baptist Courier.