Each day at 6:30 a.m. Sister Kessa Whiting, 22, rises and says her prayers. At about 9:30 a.m. she heads out to spend the next 12 hours telling anyone who'll listen about the incredible joy her faith has brought.
She does not take a day off; she gets paid nothing, and she's delighted to do it, she says with a smile.
"Every morning I get up I'm so grateful that I can talk to people about things that are so powerful in the world," she said.
Whiting is one of 200 young people who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and who have come to Minnesota from all over the world to convert souls to what they say is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. There are 60,000 Mormon missionaries worldwide.
As the TV cameras pan over the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Mormon temples and houses of worship are as prominent in the background as the Wasatch Mountain range.
Mormons, who prefer to be called Latter-day Saints, dominate Utah culturally, economically, politically and theologically.
While they're little known or understood in the United States they are one of the fastest growing religions in the world, with an even split between members in the United States and overseas.
Worldwide, there are about 11 million Mormons, including about 23,000 in Minnesota. Non-Mormon scholars predict membership will reach 65 million by 2080. The National Council of Churches' 2002 directory of religious groups reported this week that the Mormons have surpassed the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to become the fifth largest denomination in the country. The ELCA is now sixth. The Latter-day Saints are poised to become the world's first major new religion since Islam.
In their daily lives Mormons stress honesty, fidelity, social service, patriotism, family, hard work, tolerance of others' beliefs and fiscal responsibility. They have a expansive, generous welfare system that helps those in need and responds to disasters. And they have that wonderful choir, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Yet Mormons have been persecuted, driven from New York, Ohio and Illinois in the 1800s until they withdrew from the United States and settled in the Utah territory. The federal government has gone to war against them, and on occasion Mormons have had to submit to federal laws that went against their beliefs.
Who are they?
For Mormons to claim "to be the church of Jesus Christ is to commit consumer fraud," says Ron Carlson, who runs Christian Ministries International in Minnetonka, and who has lectured for 25 years in 78 countries against the Mormons. "They're misrepresenting themselves."
Carlson wouldn't mind, he said, if they called themselves the Church of Joseph Smith, their founder, or the Church of the Angel Moroni, whom Mormons believe appeared to Smith.
"How can they say during the Olympics, 'We're just another Christian denomination,' when their books declare all Christian churches are false. They have declared war on Jesus Christ and his church," he said.
When Mormons hear criticisms like this they often are offended, and always are bemused, they say.
Lonny Gleed, president of the Minnesota-Minneapolis Mission, said of Carlson, "I don't know what his logic is. Our whole truth and belief is founded in Jesus Christ. We believe he's the son of God and savior of the world. Everything revolves around him. We worship him and honor him and are grateful."
However, Gleed does concede that the unique teachings of the Latter-day Saints can be misunderstood.
Like any religion, the Church is very complex. But generally, Mormons believe that Jesus appeared to the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. His teachings were enshrined on golden tablets and then lost until an angel named Moroni showed them to a young man named Joseph Smith in upstate New York in 1830. Smith translated the tablets and announced that they were the "restored" gospel of Jesus Christ.
Mormons believe that the Bible is the word of God, but it has been translated many times and subject to human interpretation, which can distort the message. They assert that the Book of Mormon, which is Smith's translation of the tablets, and also his continuing revelations from God, are the "restored gospel."
They revere both books, they say. But their president is a prophet, one who continues to receive revelations from God.
Gleed says, "The claim of the church is very bold. We believe that God speaks to prophets as he has done through the ages, and Joseph Smith is one in a long line of modern-day prophets. We revere the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints and the prophets. That doesn't fit with the theology of many churches." President Gordon B. Hinckley, the current prophet, has been in office since 1995.
One of the 13 articles of faith written by Joseph Smith says, "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
Carlson contends that Mormons "empty the Christian words and replace them with the manmade theology of Joseph Smith. To the public it looks like Christianity, but if you taste the content of what's inside, you'll choke for eternity.
"It's a false cult presented by a false prophet."
Persecution
Lynne Cropper, the church's media representative in the Upper Midwest, says that despite the prejudice that Mormons often encounter, they are not prejudiced against other faiths. Another of the 13 principles of the faith says, "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."
Cropper said, "I would rather have someone say to me, 'I have the truth and not you.' Then I know what they believe, where they stand. It's an honest exchange."
Sister Elesa Weinand, another missionary, said, "Other Christians are teaching people good things. What we bring to people is the new prophets. When you read the scripture you know it's the word of God, and it's also so good to have a living prophet today to have those revelations, so I can be guided" by them.
Before the living prophets began with Smith, Weinand said, "People had to rely on their own knowledge. They could also be inspired through prayer, so some things were lost. If you have that direct link to God nothing is lost."
Being a member, one who has a "Temple Recommend" card for entrance into a temple, requires a lot. Mormons give 10 percent of their income and their time to the church. However, they say they do it gladly.
Gleed, 53, left his job in Salt Lake City to come to Minnesota for three years with his wife and daughter. Another daughter is in college. Gleed does not get paid for the family's three-year stint here. The church provides their house and car, and "we have savings," he said. "It's really just a matter of not having any income for three years, but we're happy to do it. We love it here. Minnesota is incredibly beautiful. The people are good and down to earth, kind people."
Whiting said she grew up in Orange County, Calif., and has been delighted with Minnesota. With a laugh, she said, "I was petrified of the cold, but I thought 'You can do it!' "
She came to her faith through struggles in her teenage years. "I was doing what I wanted to do rather than what the Lord wanted me to do. It was a more indulgent lifestyle. I questioned my faith a lot."
But as she matured she realized that her faith was a pathway to salvation and a way of life that gave her true peace. "I have found a peace that's hard to explain. I can wake up in the morning and not have a single regret. Not one. I can wake up with the confidence I'm doing what my heavenly father wants me to do. That gives me so much peace and joy."