Lorenzo Casto

COMM-2150
06/20/2020

For my project, I elected to visit a Christian meeting, specifically of The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons. I visited my LDS cousin’s

church in her West Jordan neighborhood, attending the full 3-4 hr. worship practices.

Throughout the day, As I had questions and/or concerns, both the class instructors as well as my

cousin were more than happy to answer them. I also chose to relate my experience to the Value

Orientation Theory. 1

Although I do not identify as a Christian practitioner, I am fairly well familiarized with

their general beliefs. Now while prior to my experience, I believed the Mormon’s to be the same

as most other Christianity’s, sharing the same morals and values. And while that is generally

true, there are some key differences I found: the LDS believe the godhead to be three distinct

people, and not one in multiple forms. They believe the true Church of Christ was lost on the

face of the earth, following the death of Peter, until the foundation of the LDS church by J.

Smith. They believe certain ordained individuals can hold a portion of the Christly power, called

the priesthood, allowing them to bless, heal, and sanctify, in a similar but much smaller way to

the miracles of Christ. And lastly. They follow a much stricter lifestyle regime, as the

requirements for heaven are more arduous.

Arriving onto the property early, we waited for the start of the service, which happened at

around 9am. All the members of the ward or stake, respectively contingent on congregational

size, as well as the visitors, took their seats in the Chapel. Here is where the main religious

function of the day will be held:

1
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 94.
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020
The service is initiated with a member of the congregation, previously asked, to offer up an

“opening prayer”. Contrary to Catholicism, prayers in the Mormon faith are not memorized

chants but more like personal messages to the Creator. All are valid as long as they are opened

by addressing in some manner “Our father in heaven” and close in “Jesus’ name, Amen”. The

main service then proceeded to the “sacrament”. Similar to all Christian sacrament tradition,

bread and water is passed around the congregation to represent the body and blood of Christ;

wine is not used as the LDS church does not condone the use of drinking alcohol. By partaking

in these, the members are absolved of their sins the week prior and are able to begin with a new

slate.

Following the conclusion of the sacrament, the congregation is then offered weekly

announcements, from subjects such as holidays and cookouts to service projects that need more

support. Following the announcements, a pre-established set of speakers then addresses the

attendees with a sermon of sorts. These speakers can be any members of the church, from the

youth of 12 onwards to the elderly. Hymns are also sung, before each prayer, as well as in

between all sermons, and halfway through the event. The hymns were selected from an LDS

hymn book provided on the benches. Many, if not all, of the songs were unrecognizable and

must’ve been explicitly created for the Mormon church.

The first hour of the day came to an end with the “closing prayer” being offered

following the final hymn. After the “amen” I asked my cousin what next? She proceeded to

explain to me that for the next hours all members go to different Sunday school classes based on

their age ranges and genders. The first class splits attendees by age, sending the children under

12 to primary classes, while those 12-18 are put in another, and finally the adults are in a third

separate area. The following class sees all males sent to one location, and females to another:
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020
initially meeting together, halfway through the meeting is broken into gendered-age groups, and

a short final class is held. Each of these individual classes has a name, and achievements/merits

that come with passing on from one to another. These events are usually celebrated as a spiritual

step for the individual. Additionally, each of these classes is taught by another appointed member

of the congregation, usually elected by “God” through the bishop/administration. And with the

dismissal from the final class, the religious service had concluded, and people began making

their way home.

Now just like every-other religion, people can get bored. Especially kids. Throughout my

time in the Church, there were constantly people playing in the basketball court, or goofing off in

the hallways or unused classrooms. The building was as lively as it was religious and respectful.

After learning about the LDS religion for a whole morning, as well as asking questions to

multiple teachers as well as my cousin, a few things stood out to me: While Mormons have the

values of honesty, loyalty, respect, etc… they also focus very strongly on things such as diet and

modesty. The LDS doctrine speaks out against hot and caffeinated drinks, intoxicating

substances as well as smoking. This means that 99% of Mormons will not drink alcohol, smoke

tobacco, or drink coffee/tea. They also enforce a modesty rule on women’s clothing, varying

from family to family, but overall dedicated to preserving the females honor. This also included

tattoos and piercings, which are not allowed either. Mormons are also discouraged to date before

16, and pre-marital sex is a big sin. So needless to say, as a male with tattoos and piercings, it

was an interesting experience to see the faces of children of the questions of adults.

I was also surprised at the fact that all members are encouraged to go proselyte for the church at

18. They are taken on a 2 yearlong mission, where they are sent and housed in a location of the
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020
world, where they spread the gospel, assist members, work at church centers and organizations…

It is not only common, but almost frowned upon to not do.

The biggest difference I could find is also the most well-known one: the Book of Mormon.

Supposedly a composed book of texts that depict the life during the time of Christ, but in the

Americas. They also speak of the coming of Christ to the Americas, an arc the biblical reject.

Additional to the Book of Mormon, is the Pearl of Great Price, a compilation of 2 books written

and 3 books translated by Smith: book of Moses, the book of Abraham and the Book of

Matthew, translated; and the Joseph Smith history and Articles of Faith, written.

In reference to its beginnings, the LDS Church was organized circa 1830 by a man named

Joseph Smith in Western New York. The early congregations would soon suffer at the hands of

their neighboring religions, ultimately causing the murder of J. Smith and the fleeing of a people

from one coast to another. In 1847, the LDS pioneers settled in Utah Valley, current day Salt

Lake City. They grew their religion and population there, reaching a world membership number

of 16 million in 2018.

I chose to analyze my experience with Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck Value Orientation Theory2:

They emphasized the importance of cultural values in understanding other cultural groups. These

values are the shared beliefs of a group. According to the researchers, there are 5 questions all

cultural/religious groups must answer, whose questions reflect the predominant values of that

society3:

2
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 97.
3
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 97.
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020
What is human nature4? The LDS church believes that human nature is a mixture of good

and evil, where this life is the fight of the temptation of that evil to let good nature win

and achieve salvation. A perfect example of this is the act of taking the “sacrament”: it is

an act that admits that we humans have faults and have sinned; thus, evil nature. But we

have sought out redemption and through God, and his representational sacrament, we can

be forgiven.

What is the relationship between humans and nature? 5 The Mormon view is much similar

to the view of the region the church is located in. Because it is an international

organization, different chapters will have more of a dominate or submit relationship with

nature.

What is the relationship between humans?6 The Church is very group oriented, with the

perfect union being that of a family, and thus a group. They focus on meeting in large

groups and stress on the individual isn’t as important. Always the thought about of what

can I do for my neighbor? This was evident when even a stranger was in the midst, me,

everyone was still very polite and always willing to assist in any way they could.

What is the preferred personality? 7 Being a religious institution, I would have to say the

favor falls towards spiritual growth. Now although mid-week activities are sponsored and

revolve around “doing”, the general purpose of the organization is “growing” spiritually.

4
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 97.
5
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 98.
6
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 99.
7
Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 101.
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020
An example of this could be the “Strength for the Youth” activity books, which are

weekly activities you are to complete along with your scripture study and prayer.

What is the orientation towards time? 8 This one was the hardest for me to place, and still

am not sure if it is correct, but I believe the Mormon orientation towards time to be more

leaning towards the future. Although the past is acknowledged, people are given the

chance to absolve their sins, and work towards a better future. In fact, the whole weekly

ritual is removing the past sins and clearing the slate for the future.

Overall, I believe I went into the situation with very little to no bias, but with a few

misconceptions common about the Mormons, polygamy for example. But after meeting the

people, seeing the classes in action, and getting to experience an LDS Sunday for myself. I can

understand the appeal of the religion; regardless of your belief in God, being a part of a

community as tight knit and intertwined as this particular ward appeared would attract many

people. And if viewed from the viewpoint of a family raising children, there are many values and

morals that get taught that would serve a child good in life. My only qualm is that many of the

facets still seem old fashioned, archaic even. Other rules seem to be oppressive or vague, such as

the modesty requirements on women, or the caffeine consumption rules. While I cannot see

myself becoming a part of this religion, it was a very attractive experience, and broadened my

understanding of both the Mormon and the Christian religions as a whole.

8
1 Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston: McGraw Hill.
7thed (2017): 101.
Lorenzo Casto
COMM-2150
06/20/2020

Bibliography

1-8 . Martin, Judith N. & Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”, Boston:
McGraw Hill. 7thed (2017).