Project (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1990. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 184-190).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago Divinity School, March 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This thesis outlines the international diffusion and growth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon Church. A model of Mormon spatial diffusion in foreign countries is developed incorporating both a functional and spatial perspective. The functional perspective includes supply and demand variables which influence the rate of growth of the Mormon Church in a country. The functional perspective is not fully explored in the thesis. The spatial perspective which the study concentrates on seeks to show a general spatial pattern related to the spread of the Church within countries. The original diffusion of the Church to other countries and the patterns of stake and mission formations in these nations since World War II are outlined. Stakes are used as Mormon population location indicators. Special emphasis is given to Latin America, because of the success that the Mormon Church has had there. The study finds that the Mormon Church has generally spread in a hierarchical manner within foreign countries.

In a country where only 2.53 per cent of the female population is literate, the importance of education for girls cannot be overestimated. India, being freed from British Rule in 1947, is now an independent self-governing nation. In its draft constitution it has accepted the democratic way of life. Democracy postulates an equality of opportunity for every individual to develop his abilities to the fullest extent and to be able to play his proper role in society. Therefore, in Indian today women have equal opportunity with men guaranteed by the constitution; and, in order to exercise this libety with an intellectual and social alertness, they must no longer be deprived of educational advantage.

Even after the Vatican II has categorically revealed the role and the place of the laity in the Church, there is so much of resistance and cynicism prevailing among the clergy and the people in the Indian Church about this clarion call of the Council. Around 90% of Catholics keep themselves passive in their faith practice. As we delay the promotion of active and full use of the lay potential, the greater the chance and number of the lay faithful losing their faith. A strong feeling of insecurity in the clergy leads to distrust of lay talents and charisms and it also leads to blocking the gifts of the Lord and limiting the participatory Church in India. As a result, the ministry of the laity has become totally dependent on the clergy, which is totally against the vision of the communion ecclesiology of Vatican II. Therefore, the creation of awareness among the lay people on their singular role in carrying out the mission of the Church in our world is essential today. To achieve this goal, this pastoral synthesis project is prepared. In an effort to understand the context of the project, first, a case is described; second, basic background of Indian socio-religious-cultural background is elaborated; third, some of the most significant biblical and traditional theological resources and reflections on laity and ministry are discussed, especially exploring teachings of Vatican II and Pope Francis; and finally, in order to help alleviate the problem, a pastoral plan of “Integral Christian Growth Formation of Lay Leaders” is presented in detail. The members of Parish Pastoral Councils, leaders of Small Christian Communities, and Catechism teachers are considered as a focus group for this formation. Though the renewal of the laity in their identity and nature is illustrated in general, the tentative project plan, in particular, is presented for the Tamil Nadu region of India. On the whole, collaborative shared ministry of laity and clergy is proposed not as a concession by the clergy, but as a norm. Thus, through this project, some thousands of committed lay leaders will be identified, trained, empowered, commissioned and followed up, which will bring great revival in the life of the Church in Tamil Nadu, India.

My original idea for the book was to do a picturesque-type novel, with chapters that would practically be short stories in themselves. But as I got into the writing of it, I decided to pursue one main theme--Sister Harper's conflicts regarding her missionary calling--working them out to a climax and a resolution. I still intended to give the book a picturesque flavor, however, by embellishing it with digressions, sidelines, and banalities that are always a part of missionary life.

The first missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went to Hawaii in 1850. As native converts joined the Church, many desired to gather in Utah with converts from other parts of the world, in order to perform Church ordinances in the temples located there. Until about 1870, Hawaiians were prohibited by their government from leaving the Islands permanently. As the laws were relaxed they came to Utah a few at a time with returning missionaries until by 1889 about seventy-five were living in Salt Lake City.Cultural and social problems arose causing the Church officials to decide to locate all the Polynesians in one place by themselves. Under the direction of the First Presidency of the Mormon Church a committee of three former Hawaiian missioanries and three natives selected the ranch of John Irch in Skull Valley, Tooele County, Utah as the site for a Polynesian colony. A Church-controlled corporation was established to purchase and hold the colony's properties. The Polynesians were hired to work on the ranch.A townsite was laid out, lots were sold and homes were bult for the colonists. The colony was named Iosepa, in honor of the sixth president of the Church, Joseph F. Smith, who had served as a missionary among the Hawaiians and was solicitous of their welfare.For the first decade, the company operated at a loss due to the financial difficulties of the 1890's. Gradually financial conditions improved, the company began to feed more livestock, a store was opened and then Iosepa began to realize a profit.At first Iosepa was isolated from other Utah communities. The only way in or out of the colony was by foot or horses. Its post office was in Grantsville, about thirty miles to the northeast. In 1906 the Western Pacific Railroad Company built a line through Utah passing through Timpie, fifteen miles north of Iosepa. A Stagecoach line was established between Timpie and the colony and mail services were extended to the settlement. About the same time, a long distance telephone line gave the colonists a means of rapid communciation with the outside world. By about 1910 the Hawaiians were enjoying as many of the amenities of modern life as any other Utah community its size.Ecclesiastically Iosepa held a unique position in the Church. As a mission branch, all its reports went directly to the First Preidency. Religious leadership was vested in a returned Hawaiian missionary. Hawaiian members usually served as officers in the auxillary organizations.Leprosy and various illnesses caused some concern in the colony, but by 1900 the lepers had died. As doctors became more attainable and as the Hawaiians became more acclimated, problems of sickness decereased.In 1915 the Church announced that a temple was to be built at Laie, Hawaii. Upon hearing this some of the Hawaiians announced that they were returning to the Islands. Soon the movement to return was under way and all were swept with it. By 1917 all had returned to the Islands but one family which remained in Salt Lake City. That fall the Deseret Livestock Company purchased the Iosepa property and Utah's Polynesian colony ceased to exist.Some have asserted that leprosy, other sickness, financial failure or failure of the Polynesians to become acclimated to the area caused the failure and closing of the colony. Each one of these problems was overcome years before the colony's end. The colony was a success. It had been established for a purpose; when its purpose was fulfilled it ceased to exist.

Performance tests are an effective way of assessing examinees' ability to perform specific job-related tasks. This thesis details the development and validation of a performance test designed to measure LDS missionaries' ability to perform missionary tasks in a foreign language, the Missionary Language Performance Test (MLPT).The development of the test involved identifying a set of relevant missionary tasks, specifying the criteria to be evaluated, designing test items, devising a procedure for sampling tasks and for administering and rating the test, and training raters to administer the test. Three separate studies were conducted to validate the test: (a) both the MLPTand the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview were administered to a set of missionaries to determine the degree of correlation between the two tests; (b) the MLPT was administered to a group of MTC teachers, a group of missionaries in their last week of training, and a group in their first week of training, and the scores of the three groups were compared; and (c) the MLPT was administered twice to a group of missionaries, each time by a different pair of raters, to assess test-retest reliability and to validate the procedure used for sampling tasks. The results of these studies provided evidence that the test is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing missionaries' second language speaking skills.

In 1939, when Germany mobilized its military against neighboring Poland, LDS missionaries were notified to evacuate their missions. In August 1940, the full-time missionaries in the South African and Pacific missions were also evacuated because of the spread of hostilities in Europe. Later the missionaries were released from the missions in South America. By 1943 the only missionaries serving outside of North America were in Hawaii.All of the more than eight hundred missionaries were transported at Church expense to America, where they were either reassigned to missions within the United States or released to return to their homes. All this was accomplished without serious illness or accident. This thesis recounts their activities, experiences, and problems. Special research emphasis has been given to personal interviews and contemporary journal accounts.

The East India Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially opened in 1851, with the arrival of Elder Joseph Richards from England. He baptized several people, the most important of whom were James Patric Meik and his family, Maurice White, and Matthew McCune and his family. The Meiks and the McCunes contributed a great deal of service to the Church in Calcutta and Rangoon. Both of these families eventaully immigrated to Utah. Elder Richards left Calcutta after a few months there and before his return some months later, was preceeded by Elder William Willes. Willes labored in Calcutta and then on the return of Elder Richards from England, the two men carried the Gospel to Agra and the Upper Provinces.In April of 1853, these two men were joined by thirteen Elders from America, four of whom were sent to Siam. Thus the total number of official missionaries that were sent to the East India Mission was fifteen. Elders Meik and McCune were local converts, but did act as missionaries.