Being Mormon in Dangerous Times

For most teens, being Mormon is comforting and fun. It means knowing what is right without having to guess, having the reassurance of an eternal family, having standards that keep them out of trouble, and a built-in group of friends no matter where they go. For some teens, though, being Mormon is a dangerous thing.

Mormon Teens Murdered in El Salvador

Closeup of a soldier with a scripture from Romans about fear.Recently, three Mormon boys and the brother of one of them were murdered in El Salvador. El Salvador can be a dangerous place for anyone to live in, but it has special challenges for young people with high standards. It’s generally believed they weren’t killed specifically because they were Mormon. Rather, they were killed because they have high moral standards that led them to refuse to join a gang. They were known for sharing their beliefs with others, who, if converted, would then also refuse to be in the gangs, and that angered those who belonged to the gangs. They were returning from a midnight mass held at a local Catholic Church for a Catholic family member and decided to walk home because their family cars were filled. During that walk, gang members murdered them.

The boys were members of two families—two sets of brothers–and were all sixteen or seventeen years old. One had applied to become a Mormon missionary and had received a call to serve in Brazil. Another was in the process of getting his application ready. They were all considered young men with high moral values.

It is incredibly hard for a parent to lose even one child, but for each to lose two is nearly unbearable. However, these families have a special comfort that can be found in the faith of their Mormon sons. Mormons believe that families are forever. This means they believe God didn’t plan for family life to end just because someone dies. He made it possible for those who were willing and interested to keep their families forever.

How do Mormons Face Death and Murder?

Think about it. We are promised that Heaven is a totally amazing place where we will be completely happy. We’re happiest when we’re with the people we love most and that includes our families. We just can’t be completely happy if we lose forever our families. This means that to really be happy in Heaven, we will need our parents, our siblings, our spouses, and our children. God knows that, of course. He’s the reason we feel that way—He made us to need our families forever. Just listen in at the next funeral and see how often people talk about seeing the dead person again someday or take comfort in knowing the person who died has been reunited with his family. Our hearts know, even if the world has tried to convince us God will yank our families from us and force divorces and the abandonment of our families.

Knowing they will see their families again—and still be a family—gives Mormons an amazing comfort. It doesn’t mean they aren’t sad and that they won’t cry or have days of desperate loneliness. We have that when a family member moves away or goes on a long trip—and a long journey is all death really is. However, that grief is eased by the promise of an amazing future.

Mormon History was Full of Danger

Why would anyone want to be Mormon when there is so much danger in some countries? Well, Mormons have a long history of doing hard things, even when it is dangerous. In the early days of Mormonism, lots of Mormons, including children and teenagers, were killed by mobs, which are nothing more than grown-up gangs. Some of them took huge risks to save others. Two girls risked their lives to save some important church documents during a horrible mob attack and were chased into a cornfield, where they were able to hide.

Jane Manning, an African-American teenager in the 1800s, led a whole group of black Mormons on a long and dangerous journey to where the Mormons were living. They faced racism that kept them from being allowed on the ship the other Mormons were taking and when they arrived, having traveled on foot, they no longer had shoes and their feet were bleeding.

Read more about Jane Manning.

George W. Grant, David P. Kimball, and C. Allen Huntington were teenagers who were sent to help rescue some Mormon pioneers who were in big trouble. The Mormons had been forced to head for Utah to escape the mobs. The Martin Handcart Company had to cross the Sweetwater River, but the pioneers were so weak they couldn’t make it. Those three teenagers, sent to help, carried people across the icy river, one person at a time. Years later all three died from complications of that rescue.

Mary Goyle was a Mormon teenager, also a pioneer, who risked her own life to get water for her dying mother. She ended up with terrible frostbite so severe that Brigham Young cried when he saw her toes in the Salt Lake valley. Her toes had to be amputated.

Read more about these Mormon teen pioneers.

Mormon teens today sometimes face danger, too, but they have a heritage that helps them understand that this life is just for a short time. What they are really working for is eternity and eternity is so important they are willing to face dangers today, knowing they will someday be with God forever and out of danger. Their faith gives them courage and helps them face everything from everyday teasing to gang violence. Some things are just worth dying for, and Mormon teens know what those things are.

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