114–116: Brazilian Mormonism

I just finished listrening to the first part of the podcast. The church really is the same everywhere! It’s been interesting to learn that, while we generally see South America as a fairly strong area of the Church, even people there are going through periods of questioning, doubt, exploration and even some disaffection from the Church.
I really hope you carry on with this series, and would especially love to see a podcast devoted to the church in my country (the UK).
By the way, Dan, I sent you an email recently containing some thoughts and suggestions for possibilities of future podcasts (to mormonmatters@gmail.com). I wonder if you could just check that you’ve received it? It would be from ryancomins@gmail.com. I only ask because a couple of the emails I’ve sent recently don’t seem to have reached their destinations.

 The church is the same everywhere because the manuals loaded with the same cultural crap or indoctrination were translated into these other languages. I think it is sad.

I served a mission to Brazil in the 80′s and then later taught ESL in Japan in the 90′s. 

In my Japanese ward, the Brazilians, Americans and New Zealanders formed the “gaijin” coalition. We were a tight knit group and the culture clash was ever so evident. I don’t think you get any more polar opposite than the cultures of Brazil and Japan…especially within the church. For example, among the single adults at the time we ‘gaijin” were shocked  when a single adult man and woman announced their engagement. We’d never even seen them together! Not sitting together in church, not talking together at activities…NOTHING!In the meantime a casual relationship had developed among two of the Brazilians who found each other attractive. They’d sit next to each other and caress each other’s back during sacrament meeting and be seen leaving together. SCANDALOUS! They were accused of fornication and all sorts of indiscretions… but they were mostly things that wouldn’t have caused a Brazilian, or even an American Mormon, to bat an eye. We Americans often found ourselves in the middle of such culture clashes.

I’d also love to hear a podcast that contrasts, say a Provo UT or CA ward with a Manhattan ward. I grew up in CA but went to NYC for college in the mid 80′s. It was a shocking and yet a loving and exciting difference. I went from a very legalistic, patriarchal environment to once the was decidedly more liberal. For example, my home teaching companion was living with a woman in a NYC apartment as were several students and young professionals at the time. They kept temple recommends and ward callings. Anywhere else they would have been called in for discipline for the appearance of evil alone. There were openly gay members, professional wage earning women and instruments other than piano and organ played during sacrament meeting. And leaders were often creative folks rather than bankers and insurance executives. I loved that ward.

I was baptized when I was a teenager in mid 80′s in Argentina)and I liked going to church. A lot of the boys, including my brother wore jeans and white shirts and ties. I wore sleeveless dresses at times and other fashions and I don’t remember ever hearing anything about it. However, there were “family dynasties” in the church that drove me crazy, until their kids got drunk, pregnant, divorced or left the church and then I realized they were just like the rest of us.