When Kent State couldn’t provide what they were looking for, these women chose to move to Utah, the headquarters of the Mormon religion
Story and photos by Darren Byler
Amanda Van Camp left Kent State to attend Brigham Young
University in Provo, Utah. Van Camp decided to leave Ohio after
she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so she
could surround herself with Mormons.
As the car crests a final hill, the atmosphere is electric with the ethereal glow of the temple—its luminous towers stretch toward the stars. The illumination bouncing off the sandstone of the Washington, D.C., temple blinds their eyes with sudden overexposure of white light. Funtulis lurches halfway out the window and screams, “I’m Mormon!” with all the spontaneity of her soul.
In this moment of euphoria, crammed in the back seat between two of her best friends, former Kent State student Amanda Van Camp, the only Catholic in the car, knows with absolute certainty she is resolved. In her heart, she, too, is a Mormon.
Van Camp says all the pieces came together that night at Funtulis’ wedding.
“I felt the spirit of God rush through me, and I knew I wanted to be a part of this,” she says, her long, dangly earrings framing her oval face. “I could see my future ahead of me, and I knew it was a good one.”
The Latter-Day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stations missionaries in Kent with the express purpose of evangelizing Kent State students. Working in conjunction with local Mormon congregations, known as wards, Mormon missionaries primarily from Utah testify to their experience with the “fullness of truth” to all who will hear.
As a result of their efforts, some Kent State students’ lives have been radically changed. Often those who join the church are alienated by their families and friends who see Mormons as cultish or strange. But the church’s community makes the transition worthwhile for those who convert to Mormonism.
“It may sound hokey, but religions are a path, not a terminal”
Mormons are inevitably drawn to Salt Lake City, Utah—the center of the Mormon cosmos. Mormon beliefs form the city’s infrastructure and the state as a whole. Brigham Young—a Mormon prophet, former president of the Mormon church and seer—designed the city in keeping with his understanding of the construction of the biblical heaven, Zion.
For the Mormons, Utah is a land organized according to the laws revealed through a number of holy texts: the Bible; the book of Mormon; the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of divine revelations; and the Pearl of Great Price, a selection from the revelations, translations and narrations of Mormon Church founder Joseph Smith. Utah’s religious foundation has made it the physical kingdom of God on Earth for Mormons.
Mormons believe in progressive revelation, or that the new supersedes the old. For them the New Testament is more important than the Old Testament, and the Book of Mormon more important than both the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
Based on the revelation Smith experienced, Mormons believe the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established as the one true church—founded squarely on the back of a modern-day prophet and a quorum of 12 apostles. This tradition of leadership based on revelation by the Holy Spirit continues today revolving around the axis of the Latter-day Saints in Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Temple located in Nauvoo, Illinois, was built under the
direction of Joesph Smith before Brigham Young led the Mormons
from Illinois to escape persecution in the mid-1800s.
Temples represent the center of the Morman faith.
Journey of Faith
David Odell-Scott, a professor of philosophy and director of the Religious Studies program at Kent State, says there are a number of motivations for religious conversion.
“We like to think it has to do with deep-seated change—a transformation,” he says. “Conversion is a pretty common phenomenon. It can be a change of attitude, change of relationships or out of love for a mate.
“One of the modes of conversion is for people who are looking for an answer for everything—this is one of the more dangerous motivations. There are no answers for everything. Healthy religious discourse generates good questions and critical dialogue. It may sound hokey, but religions are a path, not a terminal.”
New Mormon converts who move to Utah can enroll in intensified Book of Mormon classes and study groups at Latter-day Saints-subsidized universities and schools. Utah’s atmosphere resonates with overtly authoritarian religious organization. The neatly groomed Mormon missionaries found in nearly every community in America—complete with name tags and going-to-church ties for the men and skirts for the women—translates into neatly groomed yards, traditionally pretty pastel art and wide streets filled with conservatively colored minivans and luxury cars. It seems there are no Mormon ghettos.
Alexis Corinthos is a Mormon convert who recently transferred to a physical therapy school in Salt Lake City from Kent State. For her, Utah is a haven of peace and security where people take care of one another, unlike the non-Mormon atmosphere of Kent State.
“The biggest thing I struggle with is being with people who don’t believe like me,” she says. “I didn’t even know Utah existed until I talked to missionaries for the first time. They didn’t tell me to go to Utah, but they supported my idea to go to Utah. Support is the best thing you can get from a family.”
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