Their Hispanic Heritage: The Preservation of Different Cultures in LDS Spanish-speaking Congregations

Authors

Jeremy Ingersoll, Brigham Young University
Gerrit van Dyk, Brigham Young University

Keywords

hispanic heritage, preservation of culture, LDS Spanish-speaking congregations

College

Religious Education

Department

Church History and Doctrine

Abstract

In the early ‘90s, ninety-four Hispanic members of the LDS church were interviewed by the BYU Redd Center for Western Studies and provided oral histories. All interviewees were from a Spanish-speaking country or were the children of parents who came to the United States from a Spanish-speaking country, and all but a few were living in Utah or California. This gave us the opportunity to look into the past of Hispanic Latter-day Saints in Utah, and compare it to those living in a different environment in California. We looked at these oral histories with the hope to determine to what degree Hispanic Latter-day Saints in Utah retain the cultures of their homeland. Looking at interviewees in California gives us the opportunity to see the results in a state with a much higher concentration of Hispanic Americans. Our main question was “How well do Spanish-speaking congregations in the LDS church assist them in retaining their culture?

Recommended Citation

Ingersoll, Jeremy and van Dyk, Gerrit (2016) "Their Hispanic Heritage: The Preservation of Different Cultures in LDS Spanish-speaking Congregations," Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2016: Iss. 1, Article 234.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2016/iss1/234