Comments on: The Indian Press Notes the Arrival of Mormon Missionaries, 1853

By: Anu

Anu — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 07:48:09 +0000

kevinf, your nephew probably meant Visakhapatnam. It is in the state of Andhra Pradesh and the language spoken is Telugu. Chennai is in a different state and the people speak Tamil there. As far as I know, both of these languages are not considered holy that Christianity cannot be discussed in that language. In fact, Chennai has a good number of Christians who claim their forefathers were converted by St. Thomas, one among the 12 apostles of Jesus.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 16:22:36 +0000

Anu, thanks for chiming in. I only know what my nephew told us of the instructions given him by his mission president. What is the primary language/dialect of that area? I think he served in Vishnakaptnam first, Chennai later. While he picked up some minor skill in the local languages, he did not spend his time at the MTC learning a language, but just the normal missionary orientation stuff and some cultural instruction.

By: Anu

Anu — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 07:27:19 +0000

@kevinf,” They also were restricted to teaching in English, as the local dialect on India’s eastern coast (Chennai, Vishnakapatnam) was considered a holy language, and Christianity was not not to be discussed in that language.”

I am not sure about this, I am Indian and Christian and I have never heard about this.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 22:16:20 +0000

Mark, I can only assume those writers and editors didn’t think about having to worry about historians, maybe because they never thought about having to actually answer to us, which seems silly given our view of the eternities. We’ll all get to ask them questions at some point. Which also supposes that we will get asked questions, as well…..

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:22:00 +0000

To highlight Mark B.’s point, some of the names listed in the O.P are probably familiar to students of Mormon history
(Savage- 17 miracles, anyone? Ballantine-founder of Sunday School, etc.) I’m not sure I could list the name of anyone of any race in India at the time. And the only non-Mormon I can list that might possibly be in Siam at the time is Yul Brenner

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 20:58:15 +0000

I’m sure you’re right, Mark. But man, is it annoying! And challenging!

By: Mark B.

Mark B. — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:57:31 +0000

I suspect that others have thought of this before now, but it just dawned on me that the naming of missionaries only in those publications–whether in articles or photo captions–might come from the same source as the famous (and probably mythical) headline from a British newspaper: “Fog in Channel–Continent Cut Off.” Those magazines and newspapers were edited in Utah, or were edited elsewhere (the Millennial Star, for instance) by Utahans, and those editors, probably correctly, assumed that their readers would be interested to know the exploits of their sons/brothers/husbands/fathers much more than anything about the people in a distant country who talked funny.
How thoughtless of them to care so little about the interests of future historians!

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:22:10 +0000

That’s all news to me, kevinf — and funny and enlightening all at the same time. Thanks!

By: kevinf

kevinf — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:06:46 +0000

Had a nephew who served his mission in India a couple of years back, so this was interesting to read. In my nephew’s mission (Bangalore), he was normally very far from the mission home and office, and under considerable restrictions. They could not openly proselyte; they could only respond to the inquiries of others, and then teach if invited. They also were restricted to teaching in English, as the local dialect on India’s eastern coast (Chennai, Vishnakapatnam) was considered a holy language, and Christianity was not not to be discussed in that language.

However, in an attempt to draw attention (successful, from what my nephew has told us), he and his companion attracted lots of attention just by both of them being 6 foot 4 or taller, with pale, freckly skin and reddish brown and bright red hair. Kids just wanted to touch them, and lots of people came up to them on the street to ask them questions. I believe they had more success than the 1852 missionaries.