When people enter into a new setting, they like to see things that remind them of themselves. The same thing occurs in church, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When African Americans join the church, they find in many areas that no one in their congregations actually provide them with a visual reflection that matches their own. Seeing so few people that reflect can cause social trouble and loneliness.
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Ghana Temple
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Members of Twin Latter-day Saints & Friends and Family
Abba Nigeria Temple
Source: www.ksl.com
Members of Twin Latter-day Saints Friends and Family
The Need
Dale Wight saw a need in the Latter-day Saint community for something to help this minority in its US LDS community, Black Latter-day Saints. He calls it Twin Latter-day Saints.
The term Twin Latter-day Saints refers to the people on the other side of the world that look like African Americans who are joining the church and become examples of faith and strength.
What happens when you look in a mirror? You see your reflection! Your reflection looks like you and moves with you, but it is different in that it does the same thing on the opposite side. It will not disturb you because you know that it is a reflection of what you are doing.
In Africa, there exists a great many Latter-day Saints who look like their twin brothers and sisters in America, African Americans.
This group of twins to the African Americans purpose is to be lodestars of faith of people that look like them and are also Latter-day Saints!
The church is slowly growing among African Americans--too slowly in the view of many. Yet it is flourishing in Africa.
In the feature film Meet the Mormons the bishop as shown below is one of thousands of faith Latter-day Saints who identifies as African American
It is believed that African Americans ostracized in the LDS church after joining because many give up traditional cultural ties to music and worship to associate with the predominately White congregations in America.
It is believed that African Americans ostracized in the LDS church after joining because many give up traditional cultural ties to music and worship to associate with the predominately White congregations in America.
With so few Black Latter-day Saints to associate with, these new members may find it tempting to leave despite the burning witness that the teachings of the church are true.
The cultural ties among African Americans as in any ethnic group can be very powerful being that African Americans had to depend on themselves as a group mostly through their Black churches over the decades after slavery and through the Civil Rights Movement.
Cultural connections pale in comparison to the blessing of the gospel, but they do exist. Dale Wight’s idea of providing a way for these members in America to see people that look like them participating in traditional Latter-day Saint practices is an unofficial step to move toward alleviating that issue. Dale said,
Part of the inspiration for this group came from an encounter my wife and I had with Elder Sitati in 2009. He spoke at the Los Angeles Stake's conference shortly after joining the [First Quorum of the Seventy]. My wife [Barbara] asked how we could get more missionaries from Africa to work in the black communities in the US like [the one] she came from.
Though the answer Barbara Wight sought did not come directly because of Elder Sitati, it came in the form of her husband. On the Twin Latter-day Saints Facebook page it reads:
This group is for Black Latter Day Saints and their friends and families. It also is for those who may be interested in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.The purpose of this group is to share testimonies, uplifting messages, scriptural quotes, references, questions and answers, upcoming events and activities, poetry, good clean comedy, and FamilyHome Evening Ideas.Twins are two people who look alike but have had different experiences. "Twin Latter-day Saints" refers to the Black Latter-day Saints in Africa and in America; they look alike but have had very different experiences. The Church is strong and growing rapidly in Africa. Already, there are more than twenty stakes in Nigeria alone. So far, there only have been two black stake presidents in the US.One purpose of Twin Latter-day Saints will be to become a forum to leverage the Church's strength in Africa to provide missionary and fellowshipping support in the U.S. This may be simple things like posting videos and photos of stakes and wards in Africa so our [church] members and others in the US can see and hear parts of the Church [in Africa] in which they would be like all the other [areas of the church].
Johannesburg South Africa Temple
Source: www.mormontemplepics.com
Not yet under construction. This picture is of a Meeting House call a Ward Building in Durban, RSA
Source: Durban South Africa Temple (Announce 2011)
