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Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self-Narratives of Foreign Missionaries" (2015)

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Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self-Narratives of Foreign Missionaries Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2015-10-01 Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self- Narratives of Foreign Missionaries Karina Marie Gathu Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Gathu, Karina Marie, "Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self-Narratives of Foreign Missionaries" (2015). Theses and Dissertations. 5690. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5690 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self-Narratives of Foreign Missionaries Karina Marie Gathu A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Sherry Baker, Chair Clark Callahan Mark Callister School of Communications Brigham Young University October 2015 Copyright © 2015 Karina Marie Gathu All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Exploring LDS Missionary Blogs: How Culture Manifests in Self-Narratives of Foreign Missionaries Karina Marie Gathu School of Communications, BYU Master of Arts Missionaries serving in foreign countries provide a unique perspective on culture that they chronicle on public blogs. A content analysis of these blogs showed that missionaries use their own cultural and religious frame to make observations, some good and some bad, about cultural habits and beliefs foreign to their own. Through the medium of blogging, we see how missionaries use self-narratives to understand and make sense out of differences in culture and beliefs that ultimately impact how they identify themselves. Keywords: blogging, self-narratives, religion, missionaries, LDS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the constant and continual support of my husband, Solomon, who never understood what I was obsessing about, but still supported me every step of the way. I would also like to thank Dr. Sherry Baker, who was the sole reason for me completing this study and getting anything accomplished at all. Without her help and constant support, there would be nothing. iv Table of Contents Title Page ......................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ………………………….................………………………………..………… iv Chapter One: Literature Review ………………….....................………………...….…...……… 1 Introduction ……………………………………......……………………….….…..…….. 1 Identity Framing and Culture ……………………......…………………….….……..…... 3 Symbolic Interaction ……………………………….…………………….….................... 8 Identity Formation and Religion ……………………………..………….…….……….... 9 The Platform of Blogging ………………………………….………….…….….............. 12 Blogging and Identity …………………………………………..……….……………..... 16 Chapter Two: Methodology ……………………………………….....……….….….……..…… 19 Chapter Three: Findings …………………………………………….........……….……....…….. 27 Weather …………………………..……………………………………….….……..…… 28 Cultural Values and Habits …………..……………………………………….……...….. 31 Holidays and Celebrations ……………………………………………..…….…….......... 41 Food …………………………………………………………………..……….……….... 44 Language ……………………………………………………………..………….……..... 50 Other Observations …………………………………………………..…….…….…….... 54 Basic Necessities ………………………………………………………..……….…......... 63 Transportation …………………………………………………………...……....………. 65 Religion …………………………………………………………………..……….…....... 69 Missionary Work: Finding, Teaching, Serving …………………………..……..……...... 75 Chapter Four: Discussion and Conclusion………………………….................................…......... 81 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………...……....…...... 81 Suggestions for Future Research ………………………………………...………............ 86 References ……………………………………………...……………………...…….…...…...... 88 Appendices …………………………..………………………………………...…...……....….... 92 Appendix A ………………………….………………………………...………..…....….. 92 Appendix B ……………………….…………………………………...…………......….. 93 1 Chapter One: Literature Review Introduction There are thousands of missionaries throughout the world who have left their homes and made a commitment to go to another country or location to teach the principles of their beliefs. In this action, they have chosen to immerse themselves in the culture and elements of their new environment in order to have a better understanding of the people and the place they are now inhabiting. Part of this missionary process is chronicling their experiences, thoughts and fears to friends and family who are not with them. A common way for the missionaries to have a record of what they are experiencing and also to share their faith is through a blog. This blog is maintained by them or their family members. Through this blog they detail their time as missionaries and relate to their families and the outside world that which exemplifies their faith and purpose for becoming missionaries. As a result, the blogs are not only a diary of who went where or what they did. They are testimonies of faith, transcripts of belief, and artifacts of thoughts. One element of cultural studies is to explore identity framing and how individuals relate or connect to the environments that are around them, both in the real world and in the virtual world. Identity theory explores the ways in which people frame their identities and what factors play a prominent role in this identity framing. In this study, I look at the ways missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) frame their cultural experiences as missionaries in foreign countries through the format of missionary blogs. It is a common practice of LDS missionaries to keep a diary, or journal-like blog about their experiences as proselyting missionaries for the church. The average range of ages of these 2 missionaries is from 18-20s, and blogs provide a way for the missionaries to connect to their friends and family members “back home.” The LDS Church states that there are around 80,000 missionaries currently serving (www.mormonnewsroom.com/factsandstats). According to the blog index I found on the website Prepare to Serve, there are at least 10,000 active LDS missionary blogs. In order to focus on the experiences of one group of missionaries, I will focus only on the blogs of international missionaries, or missionaries who are serving in a country outside of their own. When looking at the blogs, one can see the ways in which the missionary talks about himself or herself, the experiences as a missionary, the essential beliefs that they hold and their thoughts and reflections about their environments. As they have picked the medium of a blog to share these personal reflections and experiences, these blogs can be categorized and relate to areas of scholarship, such as conversion narratives, or the community of blogging. As Dumaing, David, and Dealwis (2011) state, “conversion narratives in the form of testimony are powerful means of consolidating and strengthening one’s new religious identity.” This demonstrates that as we explore the blogs of these LDS missionaries, we can see from their conversion narratives how their religious identity has been portrayed, and whether it has altered as a result of their missionary service. Further, Taricani (2007) explores blogs as extensions of our identities. She discusses how most blogs are a personal journal type of entry which deals with the experiences and reflections of the blogger. She also notes that the concept we have of ourselves is derived from the connection or association we have with a particular blog and is deepened by the dialog used, which helps us to connect. Exploring the narratives presented in the blogs of these LDS missionaries will provide insight into their personal conversion narratives, and better understand the experiences and roles of religious missionaries around the world. The purpose of this research is to analyze various 3 LDS Missionary blogs for patterns that can be found among the discourse by the missionaries, the ways in which foreign missionaries portray their experiences in a foreign country, and ultimately, how the narrative of the missionary reflects his or her cultural interactions and perceptions. We also need to understand how blogs relate to religion and religious identity. Cheong, Halavais, and Kwon (2008) analyze the content of 200 blogs that mention topics about Christianity. These authors further assert that while “blogs have emerged as a popular genre of online communication and have been utilized for religious expression… There has been scarce attention paid to understanding emergent blogging practices, particularly blogging as a religious practice.” This points out that there is little to no scholarship available that explores missionary blogs. This study of LDS missionary blogs will help to provide a starting point for future scholarship and comparisons with other missionary blogs, that are not only written by LDS missionaries, but from other religions and faiths, as well. Identity Framing and Culture Mendoza,
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