Into the World PRESIDENT MICHAEL F. HEMINGWAY ROCHESTER, NEW YORK

Episode 6 Into the World PRESIDENT MICHAEL F. HEMINGWAY ROCHESTER, NEW YORK Hello my name is Reid Neilsen and I am an assistant professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah where I teach on the Global Church. Today I am interviewing Mike Hemingway of the Rochester, New York mission. President Hemingway, thank you for being with us today. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Thank you, it s good to be with you. Well, it s exciting to talk to someone that s there in the cradle of the restoration and to hear about how the Lord's work is going forth in that part of the vineyard. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: It s a great place to serve as a missionary. How long have you been president there? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Two years in July. Did you anticipate a call to state side call before you were called to Rochester? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: No, we knew that we were going to be called to an English speaking mission when we were called. When we were called to New York, Rochester mission, we were thrilled because it is the cradle of the restoration. Did you have any interest in Church history before the mission and what have you learned about Church history being out there? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: I love Church history. I've loved it for years and I love teaching the Doctrine and Covenants when I was a gospel doctrine teacher. So, for me this was a real a treat. It was a great experience to be here. I have been here once when I was little and so it was a thrill to go back to the sites where the Church history really started. And it seems in recent years the Church really has put a lot of resources both man power and financially to really dress up the early sites of the restoration in restoring buildings, creating new visitor centers. What is going on there right now? What are some of the sites the missionaries staff and how are they received? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, we have within our mission the Hill Cumorah of course, there is a visitor s center at the Hill Cumorah and we have the pageant which is coming up this year in July on the 10th and the 11th and then the 14th through the 18th. So we have probably 40 and 60 thousand come to the Hill Cumorah. It s really fun to go to the pageant because the nonmembers come to here the message. I walk around and visit with the missionaries and meet their investigators and these people from the community who just come to the pageant which is really quite a spectacle. So they come to hear our message. It s a lot 1

easier than going out and knocking on their doors. We also have the Joseph Smith Farm. The Church has recreated the log home that the Smith family lived in when Joseph was 14 when he walked into the grove. We also have the Frame Home. That the home that was started by Alvin Smith. Its 85% original. So we have those in Palmyra as well as the Grandin Building which is where the Book of Mormon was published. Then we also have in our mission the Peter Whitmer farm which is down in Fayette. There we have the log home which has been recreated there where the Church was organized on April 6, 1830. We have missionaries, senior couples and sisters that work at all of those sites. A few months ago I was actually back in Palmyra on a Church history tour with some members of other faiths actually. We were explaining to them about the early events of the restoration. They marveled at the care the Church as put into recovering and really telling the story of its history. How helpful is it for you and your missionary work? How do missionaries actually staff the different sites and what role do you play in those types of decisions? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: We have in our mission, 14 couples that are called specifically as site missionaries. We also have some proselyting couples that help out at pageant time. And then, all of our sisters are called with site training where they receive some specific training at the MTC and then they work at the sites part of the day and then they work in their proselyting areas. We also have it set up so at any given time we have three or four areas where our sisters can go out full-proselyting where they spend their full time proselyting within some of the communities. And so all the sisters get an opportunity to work at the sites, they also have an opportunity to work in a full-proselyting capacity. We have a site director Elder Brian Westman and Sister Westman. They do a fabulous job in taking care of the day to day operations. And I just get to be the mission president over all the missionaries. It sounds like an exciting place to be with so much going on. Often times you don't find those types of variety of experiences and missionary opportunities within one mission. Stepping back just a little bit Why do you think the Church places such an emphasis on its history? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: I think one of the great themes of the Book of Mormon is to remember. If you recall it s a theme that comes up over and over. In fact it's in the promise right at the end of the Book of Mormon where Moroni writes to remember the blessings the Lord has poured out upon His people. I think there is a great value in the Church in remembering what took place here. This is the place where President Hinckley said where the Father and the Son came. We know that s true in the Sacred Grove. This is the place where the plates were buried and Joseph took them and translated them. This is the place where the Church was organized. There is a great history and a great heritage also a great spirit. It s a very sacred place to be. When I was set apart as mission president, Elder Ballard said you will walk where prophets have walked and teach where prophets have taught. That s literally true, and it s true for our missionaries. Having been back there recently, obviously there is the Palmyra temple which was constructed and dedicated years ago. Do your missionaries see the blessings of the temple 2

there? Do they have any chance to go to the temple and overlook the sacred grove through the celestial room or anything like that? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Oh yes, if they are working close to the temple we allow them to go once a transfer if it happens they can work it out on their preparation day. If they have a family they baptized going to the temple to be sealed we allow them to go with that family. So they get an opportunity and then we take all the missionaries right before they go home and try to get them in for a temple session. And occasionally will arrange for the zones to come in and go to the temple. So the missionaries all get to go to the temple probably two or three times a year while they are out here serving. Well, I served my mission in Asia, and came to love the Book of Mormon of course as a missionary used it regularly in my proselyting, but it s one thing to serve outside and come to love the Book of Mormon. I can only imagine there is a special spirit there these missionaries must come away with from your mission with a unique spirit about the work and the books, the Book of Mormon and the other scriptures that came forth during the Joseph Smith period that you might not find in other places given the historic importance of the Rochester area. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: I'll tell you it s fun to stand up in a zone conference and say turn to section such and such in the Doctrine and Covenants and say oh by the way this was given in our mission. I think there are 24 sections that were given in our mission that were here. There is a section, section 106; I believe that is a call for Warren Cowdery to be a branch president of the Freedom branch. That happens to be in our mission. Section 100 was given to the prophet Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon when they were over in a place called Perrysburg which is in our mission. So there are a lot of sections that are here and many of the early missionary sections were given in this mission. So when I open them up, in fact I was teaching in a ward yesterday and said, "Turn to section 31" and so we turned to section 31, instructions to Thomas B. Marsh. That was given in our mission. Turn to section 33, great instruction Elder Perry quoted in conference about opening your mouth and that was given in our mission. So, I tell the missionaries here's the early Preach My Gospel and it was given in our mission. So you better read it and study it and know what the Lord expects you to do. Well, I hope they catch the vision and appreciate the history while they are there. I know a lot of missionaries get off their missions and say "I wish I would have appreciated this more, that more, got to know the people better, or language or what have you. For your missionaries particularly, this love of the historic sites of the Church, I really hope that s something that s burned into their souls while they are there. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, one of the things we try to do, our mission is not very large area wise, I can get just about anywhere in the mission in two hours, which is really wonderful in terms of being able to get out and be with the missionaries. It is also wonderful because it allows us a couple of times a year to let the missionaries come into a zone conference. Now, on April 6, 7, 8 we had three zone conferences held out at the Peter Whitmer farm. And so on April 6th, on the anniversary of the organization of the Church we had zone conference at the Peter Whitmer farm and let the missionaries go out into the log home and ponder the events that took place there. Last October, we had a zone conference at 3

the Hill Cumorah, excuse me; it was September to correspond to the dates that Joseph received the plates. So, it s really been a marvelous thing to be able to have the missionaries come and let that be an experience they can talk about and build their testimonies with. Because they don't all serve at the sites, we want them to come visit the sites. That s remarkable. Something I was curious about as you began today; you mentioned how many different sites there are. I imagine that s an incredible blessing in your mission that people are coming to you to learn about the Church. They know something about the Church that brings them to these sites. At the same time, I wonder are there some challenges with that? Just that many people are visitors from outside the Rochester area, how do you get these people interested, help them feel the spirit, and then send referrals or what have you to other missions or other parts of the world? What's that process like? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, we have many, many visitors from outside the mission. In fact, vast majority of those who come to the sites are from outside the mission. And a large percent of them are members of the Church. We talk to them and ask them as they are visiting the sites to listen for promptings of the spirit of people who many need to hear the message of the restoration and ask them to make referrals; and yes we do provide many referrals to other missions from people who come to visit our visitor's center. All of our sisters are trained to invite people to give referrals and then also they call them. So we send referrals all over the world. We have a sister here who is from Brazil who speaks Portuguese. She had some people come from Brazil and she ended up getting names of a number of families that they were able to call in Brazil and talk to them in Portuguese, or she was, and invite them to have the missionaries come which they did. She was excited that she was helping the gospel grow there. So, there are lots of referrals that come and lots of opportunities for the sisters then to get those in to other missions. The other thing that we do because of the size of our mission not being very big, we encourage the missionaries to bring their investigators and teach them at the sites. Almost any weekend, if I were to go out to the Hill Cumorah or out to the Sacred Grove, I would run into a companionship of missionaries who are there with an investigator teaching them right at the site. It s amazing thing when you have a progressing investigator and can take them to the Sacred Grove and let them walk out and pray about the reality of the vision; have them go to the Hill Cumorah and pray about the reality of the Book of Mormon. It's a really powerful tool. It doesn't get any better than that for missionary work, I imagine. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, we have the sites and we need to use them. It is a marvelous thing. Now, what about the Hill Cumorah pageant. I know this is the largest outdoor pageant in America. How is your mission involved in that? And tell us a little more, obviously many Latter-day Saints have not had the opportunity to go, so could you describe the pageant? When does it start? Are the missionaries involved in ushers? Are they participants in the pageant itself? Just tell us more about that. 4

PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, the pageant originally started with the mission, years ago. Now, there's a pageant committee which runs the pageant very efficiently. They are marvelous brethren and sisters that we work with here. It's a great production, it's a great project, and they are very efficient, they have been doing it for years. And so, they bring in the cast. There is a cast of about 700 members that come to be in the pageant. Where do these cast members come from? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: All over the country, some cases, all over the world. Local members are in it. Many families are in it. And they come and are the cast. Now, the missionaries, we are here to proselyte. We are here to help people find the restored gospel and help them gain testimonies and be baptized and endure to the end. That's what we are trying to do. So, we want the missionaries to see the pageant, but their ability to come is based on having an investigator and coming with a member. So we send them out and say go find some investigators. We've had some really interesting experiences with that. I had a companionship not last year, but the year before, and we told them they had to have an investigator. It got down do about Thursday night, and they hadn't found an investigator, and they were debating whether they ought to sneak in or not or just be obedient and just find an investigator. So they went to all the members of the ward and said, "Who do you know, we've got to go see the pageant. We are going to miss the pageant, you've got to find somebody" And one of the members said, "Well, I've got a friend I work with I'll ask her if she wants to go." So he asked her if she wanted to go, and she said, "Sure, why not." So, they ended up taking this individual to the pageant and she ended up being baptized along with two of her children. Wow! PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: She never thought about going to Church, never had any idea what the Mormons were, but she was invited by a friend to go so the missionaries could go. Last year I had a couple of missionaries who speak Spanish; they thought I would bring them into work because we do have a few missionaries come into work with the cast members and things like that. They called me Thursday night and asked "Aren't you bringing us". I said no and they said they didn't have any investigators. I said "Then, you can't come. Go find an investigator" So they called me back and said, What are we supposed to do? I said, I would call everyone in the ward that spoke Spanish and say who do you know you can invite to pageant so we have an investigator we can go to pageant with. They called me back several hours later and said, President, we found an entire family, and we ll be there with the family. I said, Great." So it s a great tool for us, it s a great incentive for the missionaries to find new investigators. And, it s a great tool for bringing people to hear the message of the Book of Mormon, and to see the message of the Book of Mormon portrayed on the hillside. And the pageant itself, I went as a child years ago, tell our listeners what the pageant is. I know it s the story of the Book of Mormon, but a little more detail. What part does it pick up? What is the narrative that follows through the story? I know the climax is Jesus Christ visiting the America's of course but how is that staged on the Hill Cumorah itself? 5

PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: There are a number of things. It starts with the processional. Then is goes through the story of Lehi and covers Lehi leaving Jerusalem and bringing his family to the new world. Then it covers a series of events that take place in the new world. Some of the things it covers are Alma and Abinadi and King Noah. It portrays Alma baptizing at the waters of Mormon. It shows some of the battle scenes as the Lamanites and Nephites have their great battles. Nephi as it leads up to the coming of the Savior. It has the Savior coming and appearing and teaching the people. The destruction of the Nephites which ultimately comes. And then it covers Moroni burying the plates, the last great destruction and then Joseph receiving the plates from Moroni and then translated into the Book of Mormon. It s a very quick overview of the events of the Book of Mormon and done in scenes. It has a wonderful soundtrack. It s done with lights and water curtains, fire, and all kind of effects. It s quite the production. It starts at dusk. It s open in the bowl that will seat about 10,000 people. Anybody is welcome to come. Well, President Hemingway, I can only imagine what this does from a community affairs perspective; just bringing people in and letting them know about the Mormons, etc. In fact, as I think about your mission the gospel has been in your mission longer than it s been in any other place in this last dispensation. How is the Church perceived in that area, the cradle of the restoration? Do many people know what the Mormons believe, know who they are? Is it positive? Is it something that continually needs to be rehabilitated? Tell us about that. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, I think that people have heard bits and pieces. I am actually consistently amazing of the number of people who have no idea that our Church was restored and organized right here in western New York. Even though they live there? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Even though they live here. Very typical to say to someone," Have you ever heard of the Hill Cumorah?" No. "Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?" And quite often, "No, I have never heard of the Book of Mormon." If they have heard of it, you'll ask them "Do you know where it came from?" They ll have no idea. I am amazed at how little they actually know about us. In fact, I think the adversary has worked overtime if they don't. In fact we talked to a woman the other night and invited her to come to pageant and invited her to get a copy of the Book of Mormon. She was raised about 15-20 miles from Palmyra and had never heard of it. She had never heard of pageant. I'll tell you about a fun experience I had. I went to get my hair cut. The girl who was cutting my hair said, "Are you working?" I think I said, "I work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." And she said, "What do you do?" And I told her I was a mission president over the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And she said, "Oh." And that was the end of that. So I sat there for a minute and thought I have got to get her into a conversation. So, I asked her where she went to beauty school. So we started talking and she told me she was raised in Rochester. I said, "Well, then, you must have heard about the Hill Cumorah pageant." She said, "No, what's that?" I said, "There s a pageant that takes place here in Palmyra. It s the largest outdoor pageant in the country. People come from all over the world to see it. You've never heard of it?" She said, "No, I've never heard of it." And I said, "Do you know why we have a pageant here?" And she said, "No." I asked, "Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?" She said, "No." So I 6

explained to her what the Book of Mormon was. In the course of the conversation, I explained to her how the Church was organized. When she finished cutting my hair, she said, "I don't know why they don't' teach us these things." She said, This is fascinating and I have learned so much from you. Thank you. Can I go see the sites?" I said, "Of course you can go see the sites." And she gave you a good hair cut as well, right? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: I assume. I don't know, but it was just interesting that so many know so little about it. Well, it s a struggle all over the world to bring the gospel forth out of obscurity. But it does surprise me that even there, in the cradle of the restoration, where the historical sites are, it s still a battle that we are fighting, isn't it? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: It is a continual process to help people know about the restoration of the gospel and help them. But we do have the advantage that we can invite them to come see the sites. What are the favorite sites back there? What really resonates, first of all, what resonates with your missionaries as they visit? But, I am curious, is it different for nonmembers who come, what resonates with them at the sites? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, I think the missionaries love the Sacred Grove. If you are teaching an investigator and you want to teach about the prophet Joseph Smith and the first vision you want to take them to the Sacred Grove. It really is a wonderful place. I love to go to the Sacred Grove whenever I get a chance. Sister Hemingway and I try to take a few minutes to walk through the Sacred Grove. We take our missionaries there right off the airplane as soon as they arrive and allow them to go to the Sacred Grove. I have been there every month of the year, when it s very cold, when it s hot and humid, when it s raining, when it s snowing. Every time I have been there, it s beautiful. So with missionaries, they love the Sacred Grove and they love the Hill Cumorah because we teach about the Book of Mormon. The nonmembers who come, many come out of curiosity. We have a big visitor's center on highway 21 which is one of the major highways running north and south in the state. People will stop just out of curiosity. We will have a lot who will come for the pageant. At the Hill Cumorah Visitor's Center we had one of the exhibits on the Dead Sea scrolls last year, so for nonmembers it s a variety of things. With those who aren't members, sometimes their member friends will bring them. Sometimes the missionaries will invite them to come. Sometimes it s out of curiosity. I see. The missionaries themselves, those who aren't serving on site. How many stakes are in your mission, and how do you assign different missionaries to different areas? How many elders or sisters are in the different branches there? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: We have three stakes. The Palmyra stake, the Rochester stake, and the Buffalo stake. In those stakes we have about 26 units. We have wards which are as big and active and have as big of programs as you would find on the Wasatch front. We also have little branches that have 20-30 members that regularly attend. So there is a wide variety of 7

church organization and church activity depending on where you are assigned. The elders work throughout the mission. We try to give them opportunities to serve in Palmyra stake where the majority of it is rural. It s small, country towns, rolling hills, beautiful forests, corn fields, things like that. You can serve in Rochester or Buffalo. Buffalo is the second largest city in New York. You can be downtown with skyscrapers and all of the traffic and noise of a large city. Rochester would be the same thing. It s a good size city with just over 1 million people. So there is a variety of places that you serve. You could be in a ward. The Buffalo ward covers the middle of Buffalo. I think there are about 4-5 thousand people that live in the boundaries of the Buffalo ward. There are several companionships working there, a Spanish companionship, and also those speaking English, a senior couple typically works there. Or you could be sent down to a little branch and be the only missionaries in the branch, and show up on Sunday and have to help the branch by taking care of the sacrament, ushering at the door by welcoming people, and maybe even playing the piano or leading the music. It truly is the mission field wherever you go. It truly is an opportunity to serve and use your talents. It sounds like you have a full spectrum within the boundaries of your three stakes and your mission. You mentioned some of your missionaries speak Spanish. Are there any other languages your missionaries proselyte with? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, we have Spanish speaking missionaries, we have a Spanish group in Rochester that is doing very well. We have the Buffalo ward that also has some Spanish in it. We also have a large population of deaf people in Rochester. The RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology is one of the major universities that have a deaf program associated with it. So we have missionaries that use American Sign Language and we have a deaf group that meets with one of our wards on Sunday, and the missionaries there work in ASL. So there is great opportunity for those missionaries to teach in that language. How many of your missionaries can actually use American Sign Language? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Interestingly enough, right now we have 5 who are assigned in ASL. It s amazing because I inevitably find two or three more that have taken it in school or have a family member or something, so occasionally they are efficient enough in it that we can have them also work in that ward and help out with the missionaries there. In fact, at one point we just had one sister assigned in ASL. It was amazing how many other sisters I found knew ASL that could be a companion to her and work in the English language program as well as the ASL program. Well, as we wrap up today, President Hemingway, I wonder if you could share perhaps one story of a recent conversion in your mission that has been meaningful for you from some of your missionaries. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Well, I think there are a number. Just two weeks ago we had a whole family go through the Palmyra temple and be sealed. I think that s what all missionaries hope for, to see their investigators join the Church and make covenants and keep those covenants. Just Sunday, my wife received a phone call from some friends of ours in our ward here; they are coverts to the Church since we have been out here. They are preparing to go to 8

the temple, they wanted to invite us to come and be there when they are sealed. We have had wonderful experiences out here with our missionaries and the people they teach. It s fun to read missionary s letters because they talk about the miracles and the people they find and how they come in contact with people and then watch them progress and watch them prepare their lives to repent and then have a desire to be baptized. I was in a ward yesterday and was greeting by a woman who joined the Church not too long ago, is now married to a member of the Church and they are progressing and doing very well. There was another one of our converts there who I knew and she was there as I taught and had her scriptures and was participating and so I like to tell you one story, but there are many of them. Right. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: It s great, it s just a wonderful place to serve and the people we find that are anxious to learn they continue to progress and make covenants, and that s what it s all about. And if I recall correctly you have another year of service there as president with Sister Hemingway. Is that right? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: We do. Well, another year of making these memories and watching these people change their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Well, President Hemingway, I sure appreciate your time today. It s been fascinating to learn about what s been going on in the cradle of the restoration today in 2009. To learn about the unique opportunities that you have there with the historic sites and how the missionaries and members have responding accordingly. As we conclude, would you mind sharing your testimony with our listeners? PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Sure, This is a wonderful place to serve as a missionary. I tell our missionaries that it s a very rare and sacred privilege to be called to serve in the cradle of the restoration. I have had a testimony and know that the Church is true for years and years, but being here has increased that testimony. I see the Lord s hand in the growth of the Church. I see miracles in the lives of missionaries and investigators. I know that the promptings of the Holy Ghost are real. I know that God and Jesus Christ appeared in the Sacred Grove. I know they appeared to the prophet Joseph. I know that Moroni appeared and showed him where the plates were, and that the Book of Mormon is indeed the word of God, translated by the gift and power of God. There is amazing power in the Book of Mormon. We encourage our missionaries to read it every day, a little bit, so they have power from the Book of Mormon. I know that the priesthood is on the earth, and that the Church has been restored, and that President Monson is the living prophet. I am grateful for that knowledge. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior; That He came to this earth and made it possible for each of us to return back to our Heavenly Father if we are willing to keep our covenants and keep the commandments. I am grateful the Lord has entrusted Sister Hemingway and I with the privilege of sharing that here in New York. I leave that testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 9

Well, thank you President Hemingway. I hope that the Lord's choicest blessings are upon you and His missionaries as you continue to serve. So thank you for your time. PRESIDENT HEMINGWAY: Thank you. ### 10