Hungry Sunday

A conversion to the Mormon Church can be traumatic—especially if one is young, unstable, and in love. Falling out of love after conversion can lead to a falling away from faith. Converts, it’s often said, make the best members; but actually, less than 50% of Mormon converts make a successful transition from “civilian” life. They hunger for the truth, but the Church also “hungers”—for them. In the process, many are ground up—or spit themselves out. It’s nobody’s fault—but everyone’s burden. All Latter-day Saints are judged mainly by how well they perform as family members. For the divorced, the single, the mismatched—or the mixed-up—the Mormon road can be rough. These poems are about one convert’s struggle to remain faithful throughout his life—what the Church calls “enduring to the end.”