Mormon Church in Iran - A brief history and Iranian Mormon Converts

 

Though The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints currently has no current presence in the Islamic Republic of Iran there is some history of Mormons in Iran.  With so much happening right now in Iran I thought it would be beneficial to look at a brief history of the LDS Church in Iran.  I am not going to play political pundit and analyze what is happening in Iran currently, nor will I predict when Iran will open to missionary work but the history of Mormons in Iran is very interesting and the future at some point undoubtedly will be very bright.

 

Tehran Iran Mission

 

Very few people probably realize that at one point The LDS church had a mission in Iran. This mission was opened in July 1975 but only stayed open until December of 1978 due to the declining political situation between the United States and Iran.  Missionaries were redirected to England upon closing the mission.

 

One great source details the following about the short-lived Tehran Iran mission:

“Organized in July 1975, the short-lived Iran Tehran Mission was the only Latter-day Saint mission headquartered in the Middle East since 1950. Dean B. Farnsworth served as mission president until July 1978; he was then replaced by William J. Attwooll, who remained in Iran until his evacuation with the other missionaries the following December. The Iranian government granted the Church official legal recognition in 1977, the first Middle Eastern country to do so.

Despite these difficulties in proselyting, the missionaries strengthened the Church in other ways: providing leadership in the main branches and groups (located in Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Ahwaz, and Charchesmeh), visiting Church members in outlying areas, and teaching and baptizing non-Iranian expatriates (mostly Filipinos, Koreans, and Americans). Two apostles, Elders Thomas S. Monson and Howard W. Hunter, visited Iran on separate occasions. Unlike Palestine in the Turkish-Armenian Mission, which was dedicated on numerous occasions, an apostolic prayer dedicating the land for missionary work was never offered in Iran. Because of increased fighting between Islamic revolutionary forces and the Shah’s army, President Attwooll and the missionaries were evacuated from Iran in December 1978 and reassigned to other mission fields. A final sacrament meeting was held in May 1979; after that, all Church activities ceased. In December of that year an apartment building owned by the Church and used for meetings, offices, and living quarters was confiscated by the Iranian government and reconverted into public housing. In the year 2000 the Church had no official presence or organized units in Iran.

The opportunity to establish the mission resulted from the Shah’s efforts to promote national development through a policy of openness to Western economic and political values, including tolerance of non-Muslim religions. The missionaries, a total of 18 (all elders), learned to speak Farsi but were not allowed to discuss their religious views openly or to initiate gospel discussions. Much of their time, therefore, was spent in non-proselyting activities, such as teaching English in schools, assisting with local Boy Scout programs, and contacting referrals from Latter-day Saint visitors’ centers around the world. Missionary work was further hampered because none of the LDS scriptures except the Bible had been translated into Farsi; however, the mission managed to have some tracts, as well as a 2,000-word English-Farsi glossary of the Book of Mormon, translated and published. Few Iranians embraced Mormonism (about 15 altogether) due in part to the daunting problems that Muslim converts to Christianity often faced in Islamic societies: ostracism, unemployment, disinheritance, and even threat of death. For this reason, Iranians who joined the Church abroad and returned to Iran usually did not acknowledge their conversion or participate fully in Latter-day Saint activities.  (Editor’s note: This lends credence to Ghollam Nakbin’s story which is detailed below.) After the revolution of the late 1970s, however, some Iranians who fled the country but had had contact with the missionaries or other Latter-day Saints in Iran joined the Church in Europe and North America.”

 

Iranian Converts to the Mormon Church

 

Jamileh Zaifnejad Hogan-Iranian Mormon Convert

 

I have come across at least one story of someone being converted in the short period the Tehran Iran mission was open to missionary work. The story of Jamileh Zaifnejad, the first Iranian woman to be baptized in Iran, is an inspiring story much like others’ true conversion to the LDS Church. 

Jamileh’s story is one of obstacles and faith in joining a Christian church in Muslim Iran.  From Jamileh’s story it appears that there was an expatriate branch or ward of Mormons in Iran as she was invited by an acquaintance, Lloyd Miller to attend a sacrament meeting.  (Miller ran a jazz program that aired on national television in Iran and Jamileh worked for him.) She describes her going to the sacrament meeting as such:

“It was as a student, at the University of Tehran, that Hogan first came in contact with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her friend, Lloyd Miller, invited her to attend a sacrament meeting in a branch of foreign nationalists.

During the sacrament, Hogan was invited by another member to take the bread and water. She was hesitant because she didn’t want to give a false impression about her faith, but did so to “expedite the process.”

An unexpected experience followed, which confounded her ability to logically reason what was happening to her, she said.

It was as if my body was burning, and my whole life was playing in front of my eyes, like a fast movie,” Hogan said, “Like a rubric puzzle, everything was falling into place.”

She left the meeting believing the bread and water must have been spiked. But, over the next few weeks Hogan continued to have similar “strange experiences.”

“There was something that had resonance in my soul, and that I couldn’t explain,” Hogan said. “I was trying to be as logical as possible, and yet I had no answer to what was happening to me.”

Hogan ended up calling some members in the branch to see if they could provide answers to what was happening.

The discussions seemed irrelevant to her because it was obvious they were memorized. However, she had a sacred experience, “similar to what Paul had, but on my level,” which led to her decision to be baptized, she was 21-years-old at the time.”

This event led her to further investigate the church for months and many more questions regarding the church.  On the day of her baptism she recounts that the Iranian military moved upon the University of Tehran. Jamileh recounts that she saw students fired at and had to hide for 4 hours before trying to make it to her baptism.  To make it to her baptism she had to go through a group of soldiers who pointed their weapons at her and even hit her on the head before a senior officer instructed them to allow her to pass. She was baptized on January 8, 1975.  Fearful of how her parents (though they were “secular Iranians”) would respond to her apparent secretive investigation into the Mormon Church, she told them nonetheless that she had decided to join the church and had been baptized.  To her surprise they told her that if she truly believed in this religion that they trusted her judgment and that she should follow it.  Though, her brother was not as understanding and disowned her.  Jamileh subsequently played a key role in the creation of the Iran Tehran Mission. She traveled to Salt Lake City to visit the temple and even met with then President Spencer W. Kimball. She was instrumental in helping to start the mission as well as helping to translate church materials into Farsi, the national language of Iran.

 

Ghollam Nikbin - Iranian Mormon Convert

 

Likewise an Iranian-born American citizen named, Ghollam Nikbin, recounts that he suffered greatly due to his conversion to the Mormon Church.  According to Nikbin he was arrested and tortured by the Iranian government while visiting Iran because (among other things) they found his baptismal certificate into the Mormon Church. 

Past Iranian Branches of the Mormon Church

 

One great source to read a little about expatriate branches in Iran is a book entitled “Mormon wards as community” which can be found using Google. It has an entire chapter on Mormon congregations in Iran dating back to the 1950 and 60’s.  Some of the highlights from my reading:

  • The role of John A. Widstoe and his interactions with Iranian diplomats that led to many of the expatriate members being sent to Iran to work in the field of Agriculture. His interactions included dealing with Reza Shah Pahlavi, who was the Shah of Iran from 1925-1941.
  • “It was fine for us to have church but there weren’t any Iranians who were allowed to attend because the Iranian government prohibited citizens from attending foreign services… There were very few Iranians who were Mormons….They had joined the LDS church when they attended USU or BYU. Since they were required to be Moslem to hold government positions, most did not risk being seen at services of the American church.”
  • Despite the above quotes it later notes a few times that some Iranians did attend services and services were scheduled so that they could attend.
  • It mentions that at one point the Tehran branch continued to hold services on Sunday, despite it being a normal workday in Iran while the Shiraz Branch adapted to the culture and held services on Friday, the Muslim holy day.
  • Visits of General Authorities to members there (specifically for that purpose or while on business they made visits to local expatriate members) include:
  • Thorpe Issacson, a member of the Presiding Bishopric in 1954
  • Four Apostles: Spencer W. Kimball, Richard L. Evans, Ezra Taft Benson, and Howard W. Hunter all came during the 1960’s.
  • During Richard L. Evans meeting (Feb 1962) he told the members of his recent trip to India and the work with the Church’s missionary program.
  • When Elder Benson (Nov ‘64) visited, two Iranians were advanced in the priesthood, one of them becoming an Elder. Presumably the first Iranian to hold the Melchizedek priesthood.
  • Elder Hunter visited in May 1966 at the request of Benson. This meeting had members come from Isfahan and Abadan in addition to those in Tehran and other parts.
  • Belle S. Spafford, General Relief Society president and Florence Jacobsen, Young Ladies Mutual Improve president also visited members in Iran while visiting an international women’s meeting in Tehran.
  • There is a very interesting account of the members attempting to give aid to the Iranians. The account includes Iranians being upset and throwing rocks at the Mormons because they didn’t all receive the same amount of aid. Eventually the members figured out how to do it properly and built much goodwill with local Iranians. This account is under the section “Assistance to Iranians” on page 100.

Though much of the account is focused on the premise behind the book it is still very interesting to read about these expatriate members in Iran before the volatile 1970’s.

 

 Current Mormon Church presence in Iran

 

Obviously there are no current LDS Missions, missionaries nor any kind of activity by The LDS Church in Iran.  Though there are undoubtedly Iranian members/converts scattered across the globe.  At the very least there are Iranian members of the church in Switzerland, Ecuador, Italy and Japan from various articles and sources I have come across.  I would also feel safe to make the assumption that there are many other countries that have at least a few Iranian Mormons, including the United States and Canada. (If you are an Iranian member of The LDS Church, we would love to make contact with you: asiffromthedust@gmail.com )

 

The LDS Church, as far as I know, does not keep a record of (or at least publicly) how many members from “x” country may exist throughout the world if that country is not open to the Gospel.  It is, therefore, next to impossible to accurately estimate how many Mormons there may be throughout the world with Iranian roots.

 

Having compiled this brief history from various sources it is important to note that the Mormon Church does not actively proselyte in countries where it is forbidden.  There is a strict policy for all Mormons-expats working abroad, visiting tourists, students etc- to refrain from teaching about the Church if such activities are prohibited.  The Mormon Church understands and respects the agency of governments and people alike. Along these lines, I am not so naive to think or predict that the current happenings in Iran mean that the Mormon Church will shortly be established there. If some day in the future this is the desire of the majority of people then I hope it turns out that way. On the other hand, if the people simply want political change and have no desire to hear about other religions their desires should be respected and I know that the Mormon Church will not try to enter Iran until the people want it and the government approves of it.

Some of the original sources I quoted from or used to compile this information can be found here:

Mormon Church History in Iran

Iranian shares story of LDS conversion

First Iranian convert tells of her story


Continue reading at the original source →