As with any culture, the Mormon religion has developed its own set of terminology. These words and phrases are easily understood by those within the church, but those unfamiliar with Mormonism or are new to the state of Utah may be confused when they encounter them. So in the interest of clarity, here are some common Mormon-isms and what they mean.
“The Church”
In Utah, the LDS church is so prevalent that when referring to it in everyday conversation, it’s not really necessary to specify which church you’re talking about. All you have to say is “the church” and everyone knows what you’re talking about.
“Stake Center”
You might have overheard someone talking about a church party or event happening at what you understood as a “Steak Center.” You might have thought to yourself, ‘Wow, I love steak! Now there’s a religion I can get behind.” Sadly, ‘stake’ refers to an organizational unit of ‘the church,’ so a Stake Center is simply a church building that’s slightly bigger than other churches in the area.
“Church Ball”
You hear someone in your class say that they have a “church ball” game that night. ‘What is church ball?’ you wonder. You imagine a hokey religious game that involves the recitation of Bible verses when you catch the ball. Thankfully, nothing like that exists within the Mormon church. “Church ball” is actually just basketball, played in a church. Each congregation forms a team and plays the teams of neighboring congregations and it can actually get pretty heated.
“Mission”
The phrase ‘on my mission’ is a pretty common one in Utah. If you didn’t know better, you might think that everyone here was once a Navy Seal or a Cold War-era spy who went on tactical, surveillance, or rescue missions of some sort. Most of the time however, when a Utahan talks about something that happened ‘on their mission,’ they are referring to an 18-24 month mission that Mormon members choose to serve as ambassadors of the church around the world.
“RM”
‘RM’ is an acronym for Returned Missionary, those who have recently returned home from their mission. Infamous for being a little socially awkward for a few weeks.
“Active”
“I’m Mormon, but not really active,” is a phrase you might hear. And you might wonder to yourself, “What does this person’s physical fitness have to do with anything?” Well, when the word ‘active’ is used in relation to the Mormon church, it’s generally short for ‘actively participating in.’
“Mutual”
“Have you ever gone paintballing?” “Yes, I went once for Mutual.” “What?” Mutual refers to the church’s youth group program. Once a week, boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 meet to do activities, and for some reason it’s called “Mutual.”
“Fast Sunday”
Once a month, church is replaced with relay races! Just kidding. That would be cool, but Fast Sunday is actually a day each month where members go without food for two meals (fasting) and then donate the money they save to charity.