SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - If you happened to cross paths with brother and sister Horlacher during their recent missionary tour of the North, then you probably have a good idea of how welcoming the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is to newcomers.

The married couple in their 60s were the last Mormon missionaries posted in Yellowknife, just two of more than 50,000 Latter-Day missionaries around the world. The church's elaborate missionary system has been credited for much of their growth since the Christian sect was founded in the United States less than 200 years ago, to an estimated 14 million members worldwide today.

In sharply dressed duos of either two single young men, two single young women, or a retired married couple like the Horlachers, members of the church volunteer for proselytizing missions around the world, for tours of up to two years.

Usually in a white blouse and tie with a name tag, the formal dress of the missionaries is reflective of the regular church code.

"We dress formal as a mark of respect," Yellowknife branch president Loren Sutherland said, adding adults are addressed in the congregation by their last name.

If you decide to drop by the Yellowknife Latter-Day Saints meeting house for Sunday sacrament, you should pull out your Sunday best if you do not want to feel out of place. Men are encouraged to wear a suit and tie, women long dresses, and children should also dress up for the service which lasts about one hour, starting at 10 a.m.

Children and families are the foundation of the church, with perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the group being their commitment to genealogy. The Latter-Day Saints have genealogy centres all around the world to help the public discover their family history, including a centre open Thursday evenings, at the church address on 52 Street near Franklin Avenue.

The site where the services are held here is called a meeting house as opposed to a temple, which the Mormon church usually builds when there are more than 100 members in any given community. Regular members at the Yellowknife branch number at around 30 to 40, Sutherland said, which varies because of the transient nature of the city. The closest temple is in Edmonton, but like all Latter-Day Saints temples around the world, you can only enter if you are a baptized member of the church.

The church prefers to be referred to as the Latter-Day Saints, as opposed to Mormon, which is what they consider a nickname, Sutherland said.

The nickname comes from their cornerstone text — the Book of Mormon — which they consider to be an addition to the traditional Christian Bible, not a replacement. The text, said to have been revealed to the church's founding prophet Joseph Smith in 1823, is described as a history of God's ancient dealings with people in the Americas and gives instruction for how "to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come," the introduction says.

When it comes to marriage, unlike the polygamist Mormon settlement of Bountiful, B.C., this church believes in one man to one woman, Sutherland said, and people of age are encouraged to get married and raise children in the church.

"Children are the foundation of the church because when we grow older we need them to lead and take on responsibility of the gospel," Sutherland said.

While the Horlachers finished their tour and left the city in January, visitors are always welcome to drop by a Latter-Day Saints sacrament service on Sundays. If you would prefer a personal invite, you can always wait until the next set of missionaries comes to town, expected in July.

Next week: Yellowknife

Seventh-day Adventist Church

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