The Mormon Church is quick to point to the large numbers of converts it gained in England and Europe during the mid-19th century. Those conversions came during a time when Dickensian poverty, debtors’ prisons, and desperate living conditions were very real. For many, “conversion” was about far more than spiritual conviction. It was also about escaping the horrors of their daily lives. Missionaries preached of Zion in Utah, a promised land of fertile land and opportunity.
For some, the promise proved true. But for many others, the reality was far harsher. Some women were drawn into polygamous marriages they had not expected, while many immigrants were sent to break difficult land in isolated parts of southern Utah. Vulnerable converts often sacrificed everything to gather to Zion, only to discover that the costs were far greater than they had imagined.