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Show type is not remarkable in the least; on the contrary, it is surprising that we do not find more examples of this type of blending. The next most recent _story (No. 54) is dated in 1940 and is consistent with the prevailing Nephit e pattern. Although most of the episodes in this s-t'tldy were narrated in Utah, almost one-third of them were not experienced in the State; 48 of the 150 occurred outside of Utah. This is not surt:rrielng, however, s inca the boundaries of the Mormon Cou.'"'t ry extend considerably beyond Utah and since Mormon missionary activities have ~ spread all over the world. The distribution of manifestations outside the boundaries of Utah--being witnessed, as they were, by persons familiar with the Book Q!Morrnon--sugg9sts nothing of folkloristic or sociological significance beyond what is implied in intrastate distribution. If we were dealing with a primitive society in which the com-munit ies represented isolated groups with but little contact, or w1 th dialectal differences, or with cl~tio and economic divisions, we might expect to trace, as the anthropologist does, the diffusion of a type of folk tale outward from its center. We might theorize that ' since the stories are basically religious, they sb:ruld spread from the chief religious centers where temples are located; or conversely, that such lore flourishes in the more isolated and "backward" commun-ities. As a. :rratter of fact, the data cannot support any of these generalizations. The germinal idea. behind these stories is to be found in the J3ook Q.{ Mormon, whioh is in every- L. D. S. home throughout the state, regardless of all economic, geographio, or cultual factors. MOrmon missionaries are drawn from cities and hamlets, from professio~l obairs and f arm wagons, from culture patterns like those of Ephraim with its "/{lf pu.re Danish population and of Price with its polyglot of nationalities. And to every isolated village go the Churoh officials on endless speaking tours. As a result of this religious unification, |
