Why missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were asked to sing at halftime of the BYU-SMU game

A group of Latter-day Saint missionaries sang “America The Beautiful” during halftime of the BYU-SMU football game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas on Friday night. | BYU Photo

DALLAS — Roughly one-third of the 31,172 college football fans who watched Brigham Young University defeat Southern Methodist University 18-15 last Friday night at Gerald J. Ford Stadium were cheering for the Cougars.

Dozens and dozens of those fans were missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are serving full-time missions for the faith that sponsors and supports BYU.

At halftime, the missionaries made their way from the upper southeast corner of the 32,000-seat stadium to the field and performed the patriotic song “America The Beautiful.” The choir stretched from one 40-yard-line to the other and faced the press box at the stadium on the SMU campus just north of downtown Dallas.

With SMU leading 9-7 at halftime, a message on the stadium’s big screen welcomed the missionaries and said they were from the Texas Dallas South Mission.

The president of the mission is Scott Tanner of Fruit Heights, Utah. He told the Provo Daily Herald that a member of the Church works with SMU’s athletic department and facilitated the missionaries’ attendance at the game, the halftime song, and some service they performed the day before and day after the contest.

“Our goal is to shine light in the community, show that we’re part of the community and we love our country and we love all people,” Tanner told the Daily Herald. “It’s a really great opportunity for us.”

Former BYU football stars Robbie Bosco and Chad Lewis talked to the group before the game.

According to a BYU athletics news release in August, nearly half of the players on BYU’s 2024 football roster have served full-time missions for The Church of…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/why-missionaries-church-jesus-christ-204043074.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-09-08 20:40:43

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