On a sunny October morning in San Diego, a quartet of LDS missionaries gathers in a church parking lot to talk shop and plot course. All four men are wearing short-sleeved white dress shirts, dark slacks and striped ties; each sports the same style of close-cropped haircut. The black plastic name tags on their shirt pockets identify Elder Bott, Elder Hepworth, Elder Christensen and Elder Moreno as representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Save for the pair of palm trees lazily swaying in the Southern California breeze less than 10 feet away, this run-of-the-mill huddle of Mormon elders almost looks like it could be taking place anywhere in the world — with strong emphasis on “almost.”