Book of Mormon

A team of Mormon missionaries gathered in Birmingham, Ala., outside the BJCC to hand out copies of the Book of Mormon after the musical comedy, 'The Book of Mormon.' (Courtesy LDS Church)

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The musical comedy 'The Book of Mormon' completed a six-day run in Birmingham at the BJCC on Feb. 22, 2015. Real Mormon missionaries, spoofed in the play, handed out real copies of the real Book of Mormon after each show.

Although the Broadway musical comedy "The Book of Mormon" spoofs their faith, Alabama members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made the best of it during its six-day run in Birmingham that ended Sunday.

They assigned four missionaries to stand outside each performance at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and hand out copies of the real Book of Mormon, one of their sacred scriptures, to people coming out of the show. There were at least four real Mormon missionaries on hand for each of the eight shows.

They distributed more than 2,400 copies of the real Book of Mormon in Birmingham, said Richard Hanks, Birmingham mission president for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"If people have a couple hours to watch satire, we hope they'll take a couple hours to read the real thing," Hanks said. "We said, 'You can get a real book of Mormon from a real Mormon.'"

Some people treated the hand-out like it was part of the show, said Margie Westenhofer, Bessemer Stake Director of Public Affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"People were taking them like they were souvenirs," Westenhofer said. "People would say, 'I want one. I want one.''

Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold copies of the Book of Mormon to be distributed in Birmingham, Ala., to theater-goers leaving a showing of the musical comedy 'The Book of Mormon.' (Courtesy LDS Church)

Both Hanks and Westenhofer said they hadn't seen the play, and don't know any Mormons in Birmingham who did. "It isn't the kind of thing I'm interested in seeing," Hanks said. "From what I understand, it isn't very representative of us. I don't watch 'South Park' either."

The musical was written by the creators of the animated TV show "South Park," which routinely skewers religion. "I've heard it's pretty profane, vulgar and irreverent," Westenhofer said. "That turns me off. But I support anybody's right to free speech."

The Latter-day Saints' national office bought advertisments in the playbill for the touring show. "The ad says, 'You've seen the play, now read the book,'" Hanks said. "The Church always tries to take the high road on these things, and represent the savior as best we can."

There are about 36,000 Latter-day Saints in Alabama in 70 congregations. About 10,000 to 15,000 of those are in the Birmingham metropolitan area. The only Mormon temple in the state is in Gardendale.

"We know people's lives can be changed for the better by the Book of Mormon," Hanks said. "We hope they they take time to read the Book of Mormon, pray about it, and hopefully it will change their lives. I'm proud of the missionaries and the way they behaved. We're trying to take the high road."