LDS audiences flock to the Playmill Theater

WEST YELLOWSTONE, Mont. — The Playmill Theatre is not officially affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but patrons call all the time and ask, \"Can I get tickets to the 6 o'clock session?\"

Roger Merrill, who owns and operates the family-oriented theater with his wife, Heidi, says that their core audience runs about 75 percent LDS, according to a survey.

\"We don't depend on the tourist trade as most theaters do,\" Merrill said.

However, one tourist couple from Holland became hooked on the Playmill six years ago and has returned every year since. Previously, the couple had toured a different place in the U.S. every year.

Merrill asked them, \"Why did you change your vacation schedule? Why do you come to West Yellowstone? You have seen theater all over the world in New York and Los Angeles. And they replied, 'We love coming to the Playmill. It just feels different here. We feel like you are our family.'\"

Last year, Heidi Merrill told the couple they wanted to give them a Book of Mormon in Dutch. She contacted the missionaries, who did their best to find one.

But on the day the couple was to go back to Holland, the Merrills still hadn't come up with it. The missionaries were on their cell phones in the middle of the street exclaiming that they would drive to pick one up, but there was very little time remaining. A man walked by, heard the conversation and asked what was going on.

When told they were looking for a Dutch Book of Mormon he said, \"Wait just a minute.\" He went over to his car and produced one. It turns out he had served a mission in Holland and had carried the book with him for years.

Heidi Merrill presented the couple with the book.

\"We just told them that we loved them and this book meant a lot to us. This couple has been reading it. And without anyone helping them — any missionaries, any members of the church — they have been investigating the church. They have looked up pictures of chapels. He found (what he called) Joseph Smith's 13 rules. He said, 'I count the 13 rules and I think they are wonderful.' He has given up coffee drinking. We can't wait to see them this year.\" Another couple visits regularly from closer to home. The Holts, from Syracuse, Utah, own a cabin five miles from The Playmill and see all three plays multiple times every year. Heidi Merrill said, \"Twice each summer she bakes … I don't know, 20 dozen cookies and treats and brings them to the cast. She treats the cast like they are her children.\"