The young single adult conference for Mormon Hispanics in Salt Lake City Thursday and Friday has provided many with opportunities to reflect on what it means to be a Latino Mormon and how it is they can be a blessing to their communities.

"Here in Utah, it is a blessing to be a member of (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)," said 30-year old Reno Rangel, a conference participant from Ogden. "The church is supporting the Latinos to progress, and this makes me happy to be a Latino and to live in Utah."

Rangel said all of the participants rejoice in having a conference just for Latinos, so that they can get to know other people with similar goals and roots.

"It has been fun to expand our social relationships with people of similar principles," Rangel said.

Rangel stressed the importance of preserving one's own culture but also said Hispanic LDS in the United States should not be closed off to learning from others.

"I was born Guatemalan and I will die Guatemalan," Rangel said "but that doesn't mean that I cannot learn from other people here. We should not shut our doors, but rather we should get to know others."

A great challenge for the Latino community is the perception others maintain of them, said group participant Anai Figueroa, 20, from Logan.

"If they take the time to get to know Latinos, they will know that the two groups would complement each other," Figueroa said. "Together, the two groups could have more opportunities."

Friday morning, the conference featured educational workshops with topics ranging from marriage and scripture study to getting scholarships and creating businesses.

Attendee Diana Lopez, an 18-year-old, also from Logan, said the workshop on scholarships impressed her a great deal.

"It is important for Latinos to know that they can also acquire a good education with the help of scholarships," Lopez said.

Lopez said in her college sociology class she was given statistics that indicated that of all the different groups in United States, Hispanic women make the least amount of money.

"The workshops taught us that we can change this for the better," Lopez said. "I want to change these statistics and be a good influence in my community.

Being a minority as Mormons in the Latino community, Rengel said they have a great opportunity to show their faith to others.

"We can show our neighbors who we are and what we believe," Rengel said. "We can attend service activities — not so that we can be seen, but so we can say to the community, 'here we are working together.' "

E-MAIL: cwarren@desnews.com