In 1972, in Thailand, a Mormon missionary had his picture taken sitting on top of a statue of Buddha. It became an international incident.

Says Mark Tippets, a missionary in Thailand at the time:

"We [the missionaries] were front page news for a solid month. We were the entire front page."

While the missionaries involved were jailed for a short time before they were pardoned, Thai converts were under enormous and lasting pressure. A postal worker who had joined the LDS church was told by his superiors that he would be fired if he went to church. Missionaries were told not to identify themselves as "Mormons" because that was the word used repeatedly in news accounts.

"I think it was harder on the members than on the missionaries," Tippets says. "We leave. They have to stay."