More than 400 Mormons in India gathered at the Summer Green Resort over the weekend for a simple yet important purpose — to find love.
These members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participated in the church’s All India Young Single Adults Conference. The theme of this year’s event was “Decisions Determine Destiny.” To some of the locals, the theme meant finding true love, according to BBC.
"It's no secret that we all come here to find spouses," Venella Vakapalli, 18, told BBC.
The event aims to help Mormons in India find potential mates. During one talk, the speaker told those in attendance that there aren’t enough Mormon marriages in the country, which only has 12,700 members of the church.
The low marriage rate, according to BBC, contributes in part to the low number of Indian-born missionaries. Many Mormons in India are first-generation converts, and since most people in the country join the church later in life, they don't get to be missionaries themselves.
Church leaders in India hope that events like the YSA conference will help grow the church’s foundation in the country.
As for the young adults, they’re hoping for eternal love.
"Someone came up to me earlier and said, 'Have you met your husband yet?’ I said no, I am only 18 years old,” Vakapalli told BBC. "They told me, 'He's somewhere around here. Go search.'"