have also spent significant time there throughout our lives, maybe visiting family and friends who live there, and have a social network that includes many Utahans. Many of us have spouses from Utah, or a parent (or two) from Utah, so we have lived with Utahans a significant portion of our lives. This makes it different than having lived a couple of years in a random place like Norway, where you rarely, if ever, go back or have close relatives from there or socialize with locals.

For example, I only lived in Utah when I was at BYU, but I can only think of 2 years of my life in which I didn't visit Utah at least once, and one of those was while I was on a mission living with companion after companion from Utah. Most years when I was growing up, I would spend at least a 2 weeks (and sometimes a month or so) in Utah every summer, and sometimes in the winter too, visiting cousins, grandparents, etc. My father was raised largely in Utah. My parents now live in Utah, along with two of my siblings, my parents-in-law, and several other in-laws. And then there are the cousins and nieces and nephews and uncles and aunts and ex-roommates and former mission companions. One of my sons lives there now with his new bride. Almost any time there is a wedding in the family, it is in Utah. Most funerals are there too.

I think it's fair to say that I probably know Utah better than you know Norway, or than most missionaries know their mission country or state. The same is probably true of most born-and-raised Mormons who have a least one parent from Utah, even if they never lived there other than college.