(RNS) — According to Pew Research Center, Hispanic Americans have grown as a share of the U.S. Latter-day Saint population. In 2007, when Pew fielded its first Religious Landscape Study, about 1 in every 14 U.S. Mormons identified as Hispanic or Latina/o. In the most recent 2023 – 24 data, that was closer to 1 in 8, or 12%, of the U.S. LDS population. But who are Latina/o Mormons in the U.S., and how do they practice and feel about their faith? Researcher Sujey Vega, a professor at Arizona State University, has probed that question for nearly 20 years now. She’s the author of the new book “Mormon Barrio: Latino Belonging in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (NYU Press), based on interviews with 48 people in Arizona, Indiana and Utah. Most were converts to Mormonism, primarily from Catholicism, and Vega wanted to know why they joined their new faith. “The immediate answer was not because they believe in the church’s message that families are forever. That’s definitely a benefit, but that wasn’t …