There are a lot of weird names and stuff," and then gave an animated summary of the Book of Mormon followed by a sentence of Scripture and what Mormons call her personal testimony. But knowing that this Gospel is true and knowing that I have a Heavenly Father and a Savior that care about me and have a plan for me, that brings me such peace. God, she said, loves all of us, no matter who we are, wicked or righteous. Instead, this normally sleepy town of 8,000 is the place where church members on a pilgrimage get emotional at the print shop where their prophet, Joseph Smith, worked when publishing the Book of Mormon, in 1830. After a movie that depicts Joseph Smith standing up for beliefs that others called fantasy, there is barely a dry eye at the visitor center. Madie Kay 16, teared up as she sat in the forest grove where Joseph Smith had his first visions, and said she was there trying to learn lessons for her own life. "Joseph Smith was just a boy, and through little things he restored the Gospel," she said. Her father, Dane Kay, 48, said that when he is asked questions about Mr. Romney and Mormonism, he responds, "He is who he is because of what he believes, it shaped his character," he said. But, he said, he also tells people, "I don't think there will be a red phone to the prophet," referring to the current president of the church, Thomas S. Monson. Debra Munk, 62, a high school principal visiting from Kensington, Md., said she saw both threat and opportunity in the added focus on the church. "It's positive in that it helps people to understand us more, but negative in that it really exposes us, and anytime you put under a microscope things that people don't understand, it can get misinterpreted," she said. Outside the pageant, a small band of evangelical protesters drives around town in a yellow sign truck marked "WhatMormonsDontTell.com," and shouts warnings of damnation near the performance each night. "You need to repent, Mormons, you are going to hell!" shouted one protester through a megaphone, from the roadside near the parking field after a performance ended. The lights of the local sheriff's car flashed in the darkness. The Mormon families ignored the noise. A light-up Frisbee flew through the sky. A blue sign by the barbecue tent reminded the families to meet criticism with kindness, and no one shouted back. "As you enter and exit the Hill Cumorah Pageant," the sign said, "please be courteous to those who may attempt to disrupt the special spirit you will feel at this historic site."