‘I Hope they Call me on Another Mission: How Being a Mormon Missionary Made me an ACLU Lawyer Five years ago I left private law practice in Seattle to work as a civil rights lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in Chicago. Now as I leave the ACLU and return to the Pacific Northwest, I recognize for the first time how my experiences as a young missionary in Korea significantly influenced and shaped my approach to service as a full-time public interest attorney. This paper illuminates the parallels between the two vocations–from eagerly anticipating the call, to coping with culture shock, to zealously proselytizing, and finally to trunkily waiting to be released.

Roger Leishman