Things Only a Latter-day Saint Would Understand: 10 LDS Culture References on T-Shirts

There are things about being a Latter-day Saint that don't really need an explanation.

If you've been around the Church long enough, you just know.

You know what someone means when they say, "We need to talk about your calling."

You know that green Jello is somehow a cultural institution.

You know exactly what "covenant path" means.

You know that a youth activity can somehow involve both a spiritual message and a Costco-sized quantity of snacks.

And you probably have at least one Church-related inside joke that would make absolutely no sense to your neighbor.

That's the kind of stuff we like to put on shirts at WeakThings.

We're Latter-day Saints. We make LDS apparel. And while we take our faith seriously, we don't think we have to take ourselves seriously all the time.

So here are a few things that make a lot more sense when you know the culture.

1. Green Jello & Whey

Let's just get this one out of the way.

Green Jello.

Few foods have achieved the level of cultural recognition that green Jello has among Latter-day Saints.

And then we thought:

What if we made it sound like an actual corporation?

Thus was born Green Jello & Whey Corp..

It's vintage.

It's ridiculous.

It's strangely believable.

And if you're a Latter-day Saint, there's a pretty good chance you understand the joke immediately.

The funny part isn't that every Latter-day Saint eats green Jello.

The funny part is that green Jello has somehow become part of the stereotype and folklore surrounding LDS culture.

So we leaned into it.

Because sometimes you just need a shirt about green Jello.

2. "Calling"

Every Latter-day Saint eventually learns an important lesson:

You can never be completely certain what's going to happen when someone says:

"We'd like to talk to you about a calling."

Maybe it's something you've been expecting.

Maybe it's something you've never considered.

Maybe it's something you didn't know existed.

Maybe it's something you were absolutely certain you were not qualified to do.

And somehow, you're doing it next Sunday.

That's the inspiration behind our Calling shirt.

It's not making fun of callings.

It's making fun of the very relatable experience of being a regular person who gets asked to do something you've never done before—and then trying to figure it out with faith.

Which, if we're honest, is probably a pretty good description of Church service for most of us.

3. The Pirate Who's on the Lord's Side?

This one is a little more obscure.

Which makes it better.

Our The Pirate Who's on the Lord's Side? design plays off a familiar phrase while taking it somewhere nobody expects.

It's the kind of reference that might get a blank stare from someone who isn't familiar with LDS culture.

But another Latter-day Saint sees it and goes:

"Wait... I get that."

That's one of our favorite kinds of humor.

Not offensive.

Not complicated.

Just a little unexpected.

4. Your Mom Is an 8-Cow Wife

If you've spent time around Latter-day Saint culture, you've probably heard of Johnny Lingo.

And if you've seen The Legend of Johnny Lingo, you know exactly where this is going.

The story famously revolves around a bride price measured in cows, with Mahana initially being described as worth only one cow.

Johnny Lingo ultimately offers eight cows.

The lesson has been discussed in Church settings for generations: how the way we treat people can influence how they see themselves.

We decided to take the cultural reference and have some fun with it.

Hence:

Your Mom Is an 8-Cow Wife.

It's not exactly the kind of sentence you expect to see on a T-shirt.

Which is precisely why it works.

And if someone doesn't understand it?

You get to explain the eight cows.

Congratulations.

You've just started a conversation about a 1970s Church movie.

5. More Family. More Doing.

There is a particular kind of Latter-day Saint phrase that sounds completely normal until you stop and think about it.

Our Temple Depot: More Family, More Doing design plays with that language.

It's inspired by the familiar emphasis Latter-day Saints place on temples, family, and covenant living, but presented with the kind of branding language you might expect from an outdoor or lifestyle company.

That's one of the things we enjoy doing at WeakThings:

Take something familiar.

Change the context.

See what happens.

6. When Your Youth Group Gets a Little Too Much Adventure

Latter-day Saint youth activities have a remarkable ability to range from:

"Let's have a short spiritual thought."

to:

"We're leaving at 4:30 a.m. and hiking 17 miles."

There isn't always a lot of middle ground.

That's why we like adventure-inspired LDS apparel.

A shirt doesn't have to scream "CHURCH YOUTH ACTIVITY" across the front.

It can look like something you'd wear on an actual adventure.

Something cool.

Something subtle.

Something that makes another member stop and look twice.

That's part of the design philosophy behind WeakThings.

7. Real American Heroes

Sometimes an idea works because the reference is instantly recognizable.

Our G.I. Joe's Real American Heroes design takes a familiar piece of pop culture and gives it an LDS twist.

The joke isn't about the Church.

It's about the way Latter-day Saints can take a completely ordinary cultural reference and somehow turn it into something related to faith.

We've all done it.

A song lyric becomes a sacrament meeting lesson.

A movie quote becomes a youth activity theme.

A normal camping trip becomes "a spiritual experience."

We can't help ourselves.

8. The Covenant Path

Some phrases are so familiar in LDS culture that they immediately create an image in your head.

Covenant Path is one of them.

And there's something fun about taking language you normally hear in a Church setting and turning it into a piece of everyday apparel.

It's meaningful.

It's recognizable.

And it doesn't have to look like a traditional religious shirt.

That's an important part of what we do at WeakThings.

We want LDS apparel to look like apparel.

9. Choose the Right

You don't have to be a Latter-day Saint very long before you become extremely familiar with the phrase:

Choose the Right.

Our Choose the Right design takes that familiar phrase and treats it as an actual piece of graphic apparel.

It's one of those designs where another Latter-day Saint knows immediately.

And that's the fun.

10. Sometimes the Joke Is Simply That We All Understand It

This might be the biggest category of LDS humor.

It's not necessarily a joke.

It's recognition.

Someone sees a shirt and thinks:

"Oh, that's us."

That's what happens with a lot of the designs we make.

They're built around scriptures, Church experiences, youth culture, missionary life, temple experiences, family history, callings, Church vocabulary, and all the little things that make Latter-day Saint life distinctive.

Some are meaningful.

Some are funny.

Some are both.

And occasionally we make something that requires a five-minute explanation.

Those are fun too.

Why We Make This Stuff

We make LDS apparel because we're Latter-day Saints.

That's really it.

We're not trying to make fun of the Church.

We're not trying to make fun of prophets or apostles.

We're not trying to make sacred things into punchlines.

We are willing to laugh at ourselves.

Because Church life is full of ordinary people trying to do extraordinary things.

We get called to things we're not sure we're ready for.

We volunteer for things we didn't realize would take six hours.

We show up to youth activities with way too much food.

We recognize a Johnny Lingo reference from 40 years ago.

We know exactly what someone means when they say "the covenant path."

And yes...

Some of us still have strong opinions about green Jello.

That's Latter-day Saint culture.

And we think it's worth celebrating.

LDS Apparel for People Who Get the Joke

If you're looking for a shirt that simply says "LDS," we've got those kinds of ideas too.

But if you're looking for something that makes another Latter-day Saint stop, smile, and say:

"I get it."

That's where WeakThings gets really fun.

Browse the WeakThings LDS apparel collection, explore the Rejoice in Christ collection, or send us your own shirt idea.

Because the next great LDS inside joke might be the next great WeakThings shirt.

Weak Things Become Strong.