Once they realized I was Mormon, they asked if we were that weird religion that believes in soaking.

I told them no and they seemed to accept that. Then they asked one of the commanders who was LDS and from Hill and he confirmed to them it was a real thing.

He's very much a lapsed LDS (hasn't been in years, doesn't practice anymore), and I'm not sure if he was joking or what....

But they are all now 100% convinced that it's a Mormon thing, even if not everyone does it. They actually compared it to caffeine, how "a lot of Mormons won't drink caffeine, but the bad ones will. It's probably like that - the really hardcore ones don't soak, but the rest do. That's why you're less familiar with it"

Side note: the guy who confirmed it to them wasn't active, but he was a BYU grad, BYU fan and generally positive towards the church, so I don't think he was lying with ill intention