The Mormon Land newsletter is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel of news in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Join us on Patreon and receive the full newsletter, podcast transcripts and access to all of our religion content.
The leading faces of Mormonism
Joseph Smith and Brigham Young are sort of the George Washington and Abraham Lincoln of church presidents — no-brainers for placement on a Mount Rushmore of Mormon history.
But which Latter-day Saint prophets should get the other two nods?
We’re asking you to vote. Maybe, for instance, you’d like to bump Brother Brigham, freeing up three spots alongside the faith’s founder.
We made a similar query last year when we turned to you to pick the “greatest” church presidents. Back then, our Mormon Land readers put Smith, the visionary who started it all, on top, followed by Young, the American Moses who logged the longest tenure at the helm. The next three — Gordon B. Hinckley (the gifted communicator who carried the church into the modern mainstream), David O. McKay (the white-haired educator of “every member a missionary” fame) and Spencer W. Kimball (the Yoda-like emancipator who ended the priesthood/temple prohibition on Black members) — finished in a virtual dead heat.
This time, however, we’re asking you to set your choices in stone, so to speak, by selecting the four church leaders who most deserve to be enshrined high on a mountaintop as monuments to their religion.
Cast your vote on this Google Form.
Cover to cover
Historian John Turner’s new biography, “Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet,” comes out this month 80 years after the publication of scholar Fawn Brodie’s landmark volume, “No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith.”
The cover of Turner’s book, you may notice, bears some resemblance to one of Brodie’s later editions. See:
(Amazon) "No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith," by Fawn M. Brodie, and "Joseph Smith: The Rise and Fall of an American Prophet," by John Turner.
You can hear Turner discuss his findings in a recent “Mormon Land” podcast and read excerpts from that interview.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: LGBTQ+ update
Mormons Building Bridges is a shadow of its former self. Why is that? For Pride month, we take a deeper look at the current LGBTQ+ landscape in the church with the founder of Lift + Love.
Listen to the podcast.
New type of temple recommend
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A mobile temple recommend.
The option we wrote about several weeks ago of letting faithful members have their temple recommend on their cellphones is now available worldwide.
“I’ve forgotten my paper recommend a few times in the past, which was such a hassle,” Provo Latter-day Saint Jared Butler said in a news release. “Having it on my phone is so convenient and will definitely save time for temple patrons as well. It’s a game-changer for making temple visits smoother and stress-free.”
Steps for setting up a mobile recommend are spelled out here.
47 years ago ...
(The Salt Lake Tribune) Members of the Unity Gospel Choir sing in 2016. In June 1978, the church lifted its priesthood/temple ban.
This week represents the 47th anniversary of the end of the church policy that barred Black members from entering the priesthood or temples for nearly 130 years.
Relisten to a previous “Mormon Land” podcast with Latter-day Saint scholar W. Paul Reeve, a leading expert on the genesis and aftermath of that racist prohibition, in which he calls Brigham Young’s 1852 defense of the policy the “worst speech” in the faith’s history.
Arrest in missionary’s death
A 25-year-old driver has been arrested and charged in last month’s hit-and-run in Charlotte, North Carolina, that claimed the life of an 18-year-old missionary from Utah, WSOC-TV reports.
Aleki Langi, from Magna, was riding his bike on the sidewalk, police said, when a vehicle jumped the curb and struck him.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Primary General President Susan H. Porter visits surgical department patients at the National Pediatric Hospital to distribute stationery kits packed by Primary children on May 29, 2025, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Primary leader travels to Southeast Asia
President Susan Porter, global leader of the children’s Primary, recently visited Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, including stops at a pediatric hospital and a children’s health center in Phnom Penh.
“I hope the members in the Asia area spread all over know that God is mindful of them,” she said in a news release. “They may feel that there are very few members in their country, maybe they’re the only member at school or at work. But God knows them. He loves them.”
From The Tribune
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Extras wait in the shade for their turn in front of the camera for the filming of Season 6 of "The Chosen."
• Visit the filming of Season 6 of “The Chosen” at a church-owned set in Utah.
• The church’s top female leaders bolster their global initiative to improve the well-being of women and children by partnering with a coalition of international nonprofits and donating $63.4 million to the cause.
• BYU suddenly pops up on Russia’s tally of “undesirable” organizations.
• Tribune guest columnist Rebbie Brassfield says everyone is thrown by Benson Boone’s Latter-day Saint roots — including her. You can also tune in to Rebbie’s latest “Mormons in Media” podcast and meet the man who is elevating Latter-day Saint art.
• Church President Russell Nelson dedicates Utah’s Syracuse Temple.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) President Russell M. Nelson and wife Wendy attend the Syracuse Temple dedication on Sunday, June 8, 2025.
