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 to receive ad-free podcast episodes, the full newsletter and access to all of our religion content.
Musket mentions — from Maxwell to Oaks to Holland
Apostle Jeffrey Holland’s death brought to the fore — as expected — his famous (or infamous) 2021 “musket-fire” speech at Brigham Young University in which he urged faculty and students to be more valiant in defense of the church’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
Criticism from inside and outside the church erupted — especially regarding the musket metaphor.
That imagery did not start, however, with Holland, a former BYU president. Apostle Neal Maxwell had referenced it, though in a different overall context, in a 2004 address at the Provo school.
“LDS scholars at BYU and elsewhere are a little bit like the builders of the temple in Nauvoo [Illinois] who worked with a trowel in one hand and a musket in the other,” Maxwell said. “...The dual role of builder and defender is unique and ongoing. I am grateful we have scholars today who can handle, as it were, both trowels and muskets.”
Even apostle Dallin Oaks, the current church president and another former BYU president, made similar remarks in 2014 and 2017 sermons advocating the “fundamental doctrine” of heterosexual marriage.
“I would like to hear a little more musket fire,” Oaks said, “from this temple of learning.”
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland delivers his "musket" speech at Brigham Young University on Aug. 23, 2021.
In his speech, Holland noted the musket mentions by Maxwell and Oaks (we published the transcript) and, three years later, reflecting on his 2021 remarks in a church-produced podcast, acknowledged the pain they had caused.
“If anybody was hurt, and I know some were in that exchange, then I was hurt,” said Holland, his voice choking with emotion. “... I have wept. I have wept for those three years. I don’t think anybody has had more people in an office, in a chair, weeping with them than I have in that administration building, with kids who were struggling with gender issues. … They are loved by God, and they are loved by us. They are loved by me.”
He explained that his goal was simply to “get the supporting doctrine of the church across.”
Holland offered no apology and was never asked about his musket reference.
Uchtdorf’s chances
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Apostles David A. Bednar, left, with wife Susan, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf, with wife Harriet, wave at General Conference in April. Uchtdorf and Bednar are second and third in line, respectively, to lead the global church.
With the recent deaths of Russell Nelson and Jeffrey Holland, the chances of popular apostle Dieter Uchtdorf one day becoming church president are approaching 60%.
That’s according to an analysis by Ziff, the pen name for a data blogger at the Zelophehad’s Daughters website, based partly on a mortality table from the Society of Actuaries.
The 85-year-old Uchtdorf is second in line to take the faith’s reins — behind 92-year-old Henry Eyring, first counselor in the governing First Presidency and now the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
But since Eyring serves as the top counselor to 93-year-old church President Dallin Oaks, Uchtdorf becomes the acting president of the quorum. Oaks set Uchtdorf apart as such on Thursday, according to a news release.
Apostle David Bednar ranks right behind Uchtdorf on the succession ladder, but he is 12 years younger. The probability of the 73-year-old Bednar rising to the top seat, in Ziff’s analysis, sits at 78%, the highest of any of the apostles.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Picking new apostles
As President Dallin Oaks prepares to name his second new apostle, we explore the insights and intrigue that have accompanied this responsibility from the days of founder Joseph Smith to now.
Listen to the podcast.
Institutes turn 100
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The church's Institute of Religion building in Moscow, Idaho.
The church’s Institutes of Religion will celebrate their centennial this year, starting with a Feb. 1 worldwide devotional featuring apostle Patrick Kearon and his wife, Jennifer.
Institutes (often tied to college campuses) generally offer religious instruction for those ages 18 to 30.
The program began in 1926 at a building near the University of Idaho in Moscow. It now boasts more than 2,700 locations in over 170 countries, according to a news release, with a total enrollment of 457,000 students — a number that has shot up by 30% in the past two years.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Keynote speakers planned for the March 5-7 RootsTech 2026 conference.
Academy Award winner to speak at RootsTech
Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin and Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young will lead the lineup of keynote speakers for RootsTech 2026, the world’s largest family history conference, set for March 5-7.
From The Tribune
(Find a Grave) Dora Young Hagan, as an older woman, converted to Catholicism.
• Brigham Young’s Catholic daughter loved her father, loathed polygamy and lived amid conflict.
• Funeral services pay tribute to Jeffrey Holland, an “apostle of hope, love and learning.”
• A burial service returns Holland to his native St. George and the side of his cherished wife, Pat.
• Religion News Service columnist and Latter-day Saint Jana Riess shares how she’ll remember Holland.
• Tribune columnist Gordon Monson has some suggestions for whom to name as the next apostle.
(James Goldberg) Gurcharan Singh Gill, right, is pictured with wife, Vilo, shortly before her death. Gill is the subject of a new biography, written by grandson James Goldberg and his wife, Nicole. The book, published by church-owned Deseret Book and titled "Latter-day Sikh: From a Guru's Feet to a Prophet's Call," tells the story of Gill's life, from an Indian village to the Wasatch Front.
• The book “Latter-day Sikh: From a Guru’s Feet to a Prophet’s Call” offers a blueprint for those seeking to blend Mormonism with non-Christian backgrounds.
• A 21-year-old missionary from Utah died “in his sleep” while serving in New Mexico.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Caleb Gene Martin, 21, of Salem, Utah, died Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, while serving in the church's New Mexico Farmington Mission.