Brazilian Helvécio Martins was the first Black general authority in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He was named a dozen years after the Utah-based faith ended its 126-year priesthood/temple ban in 1978.

His son Marcus Martins had just turned 19 and thus, by most accounts, became the church’s first Black missionary after the change.

The younger Martins went on to earn a master’s degree in organizational behavior and a doctorate in sociology of religion, race and ethnic relations. Eventually, he became chair of religious education at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He has served as a mission president, twice as bishop, and as a full-time senior missionary with his wife, Mirian.

All this time, Marcus Martins has remained keenly interested in the politics and sociology of Mormonism. He has addressed how geopolitical, sociocultural and technological trends have affected missionary and temple work.

As he prepares to embark on his third church mission in Brazil — which recently surpassed Mexico as having more Latter-day Saints than any other nation outside the U.S. — Martins discusses why Brazilians have embraced this American-born faith and how they view U.S. culture, traditions and politics?

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