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The other Brigham

Polygamy. Racist rants. Mountain Meadows Massacre. Blood atonement.

Brigham Young certainly stepped into his share of much-debated and much-documented controversies.

But a recent apologetics conference, as one might expect, turned to more positive aspects of the pioneer-prophet’s private character.

“As Latter-day Saints become increasingly familiar with the Brigham Young who appears in the documents,” church historian Brett Dowdle said at this month’s FAIR Conference, “they will discover a multifaceted man, who, although not perfect, was far from the caricature so many have imagined him to be.”

Although Dowdle encouraged fellow Latter-day Saints not to dismiss all criticisms of Young and cling to an idealistic version of the faith’s second president, he counseled them that they should confront such issues “by becoming increasingly more familiar with Brigham’s life and character.”

One of the best ways to do so, Dowdle said, was to study correspondence to and from Young. In his presentation, the historian read aloud segments of letters.

Wrote daughter Susa Young Gates: “My father was never harsh nor unjustly severe. I never saw him whip one of his children in my life. Certainly, we all obeyed him, but it was because we loved him so well.”

Her sister Mabel echoed those sentiments.

“He was the most wonderful being on earth, sweet and kind and full of benign influence. … Where father was, there could be no strife, no inharmony.”

Two years before his death, Young wrote to Jehiel McConnell, a missionary and pioneer in southern Utah, about the responsibilities of being president.

“The duties of my office and calling require me to teach the people the way of truth and life, but fortunately I am not obliged to make them walk in it, for that is not within my power. … We are all placed here to observe laws for saving ourselves ... and to aid in saving others so far as we may be able, and this work seems to require; in addition to faithfulness and diligence on our part, patience, forbearance, and a kindly conduct.”

These letters, Dowdle said, reveal “a multidimensional man who more fully aligns with [members’] perceptions of a prophet.”

Latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Riess on retention

Religion News Service columnist Jana Riess discusses the retention problem facing the church and why more Latter-day Saint women, especially younger ones, struggle to stay in the fold.

Listen to the podcast.

Around the world

• Church leaders have been working overtime, creating new stakes across the globe.

Nigeria is home to three new stakes, giving the West African nation 84 of these regional clusters of congregations, independent church tracker Matt Martinich reports at ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, Martinich notes, Utah and North Carolina gained two new stakes apiece, while Alabama, Canada, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Idaho, Kentucky, Mozambique, the Philippines, Sierra Leone, Spain and Uganda each added one stake.

• The Sunday Times recently featured Latter-day Saints in Dublin. The story focused primarily on the faith’s Sunday services, and its teachings on eternal families, baptisms for the dead and related genealogical work.

A couple of takeaways:

— The piece pointed out a statistical disparity. Barely 1,100 people identified as Latter-day Saints in Ireland’s latest census, while the church reported nearly 4,000 on its roll in 2022. (That membership tally jumped to more than 4,900 last year, according to the faith’s website.)

— A site has yet to be announced for the Dublin Temple, announced in fall 2024, which would be the church’s first temple in the predominantly Catholic country.

Convert Liz McGrath told The Sunday Times she was drawn to Mormonism by its promise of eternal families.

“When they actually said that to me, it was as if it was something I already knew,” she said. “Some people don’t even believe that there’s life after this life. But for me, it’s the one thing — that you will see family again. You will be reunited with loved ones that you’ve lost.”

• The Seattle suburb of Kirkland bought a former Latter-day Saint meetinghouse for $10 million and plans to turn it into a community center, The Seattle Times reports.

The sale comes as the Utah-based church continues to unload a handful of meetinghouses in the area. A building in Redmond, for instance, is expected to become a temple for devotees of a spiritual leader from India, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.

Meanwhile, the church recently announced a new temple for suburban Marysvale, the seventh existing or planned temple in Washington.

From The Tribune

• “As a sister who is not yet married,” women’s Relief Society leader Kristin Yee encouraged young single adult members to care for one another.

• For Latter-day Saints, the retention decline is more than a people problem.

• We asked what questions should be added to temple recommend interviews. Here is what you said.

• Dallin Oaks capped his first international trip as church president by dedicating Brazil’s Belo Horizonte Temple.