Mormon Land

Note to readers and listeners • In a tribute to Salt Lake Tribune guest columnist Ardis Parshall, who died earlier this week, we are replaying this “Mormon Land” episode from last July in which the noted research historian discussed one of her favorite topics: Latter-day Saint pioneers. So enjoy once again hearing Parshall’s words, wit and wisdom. Ardis, we will miss you. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a standard crossing-the-Plains narrative: Pioneers traversed the Mississippi River on the ice led by Brigham Young. Everything was well organized, and everyone was well behaved. They trekked hard by day and prayed together at night. They sang “Come, Come, Ye Saints” around the campfire and then delighted in dancing to the tunes of fiddles. Sure, there was hardship, so the story goes, but all the suffering was mostly ennobling. The names varied but the stories for these religious migrants were pretty much interchangeable. For Parshall, however, the pioneer saga was so much wider, richer and, at times, more entertaining. Here, she shared some of the gems she discovered about that epic 19th-century pilgrimage.

Faithful Salt Lake Tribune readers know Eli McCann well. He’s the award-winning columnist who has them cracking up about coming out as a coffee drinker one minute and tearing up about the Latter-day Saint youth group in the western Pacific who won his heart the next. Now his monthly humor columns have been compiled into one bright, breezy book. Titled “We’re Thankful for the Moisture: A Gay Guy’s Guide to Mormon Faith, Family, and Fruit Preservation.” It’s a valentine of sorts to Latter-day Saint culture, containing classics like his first date with his future, non-Mormon husband at, of all places, the Kirtland Temple; his adventures — and misadventures — in the kitchen after unearthing a missionary cookbook; and the awkward — but somehow appropriate — chuckles he shared with a bishop when he signed his resignation letter from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A practicing attorney, Eli lives is Salt Lake City with his husband, physician Skylar Westerdahl, their toddler son, West, and, as Eli puts it, “two naughty (yet worshipped) dogs.” On this week’s show, Eli and Skylar talk about his writings, their life and why Eli still finds laughter and love in the religious culture that bred him.

There is no shortage of documentaries detailing the crimes of Ruby Franke and Hildebrandt. On this ‘Mormons in Media’ crossover, we unpack the Netflix documentary ‘Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story’ and the Hulu docuseries ‘Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.’ Rebbie and Nicole are joined by Salt Lake Tribune columnist Eli McCann to talk child exploitation, manipulation, vulnerablity and critical thinking. 

By all accounts, Richard Bushman could be considered the patriarch of Mormon history. For more than nine decades, he has lived it, studied it, analyzed it, shared it with fellow believers and explained it to nonbelievers. The soft-spoken scholar — with three degrees from Harvard and a drive toward understanding truth — has been writing about Mormonism for much of his academic career. He is a giant in his field and a mentor to many young historians. He penned a seminal biography of Joseph Smith, founder The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and later published an examination of the importance of Smith’s “gold plates,” from which sprang the Book of Mormon. To many, the emeritus history professor from Columbia University is a dream representative of the Utah-based faith — quiet, reasoned, faithful but open and willing to ask hard questions. So what has he seen of the church in his 94 years? What eras were most difficult? Most satisfying? What struggles has he faced as a member and where does he see the church in the 21st century as compared to when he was born? On this week’s show, Bushman, who is writing his memoirs, reflects on the past, ruminates on the present and imagines the future.

Daily life in and around Minneapolis has taken on a sharper edge since the federal government unleashed a mass deportation campaign in the city. Raids on suspected immigrants have become a common occurrence, observers on the ground report. Gas-mask-wearing protesters take frequently to frozen streets. Twice federal agents have shot and killed U.S. citizens, 37-year-old Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Amid this chaos, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have sought to replace fear and isolation with faith and service — even as the church’s top leaders have remained largely silent on the issue. On this week’s show, Cindy Sandberg and John Gustav-Wrathall talk about their experiences from the front lines in the beleaguered city.

For most of its nearly 200-year history, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considered temple clothing — including what are known as “garments,” worn under everyday attire — too sacred to discuss, even within families or among friends. That has slowly changed. In 2015, the Utah-based faith posted photos and videos of garments on YouTube to show the outside world that there is “nothing magical or mystical about temple garments.” These days images of garments (especially the new sleeveless design) are posted on the church’s online store and by faithful Latter-day Saints themselves. But how did the practice of wearing garments begin? What were early garments like? What did they signify to the wearers? And how have they evolved through the years? On this week’s show, Nancy Ross and Jessica Finnigan, authors, along with Larissa Kanno Kindred, of a forthcoming book, “Mormon Garments: Sacred and Secret,“ discuss the history and purpose of this religious underwear.

Enter many a meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the U.S. and you will find a pew-packed chapel next to a ready-made sports court separated only by an accordion-like folding wall. That pairing says a lot not only about how the faith views the intertwining of the spiritual and the physical but also about the vaunted place in Latter-day Saint culture held by this particular sport: basketball. From its conception, it was seen as a way to exhibit “muscular Christianity,” build character, learn discipline and practice teamwork — “no place,” its inventor said, “for the egotist.” Latter-day Saint leaders and the members quickly adopted it, to the point that “church ball” became an integral ingredient in congregational life. Fast-forward to today’s NBA, where showtime and showboating sell tickets, and the college ranks, where money increasingly rules — even at church-owned Brigham Young University, where millions in name, image and likeness cash helped the Cougars land prized recruit AJ Dybantsa. How did this happen? How did basketball blend into church culture for so many years? And how does the modern game fit with BYU’s religious mission? On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Matthew Bowman and scholar Wayne LeCheminant, authors of “Game Changers: AJ Dybantsa, BYU, and the Struggle for the Soul of Basketball," answer those questions and more.

The new year started and so did the reality television. On this 'Mormon Land' and 'Mormons in Media' crossover, we unpack TLC's new docuseries The Cult of the Real Housewife. This takes a deep dive into Mary Cosby, from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and how she runs her Utah church. It brings up uncomfortable questions about tithing, how it's regulated and what exactly that money goes towards. Is "cult" too strong a word in this instance, or does charisma make scamming easier to overlook?  

With the recent deaths of Russell Nelson and Jeffrey Holland, apostle Dieter Uchtdorf moved two steps closer to the top rung on the leadership ladder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The 85-year-old Uchtdorf is now the acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and stands second in line — behind 92-year-old Henry Eyring — to take the reins of the global faith. While certainly not wishing death on any church leaders, many Latter-day Saints nonetheless look forward to the prospect of Uchtdorf one day rising to the presidency. What is it about this German apostle that makes him so popular? Is it his backstory as a two-time refugee or the fact that he rose from outside the usual church leadership track? Is it his high-flying career as an airline pilot? Is it his sermons, filled with soaring rhetoric and down-to-earth wisdom? Or is it his GQ looks and perennial tan? On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint writer Kristine Haglund, former editor of Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, and scholar Patrick Mason, chair of Mormon history and culture at Utah State University, discuss this much-admired apostle and why he seems to stand out among the faith’s top leaders.

Picking new apostles is a significant and solemn responsibility for presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After all, any of the men (and, in the patriarchal faith, they must be men) selected for this lifetime assignment could one day rise to the presidency of the global religion. Choosing new apostles also represents a way in which Latter-day Saint prophet-presidents can leave their mark on the church long after they are gone — similar to U.S. presidents when they nominate justices to the Supreme Court. In the mid-1990s, Howard Hunter led the church for a mere nine months — the shortest tenure of any church president — yet the one apostle he chose was Jeffrey Holland, who served for three decades and was positioned as next in line to take the faith’s reins at the time of his recent death. With Holland’s death, church President Dallin Oaks, himself a former Utah Supreme Court justice and barely three months into his presidential tenure, has the chance to name his second new apostle. Whom might he pick? How do church leaders go about deciding? What can we learn from past apostle selections? Were there any surprise picks? Were any notable leaders ever passed over? And what might the naming of new apostles say about the current church and its future? On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian Benjamin Park, author of “American Zion: A New History of Mormonism,” discusses those questions and more.

December marks the 220th anniversary of the birth of Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, who was born Dec. 23, 1805, in Sharon, Vermont. In recognition, we are revisiting this “Mormon Land” podcast about one of the most significant developments in the research surrounding this major American religious figure: the stunning 2022 announcement that a descendant had discovered in a locket what is purported to be the only known photograph of his famous ancestor. The finding led to a nationwide conversation among historians and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and those in the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). Historian Lachlan Mackay, a Community of Christ apostle and another Smith descendant, helped analyze the daguerreotype, trace the locket’s ownership and research its likely history. On this show, Mackay answers questions about the photo, the process historians used to authenticate it, and why he’s convinced that it truly is an image of Joseph Smith.

In the 1960s, the NAACP was among the loudest critics of the policy by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time to exclude Black members from its all-male priesthood and its temples. In 2018 — 40 years after the church had eliminated the policy — national leaders of the country’s oldest civil rights organization held a joint meeting with top Latter-day Saint officials. The groundbreaking alliance of the two organizations produced donations, scholarships and humanitarian initiatives. It was directed by then-church President Russell Nelson. Now the church has a new president, Dallin Oaks, who has urged members to “root out” racism and famously called “Black lives matter” an “eternal truth all reasonable people should support.” So what has the partnership accomplished, what is its current state, and what are expectations for the future? On this week’s show, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson answers those questions and more.

Embedded in the oft-cited Articles of Faith, written by church founder Joseph Smith, is this statement: “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” To the minds of many, even most, English-speaking members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this has long meant one thing and one thing only — the King James Version, including some of Smith’s edits, collectively known as the Joseph Smith Translation. That is changing. Although still officially the “preferred” edition, the 1611 KJV is now one of several that church leaders have listed as approved for use. On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint scholar Dan McClellan, author of “The Bible Says So: What We Get Right (and Wrong) About Scripture’s Most Controversial Issues," talks about the significance and potential ramifications of this announcement, including how the newer translations could boost members’ understanding of the Bible, shift their views of the Book of Mormon and strengthen — or challenge — their faith. If nothing else, the inclusion of more modern Bible editions promises to make for more interesting, informed and meaningful Sunday school discussions.

For a decade, Latter-day Saint female officers in the San Francisco Bay Area had joined male leaders in sitting on the stand, facing members, during Sunday services. In the wake of the Ordain Women movement of 2013, it was seen as a small, visible step toward equality and inclusion. Two years ago, an area president, whose jurisdiction included Northern California, abruptly discontinued the practice. In response, members in at least three stakes, or regional clusters of congregations, surrounding San Francisco have expressed their concerns to lay bishops and stake presidents, while also conducting surveys and launching a letter-writing campaign to church headquarters in Salt Lake City to return the women to the stand — all to no avail. Now The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a new prophet-president, Dallin H. Oaks, and he recently said in an interview that the Utah-based faith has “work left to do” on gender equity. Amy Watkins Jensen, who served as a Young Women leader in Lafayette, California, has been leading a Women on the Stand Instagram account since the letter-writing campaign failed. On this week’s show, she explores what positive moves for Latter-day Saint women have happened in the past 24 months and what “work” she thinks remains.

Content warning: We touch lightly on the topic of sexual assault. Please take care while listening. On the December crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media,' Rebbie and Nicole break down all that has happened over the last month in the realm of Utah reality television. You've got an entire new season of 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' a docuseries from 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Heather Gay, 'Dancing With The Stars,' 'The Bachelorette,' and so much more. Let's get caught up and let's discuss.

Brigham Young University star football recruits Ryder Lyons and Brock Harris are stepping away from the gridiron and stepping up to serve missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nothing new there. After all, about half the players on coach Kalani Sitake’s roster at the church-owned Provo school are former missionaries. But wait. Lyons and Harris say they are going on one-year missions. Is this some new exception for elite athletes? Turns out, no. Of course, Latter-day Saints can — and do — leave their missions whenever they want. But the church maintains that full-time proselytizing missionaries are “expected to serve their full term of service” — two years for young men and 18 months for young women. Still, Harris and Lyons are announcing in advance their intention to fulfill half that stint. Is this good for the players? Is it good for BYU? Is it good for the church? On this week’s show, Tribune sports writer Kevin Reynolds, who covers the Cougars, and columnist Gordon Monson discuss those questions and more.

If you ask members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if they know about the “Three Nephites,” chances are most will know the allusion. The story comes from the Book of Mormon in chapters where the risen Christ visits the Americas and chooses 12 apostles. Of those, three ask to linger in mortality until Jesus comes again, ministering to the people. From the time when the book of scripture was first published until today, members have reported encounters with these shape-shifting strangers, who seem to pop up randomly angelic visitors of sorts sent to help people. For decades, Brigham Young University professor William A. “Bert” Wilson, seen as “the father of Mormon folklore,” gathered these accounts. After he died in 2016, the collection went to one of his students, Julie Swallow, a teaching and learning consultant at the church-owned Provo school. The collection now forms the nucleus of a new book, “The Three Nephites: Saints, Service, and Supernatural Legend,” from Swallow and co-authors Christopher Blythe, Eric Eliason and Jill Terry Rudy. On this week’s show, Swallow and Blythe, an assistant professor of folklore at BYU and co-host of the “Angels and Seerstones” podcast, discuss these stories, what they mean spiritually and communally, and why the “Three Nephites” continue to engage and entertain believers.

A grassroots movement centered in Salt Lake City more than 40 years ago kept Utah and Nevada from hosting the world’s largest nuclear weapons system. During the final years of the Cold War, a peaceful rebellion against the MX mobile missile saved the Great Basin from significant environmental impacts and helped change the course of the arms race. Aiding the activists was a powerful ally: the then-president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Spencer W. Kimball. In 1981, Kimball and his counselors, apostles N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, came out against the project in a lengthy statement that read in part: “Our fathers came to this Western area to establish a base from which to carry the gospel of peace to the peoples of the Earth. It is ironic, and a denial of the very essence of that gospel, that in this same general area there should be constructed a mammoth weapons system potentially capable of destroying much of civilization.” The church leaders’ forceful opposition helped turn the tide of public opinion in Utah against the MX, and the U.S. eventually abandoned weapons plan. Now, some of those same activists are agitating again, this time against the ongoing development, partially in Utah, of a new generation of nuclear missiles designed to replace an aging arsenal. Once again, they’re looking for an assist from the church’s top brass, now led by President Dallin H. Oaks. In an October letter mailed to the faith’s Salt Lake City headquarters, they called on the newly ascended prophet to condemn the Sentinel missile project. To date, church leaders have offered no response. How much impact would it have if they did is unclear and, according to political scientist Quin Monson, depends a great deal on how it would be framed and communicated. On this week’s show, Monson, a professor at church-owned Brigham Young University, outlines research on how Latter-day Saint leaders have shaped — and can shape — public opinion with members in the pews.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently announced plans to add 55 missions across the globe next year. That’s the most since the Utah-based faith of 17.5 million members created 58 missions in 2013 and brings its total tally worldwide to 506. At the same time, the current corps of full-time missionaries has topped 84,000 and, according to apostle Quentin Cook, convert baptisms during the first six months of 2025 ran 20% higher than the first half of last year. So what do all these positive numbers mean when it comes to the pace and prospects of church growth now and in the future? Independent researcher Matt Martinich, who tracks such data for the websites cumorah.com and ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com, wrote an analysis of the new missions and discusses his findings.

The heroic tale of Helmuth Hübener, a teenage Latter-day Saint activist who was executed in 1942 for trying to warn Germans about Hitler’s lies, is familiar to many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United States and abroad. He has been the subject of plays, articles, books and a documentary. For those who still don’t know it, though, there is now a feature film, “Truth & Treason,” that recounts Hübener’s harrowing experience of faith and courage. What is fact and what is fiction in the film? More important, what is its message to modern believers? Discussing those questions and more on this week’s show is Alan Keele, an emeritus professor of German language and literature at Brigham Young University, who first publicized the story.