Mormon Land

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 practic...

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 Sal...

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...

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...

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-...

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 du...

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, “...

On the November crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media, ’ Rebbie and Nicole are joined by humor columnist Eli McCann to talk Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Rebbie is coming in blind to the Real Housewives franchise, so this go around, she's the one with the questions. The three discuss differences between 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' and 'Real Housewives of Salt Lake C...

If there is a constant in the history of Latter-day Saint temple worship, it is change. Language used, covenants made, clothing worn and meaning ascribed to all of it — each has evolved since the early 1830s, when Joseph Smith introduced the idea of sacred rituals beyond baptism and confirmation. In his newly published book, “ Holiness to the Lord: Latter-day Saint Temple Worship ,” historian Jona...

Of the major Western religious traditions in the United States, only The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints retains the service-until-death policy for its top leader. Last week, Dallin H. Oaks, at age 93, became the 18th prophet-president of the faith, succeeding Russell M. Nelson, who died Sept. 27 at 101. Unlike a leader in any other American-based faith, Oaks will be expected to serve...

It’s fitting this week to revisit our 2021 “Mormon Land” podcast with the biographer of President Dallin H. Oaks, the newly installed leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this episode, historian Richard Turley discusses his book “ In the Hands of the Lord: The Life of Dallin H. Oaks ," which documents the personal journey of a church leader known for his devotion to religi...

The 195th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints looked much like any other in recent years. There were talks by apostles and general authority Seventies, along with three women, punctuated by music by The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and other Utah choirs. But it might be remembered mostly for what didn’t happen. It was presided over by the Dallin Oa...

As accolades and adoration continue to pour in after the  death of President Russell M. Nelson , it could be time to assess the historical perspective and place of the oldest prophet-president in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What will be his legacy? How did his leadership and innovations impact the global faith? Then there’s the question of how his presumed succe...

Passion. Intimacy. Eroticism. Arousal. Sex. These terms are as much a part of God’s plan in the theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as agency, repentance and baptism. Yet they are rarely discussed or even mentioned — save for in hushed, almost apologetic, tones — among members. Such hesitancy is not found in Latter-day Saint therapist Jennifer Finlayson-Fife’s new book, “ T...

On the September crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media, ’ Rebbie and Nicole are both newcomers to 'Dancing With The Stars.' Who knew the show, and dance in general, had so many ties to Utah? Rebbie gives an update on those sleeveless garments and Heather Gay from Real Housewives of Salt Lake City spills the beans on the underground distribution of those garments.

In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issuing  two news releases  condemning violence and calling for greater kindness and love, we are reprising this  2023 “Mormon Land” podcast . Recorded a few days after church President Russell M. Nelson delivered his widely praised General Conference  address on peacemaking , it is as timely now — if n...

When Russell M. Nelson, already the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, turned 100 last year, the Utah-based faith celebrated him with a televised birthday party. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox declared Sept. 9, 2024, as Russell M. Nelson Day. Throngs of young single adults signed a giant birthday card. And members everywhere reflected on the centenarian’s accomplishme...

A new nine-part video series about Mormonism, titled “ An Inconvenient Faith ,” was recently uploaded to YouTube. It tackles the thorniest issues — LGBTQ relations, feminism, church history, race, polygamy, Book of Mormon historicity and divine revelation — currently faced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The ultimate approach seems to be to defend the church and help explain ho...

Is the following playing out more and more among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? • The bishop asks Brother So-and-So to give a talk next week on being kind to strangers. “No problem,” the member thinks. “I’ll just make a couple of queries in ChatGPT and, voila, instant sacrament sermon.” • Or the Sunday school president calls on Sister Such-and-Such to pinch-hit in Gosp...

The mission statement of Brigham Young University, the flagship school of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says nothing about pursuing spots in the College Football Playoff or the Final Four. It does say that BYU graduates “should be capable of competing with the best in their fields.” So, in this era of “name, image and likeness,” with athletic budgets soaring into the mega-millio...

For many early Utah pioneers, James Brown Jr. was a hero of sorts. He led a Mormon Battalion company into the Salt Lake Valley just days after Brigham Young. He and his family settled Ogden, which became known for a time as Brownsville, and he served as a Latter-day Saint bishop. As a prominent leader, he married 13 women — all sealed to him in temple rites — and fathered 28 children. What most ch...

Gordon B. Hinckley, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stepped up to the microphone in General Conference in the fall of 2000 and solemnly denounced tattoos as “graffiti on the temple of the body.” The following year, the faith’s “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet pointedly counseled young people not to “disfigure” themselves with tattoos. With those words, body a...

On the fourth crossover episode between ‘Mormon Land’ and ‘Mormons in Media, ’ Rebbie and Nicole dissect the latest dating show to come out of Provo — The Altar. Rebbie fills Nicole in on the history of the show and Nicole can't seem to figure out why these 21-year-olds are so worried about marriage. Turns out, it's a lot deeper than she thinks. Plus, what IS a "basic Utah girl?" Let's discuss.

To Christians everywhere, the story of refugees is a part of Scripture. It is sacred. Adam and Eve, Moses and the Israelites, the Book of Mormon’s Lehi and his family, even Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus. The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes an epic journey of migrants fleeing persecution to find a promised land. Latter-day Saints, then, have a natural affinity...

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 fid...