Mormon Land

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....

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 “ nothin...

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 p...

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 tow...

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...

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 l...

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 purpor...

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 groun...

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 e...

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...