Mormon Land

‘Mormon Land’ tribute: Historian Ardis Parshall talks about pioneer adventures and misadventures

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.

Humorist Eli McCann and his husband discuss the laughs and love they find in LDS culture | Episode 428

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.

‘Mormons in Media’ crossover: Are LDS communities uniquely vulnerable to people like Ruby Franke & Jodi Hildebrandt?

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. 

Why Richard Bushman, the dean of LDS historians, would welcome the Second Coming | Episode 427

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.

Latter-day Saints speak from the front lines in Minneapolis | Episode 426

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.

The history of LDS garments — from long sleeve to sleeveless | Episode 425

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.

Why LDS meetinghouses have basketball courts — the rise and fall of ‘church ball’ | Episode 424

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.

'Mormons in Media' crossover: What if your tithing paid for a Housewife's Louis Vuitton?

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?
 

Why apostle Dieter Uchtdorf is so popular | Episode 423

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.

The intrigue and insights in selecting new apostles | Episode 422

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.