Latest from Mormon Land: A seventh missionary dies this year; remembering Brigham, the man and the movie

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Missionary dies in accident

A 25-year-old Latter-day Saint missionary serving in his native Democratic Republic of Congo was killed this week in a vehicle accident.

Makaba Kelvin Ilunga died Aug. 18, church spokesperson Sam Penrod said in a news release. His companion, who was not named, suffered minor injuries and was recuperating.

Ilunga, who was from the church’s Kikula Stake in the Democratic Republic of Congo, had been serving as a full-time missionary since April 2023.

“We send our love and condolences to Elder Ilunga’s family, friends and those he has served with as a missionary,” Penrod said. “We pray each will find peace in the gospel message Elder Ilunga has been sharing and feel an abundance of the Savior’s love during this tragic time.”

This represents the seventh publicly reported death of a full-time Latter-day Saint missionary this year, matching the number known to have died in 2023.

Brigham’s life and legacy

This month marks the 147th anniversary of Brigham Young’s death.

After leading the faith for more than three decades — longer than any other church president — the pioneer-prophet died Aug. 29, 1877, at the age of 76.

The legacy of this American religious icon stretches far and wide — as does the posterity of perhaps the Western world’s most famous polygamist.

He has been the subject of multiple biographies — from John Turner’s “Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet” to Leonard Arrington’s “Brigham Young: American Moses,” Francis Gibbons’ “Brigham Young: Modern Moses, Prophet of God” and Stanley Hirshson’s “The Lion of the Lord.”

The big screen even took a swing at this giant of a man. In fact, Aug. 23 is the 84th anniversary of the premiere of Hollywood’s “Brigham Young: Frontiersman,” according to the Turner Classic Movies website, with Dean Jagger in the title role.

Decades later, in 1972, Jagger joined the church, Davis Bitton reported in Meridian Magazine, noting that a newspaper headline at the time trumpeted “‘Brigham Young’ Becomes a Mormon.”

In a side note, Vincent Price, before he emerged as a starring staple in horror flicks, portrayed church founder Joseph Smith, while character actor John Carradine played gunslinger Orrin Porter Rockwell.

Given all this attention on Brother Brigham — a larger-than-life figure who was no stranger to controversy — here are recent Tribune stories about him that are worth revisiting:

• Did Brigham ask a Catholic nun to be his 28th wife?

• The ABCs of Brigham’s brainchild: a Deseret Alphabet.

• Brigham’s wine mission fueled profits, prophecy and, sadly, alcoholism.

• Historian calls Brigham’s screed against a ‘cursed’ Black race the “worst speech” in church history. Relisten to an associated “Mormon Land” podcast on the topic.

• He may have started the priesthood/temple ban against Black members but, descendants say, Brigham was “no racist.”

• Leading historians on the Mountain Meadows Massacre explore a Watergate-like question: What did Brigham know and when did he know it? Listen to the podcast; read the excerpts.

The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: New rules for trans members

The latest updates to the church’s online General Handbook are causing a furor in the LGBTQ community over guidelines limiting the participation of transgender members in their congregations.

Read the story and listen to the podcast on the topic.

Meeting in Manila

Apostle Patrick Kearon met for 40 minutes this week with Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. in Manila.

“The president was gracious regarding the work the church is doing to build individuals and communities,” Kearon said in a news release, “and to assist in disaster response, particularly in relation to typhoons.”

In return, Marcos thanked the Utah-based church for its humanitarian aid (amounting to about $30 million in the Philippines in the past five years). “Your church,” he said, “has transformed lives through education, disaster relief and health care.”

From The Tribune

• For the fourth time in 5½ years, the temple endowment has changed. Now it’s much shorter, lasting about an hour.

• Last week’s “Mormon Land” podcast on Utah’s religious divide focused on how the state’s Latter-day Saints sometimes discriminate and sometimes are discriminated against. Read our entire series — Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 — about the divide’s effect on neighborhoods.

• With Hulu’s “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” poised to premiere next month, the church issues a rare “commentary” lamenting shows that too often “distort” and “sensationalize” the faith.

• A new BYU exhibit reveals a Latter-day Saint artist who seeks truth through his work, not converts. “I believe,” says painter Brian Kershisnik, “in a God who laughs.”

• This year’s speaker lineup for BYU Education Week includes the Latter-day Saint co-founder of a controversial conservative group called Moms for Liberty.

• The debate surrounding Ballerina Farm, aka Utah Latter-day Saint Hannah Neeleman, is dividing Latter-day Saint women.

• The church’s publicly reported stock investments — accounting for a large chunk of the faith’s vast wealth — lost millions of dollars in the second quarter, but it’s still worth tens of billions of dollars overall.

• See inside the new Pittsburgh Temple.