The Mormon Land newsletter is The Salt Lake Tribune’s weekly highlight reel of news in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Join us on Patreon and receive the full newsletter, podcast transcripts and access to all of our religion content.
‘A pretty tall Jesus’
In Primary, sincere Latter-day Saint children routinely sing “I’m trying to be like Jesus.”
But in Utah these days, more and more adults are trying to look like Jesus.
Why? Because there’s money in it, reports The Wall Street Journal. Jesus look-alikes (or at least those with a traditional Christlike appearance) are in increasing demand for family portraits, wedding announcements and other occasions, earning $100 to $200 an hour.
“I make for a pretty tall Jesus,” a 6-foot-5 Bob Sagers conceded. No matter. The bearded 25-year-old still has turned his portrayals of the Good Shepherd into a good side gig.
Being chosen to play the Chosen One can pose a challenge: living up the character. Professional model Jai Knighton told The Journal that he was encouraged to be “the most Christlike person you can be, or people will be able to tell through the photos that it’s not real.”
It’s not real, of course. Even so, Redeemer look-alikes are cashing in on their redeeming physical features — though Brigham Young University’s beard ban is preventing current students from landing the role (unless they have one of those coveted exemption cards).
(Illustration by Christopher Cherrington | Salt Lake Tribune)
New memoir wins praise
Laurie Lee Hall’s personal and spiritual journey has always proved compelling.
A convert, she served a mission, married and had children, rose to bishop and stake (regional) president, and landed a job as an architect designing the faith’s temples. She then came out as a transgender woman, was booted from the church, became a vocal LGBTQ+ advocate, and found love with a new partner.
Now she is winning raves and making headlines again with her new memoir, “Dictates of Conscience: From Mormon High Priest to My New Life as a Woman,” which Religion News Service has recognized as one of the year’s top books.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Laurie Lee Hall's new memoir, “Dictates of Conscience: From Mormon High Priest to My New Life as a Woman,” is gaining national attention.
“Her memoir, released in the wake of the church’s new hard-line policies on transgender members,” the news agency states, “tells the story of what she lost and gained by embracing her gender identity.”
Learn more about Hall in this Tribune profile and on “Mormon Land” podcasts here and here.
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: A look at 2024
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) These screenshots from the church's online store for U.S. members show new garment options for women available toward the end of 2025. The designs are already available in some hot climates.
From new garments to new temples to new age groupings for young single adults and a new milestone for church President Russell Nelson, 2024 marked an eventful year for Latter-day Saints. We look at the past 12 months and what they portend for 2025 and beyond.
Listen to the podcast.
Irish eyes are smiling
You could say it’s where the golden plates meet the Golden Dome.
A Latter-day Saint student gives high marks to his academic and spiritual experience at the nation’s most prominent Catholic university: Notre Dame.
“While I regularly attend [Latter-day Saint] meetings … off campus, I try to supplement spiritual time by attending nightly Masses held within my dorm,” Carson Feldman writes in Scholastic, the Indiana school’s student magazine. “In these settings, I often feel the same sense of grounding and peace that I experience through my personal worship. I have also felt welcomed into the Notre Dame community through such services.”
From The Tribune
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) President Jimmy Carter, right, speaking at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Nov. 27, 1978. The church's president, Spencer W. Kimball, is seated at left.
• Revisit when former President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at age 100, spoke at the Salt Lake Tabernacle and praised the church for its push to promote families.
• Scriptures in one hand, a doughnut in the other — snacks for teens rank as the second biggest expense for early morning seminary teachers.
• The church has taken on a new challenge: how to explain the faith’s 19-century practice of plural marriage to children.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A scene from a cartoon released by the church to teach children about the faith’s history of polygamy shows Joseph Smith conversing with his wife, Emma. The panel reads, "This commandment was also hard for Joseph’s first wife, Emma. Sometimes, Emma helped Joseph decide who he should ask to marry him. Other times, Emma did not want Joseph to marry other women."
• Many Latter-day Saints testify they know the church is true. In many respects, Tribune columnist Gordon Monson puts more faith in those who say they believe it is.
• See why Tribune columnist Natalie Brown feels lonely in her Latter-day Saint chapel and how the church could change that for her and more members.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Jason Michael Soulier, with his wife, Jennifer H. Soulier, started as mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' mission in Lyon, France, in June 2024. Jason Soulier died Dec. 28, 2024, in Lyon.
• A 54-year-old mission president died Saturday, becoming the ninth publicly reported death of a full-time Latter-day Saint missionary this year.
