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.
Sisters before misters
If you’re looking to chip away at the church’s patriarchy, Exponent II blogger Linda Hamilton suggests starting with “mircrofeminisms,” everyday actions that promote gender equity.
Here are some from her list:
• Mention Heavenly Mother in prayers and testimonies. (“I know she sent her son to die for us…”)
• Call couples “Sister and Brother X,” instead of “Brother and Sister X.”
• Suggest or assign men to make treats, organize meal trains or decorate.
• Quote only women when giving talks.
• Pray out loud for the general Relief Society presidency.
So, Latter-day Saint women, the message — in the spirit of church President Russell Nelson’s counsel — appears to be “speak up and speak out.”
The latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Modern masculinity
(Illustration by Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Researchers discuss whether Latter-day Saint men are falling prey to extremist online messages — and messengers — about masculinity.
Listen to the podcast.
Tab Choir performs in Peru
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performs in front of record-breaking crowd at the National Stadium in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square performed in Peru — including before a record crowd of more than 33,000 in Lima’s National Stadium — for the first time last week as part of the troupe’s multiyear, multination “Songs of Hope” tour.
“This is a blessing from the Lord that he’s bringing [the choir] to our country,” Brigitte Contreras, a Peruvian Latter-day Saint, said in a news release.
Apostle Ulisses Soares, choir President Mike Leavitt and former U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney accompanied the visiting musicians. They also met with Peru’s president, Dina Boluarte.
The choir’s South American road show will continue — in Argentina in August and a newly announced tour stop in Brazil in February 2026.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Adassa, the voice of Dolores in Disney’s “Encanto,” sings with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square during a performance at the Westin Lima Hotel & Convention Center in Lima, Peru, on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025.
The ‘other’ temple in Dubai
The church’s Dubai Temple — expected to be the faith’s first in the Middle East — has no groundbreaking set, no rendering released, no precise site announced.
But apostle David Bednar already has deep pastoral and personal ties to a temple in the United Arab Emirates: the Sikh Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai.
Bednar recently visited the UAE to celebrate a decade-old collaboration between the two faith groups in providing meals to those in need. He also paid a moving tribute, posted in a video on X, formerly Twitter, to Surender Singh Kandhari and his wife, Bubbles Kandari, who oversee the Sikh temple.
“They demonstrate remarkable generosity, and they feed thousands of people,” the Latter-day Saint leader said, “with the belief that it is difficult to worship God on an empty stomach.”
Course correction for BYU?
Brigham Young University’s shift toward “order and orthodoxy” under church education boss Clark Gilbert is not equipping students intellectually or spiritually and will likely result in a “continual exodus of young members from church activity.”
So warns BYU graduate Ryder Seamons in a recent guest essay in The Utah Monthly.
“The ability to grapple with difficult questions that challenge or strain our preconceived notions of gospel truth is a hallmark of spiritual maturity,” Seamons writes. “Without the tools to wrestle with and reconcile these questions productively, people are inclined to abandon the spiritual foundation they’ve built. … Fear-based ideology, which limits the intellectual diet of BYU students and faculty, will not allow the spirit to flourish.”
From The Tribune
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) This cartoon has been eliminated from a section teaching children about the faith’s history of polygamy. The panel read, "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."
• Those cartoons explaining the church’s former practice of polygamy have been changed. See how.
• A new study shows Latter-day Saints rank among the most devout of any U.S. religious group.
Results from Pew Research Center's Religious Landscape Survey.
• The latest figures are out on the church’s publicly reported investment portfolio. It’s down more than a half-million dollars but remains near a five-year high.
• It happened again. This time, an obscene anti-Latter-day Saint chant erupted after BYU beat Arizona in Tucson. Relisten to our “Mormon Land” podcast about these vulgar outbursts and/or read excerpts from that show. Tribune columnist Gordon Monson also weighs in.
• A former Latter-day Saint chapel will play a major role in Utah’s fight against homelessness.
• An exterior rendering has been released of the Lehi Temple, one of 31 existing or planned Latter-day Saint temples in Utah.
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) An exterior rendering of Utah's Lehi Temple.
