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 to receive ad-free podcast episodes, the full newsletter and access to all of our religion content.

There’s something about Mary (and Heavenly Mother)

In a Religion News Service commentary, author Ericka Andersen notes women are converting to Catholicism partly because they are drawn to its prominent embrace of the mother of the biblical Jesus.

“They see Mary,” she writes, “as symbolizing a soft equality to men even as she inhabits a different role.”

Is there a message in that for Latter-day Saints, whose theology teaches the existence of a Heavenly Mother? Is the top leaders’ wariness to approach the topic depriving the faith of more female converts? Would leaning into that belief help keep younger women in the fold (since they are now more likely to leave the church than men)?

You can relisten to this “Mormon Land” podcast, which explores how Latter-day Saints and Catholics view Mary and whether the doctrine of a Mother God elevates women’s status?

Latest ‘Mormon Land’ podcast: Service missions

How senior service missionaries are helping those living on the margins.

Listen to the podcast.

Around the world

• The church has said it before, and it’s saying it again: Conserve water.

Noting the extended drought across the West and the shrinking Great Salt Lake, the faith issued a news release recently urging “members, as residents and citizens, to take personal steps and to support public efforts that they deem to be most effective in conserving water.”

Besides those words, the Utah-based faith pointed to actions it has taken, including the installation of thousands of smart-irrigation controllers at its properties in the Intermountain West and water-wise landscaping at Temple Square.

In 2023, the church donated 20,000 acre-feet of water toward saving the Salt Lake Valley’s signature lake, enough to supply about 60,000 households a year.

• A frequent partner with the United Nations, the church is teaming up with UNICEF and donating $1.2 million to help strengthen healthcare for 410,000 mothers and newborns in Pakistan.

“Investing in sustainable and quality maternal and newborn care today,” UNICEF representative Pernille Ironside said in a news release, “means saving precious lives and building a healthier, more prosperous Pakistan where every child can survive and thrive.”

• Apostle Gary Stevenson discussed peacemaking, humanitarian aid and disaster preparedness in a recent meeting with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori Higuchi.

Days before, Stevenson had traveled to Colombia to comfort members affected by last month’s deadly earthquake.

“In moments like this, sometimes we ask the question, ‘Why?’ Sometimes the answer is, ‘We don’t know why,’” he said in a news release. “These experiences we have in life often lead us to a greater sense of compassion for others, a greater sense of knowledge and understanding, a greater sense of Christlike caring and service.”

• Meanwhile, the newest Latter-day Saint apostle, Clark Gilbert, met recently with a fellow 56-year-old: Sierra Leone Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh.

“The church is not new to us, and we see the added value of the church,” Jalloh said in a news release. “It fits squarely in the vision for this country.”

• The Land of the Rising Sun has become the Land of a Rising Faith.

On Sept. 1, 1901, then-apostle Heber Grant dedicated Japan for the preaching of the Latter-day Saint gospel.

Now, 125 years later, the church has more than 131,000 members, 230 congregations and four temples (with plans for a fifth) in the East Asian nation of 122 million people.

During a visit, apostle David Bednar celebrated the anniversary, expressing “gratitude for the Japanese pioneers who did so much to establish the foundation.”

• The governing First Presidency mourned the death of Norway’s King Harald V.

“Throughout his long life of service,” the church’s top leaders wrote, “King Harald provided a steady and unifying presence for his nation.”

• Set your calendar reminders for Sept. 15 and Oct. 1. That’s when more tickets will become available to tour the Salt Lake Temple next year. Just go to TempleSquare.org or download the Temple Square app to reserve your spot starting at 6 p.m. Mountain time.

From The Tribune

• He went from playing rock tunes in smoke-filled bars to accompanying the church’s premier choir.

• Apostle Dale Renlund offers his definition of “real men.”

• With two prominent Latter-day Saint candidates on the ticket in this governor’s race, which way will members vote?

• An appellate court tosses out another tithing lawsuit against the church. Is this the end for a whistleblower’s allegations?

• Tribune columnist Eli McCann comes up with a novel idea: Two gay men join a gabby group of women quilters.