70 Fun Facts About LDS Prophets

With Dallin H. Oaks's ordination in October 2025, how many men have been LDS Church president?

Dallin H. Oaks became the 18th president of the church in October 2025, following the death of Russell M. Nelson the previous month.

In which state was church founder Joseph Smith born?

He was born in Sharon, Vermont, in 1805; the family moved to western New York after a run of crop failures in 1816.

In what year was Joseph Smith killed by a mob while jailed in Carthage, Illinois?

Joseph Smith was shot dead by a mob at Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844; his brother, the church's Assistant President, died in the same attack, setting off a succession crisis with several claimants.

Which political office was Joseph Smith campaigning for at the time of his death?

He was running for President of the United States on a platform that proposed gradually ending slavery, shrinking Congress, reforming prisons and annexing Texas, California and Oregon.

After Joseph Smith's death, who argued there could be no successor and that he should be 'Protector'?

Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the First Presidency, proposed himself as guardian of the church; the congregation instead backed Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve at a meeting that August.

In which year was Brigham Young ordained president of the church?

Brigham Young was ordained church president on December 27, 1847, having led the church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve since the succession crisis.

Utah marks Brigham Young's entry into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24 as what holiday?

Pioneer Day, July 24, is an official Utah state holiday marked with parades and fireworks, commemorating the first Latter-day Saint company's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.

How many wives did Brigham Young have?

Brigham Young married 56 women by the most common count and fathered 57 children; he built the Lion House and Beehive House in Salt Lake City to house his enormous family.

Besides leading the church, what government post did Brigham Young hold from 1851 to 1858?

President Millard Fillmore named him Governor of the Utah Territory in 1850; he gave way to Alfred Cumming in 1858 as the Utah War ended, accepting President Buchanan's pardon.

Before becoming a full-time church leader in 1835, Brigham Young earned his living in which trades?

Painter and carpenter were Brigham Young's trades, along with glazing, in upstate New York before his 1832 baptism and his 1835 call to the Quorum of the Twelve.

Which future church president was severely wounded in the Carthage Jail attack that killed Joseph Smith?

John Taylor was shot several times and survived; Willard Richards, also in the room, escaped almost unharmed, and Taylor became the third president in 1880.

The third president, the first church president born outside the United States, came from which country?

The third president was born in Milnthorpe in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, in 1808, making him the first president born abroad.

Which hymn was sung twice in Carthage Jail shortly before the Smiths were killed?

A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, set to words by James Montgomery, was sung twice by a fellow prisoner that afternoon; the mob stormed the jail minutes later.

Wilford Woodruff's 1890 Manifesto officially ended the church's support of which practice?

Plural marriage was ended by the Manifesto after the Edmunds-Tucker Act disenfranchised polygamists and let the government seize church property, a threat that was extending to the temples.

Woodruff's 1847 journal holds the earliest account west of the Mississippi of which pastime?

He learned the sport in England as a missionary and cast on the East Fork River during the trek west.

Wilford Woodruff helped found which organization to help members complete generational sealings?

The Genealogical Society of Utah, founded in 1894, grew into FamilySearch, one of the largest genealogy operations in the world.

Which president is credited with the couplet "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be"?

Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of the church, said the couplet came to him by revelation in 1840; his teachings were the church's course of study in 2013.

Which principle became a hallmark of LDS membership under the fifth church president (1898-1901)?

Tithing was reemphasized after the president's 1899 visit to drought-stricken St. George; he preached it for the rest of his tenure as one-tenth of income, easing the church's debts.

The sixth president (1901-1918) was the son of which of the founder's brothers?

Hyrum Smith, the founder's elder brother, fathered the sixth president; the boy's mother, Mary Fielding, was a British convert, and he was orphaned at 13, the last president to have personally known Joseph Smith.

The 1918 'Vision of the Redemption of the Dead' is which Doctrine and Covenants section?

Section 138 records Joseph F. Smith's October 1918 vision; it was added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 and moved into the Doctrine and Covenants in 1981.

The sixth president was born in Far West, a church settlement in which state?

He was born in November 1838, weeks after Missouri's governor issued the extermination order against the Latter-day Saints.

Which initiative, launched in 1936, is counted among Heber J. Grant's greatest legacies as president?

The church welfare program, launched in 1936 during the Depression, was meant, in Grant's words, to do away with idleness and the dole and restore industry, thrift and self-respect.

How old was Heber J. Grant when he was called as an apostle in 1882?

Grant was 25, born in November 1856, when called to the Twelve in October 1882; he had worked as a bookkeeper and cashier and famously taught himself baseball by throwing against a barn for hours.

In 1901, Heber J. Grant was sent to open the church's mission in which country?

His wife Augusta went with him; the mission was a slow, difficult one and Grant returned home in 1903.

Under Heber J. Grant, keeping which practice became a temple recommend requirement in 1921?

The Word of Wisdom, the 1833 health revelation, was made a temple recommend requirement under Grant in 1921, and he preached strict adherence to it throughout his presidency.

On which date, his own birthday, did George Albert Smith die in 1951?

George Albert Smith was born on April 4, 1870, and died on April 4, 1951, his 81st birthday, in Salt Lake City; he was the son of apostle John Henry Smith.

George Albert Smith helped bring the church into which youth organization?

The church affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America in 1913; Smith later sat on its national executive board and received its Silver Buffalo Award in 1932.

The ninth president, who served from 1951 to 1970, first used which slogan to promote outreach?

Every member a missionary became the church's watchword in 1959 under the ninth president, an educator by training who served as a general authority for nearly 64 years.

Which president is credited with the saying "No other success can compensate for failure in the home"?

David O. McKay made the line famous in 1964, quoting author J. E. McCulloch; it became a foundational statement in church teaching on family life.

How old was Joseph Fielding Smith when he became church president in 1970?

Joseph Fielding Smith was 93, born in July 1876, when he took office in January 1970, after presiding over the Quorum of the Twelve through the entire 19-year presidency of his predecessor.

Which relative was church president when Joseph Fielding Smith joined the Twelve in 1910?

His father, Joseph F. Smith, was church president from 1901 to 1918 and called him to the Twelve in 1910; he later spent decades as Church Historian.

Harold B. Lee led which Salt Lake City stake when he built the Depression-era relief system the church adopted?

Lee was president of the Pioneer Stake, where more than half of the members were out of work; in 1936 he became managing director of the churchwide program built on his plan.

The 12th president's tenure was noted for the 1978 announcement ending which restriction?

The priesthood and temple ban on members of Black African descent ended with the June 1978 revelation, announced on June 8 and later canonized as Official Declaration 2.

Which president spoke in a hoarse whisper after 1957 surgery removed one and a half vocal cords?

Spencer W. Kimball, then an apostle, lost one vocal cord and half of the other to throat cancer surgery in New York in 1957, leaving the soft, hoarse voice members knew for decades.

Which 1969 book by the future 12th president dealt with repentance?

The Miracle of Forgiveness grew out of its author's years of counseling members as an apostle; its stern treatment of sin and repentance made it one of the most widely read church books of its era.

Which cabinet post did Ezra Taft Benson hold for all eight years of the Eisenhower administration?

Benson served as Secretary of Agriculture from 1953 to 1961; he had backed Robert Taft for the 1952 nomination and had never met Eisenhower, who appointed him anyway.

As president, Ezra Taft Benson challenged members to "flood the earth" with what?

The Book of Mormon was the subject of Benson's 1988 call to flood the earth with it; he made the book the theme of his presidency, urging members to read it daily.

Which organization tried to draft Ezra Taft Benson for president in 1968?

The John Birch Society's supporters formed the 1976 Committee to push a Benson ticket for 1968, with Strom Thurmond as running mate, though the effort never reached a ballot.

Which president died in March 1995 after less than a year in office?

Howard W. Hunter, a lawyer by profession, served from June 1994 until his death on March 3, 1995; he was the first president born in the 20th century and the last to die in it.

The 14th president's youthful dance band, the Croonaders, played a cruise to which region?

In 1927 the Croonaders played aboard an ocean liner on a cruise to Asia; the future president played piano, violin, drums, saxophone, clarinet and trumpet.

As an apostle, the future 14th president negotiated the land for and dedicated which BYU facility in 1989?

The BYU Jerusalem Center on Mount Scopus, overlooking the Old City, was fiercely opposed by some Israeli groups during construction; the future 14th president dedicated it in May 1989.

Gordon B. Hinckley oversaw the reconstruction of the church's historic temple in which Illinois city?

The rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple was dedicated in June 2002; the original was abandoned after the 1846 exodus and later destroyed, and more than half the temples standing at Hinckley's death were built under him.

Which document did Gordon B. Hinckley release on September 23, 1995?

The Family: A Proclamation to the World was read by Hinckley at the general Relief Society meeting on September 23, 1995, signed by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve.

Which US president awarded Gordon B. Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2004?

George W. Bush presented Hinckley with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House in June 2004; Hinckley also received the Boy Scouts' Silver Buffalo Award.

The Conference Center built under Gordon B. Hinckley seats roughly how many people?

The Conference Center seats about 21,000 and replaced the far smaller Salt Lake Tabernacle as the venue for general conference in April 2000; it was dedicated that October.

How old was Thomas S. Monson when he became a bishop in 1950?

Monson was 22, born in August 1927, when called as bishop of the Sixth-Seventh Ward in May 1950; it had over 1,000 members, and he kept visiting its widows long after he was released.

Thomas S. Monson spent his early career as an executive at which newspaper?

Monson worked in the Deseret News advertising department and rose to general manager of Deseret News Press, the church-owned paper's printing arm, before full-time church service.

How many widows lived in Thomas S. Monson's ward when he was its bishop, all of whom he visited regularly?

Monson's Sixth-Seventh Ward had 85 widows; he kept visiting them for the rest of their lives and spoke at many of their funerals.

Before his church service, Russell M. Nelson was internationally known in which profession?

Heart surgeon Nelson was on the University of Minnesota team that pioneered open-heart surgery with a heart-lung machine in 1951, and in 1972 he operated on a future church president.

In 2018, Russell M. Nelson cut Sunday church meetings from three hours to how long?

Two hours became the Sunday schedule from January 2019 under a plan announced in October 2018, alongside the home-centered Come, Follow Me curriculum and Nelson's push to drop the nickname Mormon.

Russell M. Nelson died in 2025 as the oldest president in church history, at what age?

Russell M. Nelson was 101 when he died in September 2025; born September 9, 1924, he had passed Gordon B. Hinckley's age record for a church president in 2022.

By April 2025, how many new temples had Russell M. Nelson announced during his presidency?

The 15 temples announced in April 2025 brought Nelson's total to 200; his first year alone brought nineteen, including the first temples in India, Nicaragua, Russia and Cambodia.

How many of the ten children of Russell M. Nelson and first wife Dantzel were daughters?

Nine of the ten were daughters; their only son, Russell Jr., was the youngest, and Dantzel was a soloist with the Tabernacle Choir.

Before his call as an apostle, Dallin H. Oaks was president of which institution from 1971 to 1980?

Oaks led Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1980, succeeding Ernest L. Wilkinson, and left to become a justice of the Utah Supreme Court.

After law school, Dallin H. Oaks clerked for which Chief Justice of the United States?

Oaks clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren in 1957-58 after editing the University of Chicago Law Review; he went on to Kirkland & Ellis and a University of Chicago law professorship.

Ronald Reagan considered Dallin H. Oaks for the Supreme Court in 1981 but nominated whom instead?

Sandra Day O'Connor got the 1981 nomination, becoming the first woman on the Supreme Court; Gerald Ford had also weighed Oaks in 1975 before choosing John Paul Stevens.

On becoming president in October 2025, whom did Dallin H. Oaks name as his First Counselor?

Henry B. Eyring, who had served with Oaks in Nelson's First Presidency, became First Counselor, and D. Todd Christofferson became Second Counselor.

By longstanding convention, who becomes the next church leader when the sitting president dies?

The senior apostle, as President of the Quorum of the Twelve, presides once the First Presidency dissolves and its counselors rejoin the Twelve, and has become president at every succession.

How is seniority among the Twelve Apostles determined?

By time since joining the Quorum is how seniority runs, counted from the date of entry; that is why Ezra Taft Benson kept his place in line despite years away in Eisenhower's cabinet.

At which special general conference session do members formally sustain a new church president?

A solemn assembly, held at the first general conference after a new president is set apart, has members stand in groups, quorum by quorum, to sustain him by raised hand.

Latter-day Saints sustain the church president as a "prophet, seer, and" what?

Revelator completes the title 'prophet, seer, and revelator'; the Doctrine and Covenants applied it first to Joseph Smith, and the Twelve Apostles are sustained with the same title.

In which Vermont town was Brigham Young born in 1801?

Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, in Windham County, on June 1, 1801, the ninth of eleven children, and was raised in upstate New York.

In which Canadian city did John Taylor meet Parley P. Pratt and first encounter the church in 1836?

Taylor, then a Methodist preacher in Toronto, was taught by Parley P. Pratt in 1836 and baptized with his wife Leonora, a native of the Isle of Man, that May.

Lorenzo Snow received his final year of schooling at which Ohio college?

Snow spent 1835-36 at Oberlin, then a newly founded college; his sister Eliza R. Snow, already a convert, drew him to Kirtland, where he was baptized in 1836.

At what age was Joseph F. Smith sent on his first mission, to the Sandwich Islands?

Fifteen-year-old Joseph F. Smith was called in 1854 to the Sandwich Islands, as Hawaii was then known, and was set apart by apostle Parley P. Pratt.

What permanently impaired George Albert Smith's eyesight as a young man?

Sun glare while surveying for a railroad in his late teens damaged his eyes, and poor vision and frail health troubled him for the rest of his life.

Which motto seen on a building in Stirling, Scotland, inspired missionary David O. McKay for life?

What E'er Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part was carved above a doorway McKay passed as a discouraged missionary in Stirling in 1898; the stone was later acquired by the church.

In which Idaho town was Harold B. Lee born in 1899?

Harold B. Lee was born on March 28, 1899, in Clifton, a small farming community in southeastern Idaho; his mother is said to have saved him from spilled lye with pickled-beet vinegar.

In which Arizona town did Spencer W. Kimball spend most of his early life?

Kimball moved to Thatcher, in Arizona's Gila Valley, at age three in 1898 when Andrew Kimball was called to lead the St. Joseph Stake, and he grew up farming there.

In which city was Howard W. Hunter born in 1907?

Hunter was born in Boise on November 14, 1907; his non-member father delayed his baptism until he was 12, and he became Idaho's second Eagle Scout.