Welcome to the Church History Library Men and Women of Faith Lecture Series. Tonight's lecture is titled "Exploring Book of Mormon Lands: Historian Andrew Jensen's 1923 Latin American Expedition." This lecture will be given by 2 presenters, Justin R. Bray and Reid L. Neilson. My name is Deborah Xavier and I'm a Church History Specialist with the Church History Department. Justin R. Bray attended Brigham Young University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Latin American studies. Shortly after graduation, Justin started his work as an oral historian for the Church History Library. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in History at the University of Utah. Since working at the library, he has published in several peer-reviewed journals which include the Journal of Mormon History, Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies, Mormon Historical Studies, and others. Beyond his work and research schedule, Bray is a beat writer for the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yahoo Sports and enjoys spending time with his wife, Kara. Reid L. Nelson received his Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations as well as graduate degrees in both American History and Business Administration from Brigham Young University. Shortly after, Reed's PhD was completed in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an author of multiple books, essays, introductions, and papers, and the editor of many more books. His authored works include Exhibiting Mormonism: the Latter-day Saints and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Early Mormon Missionary Activities in Japan 1901 to 1924. Reid is currently the Managing Director of the Church History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife Shelley enjoy being outdoors and traveling with their four children. Welcome Justin R. Bray and Reid L. Nelson.

Thanks, Deb. I think I can speak for both me and Reid that we're both very happy to be here presenting on a topic that we both find very fun and one that we both think is very important in terms of Church History. In fact, we couldn't think of a better place to present tonight. At the October 1921 General Conference, the Tabernacle was filled to capacity and the Church held an overflow session in this very room. And one of the presenters that day was Andrew Jensen, who we've come to talk about. He had just returned from a very special mission to Mexico, where he saw Mesoamerican ruins for the first time and gave an impassioned speech in this room about the possibilities of opening missionary work south of Mexico. But before we talk about Andrew Jensen heading down to South America, we should understand that the South American mission was opened by the Church in 1925, and that this trip that Andrew Jensen makes is often overlooked in the history of the Church in Latin America. To better understand why Jensen went and some of the fruits of his trip, Reid and I have come to talk about some of the circumstances surrounding that trip. The earliest Mormon missionary efforts to Latin America actually began during the time of Joseph Smith in April 1834 in Kirtland, Ohio. The Prophet Joseph Smith gathered a number of Latter-day Saint men to a small 14 square foot schoolhouse to receive instruction concerning the future of the Church. Although most of the priesthood leaders, and priesthood holders for that matter, at the time could fit into this modest sized room, Smith prophesied to his listeners that the gospel would be spread and the Church would fill North and South America. Quote, "it will fill the world." Despite Joseph Smith's foresight, he did not deploy the first missionaries to South America until seven years after that Kirtland gathering. Joseph T. Ball, a Jamaican-American convert to the Church from Boston, Massachusetts, was called on August 31, 1841 to preach the gospel to South America. Ball was no stranger to missionary work. Just two years earlier, he had labored alongside apostle Wilford Woodruff for several months in New England. Ball was expected to accompany another missionary as far as New Orleans where the two would split for separate missions, one to South America and one to the West Indies. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles did not specify in which city or even in which country Ball would begin, perhaps leaving him to use good judgment. When he did not immediately embark to South America, Ball was reminded of his responsibility to travel southward a little over a month later in an early October meeting. Still, for unknown reasons, Ball never fulfilled his missionary assignment. Further efforts to preach in South America were put on hold over the next decade as members of the Church migrated to the Great Basin following the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1844. Even after overseas missionary work resumed, one important factor discouraged Church leaders from expansion southward. The Latter-day Saints had no familial, cultural, or language ties to Latin America. In fact, the Church leaders in the 1830s saw a number of converts accept the gospel and emigrate to Zion from places like Eastern Canada and the United Kingdom. Thus, Mormon missionaries were more eager to return to their homelands, preach to family and friends, and build the kingdom of God from centers of strength. Latter-day Saints did not yet have such connections in the southern parts of the New World.

Finally, the first Mormon missionary made his way to South America after the Saints settled in Utah. It was in 1851. Apostle Parley P. Pratt traveled to California to preside over missionary work among the islands and coasts of the Pacific. This mission was far reaching. It covered nearly one half of the globe, including everything from California to China to the South Pacific, and Pratt ambitiously determined to oversee missionary work across this vast geography. Pratt was especially committed to preach to Native South Americans, whom he considered descendants of ancient Book of Mormon civilizations. Thus, together with his nine months pregnant wife, Phoebe, and his missionary companion, Rufus C. Allen, Pratt set sail for Chile in the fall of 1851. The trio would ultimately confront contested religious terrain, particularly the Catholic Church's sweeping presence in South America. With this small group of South-bound travelers, Pratt sailed for 64 days on the Henry Kelsey from September 5 to November 8. After an unpleasant voyage across the equator, they lodged in a hotel in Valparaiso, Chile, a coastal town about 75 miles Northwest of the inland capital of Santiago. The Mormon missionaries immediately encountered a very strong presence of Catholicism and the limited religious freedom throughout the land, as the Chilean government denied freedom of worship to other denominations, including the right to publish religious literature and hold services. Political unrest, lack of food and money, and the death of Phoebe's newborn baby, Omner, and Pratt's difficulty with the Spanish language, combined to make things worse for the missionaries. In mid-January 1852, the trio moved inland where they hoped their new surroundings would bring better fortune. While the relocation alleviated some of the financial burden on the Mormon missionaries, there was still a very strong Catholic presence, which posed further missionary obstacles, causing Pratt to alter his message from pro-Mormon to anti-Catholic. He denounced Papal teachings and emphasized the need to baptize by immersion until some, as he said, quote "laughed themselves into hysterics." By early March 1852, Pratt decided to abandon his ambitious undertaking, at least for the time being, and returned to California to more effectively preside over this enormous mission in the Pacific and to better provide for his large and spread out family. Nevertheless, his hope for future missionary work in South America would begin the following year. At an August 1852 missionary conference in Salt Lake City, thousands packed the Salt Lake Tabernacle to receive instruction from the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. After some initial remarks, President Brigham Young called on about 100 men to faithfully and almost immediately set out on missions around the world, including places like Africa, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, India, Ireland, Thailand, and the West Indies. Most of these countries did not already have missions established and Church leaders expected the prospective elders to tarry overseas for several years. Two of these missionaries that were called at the time were James Brown and Elijah Thomas. They were assigned to serve in British Guiana, a small nation on the Northeastern most part of South America.

Catholicism prevailed throughout British Guiana, and British efforts were made to hinder growth of other faiths as these two missionaries traveled southward. The Latter-day Saints proved to be no exception to this policy. Being forbidden to travel to French Guiana, Brown and Thomas gave up on preaching in the country and parted ways. Brown sailing and preaching in New York, and Thomas returning to Utah. Thus, as in the cases of Joseph T. ball and Apostle Parley P. Pratt, Church leaders' hope of establishing a mission in South America had dimmed once again. Two years later, in April 1854, President Brigham Young called Parley P. Pratt to preside a second time over missionary work in the islands and coasts of the Pacific and to look for new gathering places for the Saints. After six months of preaching in and around San Francisco, Pratt determined to explore new parts of California in the Pacific Northwest by calling for new missionaries from Utah. On October 8, 1854, President Brigham Young designated four elders-- William Hyde, Lewis Jacobs, Isaac Brown, and John Brown-- to preach in Valparaiso, Chile, the very place Pratt had labored unsuccessfully just several years earlier. When Pratt seized his missionary efforts in South America in 1852, he openly regretted not going to Peru, a country that allowed quote, "liberty of press, of speech, and of worship." Yet the four new elders were inexplicably called back to Chile in 1854 rather than what would seem like a more logical choice of Peru. No record exists about their assignment to South America or their experience in South America, suggesting that the assignment was never fulfilled. By the turn of the 20th century, missionary work in Latin America remained nonexistent beyond Mexico. That's not to say the countries southward were not on the minds of Church leaders. In fact, in 1901, Church President Lorenzo Snow spent considerable time contemplating the role of the Apostles in opening the doors of the gospel to the nations of the Earth. In a meeting, he asked Brigham Young Jr., then the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, to likewise reflect on his quorums scriptural responsibilities and to determine the nation's not already visited to whom the gospel might be carried by the Twelve. In an October 1, 1908 meeting of the Twelve, Brigham Young Jr. explained how, quote, "his mind rested upon South America and possible fields might be opened up in Brazil, the Argentine Republic, La Plata in Argentina, Montevideo in Uruguay, and other places," close quote. After some productive deliberation with the rest of his quorum members, apostle John W. Taylor suggested that an Atlas be secured for reference and, quote, "that a goodly portion of the time tomorrow be devoted to this subject." The next day, on October 2, the Quorum of the Twelve reconvened, studied the Atlas, and together saw wisdom in opening the door of the gospel to South America. They specifically imagined Montevideo, Uruguay as an ideal location for mission headquarters and felt that there could, quote, "extend the work into the regions roundabout." In 1901, newly completed railroads helped transform Uruguay into a centralized locale between Brazil, Argentina, and the interior countries of South America.

Thus, the Twelve wished not only to establish a mission there, but also, quote, "to plant a colony," close quote, perhaps like the Mormon settlements in Northern Mexico. Further, John W. Taylor recommended that he and the brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve express their thoughts to the First Presidency about South America the next day in a combined meeting. And the decision among the Twelve was carried by unanimous vote. Mormon missionary work in South America once again seemed imminent. The next day as the First Presidency and the Twelve met, President Lorenzo Snow and his counselor in the First Presidency, Joseph F. Smith, brought up some matters pertaining to the upcoming General Conference of the Church. Brigham Young Jr. made the highly discussed recommendation to open missionary work in South America, but the First Presidency was more reluctant and questioning than the Twelve had anticipated. President Snow, who was ailing from a lingering cold, quote, "asked Brother Brigham to whom the Apostles would suggest to open a mission in South America. Brigham replied that the Twelve had no recommendations to make, but that every one of them was ready to respond to a call," close quote. No immediate decision was made and President Lorenzo Snow took the matter under advisement. However, a week later, President Snow passed away and Mormon missionary work in South America was tabled for the time being. Six months later in an April 1902 meeting at the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles again, Elder Reed Smoot assumed the decision regarding missionary work in South America had been postponed by the First Presidency since the Twelve never heard back about the recommendation they had made months earlier. In June, Elder Heber J. Grant likewise wondered if missionary work in South America was still under consideration. Elder Grant at the time remembered President Snow's last instructions to the effect that the Apostles should be carrying the gospel to the nations and believed, quote, "that in the near future, there would be openings for the gospel in South America," close quote. The lack of a Latter-day Saint presence in Latin America continued to be a concern for members of the Quorum of the Twelve for years. Some thought that South America was being neglected and believed that the country ought to be visited by a member of the Twelve. Over the next two decades, there were several forays by Latter-day Saints to South America but no apostolic visit. One venture began in August 1906, when Hyrum S. Harris, the President of the Mexican Mission, embarked on a two-man expedition into South America with Henry Tanner, of Payson, Utah. Their purpose was to quote, "to look for a new country for colonization purposes," close quote. It is unclear whether leaders in Salt Lake City commissioned Harris to explore South America or if he just went on his own impulse. Regardless, the two, quote, "never found what they were hunting for neither did they find the probable location of Zarahemla, though they searched for it," close quote. Harris returned to preside over the Mexican mission until September 1907, when he was released and moved back to Utah. About 12 years later, in January 1919, Joseph J. Cannon, a prominent Latter-day Saint from Salt Lake City, moved with his wife and children to Colombia to pursue a business venture with the American Columbian Corporation. While there, he baptized his eight-year-old son Grant in the Magdalena River in April 1919, making him, quote, 'the first of this dispensation to receive baptism in that land," close quote. Cannon wrote several letters to President Heber J. Grant while he was in South America. He also wrote letters to Joseph Fielding Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and the Church Historian at the time. The Salt Lake City-based leaders encouraged Cannon to casually share the gospel, but they never called him as an official missionary or representative of the Church. The Cannon family remained in Columbia for about two years, after which they returned to Utah. Interestingly, Joseph J Cannon lived in South America the same years that his brother Hugh J. Cannon served an exploratory mission around the world with Elder David O. McKay of the Twelve. Having a brother already residing in South America, Hugh Cannon and David O. McKay supposed that South America would be a logical place to visit. Yet, for unknown reasons, the two Globetrotters completed their extensive year-long tour without visiting any part of Latin America. Not long thereafter, however, the First Presidency finally sent someone southward to explore the conditions of the countries of Central and South America, and that someone was an employee in the Church historian's office, Elder Andrew Jensen.

Tonight I'd like to begin by discussing the expansion of Lamanite Identity and Book of Mormon geography in their minds. By 1923, assistant Church historian Andrew Jensen had long contemplated a trip to Latin America after years of study of the Book of Mormon and a growing fascination with a modern-day descendants of ancient Lehite America. Jensen had been interested in the Book of Mormon since his boyhood, having read it over 50 times during his lifetime and revised its Danish translation twice. Therefore the senior historian was well acquainted with the historical record of the ancient Nephites and Lamanites and believe that, quote, "to the Latter-day Saints, it seems plain as daylight that some of the ruins of Central and South America are at least the remnant of an ancient god-fearing, liberty loving people called the Nephites," end of quote. Speculation by Latter-day Saints that Latin America was the location of the ancient book of Mormon lands was not necessarily new in the 1920s. Some Latter-day Saints had argued theories since the earliest years of the Church. Joseph Smith and his contemporaries, for example, marveled at newly discovered ruins of Mesoamerican cities. And it was even common for official LDS newspapers, including The Evening and the Morning Star or the Times And Seasons in Nauvoo, to print stories about recent archaeological findings in Central America. Even today, there exist maps and statements connecting Central and South America with Book of Mormon lands that were allegedly produced by Joseph Smith himself. Despite these early Mormon connections between Latin America and Book of Mormon civilizations, the Latter-day Saints primarily focused their missionary efforts on the American Indians of North America whom they believed to be a branch of ancient Israelite origin and lineage. Mormon missionaries began preaching the gospel among the American Indians shortly after the organization of the Church in 1830. The Lamanites and the Latter-days, according to prophecies in the Book of Mormon, would forsake their iniquitous past, embrace the true gospel of Jesus Christ, and help prepare the way for Christ's Second Coming. Thus early Latter-day Saints saw American Indians quote, "at the forefront of the escological drama then unfolding in preparation for the Millennium." Whether a skeleton of Zelph, ruins of Nephite fortifications at Adam-ondi-Ahman, or burial grounds in Illinois, newly discovered relics of ancient America confirm the faith of Latter-day Saints in the Book of Mormon and the promises regarding the Lamanites. While the first mission among the American Indians proved unsuccessful, Latter-day Saints continue to hold them in high regard as the chosen people of God waiting them, to quote, "blossom as the rose," end of quote. Over the next 50 years and after their move to the Rocky Mountains, Latter-day Saints continue to preach to American Indians living among the Western frontier here in the Utah territory, but oftentimes to no avail. Mormon missionaries enjoyed occasional missionary success but mostly encountered armed conflicts with the Utes, the Shoshone, and the Southern Paiutes of the Great Basin-- limited resources and the various groups antithetical spiritual identity. Latter-day Saints continued to wonder when American Indians would forsake their traditional religious background and accept the gospel as outlined in the Book of Mormon, which was not only a record of their history but also, quote, "a highly unusual manifestation of their future destiny," end of quote. In the meantime, the Mormons naturally extended their vision and researches to other tribes of Indians besides those once powerful tribes within the boundaries of the United States. Lamanite identity, thus, shifted southward to Mexico, the land of the Aztec people. In June 1874, President Brigham Young, dissatisfied with the spiritual progress among the American Indians in Utah, called on two Mormon missionaries, Henry Brizzee and Daniel Jones, to introduce the gospel to Mexico. Young believed that quote, "there were millions of descendants of Nephi in the land," and felt obligated to reach out to, quote, "the children of Nephi, of Laman, and of Lemuel," end of quote. In response, Brizzee and Jones formed a 7 man, 10 month fact-finding expedition across the southern border of the United States and returned with a favorable report, including a recommendation to establish Mormon colonies in Northern Mexico as a way to shelter those practicing polygamy and as a launching pad for the spreading of the gospel into the interior of Mexico. Perhaps the highlight of their journey, however, was coming across some prehistoric ruins which the company noticed, quote, "had been large and several stories high," end of quote. The excitement surrounding further discoveries of ancient walled cities and fascinating sculptures confirmed in the minds of the curious and inquiring members of the Church that Mexico and the country southward were indeed, quote, "the land where the Nephites flourished in the golden era of their history," end of quote. Some Latter-day Saints were eager to know about the whereabouts of bygone Book of Mormon lands, and would often use Book of Mormon scriptural passages, modern day geography, and the abundance of ancient American archaeology as a means to, quote, "locate them." To these members of the Church, positioning the acreage of ancient American Indians not only helped missionaries find, quote, "pure-blooded Lamanite descendants," but it also legitimized the validity of their sacred scripture, the Book of Mormon. Using physical evidence to support the American scripture snowballed during the end of the 19th century as reflected in the well-circulated literature, including Apostle Orson Pratt's 1879 edition of the Book of Mormon, George Reynolds 1891 dictionary of the Book of Mormon, Brigham H. Roberts 1895 New Witness for God, and James E. Talmage's 1899 Articles of Faith. Furthermore, by the turn of the 20th century, a zealous expedition to find the location of the ancient Nephite capital, Zarahemla, was not only commanded by members of the Church, but it was also celebrated with parades, brass bands, and banquets. On April 17, 1900, Benjamin Cluff Jr., then President of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, which became Brigham Young University in 1903, organized a rather large, student-heavy 23 man march through the lush jungles of Central America across what they believe to be the, quote, "narrow neck of land at the isthmus of Panama," with hopes of reaching the Republic of Colombia by year's end. Scholar Terryl Givens called the ambitious undertaking, quote, "a search for a Mesoamerican Troy," end of quote. The city of Zarahemla was widely believed in some Latter-day Saints circles to have been located along the banks of the Magdalena River, the principal waterway of Columbia, flowing northward 1,000 miles from the Andes mountain and then into the Caribbean Sea. With the support of the Church's highest officials, President Cluff's long-time dream to take leave from Brigham Young Academy, uncover the city of Zarahemla, and substantiate the Book of Mormon seemed imminent. However, as Gibbons also wrote, quote, "this first effort to authenticate the New World scripture was premature by any standard," end of quote. Frustrating delays along the way into Latin America, as well as disunion among the travelers, caused most of Cluff's party to give up and return home before even leaving the United States territory. Despite being counseled to abandon the trip by Apostle Heber J. Grant at the Mexican border, and later by President Joseph F. Smith of the First Presidency, Cluff continued with his remaining contingent quote, "to the wild of strange lands," end of quote. Members of the Expedition, traveling 25 miles a day, and suffering all manner of affliction, including disease, hunger, snakebites, and even prison time, regularly penned lengthy missives about their travels and mailed them to Salt Lake City, Utah, where they were printed in the Deseret evening News and perused by far-reaching readership. By the time Cluff finally arrived in Columbia in December 1901, only six explorers remained. And violent conflict between the Colombian revolutionists in The War of a Thousand Days prevented Cluff and his remaining men from conducting research on the Magdalena River. One of the Brigham Young Academy professors, Chester Van Buren, tarried alone to collect wildlife samples for his botany research while Cluff and the rest of his group returned to Utah, arriving home on February 7, 1902. While Cluff never recovered the ruins of the city of Zarahemla, his expedition succeeded in stimulating interest in the Book of Mormon and Mesoamerican antiquities and motivated curious members of the Church to embark on similar ventures not long thereafter. In fact, one year later, on February 1903, Joel Ricks Jr., a longtime Latter-day Saints student of American Antiquities and Secretary of the Book of Mormon Society at Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, began a solo expedition to Latin America, quote, "in order to familiarize himself with a country formerly occupied by the Nephites," end of quote. He specifically set his sights on Colombia, where he, like Benjamin Cluff and others, believed the Magdalena River to be the River Sidon with Zarahemla along its banks. Also like Benjamin Cluff's South American exploration party, Ricks regularly corresponded with the Deseret evening News, printing his letters and photographs as a series of articles entitled, quote, "In Book of Mormon Lands," end of quote. Perhaps his anticipated return from South America in June 1903 helped increase interest in book of Mormon geography which was the theme of a convention at Brigham Young Academy in Provo, Utah in May of that year. At the 1903 conference in Provo, Utah, Church President Joseph F. Smith cautioned overzealous Latter-day Saints, quote, "against making the union question the location of the cities and lands of equal importance with the doctrines contained in the Book of Mormon," end of quote. This was perhaps the first occasion of a General Authority reproving enthusiastic Book of Mormon geographers, and subsequent Church presidents would echo Smith's admonition. Still, Smith, as President of the Church, presided over the conference, found interest in the lectures and even endorsed the remarks of Dr. James E. Talmadge and Elder B.H. Roberts, both of whom presented their own ideas regarding external evidences of the Book of Mormon and the location of Nephite lands. Interestingly, one of the prominent people present at the conference was Andrew Jensen, our subject tonight, who represented the Church historian's office along with Charles W. Penrose and Orson F. Whitney. The discouraging statements of President Joseph F. Smith apparently had no effect on Joel Ricks, who returned from South America in June of 1903 only to depart again for another series of explorations in September 1908. The second four-month trip southward resulted in a meticulously detailed and colorfully illustrated map of North, Central, and South America as the lands of the Book of Mormon that you can see here on the screen, which Ricks began printing and distributing in 1915 to members of both the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The map, quote, "confirmed" the Republic of Panama as the narrow neck of land, the countries of Colombia and Venezuela as the land of Zarahemla, and the Magdalena River as the River Sidon, which were already widely held ideas as I've just described. Furthermore, Ricks's map included Lehi's landing in Southern Chile, the land of Nephi in the Andean state of Ecuador and Peru, and many other book of Mormon cities and geographical features throughout the Americas, including the Hill Cumorah in upstate New York. The map was printed as an appendix to Ricks's self-published Helps to the Study of the Book of Mormon in 1916, which also included photography from Ricks's travels, a narrative history of the Latter-day Saints Church, and a comprehensive glossary of Book of Mormon names, places, and other terms. The map portion of the study guide was especially popular among Latter-day Saints. And, while it did not include any ecclesiastical endorsement or top-down approval, it spread until it was used in almost every Sunday School of the Church. By 1921, Ricks had distributed over 6,000 copies of his maps, placing him at the forefront of amateur Book of Mormon archaeology and cartographers of his day. Having never had the opportunity to present his maps to the General Authorities of the Church, Ricks inquired of an opportunity through a letter to Elder James E. Talmage of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the newly formed Book of Mormon Committee, which had been formed only in 1919. The Committee had been formed in order to prepare a new edition of Latter-day Saints sacred scripture with the primary responsibility to conduct extensive research and prayerful investigation into some of the often misunderstood passages in the Book of Mormon. However, two years into the project, and after an increased interest of Latter-day Saints in the whereabouts of an ancient Nephite and Lamanite lands, the committee, quote, "began hearing some of the proponents of different views of the Book of Mormon geography," end of quote. Talmage even wittingly quipped, quote, "not a few maps have been put out," end of quote. One by one, several good-standing Latter-day Saints brought their ideas, maps, and conclusions to the four-day gathering-- a "Book of Mormon hearing," as they called it-- in January of 1921. Ricks, of course, made his case for Northern South America as the primary setting of the Book of Mormon while Willard Young, a supervisor over the Church's building program, campaigned for Guatemala and Honduras, and Elder Anthony W. Ivans, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, advocated for the Yucatan and Mexico. All three men had personally visited their respective regions and based their arguments on the latest archaeological discoveries. Talmage and the rest of the committee recessed on January 24 to discuss the various Book of Mormon geographical theories, but the committee members, as far as can be surmised, never reconvened. Still the buzz about the Book of Mormon hearing had already begun to spread at Church headquarters in Salt Lake City, easily reaching the Church historian's office where Andrew Jensen labored as an assistant Church historian.

And now we get into the meat and potatoes of our topic tonight, the Andrew Jensen and Thomas Page Latin American Exploration. A little over a month after the proposals to the Book of Mormon Committee, which Reid just talked about, in 1921, Anthon H. Lund, the first counselor in the First Presidency, who is also the Church historian and recorder and a fellow Dane, instructed Andrew Jensen to visit the Mexican mission and gather pertinent data for the Church's ongoing historical record. Jensen quickly complied, not wanting to miss the opportunity to go to a part of the world he had never previously been. This first trip to Latin America would have a profound effect on Andrew Jensen. Jensen rendezvoused at the United States-Mexico border with Ray L. Pratt, a member of the First council of the Seventy, the President of the Mexican Mission, and a grandson of Parley P. Pratt, who was the first Latter-day Saint to South America. Pratt would also be one of the three that was sent from Church headquarters to establish the South American mission in 1925. The two, Jensen and Pratt, traveled together to the mission's headquarters in Mexico City and eventually to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way, Jensen and Pratt visited ancient Aztec and Olmec ruins in Chapultepec, Mexico City, Puebla, and Veracruz, which captured Jensen's imagination. He was especially moved by the Mexico City Metropolitan Catholic Cathedral which was built atop the ruins of an age-old Aztec temple after Hernando Cortez of Spain conquered the region in the 1520s. Additionally, the impressive pyramids at Teotihuacan, particularly the 230-foot Temple of the Sun, about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, awed Jensen. Quote, "it is not known who built these massive structures or when they were erected," close quote, which he noted in his journal that night. Personally witnessing these imposing pyramids and timeworn ruins throughout Mexico caused Jensen to wonder about the modern-day descendants of the ancient Book of Mormon Lamanites and their role in the Latter-days. Jensen later admitted that, quote, "it was something I cannot dismiss from my mind upon my return home," close quote. Jensen's interest in these age-old relics and their connection to the Book of Mormon was reflected in several speaking assignments after his return to Salt Lake City. For example, on August 6, 1921, just two weeks after his special mission to the Latter-day Saints historic sites in the Republic of Mexico, Jensen visited a congregation at the Alpine Stake Tabernacle in American Fork, Utah, and told of the future mission of the American Indian as referred to in the Book of Mormon. Furthermore, two months later in an October general conference overflow meeting at the Assembly Hall, as I've mentioned earlier, in this very room, Jensen detailed his special mission to Mexico and added to the already evolving conception that the Central and South Americans are the modern day descendants of ancient Lamanites. Jensen's longing to visit Latin America, coupled with his desire to compile historical information of early Latter-day Saints in California, resulted in a two hour meeting with President Heber J. Grant in 1923, this would be in January. Concerning this meeting with Andrew Jensen, President Heber J. Grant noted in his diary, quote, "he," referring to Andrew Jensen, "is very anxious to make a trip to South America, also to South Africa, returning by way of New York and going over the old Mormon Trail from Nauvoo to Salt Lake City. He is anxious," still quoting, "that the Church should send him on a mission. I told him to put his desires in writing and I would submit them to the brethren for consideration," close quote. Later that day, as instructed, Jensen wrote out his requests to Heber J. Grant. While awaiting a reply from Heber J. Grant about his contemplated trip to Latin America, Jensen moved forward with his travel preparations. The following week, he completed his medical evaluations and secured an updated passport, received letters of introduction, and created a tentative itinerary. Thomas Phillips Page, his would-be travel companion, had already begun updating his passport to the South on January 3rd, before Jensen had ever even brought the idea to the First Presidency. Clearly, the two men had been thinking about this pending trip for some time. Thomas P. Page proved uniquely prepared for this imminent spin southward with Jensen. He was a fellow world traveler, an amateur historian, and a charter member of Andrew Jensen's Around the World Club in Salt Lake City. Page was described as a "hard of hearing, often stuttering, toupee-wearing, smart duck," owned his own mercantile in Riverton, Utah, which was the largest trade operation in the county outside of Salt Lake City. He had served a three year Mormon mission to Turkey many years earlier and made a trip around the world from 1911 to 1912, visiting countries like Japan, China, the Philippines, Burma, India, Egypt, France, and England. In 1922, the year before Jensen and Page launched for Latin America, Page traveled along the West Coast to Central America and crossed the Panama Canal on a trip to Cuba. Thus Page was already familiar with a large part of the southward journey. Having not received a formal reply from the First Presidency nearly two weeks after his initial request, Jensen again asked for approval in another letter to Heber J. Grant, who had traveled to California several days before. As the presiding quorums held the responsibility for opening missionary work in foreign lands, perhaps they felt reluctant to send Jensen southward to do what could be seen as their duty. Grant also wondered if the proposed trip was worth the hefty expense as Jensen expected to be reimbursed for his incurred costs throughout Latin America as he had been on similar trips for the Church historian's office years earlier. Grant eventually responded by sending what Jensen called an "ambiguous telegram" to Anthony W. Ivins, a Counselor in the First Presidency. But he only gave partial approval of the Latin American expedition and asked Jensen to pay his own way. The following Monday, Jensen and Page bid farewell to their families and embarked on "a much anticipated expedition through Book of Mormon lands," in their words. They began by exploring historic sites of early Latter-day Saint pioneers in California. They began by exploring these historic sites in California, calling information related to the ship Brooklyn, which brought a large contingent of over 200 Mormons from New York to present-day San Francisco in 1846. At times, the duo would split up in California. Page would be making arrangements to sail southward and Jensen would visit the state library in Sacramento to research the Latter-day Saint presence in California. After nine days in the Golden State, the two travelers sailed on the Columbia, a ship for the Panama Canal. Along the way, the Columbia stopped at coastal towns in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. As a routine, Jensen and Page debarked at each stop, gathered geographical, economical, and demographical details of each country, organized them into letters to the Deseret News, and sent them to Utah to be read by the curious Latter-day Saint readership. While awaiting for a ship in South America at the Panama Canal, remaining there for about a week and a half, Jensen marveled at the workmanship of the massive waterway. Jensen wrote in his journal that night, quote, "I had heard and read much about the Panama Canal, but I could never appreciate or understand its grandeur of the work until I saw it myself," close quote. The two travelers left what they considered the Narrow Neck of Land on March 1st and sailed for South America.

They became just a few of the Latter-day Saints to set foot on South American soil in almost 70 years, since Parley P. Pratt went there in 1852. They landed in Peru, or as many called, the Land of the Incas, and paid particular attention to the ruins of bygone civilizations. Page even called the inland city of Cuzco, Peru, quote, "the most important place in America because of the ruins of temples and buildings of the Inca people before the coming of the Spanish to America," close quote. From Peru, the duo traveled by rail to the Republics of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Argentina, in particular, left a lasting impression on Jensen. He found the capital of Buenos Aires comparable to his native Copenhagen, Denmark, and found a colony of Danes living outside the city. Jensen and Page even stayed in the Hotel Scandinavia during his nine day stopover. After receiving the invitation, Jensen delivered a lecture on Utah and the Mormons to this group of curious Danes. He would have taken the opportunity to visit their homes and expound on the teachings of the Latter-day Saints, but he found it best not to preach without permission from President Heber J. Grant. The two continued their trip on April 13, passing through Uruguay, Brazil, and the West Indies on their lengthy homeward journey. Jensen learned in New York, while staying with his daughter, Eleanor, and her husband, George Reynolds, that President Grant disapproved of the idea of returning to Utah by way of the Overland Mormon Trail, so the two travelers arrived in Salt Lake City by train.

By way of conclusion, Jensen and Page arrived home in Utah on May 10, 1923, and immediately began publicizing their adventurous southward exploration. Three days following their return, for example, Jensen addressed a congregation of the Granite State Tabernacle about his recent travels. He similarly spoke at the Salt Lake Tabernacle two weeks later, making a number of comparisons between the ruins, relics, and artifacts he saw in Latin America with various Book of Mormon passages relating to the architecture, war, and tools of the Nephites, Lamanites, and Jaredites of antiquity. He rhetorically asked the Mormon congregation, quote, "who built these fortifications? It is a strange thing that intelligent people will not at least give the Book of Mormon a thought and a trial. They may not give its narrative full credence at once, but that book is the only book that gives us any important clue as to who these prehistoric people were," end of quote. Obviously, Jensen was not the first to champion such widely held ideas on Book of Mormon geography, but he was the foremost Latter-day Saint at the time, as assistant Church historian, to personally visit the countries of Central and South America and make these assessments. His popular lectures on Latin Americans as Lamanites gave newfound legitimacy to these already trending notions. He encouraged young men to, quote, "learn Spanish so they can go on missions to South America," end quote. On July 11, 1923, Jensen met at the Office of the First Presidency in Salt Lake City to report on his expedition through Central and South America. He began his evaluation by providing the First Presidency with a demographic analysis of the 19 Latin American countries he either visited or passed by on his journey. Jensen emphasized that, quote, "perfect religious liberty," end of quote, currently granted to the inhabitants of Latin America and how, quote, "Latter-day Saint missionaries would be well received." The peoples of Latin America would, Jensen asserted, welcome messengers who could declare to them the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Jensen concluded his spirited presentation to President Grant and his counselors with a direct recommendation to spread the gospel to Central and South America. Quote, "knowing as I do that the Lord has commanded the Latter-day Saints to preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, I deem it my duty and privilege to draw the attention of the First Presidency of the Church to conditions of these various countries as I found them in my travels," end of quote. Jensen's speaking tour, including this formal assessment to the First Presidency, did not immediately result in the sending of missionaries to Latin America. The First Presidency would not open the mission of South America for another 18 months in December 8, 1925. But Jensen's report seemed to turn the minds of the senior brethren once again, to the lands of the ancient Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. When Apostle Melvin J. Ballard was called in September 1925 to take the gospel by apostolic authority to South America, for example, he noted in his diary, quote, "the First Presidency had under consideration for about a year and a half the question of opening a mission in South America," end of quote, dating the start of its consideration to roughly the time of Jensen's report and various speaking assignments. Historically, a chain of events seems to always precede the opening of missionary work into every nation with a Latter-day Saint present. Latin America followed a similar pattern. Beginning with the prophecies of Joseph Smith in the 1830s, Jensen scarcely studied. 1923 exploration of Book of Mormon lands proved to be another important link leading to the opening of the South American mission 18 months later in 1925. Thank you.

As Deb mentioned, that concludes our formal remarks. We are happy to take questions for a few minutes, but we also want to tell you about a publication that we did where you can find some of this material. The book is entitled Exploring Book of Mormon Lands: The 1923 Latin American Travel Writings of Mormon Historian Andrew Jensen. And as co-editors, Justin and I had the opportunity to go through and collect all 38 letters that Andrew Jensen sends back, which are published in 1923 in the Deseret News, annotate them, and make them available with all the images and many more that you saw here tonight for publication by the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University and co-publication with Deseret Book Company. So now we're happy to take any questions you might have. Following Andrew Jensen's exploration, what was the next step with regard to the Church sending people or people within the Church going to explore the antiquities of Central and South America? Well, in terms of missionary work, a short time after Andrew Jensen returned from South America, some converts of the Church moved from Europe into Argentina and began to send letters to the First Presidency requesting missionaries to come and help them establish a branch of the Church in Argentina. That is usually where the traditional narrative of a Mormon presence in Latin America usually begins. In 1924, when these converts come from Europe to South America, what we're suggesting tonight is that Jensen's trip was a stepping stone in that direction and, combined with these converts' letters, spawned some interest in opening a branch down there. In terms of what was next for exploring ruins down in South America, to my knowledge, I don't know of any other trips that any Latter-day Saints took down there until Melvin J. Ballard, who dedicated South America to the preaching the gospel on his return back to Salt Lake City in 1926. He goes through some of the same ruins that Andrew Jensen saw himself and likewise found them very fascinating. But that's the best to my knowledge. Question in the back. From '62 to '65, I served a mission in Southeast Mexico covering from Puebla to Merida, Yucatan, and Tapachula Chiapas, so I had the opportunity to go into the pyramids. In Chiapas, I found a copy of the tree of life stone, and it was much smaller than I expected. Have you been in these pyramids?

For me, I did spend some time down in Mexico City and some of the surrounding area outside Mexico City. I also did a little trip with a couple of friends of mine down into Peru and Bolivia and saw some of the ruins there, but not familiar with the place that it sounds like you went and the stone that you saw. In Merida, there was the Temple of the Jaguar behind the ball court with the carvings of Quetzalcoatl coming and teaching about religion and philosophy. Yes, I had the opportunity to actually lead a Church history tour to Latin America last year and was able to visit some of the sites in the Yucatan where I think a very strong case could be made these are our Lehite ruins. I think that same case can be made, as we've tried to describe tonight, a number of different locations all up and down Central America down to the ruins of Peru. I've been down there several times and traveled through Machu Picchu and Cusco and those locations. We do have statements by a number of brethren when they feel strongly impressed. One of my favorite statements was Elder Spencer W. Kimball in Cusco. It was a talk that he shared later in General Conference watching one of the Natives there bless the sacrament, and a small boy come up and feel that these people were, in fact, of Lamanite lineage. And so our point tonight is not to try and locate any specific points of Book of Mormon geography simply to show great interest from the earliest days of the Church going all the way back to the Nauvoo period, but trying to figure out, who are the Lamanites? Who are the children of Lehi throughout the Americas? So many fascinating ruins like you've seen. Another question? [INAUDIBLE]

When were they called in to Argentina?

I mentioned earlier that Melvin G. Ballard, Rulon S. Wells, amd Rey L. Pratt, three general authorities, one a member of the Twelve and two members of the First Council of the Seventy, were sent in 1925 to open the South American mission, and they were there for several months. And before they returned, a new Mission President was called in 1926. And a handful of missionaries were sent down there with them. I think one of the most interesting things about the history of the Church in Latin America-- I've been down there several times studying Church History, and we've been able to go to those sites in Argentina that you're referring to, where they dedicated it there at the park, and the first mission home, and what have you. Something I find very interesting is that, although they're in Latin America, who do they go to actually preach the gospel to? It's not the Natives, it's the Europeans. It's the Europeans they're visiting in Argentina. It's the German immigrants that they first go to in Brazil. It's the Italians and others that they're going to in Uruguay. It's a similar pattern that they followed in the 19th century when George Buchanan and some of the other early Missionaries were first sent to Hawaii in 1850. They didn't go to the Native Hawaiians, initially they went to the Europeans, or the Euro-Americans, that were there in Hawaii. Why? I think because of the linguistic commonalities. They could speak English. They did the same thing in 1853 when they went to Hong Kong. They did not preach to the Chinese. They preached to the British in Hong Kong. And so until they had the linguistic abilities to actually speak Spanish or speak Portuguese, they really stayed with mostly the European immigrants in South America I just find that really interesting. So, in fact, they called many missionaries from Germany down. The history of the Church in Germany is interesting. In the 1910s and '20s, that was the most explosive area of growth anywhere in the world, in Germany. And they actually had to call missionaries who have served in Germany to come to parts of Latin America so they can teach the gospel in German in Latin America. So that's a little history that most people aren't aware of. [INAUDIBLE]

Good question. Like Reid mentioned earlier, there's a lot of archaeological evidence to support all sorts of claims and theories about where the Book of Mormon events took place.

But really what we're looking at tonight is the cultural history of Latter-day Saints and their fascination with these places. Really, we didn't look to identify certain locations in Book of Mormon lands.

I think we have time for one or two more questions. You mentioned the Hill Cumorah. And, obviously, we all know Moroni was there, and that was in North America. Are there any other places that you know about in North America? I can speak to this one a little bit. It's something you might want to go look at. It's been fascinating to me to see how non-definitive the brethren have been on most of these questions, as I think we tried to explain tonight. If you look at the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, a quasi-official publication of the Church in many ways, there's two entries that you might want to look at. One is under Cumorah, which I'll talk about in a moment. The other one is under Book of Mormon geography. And they actually take the statement from Anthony W. Ivins, who was then a Member of the First Presidency, who advocated for his own view of the Yucatan, but then later backs off and says, we simply have no idea where these things took place and we're not going to say anything definitive on it. Regarding Cumorah, most Latter-day Saints assume that Cumorah is in upstate New York, which is a view that's held by me. We know that that's where the Book of Mormon record came forth. The Encyclopedia of Mormonism is very interesting because it allows for a second Cumorah, or an additional place in Central or South America, somewhere in the Americas, where the Nephite record was also buried for a time. So you might want to look at those two references. It helps you understand notions of Cumorah perhaps a little differently than many Latter-day Saints have. I find it very, very interesting. When I led a trip, I shared the statement from the Encyclopedia of Mormonism. It's the best statement I've seen from the brethren where they say, hey, people may say this is where Zarahemla was, here's the Nephite, whatever. I think the brotherhood have been silent largely in terms of an official statement coming from the First Presidency or from the Twelve on any Book of Mormon location. [INAUDIBLE]

That's a marvelous statement. But in terms of the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency, there's no official statement on behalf of the Church. Many bretheren have made many statements sharing their wonderful views about the Book of Mormon. So I appreciate what you're saying. Well, thank you folks for coming tonight. It's been a joy for us to share and speak here where Andrew Jensen spoke years ago. And I would hope you've learned something.