Bringing the Restored Gospel to Norway

In March 1842, George P. Dykes, a missionary sent from Nauvoo, Illinois, began preaching among Norwegian immigrants in Fox River, Illinois. By year’s end, nearly 100 Norwegian converts were baptized, and a branch was organized. Two years later, Church leaders visited the area, purchased land, and laid out a settlement they called Norway. Brigham Young called it “a gathering place for the Scandinavian people” where a temple would be built in which they could receive ordinances in their own language.

As troubles in Illinois increased, plans for building Norway—like Nauvoo—were soon abandoned. Although Norway was never built, the desire to bring the fulness of the gospel to the Norwegian people in their own language remained.

In October 1849, President Brigham Young called Erastus Snow, a junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to preach in Scandinavia. Arriving in Copenhagen, Denmark, in June 1850, Snow and his companions established mission headquarters.

On September 3, 1851, Svend Larsen, a Norwegian shipping merchant, was preparing to leave the port at Aalborg to return to Norway. He heard that Snow was in a nearby village and sought a chance to speak with him about this new religion. After Snow gave Larsen a short overview of the restored gospel, Larsen offered to take missionary Hans F. Petersen to Norway.

They arrived in Risør on September 11, 1851. Petersen began preaching in the area but soon met opposition, government inquiry, and eventual banishment. Despite being legally barred from public preaching and from performing ordinances in the country, Petersen and the missionaries who came after him preached privately and occasionally baptized converts.

The missionaries faced continuing legal challenges. Many were arrested, jailed, and deported for their religious activities. At the time, Latter-day Saints in Utah openly practiced plural marriage. In Norway, ministers of other faiths condemned this practice and discouraged parishioners from listening to the missionaries. They also prodded government officials to prosecute the Latter-day Saints, whose doctrines they considered unchristian.