Special Issue:
O Canada

Canada is a big country, with a heart to match. In this issue you’ll meet some of the young Latter-day Saints who make that heart beat a little stronger.

Everyone knows where Canada is. It’s that big country—second largest in the world—that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the U.S. nearly to the North Pole.

But who is Canada? That’s a little tougher to answer, because Canada—and Canadians—are so many things. Canada is tundra and rain forest, mountain and prairie, glacier and wheat farm, great city and tiny village.

A Canadian may be a cowboy, a farmer, a school teacher, a factory worker, an engineer, a logger, a scientist, or a commercial fisherman. A Canadian’s native language may be French, or English, or Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Cambodian, Russian—you name it. But a Canadian is a Canadian.

As big as Canada is on the map, Canada’s heart is even bigger. The country has opened its arms to immigrants and refugees from all parts of the world. And from the earliest days of the Church, Canadians have embraced the gospel, too.

Which leads us to why a special issue on Canada. Over the years, Canadian Saints have added great strength to the Church. The first stake outside the continental United States was organized there, and the first temple outside the U.S. was built in Cardston, Alberta. British-born John Taylor, third President of the Church, was living in Canada when he joined the Church. N. Eldon Tanner and Hugh B. Brown, both former members of the First Presidency, were born in Canada. So were Elder Alexander B. Morrison and Elder Lowell D. Wood of the Seventy, Ted E. Brewerton, an emeritus member of the Seventy, and Merlin R. Lybbert, formerly of the Seventy, as well as Victor L. Brown, a former Presiding Bishop, Sister Elaine L. Jack, Relief Society General President, Sister Ardeth G. Kapp, former Young Women General President, and many other Church leaders.

Today, young Canadian Latter-day Saints are continuing in that tradition of faith and gospel service. As you meet some of them in the pages that follow, you’ll realize that they and their country are well worth knowing.