Brigham Young University Studies 27/1 (Winter 1987)

This special issue of BYU Studies focuses on the history of the LDS Church in Great Britain, in recognition of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of missionary work there. These articles overview that missionary work and the gathering of British Saints to Nauvoo and Utah. First is an address given by President Gordon B. Hinckley at BYU on the import of the British mission. Then is Robert D. Hales's address on the contribution of British Saints, who brought with them a culture steeped in Christian devotion, to the growth of the LDS Church. Ron Walker examines the religious climate in Britain and how it affected Church growth. Gordon Thomas shows that the missionaries bringing the Book of Mormon to Britain in 1837 entered a culture that contained both cynicism and hope. Jan Harris shares her research about Mormon converts in Manchester, England, regarding their class, religious activity, and emigration. Rulon Walker tells the story of the voyage of British converts who sailed to America on the Ellen Maria in 1853, a typical emigration. Leonard Arrington praises the faith of British women converts and details the stories of Ruth May Fox, Patience Loader Rozsa Archer, and Mary Ann Weston Maughan. Thomas Lyon tells about the Harp of Zion, a Mormon poetry book. Donald Cannon tells about George Q. Cannon's role in the British Mission, and Kenneth Godfrey does the same for Charles W. Penrose. A letter from Parley P. Pratt in Manchester in 1841 to Joseph Smith is also included.