I’ve really enjoyed reading Newell Bringhurst’s book Saints, Slaves, and Blacks: The Changing Place of Black People Within Mormonism. The epilogue has some really interesting events in the 1960s and 1970s. There were some people inside the church that were more confrontational in their approach to the priesthood ban. Bringhurst notes on page 185,
Douglas A. Wallace, a Mormon High Priest and Vancouver, Washington, attorney was one such individual. In April 1976, Wallace, acting on his own, ordained a black man, Larry Lester, to the Mormon priesthood. While Wallace conceded that he was “stepping outside the bounds of the church” in his action, he said that he hoped that it would “force the issue” of black priesthood denial before the Mormon General Conference meeting in Salt Lake City the following week.40 At the conference Wallace tried to confront Mormon President Spencer W. Kimball with his complaints. However, Wallace and his two companions were swiftly ejected from the Tabernacle.41 A few days later, Wallace was excommunicated from the church for “open and deliberate disobedience of the rules and regulations of the church in violation of the outlines of the church.”42 As for the ordination of Larry Lester, it was declared null and void by church officials in Salt Lake City.43 That did not stop Wallace’s actions against the church. Immediately following his excommunication, Wallace sought a rehearing on his ouster, and in October he tried once more to bring the black issue before Mormon General Conference. Wallace’s latter action was deferred by a court order prohibiting him from attending Mormon church conferences. Undaunted, Wallace then filed a counterclaim against the church asking for $200,000 in damages.44 In April 1977, Wallace made a third attempt to appear at the Mormon General Conference in order to protest Mormon antiblack practices. Against, attorneys for the church obtained a temporary restraining order.45 Wallace promised further protests and legal actions against the Mormon church.46
Another militant Mormon dissident who directly confronted the church on the Mormon-black issue was Byron Marchant, a Latter-day Saint Boy Scout leader. Marchant was the scoutmaster of the Mormon Boy Scout troop that was the focal point of the 1974 NAACP controversy over the eligibility of blacks for leadership positions in Mormon-sponsored troops. Even though this issue was settled, Marchant continued to express his opposition to the general practice of Mormon priesthood denial. Marchant did this by casting a dissenting vote against sustaining Spencer W. Kimball as church president during the Mormon General Conference in October 1977. A few days later Marchant was excommunicated from the church for his conference behavior and open opposition to Mormon racial practices.47 Despite his excommunication, Marchant staged another protest on Temple Square during the Mormon General Conference in April 1978. Even though Marchant was arrested for trespassing on church property, he filed a civil suit against Spencer W. Kimball and promised to organize and stage a protest march on Temple Square during the next Mormon General Conference in October 1978.48
I doubt these protests held a lot of sway with the leaders, but the timing of this last protest is interesting. On June 8, 1978, the priesthood ban was officially lifted with what is now Official Declaration 2 in the Doctrine and Covenants.
There were practical problems in administering the ban. Bringhurst notes on page 188,
In Hawaii, it was disclosed in 1932 that a man of African descent had been ordained to the priesthood and had, in fact, “presided for some time over a branch of the church until it was discovered he was a Negro instead of a dark-skinned Hawaiian.”64 Four years later, Hawaii was again the scene of a similar problem. Two Mormon priesthood holders were found to be “one-eighth negro.” This situation was further complicated because the two individuals had performed “some baptisms and other ordinances.” They were apparently told to stop exercising their priesthood authority. Apostle George Albert Smith was then sent to Hawaii to determine the number of people involved in the ordinances performed by these black priesthood holders and the action to be taken.65 In 1947, the president of the New Zealand mission noted a similar problem where in “an instance or two…men with a trace of Negro blood were ordained to the priesthood.” Â He asked church leaders what should be done about these individuals and whether a person with “colored blood in his veins may received the Priesthood.” The New Zealand mission president was told that no one “known to have Negro blood in his veins…should be ordained to the priesthood.” Also those Mormons of African descent mistakenly ordained were “instructed not to attempt to use the Priesthood in any other ordinations.”66 A year later, another facet of the Mormon-black issue in the South Pacific came up in conjunction with the problem of “deciding who was to be admitted” into the Hawaiian temple from that region’s “melting pot population.”
The church had avoided actively teaching black people. In 1946, a Nigerian man by the name of O.J. Umordak somehow discovered the church and asked for missionaries. The church delayed action until 1959 when it sent some missionary tracts and a representative to Nigeria. In 1963, the church decided to set up a mission there. However, the Nigerian government learned about race restrictions and denied visas to the missionaries for the next 3 years. Then civil war broke out in Nigeria, ending the missionary effort. From page 190,
“Some five thousand [Nigerian people] applied for baptism” into Mormonism according to Apostle Hugh B. Brown.74
Church missionary efforts in Brazil were very complicated. From pages 190-191,
a 1947 Church First Presidency investigation which found “the races…badly mixed” because “no color line is drawn among the mass of people” It concluded that “a great part of the population of Brazil is colored.”76 Later this same year J. Reuben Clark, a member of the Church First Presidency, referred again to the Brazilian situation, noting that “it is very difficult if not impossible to tell who has negro blood and who has not.” He admitted, “if we are baptizing Brazilians, we are almost certainly baptizing people of negro blood, and that if the Priesthood is conferred upon them, which no doubt it is, we are facing a very serious problem.”77
…
The Brazilian situation took on added significance during the mid-1970s, when the church unveiled plans to build a new temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The expected completion of the Brazilian Temple in the fall of 1978 brought to head the “major problem” and “often impossible” task of determining which Brazilian “Church members have black ancestry” and which do not.79
It was certainly a combination of events that led to the momentous event. Bringhurst notes that Joseph Freeman, Jr was the first black member to officially receive the priesthood following the 1978 revelation. Comments?
Mormon Heretic 
Thank God we know who all the practicing homosexuals are or this mess could happen all over again! It seems significant revelation doesn’t come on it’s own does it? Interesting stuff Mormon Heretic thanks for posting it.
I’ve never understood the “we can’t know who’s a negro and who’s not” problem. Surely the Holy Ghost would inspire the bishop or stake president about the matter? What better information can we have than from God?
*sigh* I’ve just been snarky and passive-agressive all day today.
Now, if I may NOT be snarky: Good blog post, as usual. Keep up the good work.
What a bunch of Keystone Cops.
The more I learn about this history, the more ridiculous is sounds.
In Oz, I have heard that there was quite a debate as to wether the indigenous inhabitants had negro blood in them.
i think that it was decided that they didn’t.I’m so glad that i was only young when this was all sorted out.
Astral_LDS, good to see you again. Do you have any info on the church and the indigenous Australians? I’d definitely be curious to hear more about that.
I’m the guy who ordained Larry Lester in Portland, Oregon in 1976.
Everyone believes that I ordained him to the church priesthood.That was never the case. It was a ordination to “Levitical” priesthood not the church.
That act came after five years of refusal of church leaders to meet and discuss the matter with me. It took a lot of personal guts to make the miove but all things added to provoked the church decision to back peddle. In the process I discovered that the leaders were/are imposters in office deceiving their own for a little glory in the sunshine of fraud.
Larry later moved to the Hawaiian Islands. HE NEVER JOINED THE CHURCH.
Recently, March 28,2012 I filed a lawsuit against Romney alleging the Mormon agenda of overthrowing the government for Christ.
Doug, thanks for stopping by. Do you think your lawsuit will make any sort of a difference?
Marvlous9@Doug Wallace
Nice to hear from Doug Wallace. I will contact Byron regarding this discussion. It is the first time in any similar discussion that I have seen Byron being acknowledged for his roll in the change of LDS church policy regarding Blacks and the priesthood questions and inherent problems that came with such a position or stand.
Byron and I continue to resist the nonsense of Mormonism. He lives in North Carolina and I live in Nevada.
I don’t expect the lawsuit to go anywhere.It has not been reported by main stream Media. It only appears on the web. Like anything else, it needs publicity sufficient to embarrass the church leaders for them to react against public opinion. So far that hasn’t happened. Having a Mormon elder as one of 4 judges of the court doesn’t help either. I have just published a new book, No Mormon for President, available on Amazon.
Just to set the record straight:
“Even though this issue [the 1974 NAACP controversy] was settled [not as far as I was concerned], Marchant continued to express his opposition to the general practice of Mormon priesthood denial. Marchant did this by casting a dissenting vote against sustaining Spencer W. Kimball [no, it was against Kimball’s First Presidency Counselor N. Eldon Tanner at the Semi-Annual Conference]…in October 1977. A few days later Marchant was excommunicated [Marchant graduated] from the [Mormon] church for his conference behavior and open opposition to Mormon racial practices.47 Despite his excommunication, Marchant staged another protest on Temple Square during the Mormon General Conference in April 1978. Even though Marchant was arrested [falsely arrested] for trespassing on church property, he filed a civil suit against Spencer W. Kimball and promised to organize and stage a protest march on Temple Square during the next Mormon General Conference in October 1978 [no, that planned protest was for October 1977].48”
The “revelation” was in June 1978; why would I protest during October 1978? I didn’t.
Two days prior to the June 9, 1978, announcement (some like Bringhurst mistakenly claim it was June 8, 1978), due to the legal proceedings regarding my April 1, 1978, arrest by LDS Church security on Temple Square, I sued Spencer W. Kimball for his illegal activities during this trial (his lawyers had made a mistake and they would have lost the legal issue and, therefore, Kimball would have been ordered to pay a small fine). This suit by me against Kimball was filed June 7, 1978.
Another point that played was the decision by the Salt Lake NAACP chapter to request from the Days of 47 Parade people permission to sponsor a float on the subject of Elijah Able, Mormon Elder in their July 24, 1978, parade. I had joined the NAACP and with the help of others members got this motion to pass during a spring 1978 NAACP meeting.
This, as well as my lawsuit against Kimball (my Salt Lake City attorney who filed it on June 7, 1978, was Brian Barnard), are somewhat difficult to find on the Internet (due, no doubt, to Mormon influence in purging) but can be found with a search of The Salt Lake Tribune where it is archived (U of U; Utah State Historical Society…).
Doug and Byron, thank you so much for coming here and taking time to comment. This is one of my favorite topics, and it is nice to get your perspective on things. I am not surprised to hear your cynicism, and I would like to see this article you refer to. I did a quick check of the SL Trib and Utah State Historical Society, and it did not show up. I would be happy to do a post on the article if I can find it. Do you have a pdf copy?
I have done another post that you may be interested in. Edward Kimball records that the actual revelation was received on June 1. See my post on the Non-Verbal 1978 Revelation.
I stopped at the end of chapter 22 in that post, but chapter 23 has some very interesting information regarding the early June period. Pres Kimball dedicated the South Visitors center as planned for June 1. On June 7, he asked for 3 apostles to create a draft of the press release. On June 8, it was approved with minor changes. On June 9, it was released to the press. (Perhaps I should post the relevant parts from Chapter 23 if you are interested.) I’d be curious to get your perspective on the June 1 date.
Byron, why did you object to N. Eldon Tanner?
@Mormon Heretic
Which article (the NAACP float or my June 7, 1978, lawsuit against Kimball)?
There was no “revelation,” in fact there was no First Vision and, furthermore, there was no first century Jesus Christ.
Have you ever considered that Edward Kimball, by claiming June 1 as the date for the “actual revelation,” may be attempting to show that my June 7 lawsuit against his father had nothing to do with the change?
@Mormon Heretic
On December 15, 1969, Tanner and Hugh B. Brown signed and issued (for the 1st Presidency) their latest official declaration regarding priesthood denial to blacks (which statement remained in effect until the so-called “revelation”). By the time I voted at the October 1977 Semi-annual Conference in the Tabernacle, Brown was dead and Tanner was still in the First Presidency (with Kimball and Marion G. Romney). This December declaration falsely claimed that “Joseph Smith and all succeeding presidents” had taught that Negroes could not hold the Mormon priesthood. I was simply voting for the church leaders to back up this false claim (Joseph signed the ordination certificate of Elijah Abel, which document I had seen in the archives thanks to historian there, Don Schmidt). Rather than do that they “excommunicated” me and I graduated from Mormonism.
Byron,
I’ll take both pdf’s if you have them. Like I said, this is a real interest of mine.
There was no “revelation,” in fact there was no First Vision and, furthermore, there was no first century Jesus Christ.
Well, well, I can see that debating these things with you will get me no where, but it is nice to see your perspective. Do you consider yourself an atheist or agnostic?
Have you ever considered that Edward Kimball, by claiming June 1 as the date for the “actual revelation,” may be attempting to show that my June 7 lawsuit against his father had nothing to do with the change?
Well Byron, I think you are inflating your own importance in the issue. I do think that demonstrations/lawsuits had some effect, but I hardly think that your lawsuit caused the revelation. There were demonstrations at Stanford, NAACP picketing of General Conference, and many other issues that I am sure held a lot of sway, and caused the brethren to re-consider the ban. I suspect you are aware of the 1969 vote that President Brown tried to get the ban overturned. There were many apostles that wanted the ban removed sooner, so I think the wheels were in motion long before your lawsuit. Your self-importance strikes me as a bit of the idea that your ego is getting the better of you. (You may want to see what I wrote when I asked Was the Priesthood Ban Inspired? Warning–it is about 60 pages, so there is a lot to read, but I discuss the 1969 apostle vote.)
This was posted on a different string so I am re posting
Between the spring 1971 and November 1, 1975 I spent nearly five years attempting to have a one on one meeting with a member of the Twelve. The reason for that was due to an epiphany I experienced as a child on the old Lincoln Elementary School in Ogden Utah.
While I remembered that something that had happened and that it was a negative thing concerning the leadership of the church, I had long put the matter into my subconscious except for the fact that I had some duty to perform on planet earth.
After passing the Washington State Bar in January 1971, I approached my Stake President, Wallace [Wally] Teuscher In Vancouver, Washington. I wanted the Brethren to interpret the experience that happened on my 8th birthday those many years ago.
Based on what I did know and did tell him, he wanted us to catch a plane to SLC the next morning and get an audience with church leaders. I cautioned him to think on it first. The following Sunday he traveled to the Woodland Ward where he took me aside and suggested I take more time for introspection. [By this time the event had happened 34 years before!]
Additionally, he suggested I seek counsel of a psychiatrist. A week later he met with me again where I told him that I had followed his advice and had already had a session with a psychiatrist. He then reacted with concern asking me, “Is he a Christian?” My response was, “What does that matter? If I’m Nuts I’m Nuts!”
After a period of time I was told by the psychiatrist that there was no longer need for additional sessions. From his notes he explained that I demonstrated no signs of being deluded into thinking I was god or Christ. I was me and knew what I was about. He did say that I appeared to be programmed to challenge authority.
Sometime later Wally met me in the Ward hallway, saying it was good to see me having resolved the problem. I asked him where his spiritual hat was as I was more intent on discovering what the epiphany was all about. With that he presented me with a letter of introduction to Spencer W. Kimball, who at the time was president of the Council of the twelve.
Having just had open heart surgery he excused himself and passed me off to LeGrand Richards who had been Presiding Bishop and my boss when I worked for the church following my mission in early 1952. An exchange with Richards lasted several weeks. Each time I would respond to him, he would change the subject to which I would also have to respond. To make a long story short, I packaged copies of all the correspondence exchanged and sent it to each member of the Twelve with return receipts.
Thomas Monson was the Junior member and the last of those who had been given the package. In the package was a blank order directed to me to cease and desist for each of them to sign affirming they had read the materials and was in accord with Richards. I had promised to follow their direction. I had not sent one to Kimball due to his health.
I never heard from the remaining ten “apostles” but had a reply from Kimball. He told me if I had ever had what I felt was revelation to merely, “lock it in my heart and never tell a soul!” He suggested that he always believed that when the angel told Mary the mother of Christ that she was going to bear the son of God that she kept it to herself. Had she broadcasted it she likely would not have lived to give birth! The letter concluded with a request that I write him a little note telling him I would follow his counsel.
In February 1974, I had a meeting with Howard W. Hunter and others who told me if I proceeded to do what I was doing, “You will be destroyed”. I did ask if he had ever seen the Lord. His response was a shocking. Turning his face to the wall he screamed, yes screamed, “IF I EVER DID, I WOULD NEVER TELL A SOUL”.
In May 1975, I met with D. Arthur Haycock in the outer office to President Kimball, Kimball came in and I was introduced to him and shook his shaking hand before he left the office. I was the directed to LeGrande Richards on a floor above. Richards and his secretary were filled with terror in their eyes I when I appeared. Richards was shaking and asked why was I doing this? “Why are you not helping to build up the kingdom?”
I told him I was not his enemy and he quieted down. During conversation he told me that since he had written a book on Israel, Kimball had asked him, “What should I be doing with Israel?” Huh? The prophet is asking for mortal advice?
On November 1, 1975 I sent a letter to Kimball with an insubordinate declaration that if he did not arrange to meet with me by January 1, 1976 I would proceed to do what I felt the lord wanted me to do.
January 1st came and went with no answers. So I then sent him a notice of insubordination. That got their attention and they started spying on me using Home Teachers and others to find out my intended acts of insubordination.
As the world knows, On April 2, 1976 I ordained a black man to priesthood setting in motion the countdown to the time when these imposters had their “revelation” in June 1978. There was more revelation leading to the April 76 ordination than all the phoney rhetoric about the 78 revelation.
I found that by doing what I had been led to do, I discovered within 5 days all that I had sought from the brethren prior to that date as it unfolded to me in total recall. That recall spoofs the sacred temple concept.
All of this and more has been published in my Memoirs, Under the Mormon Tree available at Amazon Books and on Kindle. Also. No Mormon for President Amazon books and kindle
See: http://www.underthemormontree.com and
http://www.americans-united-against-fascist-and-theocratic-government.org
@Mormon Heretic
“I’ll take both pdf’s if you have them. Like I said, this is a real interest of mine.”
There were articles about both topics (NAACP Float and my June 7th lawsuit against Spencer W. Kimball) published in The Salt Lake Tribune at the time (the Float articles were probably in March-May 1977).
There was no “revelation,” in fact there was no First Vision and, furthermore, there was no first century Jesus Christ.
“Well, well, I can see that debating these things with you will get me no where, but it is nice to see your perspective. Do you consider yourself an atheist or agnostic?”
I’m now an atheist.
Have you ever considered that Edward Kimball, by claiming June 1 as the date for the “actual revelation,” may be attempting to show that my June 7 lawsuit against his father had nothing to do with the change?
“Well Byron, I think you are inflating your own importance in the issue. I do think that demonstrations/lawsuits had some effect, but I hardly think that your lawsuit caused the revelation. There were demonstrations at Stanford, NAACP picketing of General Conference, and many other issues that I am sure held a lot of sway, and caused the brethren to re-consider the ban. I suspect you are aware of the 1969 vote that President Brown tried to get the ban overturned. There were many apostles that wanted the ban removed sooner, so I think the wheels were in motion long before your lawsuit. Your self-importance strikes me as a bit of the idea that your ego is getting the better of you. (You may want to see what I wrote when I asked Was the Priesthood Ban Inspired? Warning–it is about 60 pages, so there is a lot to read, but I discuss the 1969 apostle vote.)”
I’m aware of Brown’s efforts (you realize don’t you that John Fitzgerald and I were very close friends from about 1975-6 until he died). You might want to visit USU (Utah State University) in Logan to look over his papers there.
My “self-importance”? The wheels had been in motion for a very long time (much longer possibly than even you might realize). For example, are you aware of the David Oliver book (1962), by an anti Mormon black man, who wrote possibly the best published work on Mormon racism? It’s interesting to me that you would believe Edward Kimball rather than me (since I was there and he is/was a Mormon apologist). I’ll be happy and honored to read whatever of your writings you wish to send me. By the way, have you read the two books published by Doug Wallace (another friend of John Fitzgerald and myself)? You seem to be committed to downplaying our experiences without justifying yourself, except an apparent need to dismiss out anti-Mormon positions. Mormonism is a hoax, always has been always will be.
Doug and Byron,
You have some interesting points, but your continual references against faith are a bit off-putting. Perhaps if you could avoid the polemics, we might be able to have a more constructive conversation. I strive for balance here, and your comments do not seem to be balanced. I still don’t understand why Doug felt the need to be purposely insubordinate. Byron, all of my writings are here on my blog. Just click on the link above or click on the category “Priesthood Ban” to see what else I’ve written here. It is pretty extensive, but I have to admit that I don’t know who John Fitzgerald is, and I couldn’t find any David Oliver books on Amazon. I’ve researched the ban issue quite extensively from 1830-mid 1850, but I am not as familiar with the timeline in the 1900s, especially the decade of the 1970s. I know many of the major events, but enjoyed learning more about your role from Newell Bringhurst’s book. I’ve found the Kimball and McKay biographies filled with other interesting events concerning the ban. I think it is interesting to learn both insider and outsider perspectives.
@MH
It sounds like you need to do some serious research. John Fitzgerald (if you don’t know about him you don’t know…). David Oliver, I believe you can find a copy of his book:
http://books.google.com/books/about/A_Negro_on_Mormonism.html?id=-hjZGwAACAAJ
at the Utah State Historical Society.
Are you sure you want me to read your stuff? Doesn’t sound like there will be much there (if your requirement is “faith”).
Regarding your suggestion to drop “…continual references against faith…” I have a couple of other books for you to look at once you want to really have a personal “revelation”: Bruno Bauer (1877 in German) Christ and The Caesars (English title). Also, the 1770 two volume work by Mirabaud (published by Baron Holbach in French), System of Nature. You should be able to get an English translation of this on the Internet. The first shows that there never was a 1st century Jesus Christ. The second is referred by some as the atheist bible (it shows that nature and science confirms there is no God). Bauer (1809-1882), by the way was born and died the same years as Charles Darwin (another “reluctant” atheist) who’s book (showing the nonsense of faith in God) on Natural Selection (evolution) should be put on your bookshelf so you can encourage all your friends and enemies to read it.
the days of arguing are over for me. At age 84, I don’t have the time left to waste it on debate. If you read my post with an attempt at understanding, you would know why I decided to be insubordinate. All of the church leaders are self deluded imposters! I told Howard W. Hunter to his face he was an imposter on Feb 4, 1974.
I went to church headquarters just like Dorthy traveled the Yellow Brick Road to the Wizard of Oz and like Dorothy, I found total fraud.
It was time of the need to correct racism in the church pure and simple.
Thanks for the conversation
What does Byron and Doug Wallace think about the church publication in December 2013 which states that the “ban” on blacks in the priesthood was instituted by church leaders after Joseph Smith because of their own racist views and is not considered divine revelation?
[…] as well as some protests I have already documented of Byron Marchant and Douglass Wallace. They both stopped by my blog, so I encourage you to check out that […]
One can’t expect the Bishop, Stake Prez or even the Prez of the Church to have been able to tell who had ‘even one drop of black blood’ flowing through their veins. That is the job of the Patriarch. They determine lineage – right?
Thanks for sharing this, MH. I just added a link to this post in the very last sentence of Lowry Nelson’s memoir about “numerous excommunications”, which I quoted on my recent post:
An Inconvenient Truth: Lowry Nelson was right; The First Presidency was wrong
http://latterdayspence.blogspot.com/2015/03/useful-or-not-i-value-truth-over.html
And just FYI, I enjoyed reading more about Byron Marchant from the perspective of a family member who today supports female ordination here:
http://ordainwomen.org/byrons-song/
Clean Cut, thanks for the link, and thanks for letting me know about Mark Barnes profile. That was a VERY interesting perspective.
Douglas A. Wallace is my Grandfather. If you want to read his account of the previous article go to: http://www.amazon.com/Under-The-Mormon-Tree-First/dp/1448671523.
He’s also publishing a new book which should be out soon.
Thanks Jason. Does he plan to make a Kindle version?
Douglas: I’m a little late on the conversation, but I hope you can answer a few questions about Larry Lester. You said he never joined the church, but I’ve seen a photo which purports to show you baptizing him (http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U1864590/larry-lester-being-baptized)
Was that you? Were you authorized the baptize him? Was the baptism nullified? Was Larry excommunicated?
I’m just trying to figure out what his official status in the church was. Was he sincerely interested in the church and left it after his priesthood was revoked? Or did he never considered himself a member? Or something entirely different?
A related but more technical question. If the church revoked his priesthood, do you think that meant that it was valid (in the church’s eyes)? Because if it was never valid, they wouldn’t have to formally nullify it, right? So maybe you can clarify: was there some formal process of nullification, or did they simply issue a statement indicating that Larry didn’t have the priesthood, which could have been interpreted in a number of ways.
Thanks!
[…] give more details, but if you want to read more about Douglas Wallace’s actions see my post Events Leading up to the 1978 Revelation. In fact, Douglas Wallace went on to explain his actions in the comments of my […]
[…] give more details, but if you want to read more about Douglas Wallace’s actions see my post Events Leading up to the 1978 Revelation. In fact, Douglas Wallace went on to explain his actions in the comments of my […]
[…] you are familiar with the story documented by Greg Prince in his biography of David O. McKay where blacks in Nigeria discovered the Book of Mormon and asked for missionaries in the 1960s. Nigeria wasn’t the only place; Dr. Emmanuel Abu […]
[…] you are familiar with the story documented by Greg Prince in his biography of David O. McKay where blacks in Nigeria discovered the Book of Mormon and asked for missionaries in the 1960s. Nigeria wasn’t the only place; Dr. Emmanuel Abu […]
Byron, is it possible to contact you?