The Saints Abroad: Missionaries Who Answered Brigham Young's 1852 Call to the Nations of the World

Abstract

I was disappointed in this book from the start. First, this book ended up being nothing more than a collection of well-published and equally well-read missionary journals of extremely prominent LDS missionaries of the time. What is the problem with that? Nothing, if that is what someone likes to read or reread. But getting more to the heart of the issue, I believe it would have been more representative, as well as more illuminating, had the authors presented material that wasn't already so accessible and even famous. This would have given a feel for the missionaries who served during this period who were much less well-known. Having researched both, I have discovered literally hundreds of missionary journals that are more evenly representative of the time and service of those called. What is more, these missionaries are listed in alphabetical order, covering over fifty pages of printed text, in appendix 2. A quick perusal of library information regarding the first eight missionaries listed reveals that there is biographical data regarding their missions served, but none were used for the compilation of this text.The eight journals used to create this text, although written by relatively well-known church leaders, are presented as “fairly representative” of missionary service at the time. But are they? I think it is obvious that no one who served a mission abroad has ever experienced the unprecedented success (then or now) of Dan Jones, or the high-profile image of Orson Spencer, etc. These journals are well written. From that perspective, they were well chosen—they fill many pages and are rather all-inclusive. Again, a more realistic and representative effort would have been to include journals half written, not so well written, or even fragmentary.If readers anticipate a high-profile, nonrepresentative text that chronicles the success of eight equally abnormal missionaries, this is a book for them.