Exploring Book of Mormon Lands: The 1923 Latin American Travel Writings of Mormon Historian Andrew Jenson

Described as "the most traveled man in the Church," Andrew Jenson was a lifelong globetrotter since his emigration as a young boy from Denmark to Utah in 1866. Jenson's mounting interest in the whereabouts of ancient Nephite and Lamanite ruins peaked in 1923 when he and his traveling companion, Thomas P. Page, embarked on a four-month exploration to remote areas of Latin America. Jenson returned with a powerful impression that the latter-day gospel should be spread south, beyond the borders of Mexico. His letters help readers better understand events and experiences that seemingly led to the reopening of the South American Mission in 1925. This book covers this important period in both Jenson's life and Church history, which has rarely been told and is virtually unknown by most Mormon historians.

Justin R. Bray is an oral historian in the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.