What 8 World Leaders Have Said About Latter-day Saints

48080.jpg

Latter-day Saints have made an impact around the world, and many leaders have taken note. Here are a few things world leaders have said about us over the years.

Queen Juliana

48070.jpg

President and Sister McKay were meeting with Queen Juliana of the Netherlands when she offered them a cup of tea. After politely explaining that Latter-day Saints follow the Word of Wisdom and don’t drink tea, the queen was surprised and asked twice if they wouldn’t have a “little drink of tea,” even with the queen of the Netherlands. 

After explaining that he couldn’t partake of something he directed the Church members to avoid, the queen responded, “You are a great man, President McKay. I wouldn’t ask you to do that.” 

She also asked them to extend their stay a little longer, saying “I have enjoyed this 30 minutes more than I have enjoyed any 30 minutes in a long time. I just wish you would extend your visit a little longer.” 

Pedro Pablo and Nancy Lange Kuczynski

48073.jpg

The president and first lady of Peru reached out to President Henry B. Eyring in 2017 to thank the Church for its assistance in the aftermath of devastating flooding. 

President Kuczynski said, "The purpose of this call is to thank The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the help it provided in a time of emergency that our country recently experienced -- along with the sacrifice of the Church members and volunteers who [served] where they were needed." 

His wife added her words of gratitude saying, "Words alone are not enough to thank the Church for all it has done during this emergency."

John F. Kennedy 

48074.jpg

President Kennedy visited Utah in 1963, just two months before he was assassinated. He spoke highly of Latter-day Saints saying

“Let us remember that the Mormons of a century ago were a persecuted and prosecuted minority, harried from place to place, the victims of violence and occasionally murder, while today, in the short space of 100 years, their faith and works are known and respected the world around, and their voices heard in the highest councils of this country. . . . As the Mormons succeeded, so America can succeed, if we will not give up or turn back.”

Ma Ying-jeou 

48075.jpg

The president of Taiwan praised Latter-day Saint missionaries in a meeting with Kuo Chiang Chung, Area Seventy in Taiwan. 

President Ma Ying-jeou said, “Their clean image elicits good feelings and they promote energy conservation by using bicycles as their main mode of transport.” 

Winston Churchill 

48076.jpg

Winston Churchill conducted an investigation of Latter-day Saint missionaries in England when they were expelled from Germany in 1910. There were claims that the missionaries were trying to convert women to be plural wives for men back in Utah, even though the practice of plural marriage was ended in 1890. 

Churchill took the investigation seriously and found nothing suspicious or criminal about the missionaries. He stated, “There is nothing sensational in [the files]: no lurid accounts of kidnapping or white slavery, no missionaries using hypnotic powers on innocent girls; no despotic Mormon leaders exercising force to curtail the rights of free Englishmen.” 

If it weren’t for Churchill’s honesty and dedication, the missionaries could have been unrightfully banned from England.

King Tupou VI

48077.jpg

His Majesty King Tupou VI, King of Tonga, and Her Majesty, Queen Nanasipau'u attended the grand reopening of the Polynesian Cultural Center in 2016. King Tupo VI shared his gratitude to the Center in a speechat the event. 

"It's a great idea that our young people can get to help spread their own culture here, as well as the Center helping them to contribute toward their further discipline and education. . . . It's also useful to observe that the PCC is a place to mature in character, where students can develop and gain strength in their own individual traits in a safe and guided environment. Character is what makes us what we are in the long run. It is what we become for the rest of our lives." 

He concluded saying, "I would like to thank the Center and Brigham Young University for providing an opportunity for education for so many of my fellow islanders for so many generations."

Margaret Thatcher

48078.jpg

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was complimentary of the Tabernacle Choir and the Family Proclamation when she visited Salt Lake City in 1996. John Huntsman Sr. reflected on his experiences with her and told Deseret News, “When she finished reading [the Family Proclaimation], she said, ‘That is a brilliantly written statement’ and asked for a copy to use in her own future speeches. . . . She felt very, very comfortable in Utah.”

She also commented on the Tabernacle Choir saying, “I envy the citizens of Salt Lake City in being able to hear that wonderful choir every Sunday morning.”

Leo Tolstoy

48079.jpg

Leo Tolstoy is considered one of the greatest authors in history. He is best known for the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, and his writing has stood the test of time. There are records of second-hand and third-hand accounts of him receiving a copy of the Book of Mormon and talking about the Church. 

One account quoted him saying

“The Mormon people teach the American religion; their principles teach the people not only of heaven and its attendant glories, but how to live so that their social and economic relations with each other are placed on a sound basis. If the people follow the teachings of this Church, nothing can stop their progress—it will be limitless. There have been great movements started in the past but they have died or been modified before they reached maturity. If Mormonism is able to endure, unmodified, until it reaches the third and fourth generation, it is destined to become the greatest power the world has ever known.”

All images from Wikimedia Commons
47969.jpg
48077.jpg
47974.jpg
47983.jpg
48071.jpg
47979.jpg
47978.jpg
47976.jpg
48078.jpg
48076.jpg
48073.jpg
47977.jpg
48079.jpg
47973.jpg
47972.jpg
47984.jpg
47968.jpg
47964.jpg
48070.jpg
47967.jpg
47971.jpg
47981.jpg
48074.jpg
47966.jpg
48075.jpg
47965.jpg
47970.jpg
47982.jpg
48072.jpg
47975.jpg

Share
Stay in the loop!
Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content