- August Höglund
August Joel Höglund (
1855-09-14 –1926-12-12 ) was a Swedish convert to theThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was the firstMormon missionary to preach inRussia .Höglund was born in Funbo,
Uppland ,Sweden and was trained as ablacksmith . Höglund joined the LDS Church inGothenburg and in June 1878 he left Sweden with several other SwedishLatter-day Saint s to emigrate toUtah Territory .In 1889, Höglund married Anna Matilda Svensson, another Swedish Latter-day Saint who had emigrated to Utah, in the
Logan Utah Temple . Höglund settled in Eureka,Juab County, Utah .In 1895, Höglund was sent on a mission by the LDS Church to the church's
Scandanavia n Mission. When themission president received a letter from a Finnish couple living inSt. Petersburg requesting that someone be sent to teach them about the LDS Church, Höglund was selected for the assignment. He traveled alone and arrived in St. Petersburg onJune 9 and became the first Mormon missionary to preach in Russia. [In 1843,Joseph Smith, Jr. had askedOrson Hyde andGeorge J. Adams to preach in Russia, but the trip never materialized.] Höglund taught Johan M. and Alma Lindelof — the couple that had requested missionaries — for a day and a half and baptized them in theNeva River on1895-06-11 . After the baptisms, Höglund stayed approximately ten days with the Lindelofs to instruct them further in the doctrines ofMormonism . Höglund ordained Johan Lindelhof to be an elder in the LDS Church just prior to his return to Sweden, where he resumed his mission in the Scandinavian Mission.Höglund died in
Bountiful, Utah and was buried inSalt Lake City, Utah .Notes
References
*"2007 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac" (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News) s.v. "Russia".
*Gary Browning, [http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=ef3955c49e0eb010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 “A Heritage of Faith in Russia,”] "Liahona", Apr. 1998, 33
*Kahlile Mehr, [http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=fb37fc3157a6b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 “Johan and Alma Lindlof: Early Saints in Russia,”] "Ensign", July 1981, 23
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