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Moroni Bing Torgan (born October 6, 1956) is a Brazilian politician, probably the highest ranking Latter-day Saint politician in Brazil. A member of the National Chamber of Deputies, as of 2001 he was the only Latter-day Saint serving in Brazil's congress. [1]
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Prior to his election to the National Congress, Torgan served as president of the Fortaleza Brazil Stake from 1985 to 1991.
As a youth, Torgan was on a Brazilian national championship volleyball team. He is from Porto Alegre. His great-grandmother on his mother's side was among the first members of the LDS branches in Brazil in 1938. Torgan grew up primarily in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and graduated from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Torgan served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in a mission based in Sao Paulo. His mission president was Saul Messias.
Prior to entering politics, Torgan was a Brazilian federal police officer in Ceara State. In 1987, he was appointed secretary of public security for this state, in which he served until he was elected to Brazil's congress in 1991.
Torgan is married to the former Rosa Caldas. As of 1989 they had two sons, Mosiah and Jared.
Torgan served in the congress of Brazil from 1991 to 1995. In 1995, he was elected vice governor of Ceara. He later served in the Brazilian congress again from 1999 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2007.
In 2009, Torgan was called to serve as president of the Portugal Lisbon Mission of the LDS Church. [2] On March 31, 2012, Torgan was called as an area seventy of the church. [3] At times, Torgan has served in other positions in the LDS Church, including as a bishop and as a counselor to the president of the Brazilia Brazil Mission.
In October 2012, Torgan placed fourth in the election for Mayor of Fortaleza, CE, Brazil. [4]
Erastus Fairbanks Snow was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1849 until his death. Snow was a leading figure in the Mormon colonization of Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Below is a chronological list of temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with sortable columns. In the LDS Church, a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord and considered by church members to be the most sacred struct ures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time, and then each is dedicated as a "House of the Lord," after which only members with a current temple recommend are permitted to enter. Thus, they are not churches or meetinghouses, but rather specialized places of worship. The LDS Church has 350 temples in various phases, which includes 189 dedicated temples, 52 under construction, and 109 others announced. Within temples, members of the LDS Church make covenants, receive instructions, and perform rituals and ordinances. Additionally, members consider the temple a place to commune with God, seek God's aid, understand God's will, and receive personal revelation.
Helvécio Martins was the first person of Black African descent to be called as a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Yoshihiko Kikuchi has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1977, and was the first native Asian to be called as a general authority of the Church.
David William Eka was the first stake president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in West Africa. He was president of the Aba, Nigeria Stake and is often regarded as one of the founding pioneer members of the church in Nigeria. Eka has also served as an area seventy and as a mission president in the LDS Church.
Glenn Leroy Pace was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death. As a general authority, he served as a counselor in the presiding bishopric and also in the First Quorum of Seventy. In 2010, he was designated an emeritus general authority.
John Thomas Fyans was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1974 until his death.
Richard Charles Neitzel Holzapfel is a former professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) and an author on topics related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Western and Utah History, and the New Testament. As of 2018, Holzapfel is working in the LDS Church's Missionary Department as a senior manager.
Bernard Park Brockbank, Sr. was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1962 to his death. Brockbank was an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve from 1962 to 1976 and a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1976 to 1980. One of his major contributions was heading the Mormon Pavilion at the New York World's Fair in 1964 and 1965.
Hartman Rector Jr. was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1968 until his death. He was one of the first adult converts to the LDS Church to become a general authority during the second half of the 20th century. Rector served as a member of the First Council of the Seventy from 1968 to 1976 and as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from 1976 to 1994.
Octaviano Tenorio Domínguez has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2007. He was one of the original area authorities called in 1995.
Helio da Rocha Camargo is a Brazilian religious leader who served as the first Brazilian general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1985 and served there for four years. In 1989, he was transferred, along with other limited-term members of the First Quorum of the Seventy to the newly created Second Quorum of the Seventy. Camargo was released as a general authority in 1990.
Ulisses Soares is a Brazilian religious leader and former businessman who serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority since 2005 and served as a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy from January 2013 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve in March 2018. He is the LDS Church's first apostle from South America. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Soares is accepted by the LDS Church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the fourteenth most senior apostle in the church.
Marcus Helvécio Martins is the former dean and department chair for religious education at Brigham Young University–Hawaii (BYU–Hawaii), and also the author of Setting the Record Straight: Blacks and the Mormon Priesthood. Martins was the first black member to serve as a missionary after the revelation extending the priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to all male members regardless of race or color. Martins is the son of Helvécio Martins, the first Latter-day Saint of African descent to serve as an LDS Church general authority.
Gary Evan Stevenson is an American religious leader and former businessman who is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served previously as the church's Presiding Bishop and was the fourteenth man to serve in that position. He has been a general authority of the church since 2008. Stevenson was appointed to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in October 2015. Currently, he is the eleventh most senior apostle in the church.
Joseph Wafula Sitati has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2009, when he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He is the church's first black African general authority and the second general authority of black African descent.
Patrick Robert David Kearon is a British religious leader serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority of the church since 2010 and was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from August 2017 to December 2023. On 1 August 2020, Kearon became the senior president of the seventy, becoming the first in this role to have been born outside the United States since the reconstitution of the Presidency of the Seventy in 1975. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Kearon is accepted by the LDS Church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. Currently, he is the junior and fifteenth most senior apostle in the church.
Since Mormonism's foundation, Black people have been members, however the church placed restrictions on proselytization efforts among Black people. Before 1978, Black membership was small. It has since grown, and in 1997, there were approximately 500,000 Black members of the church, mostly in Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean. Black membership has continued to grow substantially, especially in West Africa, where two temples have been built. By 2018, an estimated 6% of members were Black worldwide. In the United States, approximately 1% of members are Black.
Don Ray Clarke has been a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2006.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in Brazil in 1926 with the opening of the South American Mission. Missionary work was focused on small German immigrant colonies in South Brazil. The LDS Church was forced to expand missionary work to Brazilians and Portuguese speakers when non-Portuguese languages were banned in public meetings in 1938. The Brazil Mission was opened on February 9, 1935, with Rulon S. Howells as mission president. The first Portuguese translation of the Book of Mormon was published in 1939.
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