Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, has a rich industrial history, but few people realise that the town also played a significant role in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dan Jones, a Welsh orator who emigrated to the United States and ran a steam boat along the Mississippi River, became a good friend of Joseph Smith, the first prophet of the Mormon faith. When Smith was imprisoned in Carthage Jail, Jones was with him. There, Smith prophesied that Jones would again return to his beloved Wales to preach the gospel message.
In fulfilment of that prophecy, Dan Jones left two months after Smith’s death and arrived in north Wales in 1845. He eventually made his way south to Merthyr Tydfil and was met with opposition from the local clergy and press. Despite the opposition, more than 4,000 Mormon converts were baptised as a result of Jones’s preaching. He was later sent back to Merthyr Tydfil for a second mission, when Glen Mahoney’s ancestors were converted.
Mahoney is a sixth generation member of the Mormon faith who lives in Merthyr Tydfil where his ancestors first found the religion. After a chain of events that all began with Dan Jones’s preaching, Mahoney’s great grandmother and her brother were baptised in a nearby natural pool.
“The love and the way in which they have implemented the Church teachings has had an impact on me and my family and I’m so grateful for it. It’s absolutely tremendous that I’ve had that upbringing and that those standards passed through the generations for me to continue and perhaps add onto it in some way, shape or form,” Mahoney says of those that came before him.
The stories of these and many other early Mormon converts will be told this summer through a stage production in Chorley.
The British Pageant, a musical experience that tells the history of the Mormon faith in the British Isles, was first produced in 2013 and returns to the United Kingdom this summer.
The British Pageant will be performed 1-5 and 8-12 August 2017 and is free to the public. Visit ldsbritishpageant.co.uk for more details.