LDS Prophets Trivia
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70 free LDS Prophets trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This LDS prophets trivia quiz covers all 18 presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, from Joseph Smith's founding of the church in 1830 to Dallin H. Oaks becoming president in October 2025. Expect questions on Brigham Young's trek west, John Taylor's night in Carthage Jail, Wilford Woodruff's 1890 Manifesto, Lorenzo Snow's tithing sermons, Heber J. Grant's welfare program, Spencer W. Kimball's 1978 revelation, Gordon B. Hinckley's temple-building era, Thomas S. Monson's widows, and Russell M. Nelson's surgical career. The questions run from easy (which prophet was a heart surgeon?) to genuinely hard (which chief justice did Dallin H. Oaks clerk for?), so it works for family home evening, seminary and institute classes, youth activities, or a friendly contest with the ward. Nothing here requires more than a working knowledge of church history, but the hard questions will separate the casual reader from the person who has actually read the presidents' biographies. Every answer was checked against the biography of each president and the church's own succession rules, and every question carries a citation you can open, so you can settle arguments as well as start them.
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Q 01With Dallin H. Oaks's ordination in October 2025, how many men have been LDS Church president?
18
Dallin H. Oaks became the 18th president of the church in October 2025, following the death of Russell M. Nelson the previous month.
Q 02In which state was church founder Joseph Smith born?
Vermont
He was born in Sharon, Vermont, in 1805; the family moved to western New York after a run of crop failures in 1816.
Q 03In what year was Joseph Smith killed by a mob while jailed in Carthage, Illinois?
1844
Joseph Smith was shot dead by a mob at Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844; his brother, the church's Assistant President, died in the same attack, setting off a succession crisis with several claimants.
Q 04Which political office was Joseph Smith campaigning for at the time of his death?
President of the United States
He was running for President of the United States on a platform that proposed gradually ending slavery, shrinking Congress, reforming prisons and annexing Texas, California and Oregon.
Q 05After Joseph Smith's death, who argued there could be no successor and that he should be 'Protector'?
Sidney Rigdon
Sidney Rigdon, the senior surviving member of the First Presidency, proposed himself as guardian of the church; the congregation instead backed Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve at a meeting that August.
Q 06In which year was Brigham Young ordained president of the church?
1847
Brigham Young was ordained church president on December 27, 1847, having led the church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve since the succession crisis.
Q 07Utah marks Brigham Young's entry into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24 as what holiday?
Pioneer Day
Pioneer Day, July 24, is an official Utah state holiday marked with parades and fireworks, commemorating the first Latter-day Saint company's arrival in the Salt Lake Valley.
Q 08How many wives did Brigham Young have?
56
Brigham Young married 56 women by the most common count and fathered 57 children; he built the Lion House and Beehive House in Salt Lake City to house his enormous family.
Q 09Besides leading the church, what government post did Brigham Young hold from 1851 to 1858?
Governor of the Utah Territory
President Millard Fillmore named him Governor of the Utah Territory in 1850; he gave way to Alfred Cumming in 1858 as the Utah War ended, accepting President Buchanan's pardon.
Q 10Before becoming a full-time church leader in 1835, Brigham Young earned his living in which trades?
Painter and carpenter
Painter and carpenter were Brigham Young's trades, along with glazing, in upstate New York before his 1832 baptism and his 1835 call to the Quorum of the Twelve.
Q 11Which future church president was severely wounded in the Carthage Jail attack that killed Joseph Smith?
John Taylor
John Taylor was shot several times and survived; Willard Richards, also in the room, escaped almost unharmed, and Taylor became the third president in 1880.
Q 12The third president, the first church president born outside the United States, came from which country?
England
The third president was born in Milnthorpe in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, in 1808, making him the first president born abroad.
Q 13Which hymn was sung twice in Carthage Jail shortly before the Smiths were killed?
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
Q 21The sixth president was born in Far West, a church settlement in which state?
Missouri
He was born in November 1838, weeks after Missouri's governor issued the extermination order against the Latter-day Saints.
Q 22Which initiative, launched in 1936, is counted among Heber J. Grant's greatest legacies as president?
The church welfare program
The church welfare program, launched in 1936 during the Depression, was meant, in Grant's words, to do away with idleness and the dole and restore industry, thrift and self-respect.
Q 23How old was Heber J. Grant when he was called as an apostle in 1882?
25
Grant was 25, born in November 1856, when called to the Twelve in October 1882; he had worked as a bookkeeper and cashier and famously taught himself baseball by throwing against a barn for hours.
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, set to words by James Montgomery, was sung twice by a fellow prisoner that afternoon; the mob stormed the jail minutes later.
Q 14Wilford Woodruff's 1890 Manifesto officially ended the church's support of which practice?
Plural marriage
Plural marriage was ended by the Manifesto after the Edmunds-Tucker Act disenfranchised polygamists and let the government seize church property, a threat that was extending to the temples.
Q 15Woodruff's 1847 journal holds the earliest account west of the Mississippi of which pastime?
Fly fishing
He learned the sport in England as a missionary and cast on the East Fork River during the trek west.
Q 16Wilford Woodruff helped found which organization to help members complete generational sealings?
Genealogical Society of Utah
The Genealogical Society of Utah, founded in 1894, grew into FamilySearch, one of the largest genealogy operations in the world.
Q 17Which president is credited with the couplet "As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be"?
Lorenzo Snow
Lorenzo Snow, fifth president of the church, said the couplet came to him by revelation in 1840; his teachings were the church's course of study in 2013.
Q 18Which principle became a hallmark of LDS membership under the fifth church president (1898-1901)?
Tithing
Tithing was reemphasized after the president's 1899 visit to drought-stricken St. George; he preached it for the rest of his tenure as one-tenth of income, easing the church's debts.
Q 19The sixth president (1901-1918) was the son of which of the founder's brothers?
Hyrum
Hyrum Smith, the founder's elder brother, fathered the sixth president; the boy's mother, Mary Fielding, was a British convert, and he was orphaned at 13, the last president to have personally known Joseph Smith.
Q 20The 1918 'Vision of the Redemption of the Dead' is which Doctrine and Covenants section?
138
Section 138 records Joseph F. Smith's October 1918 vision; it was added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 and moved into the Doctrine and Covenants in 1981.
Q 24In 1901, Heber J. Grant was sent to open the church's mission in which country?
Japan
His wife Augusta went with him; the mission was a slow, difficult one and Grant returned home in 1903.
Q 25Under Heber J. Grant, keeping which practice became a temple recommend requirement in 1921?
The Word of Wisdom
The Word of Wisdom, the 1833 health revelation, was made a temple recommend requirement under Grant in 1921, and he preached strict adherence to it throughout his presidency.
Q 26On which date, his own birthday, did George Albert Smith die in 1951?
April 4
George Albert Smith was born on April 4, 1870, and died on April 4, 1951, his 81st birthday, in Salt Lake City; he was the son of apostle John Henry Smith.
Q 27George Albert Smith helped bring the church into which youth organization?
Boy Scouts of America
The church affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America in 1913; Smith later sat on its national executive board and received its Silver Buffalo Award in 1932.
Q 28The ninth president, who served from 1951 to 1970, first used which slogan to promote outreach?
Every member a missionary
Every member a missionary became the church's watchword in 1959 under the ninth president, an educator by training who served as a general authority for nearly 64 years.
Q 29Which president is credited with the saying "No other success can compensate for failure in the home"?
David O. McKay
David O. McKay made the line famous in 1964, quoting author J. E. McCulloch; it became a foundational statement in church teaching on family life.
Q 30How old was Joseph Fielding Smith when he became church president in 1970?
93
Joseph Fielding Smith was 93, born in July 1876, when he took office in January 1970, after presiding over the Quorum of the Twelve through the entire 19-year presidency of his predecessor.