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.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01With Dallin H. Oaks's ordination in October 2025, how many men have been LDS Church president?
18
Oaks was set apart on October 14, 2025, following the death of Russell M. Nelson, and was introduced by Gary E. Stevenson in a broadcast from the Conference Center.
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
His brother Hyrum, his presumed successor, was killed in the same attack, which set 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
His 1844 platform 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
Rigdon was the senior surviving member of the First Presidency; the crowd instead backed Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve.
Q 06In which year was Brigham Young ordained church president, three and a half years after Joseph Smith's death?
1847
He led the church as president of the Quorum of the Twelve in the meantime; the ordination came on December 27, 1847.
Q 07Utah marks July 24, 1847, Brigham Young's entry to the Salt Lake Valley, as what holiday?
Pioneer Day
It is an official Utah state holiday, celebrated with parades and fireworks every July 24.
Q 08How many wives did Brigham Young have?
56
He had 57 children, and built the Lion House and Beehive House in Salt Lake City to accommodate 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 appointed him; he resigned in 1858 to end the Utah War in exchange for a pardon from President Buchanan.
Q 10Before becoming a full-time church leader in 1835, Brigham Young earned his living in which trades?
Painter and carpenter
He was born in Whitingham, Vermont, in 1801 and raised in upstate New York before converting.
Q 11Which future church president was severely wounded in Carthage Jail with Joseph and Hyrum Smith in 1844?
John Taylor
Willard Richards was also in the room and escaped almost unharmed; Taylor recovered and became the third president in 1880.
Q 12The only president of the LDS Church born outside the United States came from which country?
England
The third president, John Taylor, was born in Milnthorpe in Westmorland (now Cumbria) in 1808.
Q 13Which hymn was sung twice in Carthage Jail shortly before the Smiths were killed?
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief
The singer was John Taylor; Taylor was badly wounded minutes later when the mob stormed the jail.
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
Grant said its purpose was 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
He was working as a bookkeeper and cashier at the time, and had earlier taught himself to throw a baseball by hurling it against his barn for hours.
Q 14Wilford Woodruff's 1890 Manifesto officially ended the church's support of which practice?
Plural marriage
It followed federal disenfranchisement of polygamists and seizure of church property that threatened to extend 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
That society is the ancestor of today's 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
His teachings were the church's 2013 course of study for Relief Society and Melchizedek priesthood classes.
Q 18Which principle became a hallmark of LDS membership under the fifth church president (1898-1901)?
Tithing
He preached it in sermon after sermon for the rest of his tenure, interpreting it as ten percent of income.
Q 19The sixth president (1901-1918) was the son of which of the founder's brothers?
Hyrum
His mother, Mary Fielding, was a British convert; he was orphaned at 13 and was 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
Joseph F. Smith's 1918 vision was first added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 before being moved to 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 25Heber J. Grant was the last church president to have practiced what?
Polygamy
He had three wives, though only Augusta Winters was still living when he became president in 1918.
Q 26George Albert Smith died on his own birthday in 1951. What was the date?
April 4
He was one of nineteen children of apostle John Henry Smith, and his eyesight was permanently damaged by sun glare while surveying for a railroad.
Q 27George Albert Smith helped bring the church into which youth organization in 1912?
Boy Scouts of America
In the 1920s he personally phoned Salt Lake City businessmen to squeeze donations out of them for scouting.
Q 28The ninth president, who served from 1951 to 1970, first used which slogan to promote outreach?
Every member a missionary
He was an educator by training and served as an active general authority for nearly 64 years, longer than anyone else.
Q 29Which president is credited with the saying "No other success can compensate for failure in the home"?
David O. McKay
The line is still quoted in church manuals as a foundational principle on family life.
Q 30How old was Joseph Fielding Smith when he became church president in 1970?
93
He had led the Quorum of the Twelve for the entire 19-year presidency of his predecessor before finally taking office.