Janne M. Sjödahl facts for kids

Janne Mattson Sjödahl (born November 29, 1853 – died June 23, 1939) was a Swedish person who joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He wrote important books that explained the scriptures of the Church. Sjödahl was one of the first people to suggest a "limited geography model" for where the events in the Book of Mormon might have happened. This idea means the events took place in a smaller area than some people thought.

Early Life and Becoming a Baptist Minister

Sjödahl was born in Karlshamn, Blekinge, Sweden. His family belonged to the Lutheran Church of Sweden. But on August 11, 1869, he was baptized into the Baptist Church in Karlshamn. In 1870, Sjödahl started studying at the Baptist Bethel Seminary in Stockholm. He finished his studies in June 1872 and became a Baptist minister in Eskilstuna. In 1873, he moved to Västervik to be a Baptist minister there.

In 1874, Sjödahl moved to England. He went to Spurgeon's College in London and earned a degree in divinity (the study of religion) in 1876. While in England, Sjödahl became very good at English. He also learned a lot about Greek and Hebrew. Besides Swedish and Norwegian, which he knew from childhood, Sjödahl also learned German, Icelandic, and Arabic.

From 1876 to 1886, Sjödahl was a Baptist preacher in Trondheim, Norway. In 1879, he was chosen as the first general secretary of the Norwegian Baptist Union.

On August 28, 1879, Sjödahl married Ane Marie Johnson. Sadly, his wife died on August 16, 1883. This was just a few weeks after their second child was born, and that child also died around the same time.

Leaving the Baptist Church and Joining the Latter-day Saints

Around this time, Sjödahl met Ferdinand Friis Hintze. Hintze was a Danish missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sjödahl was later removed from the Baptist Church. After this, he traveled to Utah Territory to learn more about Mormonism. During the sea journey, his son Janne Jr. also died.

After arriving in Utah Territory, Sjödahl settled in Sanpete County. Many people from Scandinavia who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had settled there. On October 7, 1886, Sjödahl was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manti.

Life in Manti, Utah

After moving to Manti, Sjödahl became the editor of the Manti Sentinel newspaper.

The Manti Utah Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was finished in May 1888. Sjödahl was the first person to receive his Endowment (a special religious ceremony) in the new temple. On May 30, 1888, Sjödahl and Christina Christofferson were married in the Manti Temple. An Apostle named Francis M. Lyman performed the marriage. They were the first couple to be married in that new temple. His second wife passed away in 1910.

Church Translator and Missionary Work

In 1888, Sjödahl finished a translation of the Church's Doctrine and Covenants into Swedish. The Church approved this translation. In 1927, Sjödahl translated the Pearl of Great Price into Swedish. Then, in 1935, he completed the third updated translation of the Book of Mormon into Swedish.

After finishing the translation, Sjödahl was asked by Church President Wilford Woodruff to serve a mission in Palestine. In January 1889, Sjödahl arrived in Jaffa. He learned to speak Arabic and preached in Palestine for one year. He also helped organize a small group of church members, called a branch, in Jaffa. In January 1890, Sjödahl was asked to go to Bern, Switzerland to finish his mission. He returned to Utah Territory in July 1890.

Newspaper Editor and Publications

When Sjödahl returned to Utah, he started working for the Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City. From 1906 to 1914, Sjödahl was the main editor of the newspaper. In 1914, Sjödahl went back to England. There, he became an editor for the Church's Millennial Star magazine in Liverpool.

In 1917, Sjödahl worked with Apostle Hyrum M. Smith on a book called A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants. Smith was the leader of the Church's European Mission at the time. Sjödahl wrote most of the book, and Smith reviewed and approved it. When Doctrine and Covenants Commentary was first published in 1919 in Liverpool, it was an official Church publication. Only Smith was listed as an author at first. However, later versions of the book have recognized Sjödahl as a co-author. This book is still often used by Latter-day Saint writers and teachers today.

After returning to Utah in 1919, Sjödahl became an editor for the Church's Improvement Era magazine. He published more than 50 of his own articles in this magazine. In 1920, Sjödahl worked with George F. Richards and James E. Talmage to update the footnotes in the Book of Mormon. Sjödahl's work was included in the Church's 1920 English edition of that book. In 1923 and 1924, he helped Talmage revise his Church-approved book Articles of Faith.

In 1927, Sjödahl published An Introduction to the Study of the Book of Mormon. This book helped defend the Book of Mormon and was one of the first important books in the study of the Book of Mormon. In this work, Sjödahl presented an early idea of the "limited geography model" for the Book of Mormon. He was one of the first authors to suggest this idea.

Sjödahl also edited the Church's German, Danish–Norwegian, Dutch, and Swedish newspapers in Salt Lake City. He did this from 1919 until they stopped being published in 1935.

When Sjödahl died in 1939, he had partly finished a big book explaining the Book of Mormon. In 1955, Sjödahl's son-in-law, Philip C. Reynolds, took Sjödahl's writings. He combined them with some materials from a Church leader named George Reynolds. They published it together as the seven-volume Commentary on the Book of Mormon. In 1965, Philip Reynolds published Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price using the same names.

See also

• David S. King: grandson
• Jody Olsen: great-granddaughter