Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
History and Religion
“I recommend my church”

“I recommend my church”

Last updated on: June 5, 2026 at 10:00 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

“I recommend my church” 2026-06-05T22:00:10-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Naples-Russell Mound 8, where the remains identified as those of Zelph were found (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Newly published in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 69 (2026): 49-60: “A Scientific Evaluation of the Zelph Revelation,” written by Jerry D. Grover Jr.:

Abstract: Members of the 1834 Zion’s Camp expedition inspected a large mound along the Illinois River where a skeleton was uncovered and Joseph Smith had a revelatory experience identifying the individual as Zelph. Recent archeological excavations place the revelation in a chronological and ancient cultural context that now allows additional verification and interpretation of this revelatory event. In addition, with this new information, it is possible to determine whether the individual and location can be interpreted as being a part of the Book of Mormon culture and geography.

The Columbia River Washington Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stands in Richland, Washington, which is only a few minutes away from where we’re staying in Kennewick. This is the “Try-Cities” area. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photograph)

With her kind permission, I share here something that Carla Maxwell Whetter posted on her Facebook page a few days ago. I join her in her invitation:

Interesting study about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you are looking for a church, I recommend my church.

NEW HARVARD STUDY EXPOSES MORMONISM

Study in comments (now pinned).

Harvard just released the latest results from its Global Flourishing Study, a survey of more than 200,000 people across 22 countries measuring happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, and financial stability. When researchers sorted the U.S. data by religious affiliation, Latter-day Saints landed near the top on nearly every measure that matters.

The findings line up closely with decades of independent research from Princeton, Notre Dame, Pew, and elsewhere.

Harvard finding: Latter-day Saints reported the highest rates of feeling loved by their parents.

Earlier research backs this up. Princeton researcher Kenda Creasy Dean, who is not a Latter-day Saint, found Latter-day Saint teens report stronger relationships with their parents than peers in any other tradition. Roughly 80% of Latter-day Saint parents pray or read scripture with their children, exceeding any other Christian group. Latter-day Saint teens are nearly twice as likely as peers to practice their faith at home, outside of religious services.

Harvard finding: Latter-day Saints were among the highest for being “highly happy.”

Pew data tells the same story. Latter-day Saint women have the highest rate of being “very happy” of any religious group surveyed. Latter-day Saint women and mothers also rated their family lives as excellent at the highest rate of any group. Richard Reeves, drawing on Sutherland Institute data, found the share of men who say they understand their purpose in life is ten percentage points higher in Utah than in the country as a whole, a gap he attributed to the state’s unusually high rates of religiosity and marriage.

Harvard finding: Latter-day Saints were among the highest for finding strength and comfort from their faith.

The most striking corroboration comes from Notre Dame’s Souls in Transition. Most religious groups see a meaningful drop-off in feeling close to God as teens enter young adulthood. Latter-day Saints were the only group to report an increase. The most recent Pew Research Religious Landscape Study found Latter-day Saints are the Americans most likely to report regularly feeling a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being. They also engaged in prayer, scripture study, worship attendance, and Sabbath observance at the highest rate of any group studied, and held those habits steady while every other tradition declined.

Harvard finding: Latter-day Saints had one of the lowest rates of depression.

A large youth study aligns with this finding. A large randomly-sampled study of Latter-day Saint youth found temple attendance linked to less depression at ages 12, 14, 16, and 18, and lower anxiety at 18. Research by Justin Dyer found Latter-day Saint youth had suicide attempt rates less than half that of most other groups studied. Even LGBQ Latter-day Saint youth showed lower rates of depression than LGBQ peers from every other religious group in Dyer’s data.

Harvard finding: Latter-day Saints had the highest rate of weekly religious service attendance.

Other surveys confirm the pattern. Weekly Latter-day Saint attendance sits above two-thirds, the highest of any major U.S. Christian group. Roughly three-fourths report praying daily. Latter-day Saints rank first among major Christian groups in Bible knowledge. One Pew survey, for example, found Latter-day Saints were the most likely of any Christian group to correctly identify Jesus as the one who delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

The family picture is consistent across studies.

Latter-day Saints have the highest fertility rate among major U.S. Christian traditions, the highest share of children living with their married mother and father, and the lowest divorce rates of any major U.S. Christian group. Among those who attend worship services regularly, Latter-day Saints also have the highest retention rate of any major Christian denomination.

Why the pattern holds

These outcomes are what a coherent system produces. James Clear’s line in Atomic Habits is that people do not rise to the level of their goals, they fall to the level of their systems. The Latter-day Saint life is built like a system designed to help people love God and love their neighbor. Worship, prayer, scripture, service, and family routines repeat on predictable rhythms and reinforce each other. Boys and girls grow up surrounded by adult mentors who model what they teach. The home does the heavy lifting, not the chapel. Covenants tie all of it to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that gets renewed weekly and lived daily. The result is what shows up in Harvard’s numbers: when belief, behavior, and belonging are this tightly integrated, outcomes compound.

What it adds up to

Princeton’s Kenda Dean wrote that it is difficult to read the data on Latter-day Saint teenagers without feeling a hint of awe. The latest Harvard data extends that picture into adulthood. Across happiness, family, faith, mental health, and the relationships that anchor a life, the Latter-day Saint community keeps showing up at or near the top.

Individual experiences vary, as they do in any community. But broadly, those who follow the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tend to be happier, in strong loving families centered on Jesus Christ.

What Harvard exposed is what researchers at Princeton, Notre Dame, and Pew have been finding for years. The Latter-day Saint community keeps producing outcomes the rest of the country is still trying to figure out.

An artist’s rendering of the Vancouver Washington Temple, which is currently under construction. It will stand just across the Columbia River from Portland. (Fair use)

For part of today, we drove alongside the Columbia River. At places, rather curiously, it reminded me just a bit of the River Nile in Egypt — a broad stream flowing through an arid or semi-arid landscape, sometimes flanked by cliffs, with a narrow fringe of green along each of its banks.

Posted from Kennewick, Washington

History and Religion

Travel and Religion

Previous Post

June 4, 2026

Слава України!

Next Post

June 6, 2026 Why Some Leave the Church and How We Should Respond

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

"In a meeting today, I learned another important reason why accurate (or at least as ..."

the PROBLEM

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

"I've been watching a lot of video interviews of NDErs and researchers. I think in ..."

brotheroflogan

Accounts of Premortality?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the prophet that confronted King David about his sin with Bathsheba?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Samuel Elijah Nathan Isaiah