Portraits of the past: Proselyting in Wales

By 1843, missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were proselyting in Wales. Those efforts began a remarkable period of conversion to the church, numbering in the thousands. Two missionaries serving in the burgeoning Merthyr Tydfil region — pictured above and right — were William Henshaw and Dan Jones. The second half of the 1840s saw between 20 and 150 Welsh converts baptized each month. A native of Wales, Jones was extremely effective with his preaching and publishing skills. Jones, who served several missions to Wales between 1845 and 1856, is often considered to be one of the most successful missionaries in LDS Church history. Another person effective in building the Merthyr Tydfil area was Thomas Giles. He lost his eyesight in a coal-mine accident but continued to serve the Welsh Saints as a conference president, frequently traveling to Merthyr Tydfil. He eventually left for America and pulled a handcart from Iowa City, Iowa, to the Salt Lake Valley while totally blind. He learned to play the harp and came to be known as the blind harpist of Zion.