Every Movember a Missionary

Over 50 years ago, former LDS President David O. McKay popularized the now-classic Mormon refrain, "every member a missionary." It's a great mindset for church members to adopt, and it's also the title of this week's Gospel Doctrine lesson. So study up.

Fortuitously, the calendar has also just turned to November, or as its become known to many the last few years, Movember--the month-long growing of mustaches designed to raise awareness of prostate cancer and other men's health issues. I don't always participate in Movember, but I love the concept--doing something by, well, doing nothing. Charity walk-a-thons could learn a thing or two from Movember.

So, Movember, "every member a missionary"...even if you didn't read the title of the post, you can probably see where this is going--it's mashup time! Mormon leaders, Mormon men in general, and especially young Mormon missionaries are known for their clean-cut appearance, but this was not always the case. For the first 100 years or so after the church's founding (mirroring prevalent trends in American society), facial hair was more common than not.

Below is my list of the top 10 mustaches of Mormon apostles, as depicted in the appendix of the CES manual Church History in the Fulness of Times (though the pictures below are not all from the manual). Apostles and missionaries are not completely analogous, but it's pretty close, and it's easier to find their pictures than random missionary photographs from the 1870s.

Before beginning the list, it's important to note that some men with great facial hair, like Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff, and Charles C. Rich will not be included...

...because they have no mustaches! This is about Movember, not No-Shave-November, and especially not their less altruistic cousin, Noshember. On to the list!

Honorable Mention: Richard L. Evans (ordained an Apostle in 1953)

There are close to 20 better mustaches, but the long-time host of Music and the Spoken Word was the most recent apostle pictured with a 'stache in the manual, and I felt that needed to be recognized.

10. Lorenzo Snow (ordained in 1849, later became 5th President of the Church)

Don't get the wrong idea from what I said above about Brother Brigham and the rest--beards can be an excellent enhancement to a mustache, there just has to actually be a mustache for inclusion in these rankings.

9. Reed Smoot (ordained in 1900)

One of Utah's first senators (a position which led to his name being mentioned in Ferris Bueller!), in the CES manual his mustache isn't nearly as impressive, and he looks a bit like a European movie villain.

8. George Albert Smith (ordained in 1903, later became 8th President of the Church)

As President, he had a pretty sweet goatee, but I dig the mustache only look from his younger days even more.

7. Heber J. Grant (ordained in 1882, later became 7th President of the Church)

When President Grant became older and grayer, his beard gave him a very dignified look. It does here too, but the dark color gives off just a little bit of hobo, if you ask me.

6. George Teasdale (ordained in 1882)

Teasdale and Grant were ordained apostles on the same day. What a landmark moment for facial hair!

5. Albert Carrington (ordained in 1870)

I've been skimping on biographical data in the interest of keeping this post to a somewhat manageable level. All of these men are worth learning more about; Elder Carrington shows that some are more worth emulating than others.

4. Abraham H. Cannon (ordained in 1889)

Elder Cannon was only 37 when he died. He crammed a lot of marrying, publishing, church service, and mustache into a fairly short life.

3. Joseph F.  Smith (ordained in 1866, later became 6th President of the Church)

I love that he kept the long beard throughout his adult life (as far as I can tell from the pictures I've seen).

2. Orson Pratt (ordained in 1835)

When missionaries first get to Scotland, they climb Arthur's Seat, which Mormons call Pratt's Hill, because Orson Pratt once prayed there for 200 baptisms, which the Lord helped him to achieve. It was a fairly steep climb for me back in 1999; I can't imagine doing it with an extra 20 pounds of facial hair.

1. Moses Thatcher (ordained in 1879)

The pinnacle. Tom Selleck on steroids. What all Movember participants wish they could achieve. Until December 1st, let's all commit to spend the time we would've devoted to shaving to sharing the gospel with our neighbors. Every Movember a Missionary!