Gudmund Gudmundson

Who was Gudmund Gudmundson?

Gudmund Gudmundson was one of the first Icelanders to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was among the first Mormon missionaries to preach in Iceland.

Gudmundson was born in Artun, Rangárvallasýsla, Iceland. He was christened a Lutheran on March 23, 1825.

In 1845, Gudmundson moved to Denmark to study goldsmithing. In 1851, while living in Copenhagen, Gudmundson heard LDS Church missionaries Peter O. Hansen and Erastus Snow preaching Mormonism. He was baptized into the LDS Church on 1851-02-15 by Hansen, and on April 18, 1851 he was given the Aaronic priesthood and ordained a teacher by Snow.

On May 21, 1851, Gudmundson travelled to Vestmannaeyjar to preach. Shortly thereafter, he went back to his hometown of Artun to preach, but found no one willing to listen to his message. Gudmundson continued preaching in Iceland until July 1854. Eventually, he was given the Melchizedek priesthood by one of his missionary companion after which he baptized nine individuals into the LDS Church. On 19 June 1853, the first branch of the LDS Church in Iceland was established on Vestmannaeyjar, with Gudmundson as branch president.