Henry Dinwoodey Moyle (April 22, 1889 – September 18, 1963) was a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

and the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Early life

Moyle was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to politician

James Moyle James Henry Moyle (September 17, 1858 – February 20, 1946) was a prominent American politician in Utah and noted as "one of Utah's most distinguished citizens and one of the Nations' able and devoted servants." Biography Moyle was born in Salt L ...

and his wife Alice Dinwoodey. He studied at the University of Utah and served as an

LDS Church missionary Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

in Switzerland and in Germany. During World War I, Moyle served in the US military. Moyle continued his studies at the University of Chicago and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He was also a student at the School of Mines in Freiberg, Saxony. In 1920, Moyle was appointed to the position of United States attorney for the state of Utah.

Employment

Moyle was for many years a lawyer and a part-time member of the University of Utah faculty. He was also a businessman involved in various railroad, trucking, oil, insurance and finance businesses. During World War II, he was the director of the

Petroleum Industries Council Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

LDS Church Service

From 1927 to 1937, Moyle was the president of the LDS Church's Cottonwood

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, located in the south-east suburbs of Salt Lake City. He also served as chairman of the church's Welfare Committee.

Apostle and member of the First Presidency

Moyle was ordained an apostle and member of the

on April 10, 1947. Moyle served as Second Counselor in the First Presidency to church president

David O. McKay David Oman McKay (September 8, 1873 – January 18, 1970) was an American religious leader and educator who served as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1951 until his death in 1970. Ordain ...

from June 12, 1959, to October 12, 1961, when he was called as First Counselor. He was First Counselor in the First Presidency until his death. Moyle was a successful cattleman and originated the idea of the church establishing a cattle ranch in Florida. He was convinced that Florida's climate would prove ideal for raising cattle, as the key to success in that industry is growing grass. The church bought the original tract in 1950, and over 50 years, the ranch grew to more than . Deseret Cattle and Citrus Ranch, which is east of Orlando, is today the world's largest beef ranch, and the land is worth an estimated $858 million. Moyle spearheaded much of the church's building program in the early 1960s. He believed that the

Church Office Building The Church Office Building is a 28-story building in Salt Lake City, Utah, which houses the administrative support staff for the lay ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) throughout the world.Taylor, Scott"For 3 ...

, the headquarters of the LDS Church, should have been twice its size. He was also convinced that by building larger meetinghouses, the church would attract more converts. Moyle convinced McKay not to publish an account of church spending as was customary in order to hide the extent of the budget deficit caused by spending on buildings. By 1962, the deficit had reach $32 million. His optimistic building programs placed a considerable financial strain upon the church and McKay eventually relieved Moyle from many of his administrative responsibilities. The controversial "baseball baptism" program was Moyle's idea to increase baptisms in order to fill the church meetinghouses. Missionaries would encourage young men to join sports leagues and used baptism as a prerequisite. Under this approach, large numbers of young men were baptized but very few were ever active in the church. The rush to baptize was accompanied with the establishment of baptism quotas for missionaries and memorized missionary discussions which were to be delivered verbatim to potential converts. The rest of the apostles were largely opposed to these changes, which led to Moyle being relieved of his responsibilities in the missionary department. Moyle died of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

Deer Park, Florida Deer Park is an unincorporated community in Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is located off US 192, south of the intersection with County Road 419. The community is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is t ...

, aged 74, and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. File:MoyleMonument.jpg, Grave monument to the Moyle family File:HenryDMoyleHeadstone.jpg, Henry D. Moyle's headstone

Family

In 1920, Moyle married Clara Alberta Wright in the Salt Lake Temple; they were the parents of six children. One of his sons, Henry D. Moyle, Jr., was the first president of the French East Mission (based in Geneva,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) starting in 1961.''2005 Deseret Morning News Church Alamanc'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2004) p. 471.

References

Sources

Arnold K. Garr Arnold Kent Garr (born June 14, 1944) was the chair of the department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU) from 2006 to 2009. He was also the lead editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History''. Biography ...

, et al., ''Encyclopedia of Latter-day Saint History'', p. 801.

External links

''Working the Divine Miracle''
by

Richard D. Poll Richard Douglas Poll (April 23, 1918 – April 27, 1994) was an American historian, academic, author and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). His liberal religiosity influenced his notable metaphor about "Iron Ro ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moyle, Henry D. 1889 births 1963 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Mormon missionaries American Mormon missionaries in Germany American Mormon missionaries in Switzerland American general authorities (LDS Church) American military personnel of World War I Apostles (LDS Church) Burials at Salt Lake City Cemetery Counselors in the First Presidency (LDS Church) Harvard Law School alumni Latter Day Saints from Utah Lawyers from Salt Lake City Military personnel from Utah Religious leaders from Salt Lake City United States Attorneys for the District of Utah University of Chicago alumni University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Utah Democrats