David O. McKay's dedication of China
Published October 23, 2026 at 3:51 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
While visiting China in January 1921, Apostle David O. McKay was directed to a grove of cypress trees in Peking. In this location, which he felt was 'divinely' selected, he offered a prayer and dedicated the Chinese realm for the future preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The account notes that the peace felt in the grove suggested the location was hallowed.
In his diary entry for February 9, 1921, Elder McKay noted that the day was cloudless and the sun tempered the winter air. He recorded that he and his companion, Hugh J. Cannon, reached their conclusion regarding the dedication the previous evening, believing the time was near at hand for the 'teeming millions' of China to be given a glimpse of the 'glorious Light.' He also noted that under the century-old limbs of the chosen tree, they supplicated their Father in heaven and, by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, 'turned the key that unlocked the door' for the entrance of authorized servants of God into the famine-stricken land.
In Their Own Words
“Under the century old limbs and green leaves of this, one of God’s own temples, with uncovered heads, we supplicated our Father in heaven and by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, and in the name of the Only Begotten of the Father, turned the key that unlocked the door for the entrance into this benighted and famine-stricken land of the authorized servants of God to preach the true and restored gospel of Jesus Christ. — David O. McKay diary, February 9, 1921, in Reid L. Neilson, 'Turning the Key that Unlocked the Door,' Mormon Historical Studies 14, no. 1 (2013)”
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), Vol. 83, No. 12 (1921). https://archive.org/details/millennialstar8312eng (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Additional sources (periodical research): Reid L. Neilson, 'Turning the Key that Unlocked the Door: Elder David O. McKay’s 1921 Apostolic Dedication of the Chinese Realm,' Mormon Historical Studies 14, no. 1 (2013). https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Turning-the-Key-that-Unlocked-the-Door-Elder-David-O.-McKay%E2%80%99s-1921-Apostolic-Dedication-of-the-Chinese-Realm.pdf
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