Bodell

Bodil Malene Mortensen was born in 1845 on the island ofMaribo, Denmark. The gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would not be preached in Denmark until the adoption of a constitution in 1849, which guaranteed religious freedom. The first missionaries arrived on June 14, 1850. Bodil's oldest sister, Anne Margrette, was the first in the family to accept the gospel. This decision was met with disapproval from her parents, but in time they too would investigate and join the church. The family had a great desire to gather with the Saints in the Salt Lake Valley, but they were too poor to emigrate together. In consequence Anne Margrette would emigrate in 1855; Bodil would emigrate in 1856 with family friends Jens and Elsie Nielson; and Bodil's parents Niels and Maren Kirstine, along with her brother Hans Peder and little sister Maren would emigrate in 1857. Although Jens and Elsie Nielson had money from the sale of their farm to travel by wagon, they decided to travel by handcart a