We All Must Be Crasy : The Correspondence of Sarah Peterson Lund to Her Missionary Husband, 1872–1894

A rare firsthand account of LDS mission history through the voice of a woman providing crucial support from home

While Latter-day Saint missionary work has been extensively studied, the experiences of the wives left behind remain relatively absent from the scholarship. We All Must Be Crasy helps fill this gap, offering a glimpse into the lived experiences of Mormon women and families during the late nineteenth century.

Through more than one hundred candid letters to her missionary husband, Sarah (Sanie) Peterson Lund reveals the private costs of missionization: strained marriages, economic hardship, shifting gender roles, and the constant need for community support. Sanie’s correspondence conveys her frustrations, anxieties, and fears alongside her pride in her children, devotion to her family, and longing for her absent husband. Her letters also show daily life in Ephraim, Utah: town gossip, vulnerabilities and ethnic tensions among residents, and reflections on plural marriage. This collection illuminates experiences only previously sketched in broad strokes, enriching our understanding of women, faith, and community in the American West.