mormon pioneers emigrated from many countries. denmark was one of those countries, with a large number of mormon emigrants coming to utah between 1850 and 1910. the migration of danes was initiated when missionaries from the lds church, including erastus snow, peter o. hansen and two others, were sent to denmark in 1850. hansen made the first translation of the book of mormon from english, by translating it into danish. religious freedom was written into the constitution of the kingdom of denmark in 1849. along with the danish translation of the book of mormon, this opened the area to great success in attaining converts. at that time the lds church was urging new members to gather to utah, which led these early converts to make emigration plans.