Liahona: The Elders' Journal. Independence, Mo.: Published under the auspices of the missions [later, the American missions] of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1907-1945. 38 v. 25 cm.
With its first issue on June 22, 1907, Liahona: The Elders' Journal, became the official publication for all missions of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North America. It began with volume 5, retaining the volume numbering from one of the missionary periodicals that was merged with it, the Elder's Journal of the Southern States Mission. The short-lived title, The Liahona, published in Independence, Missouri at the headquarters of the Central States Mission, was also merged with the new publication.
In the first issue, under the title "The New Paper," the editors proclaimed that it "will be pre-eminently a missionary paper," which will "defend the truth, vindicate the saints, and expound the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. . . . but best of all, it will bring with it the missionary spirit."
The issues varied in length over the 38 years of its publication, and it became an important journal for missionaries, members, and investigators. Mission presidents used it to give instructions to the elders and sisters serving missions and it helped build a feeling of community among the members of the Church that resided in the missions and was circulated free of charge to investigators.
In the last issue of February 27, 1945, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark, Jr., and David O. McKay, congratulated the Liahona on its years of continuous publication and its usefulness as an aid to the Church in carrying on missionary work in the United States. They also indicated that the title, Liahona, would continue as a Church publication shifting to the Spanish language and published in Mexico.