Jacob Mendenhall’s first visit to Oklahoma was for a college rodeo event, which he won.
After earning a degree from Brigham Young University, Mendenhall and his family returned to the Sooner State to attend the University of Oklahoma School of Dentistry, plus four years of residency.
“I was very drawn to Oklahoma,” he said.
Mendenhall and his wife, Leslie, loved it so much they stayed.
The 48-year-old Oklahoma City oral and maxillofacial surgeon, who loves roping, riding and the Western lifestyle, who also serves as stake president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was recently featured in an article in The Oklahoman on Dec. 31.
“It really is God, family and horses,” Mendenhall said in the article.
The article chronicles Mendenhall’s love of horses, the events that brought him to Oklahoma and his Church service.
Read the entire article at Oklahoman.com. (Subscription required.)
There are more than 50,000 Latter-day Saints attending nearly 100 congregations in Oklahoma. The state’s one operating temple in Oklahoma City was rededicated in 2019; a second house of the Lord for the state was announced for Tulsa in the October 2023 general conference.
