In the nineteenth century, Brigham Young, the Mormon prophet, commissioned the development of a "better" alphabet which they called the Deseret alphabet. When it was completed, the LDS Church used the new alphabet to published scores of newspaper articles, two children’s readers, a partial Book of Mormon, the complete Book of Mormon, and a few other items. Manuscripts were also prepared for the Bible, the Doctrine & Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and other books, but they were never printed for public consumption.

The experiment began to lose steam towards the end of the prophet’s life, and all official church funding for the project ceased after the death of Brigham Young in 1877. Interest in the new alphabet faded, and today it is nearly lost from all memory, except for a handful of people who can read it.

If you can read the Deseret Alphabet, or want to learn, join this group.