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# Utah Gov. Cox makes unannounced Iceland trip for Mormon history event
- URL: https://utahpolitics.news/utah-gov-cox-makes-unannounced-iceland-trip-for-mormon-history-event/
- Published: 2025-06-09T22:48:11.000Z
- Updated: 2025-12-03T19:09:12.000Z
- Author: Bryan Schott
- Tags: Politics, Spencer Cox

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and state Sen. Mike McKell, Cox's brother-in-law, visited Iceland over the weekend for what Cox’s office described as a personal trip funded without state resources.

[Iceland Review](https://www.icelandreview.com/news/utah-governor-visits-islands-mormons-knew-all-about-the-explosion/?ref=utahpolitics.news) reports Cox and McKell were part of a group attending a ceremony for the unveiling of a plaque honoring members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who fled Iceland due to persecution and settled in Spanish Fork. The plaque adds [to a monument remembering Mormons](https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/mormon-pond-iceland/?ref=utahpolitics.news) who emigrated from Iceland to Utah between 1854 and 1914.

In May, McKell was named as Utah's Honorary Counsul to Iceland.

> [ View this post on Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXhQhhO9Ht/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)
> 
> [A post shared by Mike McKell (@mike.mckell)](https://www.instagram.com/p/DJXhQhhO9Ht/?utm%5Fsource=ig%5Fembed&utm%5Fcampaign=loading)

Cox kept the trip quiet. It was not listed on his official calendar, which only said he had no public meetings scheduled June 4-9.

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