Svend Larsen's birth record from Østerrisør (Risør)parish register, showing birth date as 9 Feb 1816 and christened on 13 Feb 1816.

Swend was a Pioneer to Utah from Norway. He was the first mormon convert of Norway and took the first missionaries to Norway on his ship at the request of Apostle Erastus Snow. When he was introduced to apostle Snow the Holy Ghost said in his mind,"This is a man of God and you can believe anything he tells you." He told him about the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ. His family fed, housed, and protected the missionaries from the mobs who tried to kill them. He bought a whaling vessel to take the missionaries around the fiords of Norway and Sweden that would go so fast, it scared him, a seasoned sea captain and kept them ahead of the constables who were trying to arrest them and put them in jail. This was after he and six missionaries spent six monthes in jail for preaching the gospel. Angels attended them and gave them protection.They sang hymns and gave each other talks and converted the jailor and almost the constable. He immigrated to Utah and brought many converts with him. His wife and four of six children died of cholera on the river boat near st Louis Missouri. He came on to Utah with a small son and daughter. He farmed ten acres in Alpine City. He battled crickets the first year and the next year their eggs hatched and devoured the crops. Then he moved to Spanish Fork and helped another man with his crops. Then Brigham Young told him to marry the widows and tale the scandinavians to Mount Pleasant. He married four women and built them adobe homes which were cool in the summer and warm in the winter. He planted gardens and orchards for each one. Brigham sent him on a mission back to Norway and Sweden after which he spent the rest of his life in Mount Pleasant with his families. He lived a life dedicated to the Lord.