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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in 1830 by Joseph Smith in New York State. He is referred to as Prophet Joseph Smith and claims to have had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ in 1820 at the age of 14. According to Smith, they informed him that the true church was no longer on the face of the earth. Over the next several years he reportedly had regular visits from an “angel” named Moroni who said that he, Joseph Smith, had been chosen to restore the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph claimed that Moroni told him of ancient golden plates written in a hieroglyphic script that gave an account of former inhabitants of America and contained the fullness of the gospel. These plates had been entrusted to Mormon, the father of Moroni, and later to Moroni (Moroni was now appearing to Joseph as a resurrected being). According to Moroni, he buried these “sacred records” in a hill near Joseph’s home in A.D. 421. In 1829 Joseph claims to have begun to translate these ancient golden plates “by the gift and power of God”. This translation of the plates became known as The Book of Mormon. Hence, followers of this religion became known as Mormons. The name The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was given in 1838 by “revelation from God” to Joseph Smith. The Latter-day Saints (LDS) suffered much persecution in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. Some of this was due to economic competition, their strength of bloc vote, and to the practice of polygamy, as well as the preaching of another gospel. In 1844 Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Carthage, Illinois. After the death of Smith, his successor Brigham Young, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, led a migration west to the Rocky Mountains. After many difficulties, the LDS established their “Zion” in Salt Lake City. Brigham Young was sustained as president and prophet of the church in 1847. As Church President and Territorial Governor of Utah, he established LDS settlements in Utah and throughout the American West. The LDS take their doctrine from four sources: The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants (revelations mostly given to Joseph Smith), and The Pearl of Great Price (contains the book of Moses, the book of Abraham, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s inspired translation of Matthew chapter 24, and some writings of the Prophet Joseph). It is interesting to note that the 8th Article of Faith of the LDS Church states “We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly.” They also state that “The Book of Mormon is the ‘keystone’ of our religion, and the Doctrines and Covenants is the capstone, with continuing latter-day revelation.” The LDS church is governed by a hierarchy of officials. At the top is the president who is often referred to as the prophet. He along with his two counselors makes up the First Presidency. Below the First Presidency are the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and then the First Quorum of the Seventy, then a three member Presiding Bishopric. The local congregations are called wards. A collection of several wards is called a stake and stakes are then organized into regions.
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