Recovery to Mormonism

Mormon History

After Christ’s apostles were killed, the power of the priesthood bestowed on them by Christ was lost, and with it the authority to maintain His church on the earth. By the early 19th century, there were many Christian churches, all with different practices and interpretations of the Bible. In the spring of 1820, a young man named Joseph Smith, living in Palmyra, New York, took his questions about religion to God in prayer in a grove of trees near his home. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and told him he was to restore Christ’s church to the earth. Over the next several years, Joseph Smith, called as a prophet of God, would restore the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth, including the priesthood, or authority from God to do His work.1

In September of 1823, Joseph was visited by an angel who told him of gold plates hidden in a hill nearby. Four years later, Joseph retrieved the plates and translated the ancient record by the power of God. It was published in 1830 as The Book of Mormon, and contains writings of prophets living in the ancient Americas, including the account of Christ’s visit to the American continent shortly after His resurrection. On April 6th, 1830, in Fayette, New York, Joseph Smith and five others founded the Church of Christ, soon to be known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1

Because of persecution, the saints moved from New York and gathered first in Kirtland, Ohio, then in Jackson County, Missouri, and then in Nauvoo, IL. During this time the Church sent missionaries to the eastern and southern United States, and also to England and other parts of Europe. They also built temples in Kirtland and in Nauvoo. Joseph Smith was prophet and president of the Church through these years, until he was martyred in June of 1844. He had called and ordained twelve apostles, who were then the governing body of the Church. Persecution from surrounding citizens continued, and Brigham Young, the President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, began a mass exodus of the saints early in 1846. Most of the Saints stayed encamped at Winter Quarters, Nebraska until early 1847. Brigham Young led the Mormon pioneers across the plains and the Rocky Mountains to the Salt Lake Valley, where the first saints arrived on July 24, 1847. 1

Brigham Young, the next prophet and President of the Church, continued sending missionaries to many parts of the world, and also sent groups of saints to settle communities all over the western United States and also to Canada and Mexico. The Church built four temples in Utah by the end of the 19th century, the most notable being the Salt Lake temple, completed in 1898. 1

Today, Gordon B. Hinckley, fifteenth prophet and president of the Church (still headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah) leads over 12 million members in over 100 nations. There are well over 100 temples in various nations around the world. More than 50,000 missionaries were serving worldwide in 2005. The Book of Mormon continues to be printed, and has been translated into over 100 languages.2

Other Links:
Mormon History
Mormon Beliefs
LDS Church

1 Our Heritage: A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1996.
2 “Statistical Report, 2005,” Ensign, May 2006, 24