Jesus Christ And Latter Day Saints

Informal And Abbreviated Names

Because of the belief in the Book of Mormon among Joseph Smith’s followers, in the 1830s people outside the church began to refer to its members as “Mormonites” or “Mormons” and the church as the “Mormon Church”. Smith and other church leaders considered these informal or abbreviated terms to be derogatory and inappropriate, as editorialized in 1834:

Others may call themselves by their own, or by other names, and have the privilege of wearing them without our changing them or attempting so to do but we do not accept the above title, nor shall we wear it as our name, though it may be lavished out upon us double to what it has heretofore been.

âSecond Elder Oliver Cowdery,

Today, it remains common for individuals and media outside of the church to refer to it as the “Mormon Church”. Church leaders have resisted these practices and have asked members not to refer to the church in these ways.

In 2001, the LDS Church Saints issued a style guide on its name, requesting that those writing about the church adhere to the following guidelines:

• In the first reference, the full name of the Church is preferred: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
• Please avoid the use of “Mormon Church”, “LDS Church” or the “Church of the Latter-day Saints.”
• When a shortened reference is needed, the terms “the Church” or “the Church of Jesus Christ” are encouraged.
• When referring to Church members, the term “Latter-day Saints” is preferred, though “Mormons” is acceptable.

Criticism Of Joseph Smith

In the 1830s, the church was criticized for Smith’s handling of a banking failure in Kirtland, Ohio. After the Mormons migrated west, there was fear and suspicion about the LDS Church’s political and military power in Missouri, culminating in the 1838 Mormon War and the Mormon Extermination Order by Governor Lilburn Boggs. In the 1840s, criticism of the church included its theocratic aspirations in Nauvoo, Illinois. Criticism of the practice of plural marriage and other doctrines taught by Smith were published in the Nauvoo Expositor. Opposition led to a series of events culminating in the death of Smith and his brother while jailed in 1844.

A Look Back At The Church Of Jesus Christ In 2022

How leaders and everyday members ministered around the world in 2022

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To borrow a phrase from scripture, leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were anxiously engaged in good causes in 2022. The faiths humanitarian and welfare work was constant. Apostles and other leaders ministered and made meaningful connections around the world. And more houses of the Lord opened for worship.

The summaries, video and photos below show though it is only a glimpse the many ways members of the Church blessed Gods children everywhere.

Humanitarian and Welfare Outreach

Jesus teaches His followers to love thy neighbour and to be one. The Church does this, in part, through its important humanitarian and welfare service. These projects are often done in collaboration with trusted organizations who help get resources to individuals in need.

This year, to mention only a few items, the Church of Jesus Christ gave US$32 million to the World Food Programme, $10 million for polio and maternal and neonatal tetanus vaccinations to Rotary International and UNICEF, $5.1 million to the American Red Cross and another $5 million to UNICEFs global malnutrition program.

In 2021, the Churchs donations added up to nearly $1 billion and its membership gave 6.8 million hours in service. Similar numbers for 2022 will be released next year.

The Prophets Preaching

The Travels of the Apostles and General Officers

Other Notable News

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Second Young Woman In Ellis County History Earns Eagle Scout Award

What do film producer Steven Spielberg, astronaut Neil Armstrong, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Teo have in common? Each one attained the rank of Eagle Scout as a young man, an honor earned by only 4% of Scouts.

Eagle Scout Honoree, Mattie Thayne. Photo by Lucas Norris.

Those numbers began to include young women in 2019 when the scouting program was opened to girls aged 11-17. No longer called Boys Scouts of America, the name was changed to Scouts BSA. Now, just over three years later, thousands of girls have earned their Eagle.

Mattie Thayne, a senior at Life School in Waxahachie, is one of those young women. Her Eagle Court of Honor was held on November 5, 2022, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Waxahachie. She became only the second girl in Ellis County to earn the award.

Alice Smith is Scoutmaster for Troop 215, an all-girl unit sponsored by the American Legion Chris Kyle Post 388 in Midlothian. Her own family began early with scouting. Her son became a Tiger in 2011 when he was 6. A daughter joined a Venture Crew when she was 14 this co-ed group focuses on high adventure. Ms. Smith always worked on the committee side of scouting until she was selected as Troop 215s first female scoutmaster.

Mattie has blossomed through scouting, Ms. Smith concluded, from being a very shy girl to a leader who could keep her canoe from capsizing when everyone else was dumped into the water.

Histories Of Local Church Units

Many histories of wards, stakes, and missions are available at the Family History Library and the Church History Library. These unit histories sometimes include biographical sketches of members, photographs, maps, lists of ward officers, and a history of the local community. For books and articles that give short histories of many local Church units see:

• Jenson, Andrew. Encyclopedic History of the Church cited fully in .

The Church History Library has manuscript histories, and historical reports for local Church units from the 1830s to 1983. Since 1983, the yearly histories have been known as annual reports. Wards and branches submit their reports to the stake or mission, which compiles them and submits the reports to the Church History Library. These records often include the names of the Church units officers and teachers. Histories of the Mormon Battalion, the Pioneers of 1847, , and other prominent groups are also available.

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What Church Donations Help With

Church donations including tithes and other offeringsare used to accomplish the Lords work around the world. A council of Church leaders, including the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric, act according to revelation to make decisions regarding how these funds are used . In addition to supporting the Lords work by building and maintaining temples and meetinghouses, supporting missionary work, and providing education opportunities, these contributions are also used to support the Churchs welfare programs. These programs serve people around the world regardless of religion, nationality, or race. Church donations are also used to support Latter-day Saints Charities, the nonprofit humanitarian arm of the Church. This organization focuses on relieving suffering, fostering self-reliance, and providing opportunities for people to serve. Finally, Church members are also encouraged to fast for two consecutive meals once a month. They are encouraged to give the money they saved from these mealsand more if they canto the Church. These fast offerings are used in local congregations to help those in need. They help with critical needs like food, clothing, and shelter for those struggling financially.

Migration To Utah And Colonization Of The West

Under the leadership of Brigham Young, Church leaders planned to leave Nauvoo, Illinois in April 1846, but amid threats from the state militia, they were forced to cross the Mississippi River in the cold of February. They eventually left the boundaries of the United States to what is now Utah where they founded Salt Lake City.

The groups that left Illinois for Utah became known as the Mormon pioneers and forged a path to Salt Lake City known as the Mormon Trail. The arrival of the original Mormon Pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847, is commemorated by the Utah State holidayPioneer Day.

Groups of converts from the United States, Canada, Europe, and elsewhere were encouraged to gather to Utah in the decades following. Both the original Mormon migration and subsequent convert migrations resulted in much sacrifice and quite a number of deaths. Brigham Young organized a great colonization of the American West, with Mormon settlements extending from Canada to Mexico. Notable cities that sprang from early Mormon settlements include San Bernardino, California, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Mesa, Arizona.

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Brigham Young’s Early Theocratic Leadership

Following the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young stated that the Church should be led by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles #Conference_of_August_8,_1844″ rel=”nofollow”> Succession Crisis). Later, after the migration to Utah had begun, Brigham Young was sustained as a member of the First Presidency on December 25, 1847, , and then as President of the Church on October 8, 1848. .

One of the reasons the Saints had chosen the Great Basin as a settling place was that the area was at the time outside the territorial borders of the United States, which Young had blamed for failing to protect Mormons from political opposition from the states of Missouri and Illinois. However, in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Mexico ceded the area to the United States. As a result, Brigham Young sent emissaries to Washington, D.C. with a proposal to create a vast State of Deseret, of which Young would naturally be the first governor. Instead, Congress created the much smaller Utah Territory in 1850, and Young was appointed governor in 1851. Because of his religious position, Young exercised much more practical control over the affairs of Mormon and non-Mormon settlers than a typical territorial governor of the time.

For most of the 19th century, the LDS Church maintained an ecclesiastical court system parallel to federal courts, and required Mormons to use the system exclusively for civil matters, or face church discipline.

Cosmology And Plan Of Salvation

The Mormon cosmology and plan of salvation include the doctrines of a pre-mortal life, an earthly mortal existence, three degrees of heaven, and exaltation.

According to these doctrines, every human spirit is a spiritual child of a Heavenly Father, and each has the potential to continue to learn, grow, and progress in the eternities, eventually achieving eternal life, which is to become one with God in the same way that Jesus Christ is one with the Father, thus allowing the children of God to become divine beings that is, gods themselves. This view on the doctrine of theosis is also referred to as becoming a “joint-heir with Christ”. The process by which this is accomplished is called exaltation, a doctrine which includes the reunification of the mortal family after the resurrection and the ability to have spirit children in the afterlife and inherit a portion of God’s kingdom. To obtain this state of godhood, the church teaches that one must have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of his or her sins, strive to keep the commandments faithfully, and participate in a sequence of ceremonial covenants called ordinances, which include baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, the endowment, and celestial marriage.

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How Do Members Practise Their Faith

There are two main types of ordinances performed in the church. Those necessary for exaltation , also called saving ordinances. These include:

• Conferral of the Melchizedek priesthood
• Temple endowment

There are also ordinances for guidance and comfort, including:

• Naming and blessing of children
• Administering to the sick
• Various types of blessings
• The dedication of graves

Temple endowment and marriage are the most significant ordinances, necessary for eternal life. Endowment is an initiation ceremony in which members make pledges called covenants affirming those made in baptism. The ceremony is preceded with washing and anointing, and afterwards, members receive their white temple undergarments.

Temple marriage is a ritual that seals in heaven relationships formed on earth, principally a man and a woman in marriage, all children born and unborn, and any they adopt, for eternity.

Proxy ordinances can also be performed on behalf of members dead ancestors, thus offering them the chance of salvation and the opportunity to be sealed in the family unit in the spirit world. The church provides genealogy services for this reason but also for the public.

Sunday is the Sabbath day for the church and members attend the sacrament meeting. Baptised members receive bread and water in remembrance of the Last Supper. Sunday services take place in churches, not temples. The services and churches are open to the public temples are not.

Mormon Involvement In National Politics

Mormons and the women’s suffrage movement

In 1870, the Utah Territory had become one of the first polities to grant women the right to voteâa right which the U.S. Congress revoked in 1887 as part of the Edmunds-Tucker Act.

As a result, a number of LDS women became active and vocal proponents of women’s rights. Of particular note was the LDS journalist and suffragist Emmeline Blanch Wells, editor of the Woman’s Exponent, a Utah feminist newspaper. Wells, who was both a feminist and a polygamist, wrote vocally in favor of a woman’s role in the political process and public discourse. National suffrage leaders, however, were somewhat perplexed by the seeming paradox between Utah’s progressive stand on women’s rights, and the church’s stand on polygamy.

In 1890, after the church officially renounced polygamy, U.S. suffrage leaders began to embrace Utah’s feminism more directly, and in 1891, Utah hosted the Rocky Mountain Suffrage Conference in Salt Lake City, attended by such national feminist leaders as Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw. The Utah Woman Suffrage Association, which had been formed in 1889 as a branch of the American Woman Suffrage Association , was then successful in demanding that the constitution of the nascent state of Utah should enfranchise women. In 1896, Utah became the third state in the U.S. to grant women the right to vote.

Mormons and the debate over temperance and prohibition

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Membership Statistics Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter

This page shows the membership statistics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints within the United States.

• Official LDS Membership – Membership count on record provided by the LDS Church. These records include adults and children, and also include both active and less active members.
• From religious surveys – General religious surveys conducted within the United States. These surveyed U.S. adults about their religious beliefs.

What Is The Latter

For Latter-day Saints, mortal existence is seen in the context of a great sweep of history, from a pre-earth life where the spirits of all humankind lived with Heavenly Father to a future life in His presence where continued growth, learning and improving will take place. Life on earth is regarded as a temporary state in which men and women are tried and testedand where they gain experiences obtainable nowhere else. God knew humans would make mistakes, so He provided a Savior, Jesus Christ, who would take upon Himself the sins of the world. To members of the Church, physical death on earth is not an end but the beginning of the next step in Gods plan for His children.

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Reestablishment Of The Japan Mission

It was not until March 6, 1948, that Edward L. Clissold was given permission to return to Japan, leading the missionary work as the mission president. Clissold had been part of the United States military occupation forces in Japan after World War II. His new task was to find what remained of the Latter-day Saints from twenty-four years before. He put a small advertisement in Japanese in the newspaper, “URGENT NOTICEI would like any member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Near-Day Saints to contact me as soon as possible. Daiichi Hotel, Room 548. Lt. Col. Edward Clissold.” Nara Fujiya noticed the advertisement, responded, and some Japanese Saints were located and started to take part in Clissold and other servicemen’s church activities. From 1943 to 1944, Clissold had been acting president of the Central Pacific Mission, a mission in Hawaii that was primarily aimed at teaching Japanese people. His next task was to establish a mission headquarters. He obtained a partially burned mansion which had belonged to the Japanese Minister of Welfare during the war. After renovation of the mission home, the first five missionaries arrived in Japan on June 26, 1948. Harrison Theodore “Ted” Price, became the first missionary in 1947. Other missionaries included a Japanese born abroad and two American soldiers who had fought the Japanese in the Pacific Theater just years prior.

Relief Society

Doctrinal Reforms And Influences

In 1927, the Church implemented its “Good Neighbor policy“, whereby it removed any suggestion in church literature, sermons, and ordinances that its members should seek vengeance on US citizens or governments, particularly for the assassinations of its founder Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum. The Church also reformed temple ordinance around this time.

Beginning soon after the turn of the 20th century, four influential Latter-day Saint scholars began to systematize, modernize, and codify Mormon doctrine: B. H. Roberts, James E. Talmage, John A. Widtsoe, and Joseph Fielding Smith. In 1921, the church called chemistry professor John A. Widtsoe as an apostle. Widtsoe’s writings, particularly Rational theology and Joseph Smith as Scientist, reflected the optimistic faith in science and technology that was pervasive at the time in American life. According to Widtsoe, all Mormon theology could be reconciled within a rational, positivist framework.

Reaction to evolution

Soon after the 1909 statement, Joseph F. Smith professed in an editorial that “the church itself has no philosophy about the modus operandi employed by the Lord in His creation of the world.” Juvenile Instructor, 46 , 208-209 .

Some also cite an additional editorial that enumerates various possibilities for creation including the idea that Adam and Eve:

Reacting to pluralism

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