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The Latter Day Saints Movement
The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement or LDS restorationist movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 15 million members.
The movement began in western New York during the Second Great Awakening when Smith said that he received visions revealing a new sacred text, the Book of Mormon, which he published in 1830 as a complement to the Bible. Based on the teachings of this book and other revelations, Smith founded a Christian primitivist church, called the "Church of Christ". The Book of Mormon attracted hundreds of early followers, who later became known as "Mormons", "Latter Day Saints", or just "Saints." In 1831, Smith moved the church headquarters to Kirtland, Ohio, and in 1838 changed its name to the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints."
After Smith's death in 1844, a succession crisis led to the organization splitting into several groups. The largest of these, the LDS Church, migrated under the leadership of Brigham Young to the Great Basin (now Utah) and became most prominently known for its 19th-century practice of polygamy.
The vast majority of Latter Day Saint adherents belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). A minority of Latter Day Saint adherents, such as members of the Community of Christ, believe in traditional Protestant theology, and have distanced themselves from some of the distinctive doctrines of Mormonism. Other groups include the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which supports lineal succession of leadership from Smith's descendants, and the more controversial Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which defends the practice of polygamy.
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes referred to as the LDS Church or the Mormon Church, describes itself as the restoration of the original church established by Jesus Christ. It is classified as a Christian church; separate from the Catholic or Protestant traditions, though many of those denominations disavow the LDS Church.
The Church teaches that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, Jr., called him to be a prophet and to restore the original church as established by Jesus Christ during his mortal ministry. This restoration is often referred to by members of the Church as the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which they believe was had by prophets and righteous civilizations throughout the earlier history of the earth. The restoration included all elements that had been missing from Christianity since the early days of Christianity due to apostasy. This restoration included the return of priesthood authority, new sacred texts, and the continual calling of a prophet and twelve apostles. The Church was organized under the leadership of Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York, on April 6, 1830, soon after Smith's translation of the Book of Mormon from which adherents—also called Latter-day Saints—get their nickname Mormons.
Joseph Smith led the Church until he was killed in 1844. After a period of confusion during which the Church was led by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and various claims of succession were made, Brigham Young led a group of Mormon pioneers away from the former church headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois, and then eventually to the Salt Lake Valley of Utah in July 1847. Brigham Young was sustained as President of the Church at General Conference in December 1847.
Now a more international organization, the Church has its world headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah where Thomas S. Monson serves as its sixteenth President. The Church sends tens of thousands of missionaries throughout the world yearly, with over 85,000 currently in service. As of December 31, 2013, the Church reported a worldwide membership of 15,082,028, with more than 50% living outside the United States.
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The Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site
The Book of Mormon Historic Publication Site is a historic site located in the village of Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, United States. The historic site includes the E. B. Grandin Building and some neighboring structures. It was in the E. B. Grandin building that Egbert B. Grandin printed and sold the first copies of the Book of Mormon. Because of the building's historical significance to Mormonism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) purchased it in 1978. In the mid-1990s the church restored the Grandin building, while remodeling and adding to some neighboring structures to create a visitors' center. Egbert B. Grandin's printing press and bookshop was located in the western most building of a complex originally known as Thayer and Grandin Brick Row, and later as Exchange Row. The complex of buildings was constructed in 1828, between Palmyra's Main Street and the newly finished Erie Canal (which has since been moved north), by Joel Thayer, Levi Thayer, and Phillip Grandin. Phillip Grandin was the older brother of E. B. Grandin, and soon after the complex was completed E. B. Grandin moved his business into what would become known as the E. B. Grandin Building.
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The Church of Christ, informally referred to as the "Church of Christ (Temple Lot)" and "Hedrickites", is a denomination headquartered in Independence, Missouri on what is known as the Temple Lot, which it has held sole ownership of for nearly 150 years.
After the death of Joseph Smith, several leaders vied for control and established rival organizations. By the 1860s, five early branches found themselves unaffiliated with any larger group. These branches united under the leadership of Granville Hedrick in May 1863, leading to members of the church being known as "Hedrickites".
The Temple Lot claims to be the sole legitimate continuance of Smith's original Church of Christ. As of 2013, membership is 7,310 members in 11 countries. Most of the members live in the United States, but there are parishes in Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Nigeria, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Tanzania, India, and the Philippines.
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![John W. Woolley2.jpg](https://web.archive.org/web/20160329221333im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/John_W._Woolley2.jpg/140px-John_W._Woolley2.jpg)
John W. Woolley (December 30, 1831 – December 13, 1928) was a leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, and is perhaps best known as the father of Mormon fundamentalism movement. According to an account given by his son Lorin in 1929, on September 26, 1886 John Taylor was in hiding in the home of Woolley. After being visted by Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith, Taylor set apart five men, including Woolley, as apostles. Taylor gave them a special commission to keep alive plural marriage and granting them the authority to set apart others. This is often refereed to as the 1886 ordinations. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) disputes the validity of these claims.) After the LDS Church officially called for an end to the practice of plural marriage in 1904, Woolley refused to comply and was excommunicated on March 30, 1914. In response and using the 1886 ordinations as his authority, Woolley extended the apostolic authority to a seven-man "Council of Friends" between 1929 and 1933. Most modern Mormon fundamentalist sects traced back to the Council of Friends.
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He saw the light gradually approaching him until it rested upon the tops of the trees. He beheld that the leaves of the trees were not consumed by it, although its brightness, apparently, was sufficient, as he at first thought, to consume everything before it. But the trees were not consumed by it, and it continued to descend until it rested upon him and enveloped him in its glorious rays. When he was thus encircled about with this pillar of fire his mind was caught away from every object that surrounded him, and he was filled with the visions of the Almighty, and he saw, in the midst of this glorious pillar of fire, two glorious personages, whose countenances shone with an exceeding great lustre. One of them spoke to him, saying, while pointing in the other, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." |
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