All About Mormons

Hi anonymous,

Thanks for your interest in our history! Here's a brief summary of early Mormon history. Hope you enjoy. :)

1819ish: Joseph Smith, a poor farm boy living in Palmyra, New York, became very confused about religion. He lived during a time in American history known as the Second Great Awakening. During this time, so many New England preachers were preaching about hell fire and damnation that the region came to be known as the "burned-over district." Amidst all this religious fervor, Joseph Smith wanted to find God's true church, the same church Jesus Christ had established when He was on the earth. The problem was, every church claimed to have God's truth, every church appealed to the Bible, and yet every church taught different principles. (Not that different from today…)

In 1820, Joseph Smith had a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ. They instructed him to restore Christ’s ancient church in modern times.

1820: Amidst all this confusion, Joseph was one day reading the Bible. He happened upon James 1:5, which states, "If any of you lack wisdom, ask of God." Joseph clearly lacked wisdom, so he decided to pray. He went into a grove of trees near his home and, for the first time in his life, prayed aloud. What followed was a grand theophany, or vision of God. God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ) appeared to young Joseph and explained that Christ's original church had been taken from the earth with the death of the apostles. As modern Mormons understand it, good Christian people continued to teach wonderful truths about the Savior after the apostles' death, but the authority to act in God's name--the apostolic authority--had been lost. Christ told Joseph that He would restore this authority, and that He would use Joseph to do it.

1823: Joseph had another vision in which a messenger of God (an angel) showed him the location of an ancient buried record. Through the power of God, Joseph translated this record into English. The translation is known today as the Book of Mormon. Mormons use the Book of Mormon to complement the Bible, not to substitute it. Both books relate God's dealings with ancient peoples, and both are considered scripture.

The original Book of Mormon manuscript.

1830: Having received God's message and translated the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith officially founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Mormon" Church). Over the course of the past 178 years, the Church has grown from a handful of members to over 13 million. This is in fulfillment of a prophecy Joseph made in 1834, in which He said, "You know no more concerning the destinies of this church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. You don't comprehend it. It is only a little handful of the Priesthood you see here tonight, but this church will fill North and South America--It will fill the world."

Hope this summary helps!

It begane with Joseph reading in James 1:5 the verse instructing him to ask God if he needed wisdom. He found he did need wisdom as to which church to join so he went one day to a grove of trees in western New York and asked. He saw a pilar of light and in that light there were two personages. One of them spake unto him calling him by name and saying "This is my beloved son hear him." Well long story shorter the beloved son Jesus Christ talked with Joseph and instructed him on how to reestablish His church on the earth.

Search out the Joseph Smith Jr. History if you would like to know the whole story. It's in the church history books or an shorter version in the begining of the Book of Mormon or longer in the Pearl of Great Price.

This video explains a lot about Mormon origins: