Brigham Young was prophet at this time, and it seems he was mainly a factor in the reformation as a voice calling the people to repentance. Church leaders were deeply concerned about the consequences which would come unless the Saints did repent and raise the bar, so to speak. One man is singled out from the rest as pushing this reformation forward: Jedediah M. Grant (pictured at right). Grant spoke in Provo, Utah, on July 13, 1855, forerunning the beginning of the movement. He said:

“The Church needs trimming up, and if you will search, you will find your wards contain branches which had better be cut off. The kingdom would progress much faster, and so will you individually, than it will with those branches on,  . . .

“I would like to see the works of reformation commence, and continue until every man had to walk to the line, then we would have something like union, . . . Purify yourselves, your houses, lots, farms, and every thing around you on the right and on the left, then the Spirit of the Lord can dwell with you” (Journal of Discourses, 26 vols., Liverpool, 1854–86, III, 60–61).

With the threatening approach of a Gentile society pressing in all around them, many Mormon leaders felt it a necessity to rededicate the Church’s members to righteousness or to have them leave the Church altogether, if they were unwilling to live up to the Church’s standards. Both through public preachings and through private catechizing, members rededicated themselves to the building of God’s kingdom on the earth through being rebaptized. Many who would not live up to a higher standard were thrust out of membership.

Though the intentions of leaders who instigated the reformation were undoubtedly pure, there were a few unintended ill effects, including an increase in anti-Mormon propaganda, which strongly influenced the U.S. government to march  on Utah to put down a rebellion that didn’t really exist. In addition, Juanita Brooks observed:

“In general the effect of this movement was to arouse the people to new religious consciousness, but for some who had lived through the persecutions of Missouri and Nauvoo and whose covenants included a hope that God would avenge the death of the Prophet and the sufferings of His Saints, the Reformation served to encourage fanaticism. It also helped to cement their group solidarity and make them feel that Zion must stand together against the sins of the world.

“In awakening the Saints to their duties, the Reformation also seemed to set them more directly against the government officials who, they felt, were ruling without consent of the governed. Thus frictions were aggravated and tensions became more strained” (Mountain Meadows Massacre, Stanford, 1950, 8).

The Mormon Reformation really began at a four-day conference in Kaysville on September 13, 1856. Brigham Young (pictured left), though not present, had sent some text with the principal speakers, which included Jedediah Grant, challenging the Saints to remember and live the covenants they had made at their baptism by:

“Observing cleanliness in their persons and dwellings, setting their families in order, carefully cultivating their farms and gardens, and not to feel so anxious to have more land that they could not attend to themselves; to gather into and build up the fort and settlement, and concluded by praying that all those who did not feel to do right might have their way opened to leave the people and Territory, and that those who did not come forward and do their first works [be rebaptized], let them be unto you as heathen men and publicans, not numbered among the Saints” (Deseret News, September 24, 1856).

Grant travelled around to different Utah settlements calling the people to repentance and challenging them to be rebaptized.  By September 21, 1856, things had gotten under way in Salt Lake City as well. Brigham Young told the people:

“We need a reformation in the midst of this people; we need a thorough reform, for I know that very many are in a dozy condition with regard to their religion; . . .

“You are losing the spirit of the Gospel, is there any cause for it? No, only that which there is in the world. You have the weakness of human nature to contend with, and you suffer that weakness to decoy you away from the truth, to the side of the adversary; but now is the time to awake, before the time of burning. . . . notwithstanding all that has been taught, still the people are full of idolatry, the spirit of contention and the spirit of the world . . .

“Well, I just say, my brethren and sisters, it cannot be suffered any longer, a separation must take place; you must part with your sins, or the righteous must be separated from the ungodly” (Journal of Discourses, IV, 45, 52).

The Reformation was to be the main theme of the Church’s General Conference in October, but that is when news of the stranded Willie Handcart Company reached Salt Lake and Brigham Young called for a cancellation of the conference and called all who were willing to go rescue the stranded Saints who were trying to make their way to Salt Lake. Franklin D. Richards was able to observe the effects of the reformation on the Saints at this time. Having just returned form a mission to the British isles, Richards recorded his observations of the reformation and the Saints:

“About a week before we arrived, a work of reformation had been efficiently started, and we were just in good time to share its cheering effects with the people. As good an evidence of this as I can offer, may be found in the fact, that on Sunday and Monday, at a conference of the Territory, it required strong efforts of the Presidency and others, to raise between fifty and sixty teams to go and bring in our brethren coming by the hand-carts on the Plains; whereas, on the last Sunday but one, a few remarks from brother Kimball to a congregation of this city only, induced one hundred and fourteen to give their names to furnish teams, and one man put down fifteen yoke of cattle. The change in the feelings of the people is indeed wonderful already, and yet it has but just begun. Bishops are dropped, and their counselors, when slothful at their duties, or when ruled by their wives, so are the Teachers, if they did not perform their duties, which are, to know every man and woman in their several districts, and to live their religion themselves. Misdeeds are not only publicly denounced but the doers and their deeds are named before the public congregations. . . . A thorough waking up has commenced, that must reach the habitation of every Saint in Utah, and then extend to every Mission and Branch of the Church throughout the earth. Therefore, dear brethren, cry aloud, and spare not, show unto the people the awful consequences of sin, that they may obtain strength from God, to keep His commandments, and sin not” (Quoted in History of Utah, 1847–1869, Andrew L. Neff, Salt Lake City, 1940, 548–54).

On November 3, Brigham Young introduced a list of thirteen questions for the brethren. This list evolved into a list of twenty-six questions which were posed in personal interviews within the privacy of one’s own home rather than through public exhortation. Ward teachers (now called home teachers) visited each family in the ward and catechized the people with the following questions (taken from “The Mormon Reformation,” Gustive O. Larson, Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, 53–55):

1. Have you shed innocent blood or assented thereto?
2. Have you committed adultery?
3. Have you betrayed your brother?
4. Have you borne false witness against your neighbor?
5. Do you get drunk?
6. Have you stolen? (This question was expanded into seven additional questions specifically asking about the use of fields, animals, lost property, strays, irrigation water, and about borrowing and branding.)
7. Have you lied?
8. Have you contracted debts without prospect of paying?
9. Have you labored faithfully for your wages?
10. Have you coveted that which belongs to another?
11. Have you taken the name of the Lord in vain?
12. Do you preside in your family as a servant of God?
13. Have you paid your tithing in all things?
14. Do you teach your family the gospel of Salvation?
15. Do you speak against your brethren or against any principle taught us in the Bible, Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine & Covenants, revelations given through Joseph Smith the prophet and the Presidency of the Church as now organized?
16. Do you wash your body and have your family do so as often as health and cleanliness require and circumstances permit?
17. Do you labor six days and rest or go to the house of the Worship on the seventh?
18. Do you and your family attend ward meetings?
19. Do you oppress the hireling in his wages?

To stop ward teachers and missionaries from becoming self-righteous and condescending in their duties of catechizing ward members, they were given instructions to tell the ward members to make restitution for their sins to those they had injured and to their bishops, if necessary. Those administering the questions were instructed to not pry into sins which were personal and between and individual and the Lord.

Another forerunner to and part of the reformation was the re-institution, in part, of the Law of Consecration, which the Saints had been given while in Ohio and Missouri, but which they had failed to live fully. Now the Saints were strongly encouraged to sign over all their deeds to the Church in order to help build the Kingdom of God and to bring them closer together in unity. About one-third of the Saints did this between 1855 and 1856, including Brigham Young, who signed over $199,000 in property to the Church (“The Mormon Reformation,” Gustive O. Larson, Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, 47–48).

Much focus was placed on sins of chastity and fidelity during the reformation as well. Anti-Mormons continued to attack the Mormon practice of polygamy and accused the Mormons of all kinds of immorality. However, since so much emphasis was placed on these sins in the reformation, the misconceptions already held by the anti-Mormons seemed to be confirmed. Church leaders were more concerned with purging the Saints of sins, however, and the reformation seemed to accomplish its goal. During its peak, the reformation reached all areas of life and, near its end, Brigham Young declared that its effects had lifted a huge burden of care from his shoulders. Most of the Church membership had been rebaptized as a sign of their recommitment to living the gospel. Some people had been excommunicated for refusing to repent of their sins, and others had left the territory. The practice of rebaptism slowly died out and now is only permitted in the Church for members who have been excommunicated, have gone through the repentance process, and wish to be readmitted as members of the Church.

Though the reformation had ill effects as well as good, the net effect was to encourage a higher standard of living among the Saints. They needed to set themselves apart from the world in order to survive as a group when non-Mormons began settling in the Utah Territory. Though there were definitely some fanatical areas and people involved in the reformation, it was intended for good, and Church leaders felt it accomplished its purpose.

Sources:

“The Mormon Reformation,” Gustive O. Larson, Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 26, 45–63.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

Birth and Childood

Harold Bingham Lee was born on March 28, 1899, to Samuel and Louisa Bingham Lee in Clifton, Idaho. He was the second child of six born to the Lee family. Harold’s mother and father were devoted to one another, to their family, and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. They raised their children in a time when there was little powered machinery with which to cultivate and harvest the crops on their farm. The children were taught in their youth how to work hard and discipline themselves, which would prove to be significant in their future.

Later in his life, Harold explained: “I have thought of the discipline of the boy and girl of my youthful days in a rural community. We began to ‘do chores’ shortly after daybreak so we could ‘start’ with the day’s work by sun-up. When the day’s work was finished, we had yet to do our evening ‘chores,’ usually by aid of a lantern. Despite the fact that there were no wages and hour regulations or child labor laws, we did not seem to be stunted from our exertions. Sleep requirements did not admit of too frequent frivolities. Returns from our labors were small and usually came on a once-a-year basis at harvest time. Homes of that day went throughout the summer with but very little ready money but from our cow we were provided milk, butter and cheese; in our granaries there was usually sufficient wheat to be taken to the mill for flour and cereals. We had our own chickens and garden and fruits in season.”1

The Lord’s Protection

On numerous occasions, Harold was blessed and saved physically from accidents or illnesses. Harold recalled an important incident as being his ‘first intimate touch with divinity.’

He recalled, “As a young boy, I was out on a farm waiting for my father to finish his day’s work, playing about and manufacturing things to wile away the time, when I saw over the fence in the neighbor’s yard some broken-down buildings where the sheds were caving in and had rotting timbers. I imagined that that might be a castle that I should explore, so I went over to the fence and started to climb through, when I heard a voice as distinctly as you are hearing mine: ‘Harold, don’t go over there.’ I looked in every direction to see where the speaker was. I wondered if it was my father, but he couldn’t see me. There was no one in sight. I realized that someone was warning me of an unseen danger – whether a nest of rattlesnakes or whether the rotting timbers would fall on me and crush me, I don’t know. But from that time on, I accepted without question the fact that there were processes not known to man by which we can hear voices from the unseen world by which we can have brought to us the visions of eternity.”2

On two other occasions, it was his mother who would be the hands in which the Lord would work to preserve Harold’s life. When Harold was eight years of age, his mother asked him to get her a can of lye from the pantry. As Harold took hold of it, he slipped, and the can tipped and spilled all over him. Harold’s mother immediately grabbed him so he wouldn’t run, kicked off the lid of a large tub of pickled beets, and splashed cup after cup of red vinegar juice all over his head and body, neutralizing the lye.3

On another occasion while working on the farm as a teen, Harold gashed an artery on a broken bottle. Louisa was able to stop the bleeding, but the wound still became infected. She took a clean black stocking, burned it to ashes, opened his wound, and rubbed the ashes into it very thoroughly. Soon after, the wound healed quickly.3

Over the years, Harold would remember the love, devotion, and teachings his mother instilled in him as a youth. When he was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Harold made this tribute to his mother: “I have been blessed with…a grand and lovely mother; one who didn’t display often her affection, but showed her love in tangible ways that, as a child, I came early to recognize as true mother love…”4

Education and Career

Harold’s parents encouraged and supported each of their children in their educational endeavors. Harold graduated from the eighth grade by the age of thirteen and then continued his education at the Oneida Stake Academy. The Academy was located in Preston, Idaho, where it offered classes in science, mathematics, biology, business, history, physical education, carpentry, music, and missionary work. Harold loved music, and during the first two years at the school, he learned to play the alto, French horn, and the baritone horn. As he matured, he began to take an interest in the school sports program, where he excelled in basketball. Harold graduated from the Academy in 1916 at the age of seventeen.

The summer after he graduated, he entered the Albion State Normal School located in Albion, Idaho, where he prepared to become a teacher. He remarked, “…This was a fine school, providing me some of the finest teachers of my lifetime. The laws of Idaho required a rigid test in fifteen subjects in order to qualify, and I spent an intensive study, losing twenty pounds in weight, but [I] gained my objective, passing the required examination with an average grade of 89 percent…I think I never absorbed so much knowledge as during the summers of 1916-1917 when I earned my second and third-class certificates.”5

Harold’s first teaching assignment was in a one-room schoolhouse in Weston, Idaho, where he taught twenty-five students in grades one through eight and accrued sixty dollars a month in salary. At the age of eighteen, Harold became the principal of a school in Oxford, Idaho, where he established the ‘Oxford Athletic Club’ and started a women’s choir. He would later recall his experience there: “I was principal of this school for three winters. Because my father had financed me through school, and I was staying at home, I turned over my paychecks from teaching school to him and then paid my extra expenses by playing in a dance orchestra.”

Mission, Marriage, and Family Life

At the age of twenty-two, Harold was called on a mission for the Mormon Church to serve in the Western States. This mission call meant that the money Harold had been sending home from his teaching position would be terminated, and his parents now would have to support him on his mission. After two years of service, Harold was released from his mission in December 1922.

While serving his mission, Harold met Fern Tanner, a fellow missionary. Upon returning from his mission, he renewed his association with Fern, and in November 1923, they were married. This union was blessed with two daughters, Maurine and Helen.

After further study at the University of Utah in 1922-23, Harold was appointed principal of the Granite School District in Salt Lake City, where he served for five years. In 1928, Harold resigned as the school principal to become the Intermountain Manager for the Foundation Press, Inc., and in 1932 he was appointed to the Salt Lake City Commission and won re-election in November of 1933.

Church Service

Harold always thought of the needy. He was Stake president of the Pioneer Stake in Salt Lake City, and the depression in 1929 did not exclude the members in his stake. More than half of the members were unemployed. He spent endless hours and long nights worrying about the welfare of the members and how he could help them. After many hours of prayer, he was inspired to set up programs that would help care for those in need. That Christmas, when he realized that over one thousand children under the age of ten would be without gifts, he knew that someone needed to step up and help. President Lee said, “We found a second floor over an old store…We gathered toys, some of which were broken, and for a month or two before Christmas, parents came to help us. Many arrived early or stayed late to make something special for their own little ones. That was the spirit of Christmas giving—one had only to step inside the door of that workshop to see and feel it. Our goal was to see that none of the children would be without a Christmas…”6

The Welfare Program

The Great Depression continued into the 1930s, when, again, half the members of President Lee’s stake were unemployed. Throughout the years, the Lord had inspired His prophets to prepare the members for such a time as this. In 1935, prior to his call in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the First Presidency assigned Harold to work with a group of men in developing a welfare plan for the Mormon Church. The Lord had prepared President Lee throughout his childhood and into his adulthood to take on an important responsibility, that being the establishment of the Church-wide welfare program.

In 1941, Harold B. Lee was ordained an Apostle in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. During his talk at General Conference, President Lee testified of this truly inspired program: “For the last five…years, I have labored, under a call from the First Presidency with a group of men in the development of and the unfolding of what we have called the Church Welfare Plan…I was astounded to learn that for years there had been before [the First Presidency], as a result of the their thinking and planning and as [a] result of the inspiration of Almighty God, the genius of the very plan that is being carried out and was in waiting and in preparation for a time when in their judgment the faith of the Latter-day Saints was such that they were willing to follow the counsel of the men who lead and preside in this Church…[This Welfare Plan] is God’s will, this is His plan…I know that the work that we are now advancing and unfolding has still greater potential possibilities. They will come to the extent that the Latter-day Saints will learn to do what they are told, but not until; and some of the grandest things yet to come can only come if and when we learn to listen to these men who preside as prophets, seers, and revelators.”4

Teaching the Church

President Lee traveled the world testifying to members and non-members alike of the divinity of Jesus Christ. Wherever he went, his love radiated for the members of the Mormon Church. He taught the importance of the priesthood in leading the Church and the strength of the priesthood in the home. He taught the importance of keeping all of God’s commandments and that if the members do, ‘therein lies the safety from the world.’ At the 1967 General Conference of the Mormon Church, Elder Lee re-emphasized to the members that the Church programs are to support the family. “Again and again has been repeated the statement that the home is the basis of a righteous life. With new and badly needed emphasis on the ‘how,’ we must not lose sight of the ‘why’ we are so engaged …Wise regional leadership can help us to do our share in attaining God’s overarching purpose, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.’

President Lee was not exempt from trials in his life. In 1962, after thirty-nine years of marriage, his wife Fern passed away. Three years later, he lost his daughter, Maurine.

Years before, when Harold had completed his mission, he called on a former missionary companion’s girlfriend named Freda Jensen. Freda remained unmarried for forty years until Harold met her again after the death of his first wife Fern. They married in June 1963.

Prophetic Calling and Death

Following the death of President Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee was sustained as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator on July 7, 1972. After serving eighteen months, President Lee passed away at the age of seventy-four.

For more information on the Mormon Church please see the following website:
mormon.org

1 “Decisions for Successful Living”, 1973, p.12-13

2 “Ensign”, Nov 1971, p.17

3 “Ensign”, “Louisa Bingham Lee: Sacrifice and Spirit”, Feb 1974, p.82-83

4 “Conference Report”, Apr 1941, p.120
5 “Harold B. Lee: Prophet and Seer”, Goates, 1985, p.48
6 “Ye Are the Light of the World”, p.345-7

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

Lorenzo Snow. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Missionary work slowed considerably during World War I, but following the war, Mormon missionaries had great success in Europe, particularly in Germany, where thousands joined the Mormon Church during the 1920’s and 1930’s.  In fact, in the interwar period, Germany led the Church in growth. Mormon missionaries also began preaching in Portugal and in Brazil, which has since become one of the strongest areas of Mormon growth.  David O. McKay, a Mormon Apostle and future Mormon prophet, traveled to every mission of the Church in the 1920’s and, along the way, dedicated China and other nations preparatory to sending in Mormon missionaries.

In 1925, Melvin J. Ballard, one of the Twelve Apostles, created the South American Mission headquartered in Argentina.  He prophesied that, one day, the work in South America would grow tremendously and that millions would join the Church.  Today, more than 2,000,000 Mormons live in South America, and it remains the fastest growing region of the world for the Mormon Church.

The number of Mormon missionaries remained fairly consistent throughout the early twentieth century, and the calls to missionary service remained irregular.  Not every Mormon was expected to serve a full-time mission, though all were expected to share the Gospel with friends and families in their daily lives and serve in volunteer capacities with their local Mormon congregations.  Instead, men or women would be issued calls to go to a certain place for up to three years. Prior to World War II, it was not uncommon for Mormon missionaries to be married.

In the years before World War II, the Mormon missionary force remained at around 5,000 a year, even as, by the 1940s, the Mormon Church’s membership approached 1,000,000.  Most Mormons at this time lived in the American West, in the historical band of Mormon settlements that stretched along the Rocky Mountains from Alberta Canada to northern Mexico, though Pancho Villa’s revolt had driven many Mormons out of Mexico and into Arizona.  Beginning in the early twentieth century, Mormon leaders began to urge members to remain in their home countries and to build up the Mormon Church in their home lands.  This required that temples be built throughout the earth.  In the early part of the twentieth century, Mormon temples were built in Hawaii and Canada. The first European temple was built in 1955 in Bern, Switzerland.  During World War II, few Mormon missionaries served (only hundreds per year as opposed to thousands).  After the war, when David O. McKay became President of the Mormon Church, all that would soon change.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1921. Standing, left to right: Joseph Fielding Smith, James E. Talmage, Stephen L Richards, Richard R. Lyman, Melvin J. Ballard, and John A. Widtsoe. Seated, left to right: Rudger Clawson, Reed Smoot, George Albert Smith, George F. Richards, Orson F. Whitney, and David O. McKay. Both Melvin J. Ballard and David O. McKay helped the Church make great strides in missionary work. Courtesy of the LDS Media Library.

Today, missionaries continue to serve by preaching the gospel, but they also offer service in the communities where they serve. The catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011 caused such extensive damage that it will take years to repair everything. Mormon news shows that missionaries have helped in this clean-up effort. The Church continues to encourage its members to support humanitarian endeavors as part of its goal to bring people to an understanding of God’s love for them.

On to Every Mormon a Missionary

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

On April 6, 1841, the Mormon temple was begun at the same time as Joseph Smith began preaching the doctrine of baptism for the dead, which he had received by revelation. He taught that those who had died without an opportunity to hear the true gospel of Jesus Christ would be taught it in the Spirit World and have the chance to accept it. Those who were still living upon the earth could be baptized on their behalf.  This doctrine, unique to Mormonism, even though the Bible refers to it (see 1 Corinthians 15:29), also taught that such ordinances were to be done in temples along with other sacred temple ceremonies.  Just as with Solomon’s Temple, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith the plan and layout of the temple, which included a baptistery, a large meeting hall, offices for some Mormon Church leaders, and special ordinance rooms.  In the spring of 1842, Joseph Smith introduced other Mormon temple ordinances, known as the Endowment, to the Twelve Apostles.  He also taught about Celestial or Eternal Marriage, which was to be performed in temples and through which a husband and wife could be “sealed” together for time and eternity along with their children, and thus could receive all the blessings of Abraham.  No one else besides the Twelve Apostles and their wives received these ordinances until after the temple was finished.  Joseph Smith, knowing that he probably would die before the temple was completed, introduced them in the upper room of his general store called the Red Brick Store.

On June 27, 1844, with the temple only partially completed, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered in Carthage Jail. Despite this tragedy, it gave the Mormons a period of calm, since their enemies believed that Mormonism was a cult centered on Joseph Smith and would collapse without him. However, the Mormons thrived and even grew in numbers, and, in early 1846, they completed their temple even while under constant threats from mobs and militias. Even after the Mormons had decided to leave for the Rocky Mountains, they remained behind just long enough to finish their temple. By December 1845, the temple was complete enough to begin performing Endowment work and marriage sealings for the Mormons of Nauvoo. The Nauvoo temple was privately dedicated for this work and later rededicated publicly in May 1846, even as the Mormons were packing their wagons to leave. In all, around 5,500 Mormons went through the Nauvoo temple before abandoning it, as they had done in Kirtland. As the last Mormons were being driven from their homes by a mob in the Battle of Nauvoo in 1848, the temple was ransacked by the mob. In 1848, an arsonist set the building on fire and some of the walls collapsed. Finally, in 1850, a tornado destroyed the last remaining wall.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the “good news” that Jesus Christ has overcome death and sin through His sacrifice, death, and resurrection.  It further means that mankind, through faith on Jesus’ name, repentance from our sins, baptism by water and by fire, and enduring to the end, can be saved because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice.  It is called the Gospel, which literally means “the good news,” because were it not for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice, no person could be saved from death and hell.  The Good News is that a way has been prepared for all those who choose to follow it. The way is free and open to all.

Mormons teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the most important message in the world, and Mormon missionaries devote their time to teaching others about the Good News.  Late in his life, the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote the following:

“We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” (4th Article of Faith.)

This represents the basic foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Mormon Church. These steps are what a person must do to enter a covenant with Christ and enter the path that leads to Eternal Life.  Mormons teach that the fullness of the Gospel (the complete teachings about the Gospel), as well as the authority to perform baptism and the covenants God makes with man, were lost from the earth in the centuries following Christ’s death and resurrection.  These teachings and this authority were restored through modern day prophets beginning with Joseph Smith. Part of that restoration was the translation of the Book of Mormon, which the Lord gave to help us understand more fully this essential doctrine. In a revelation given to Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ said, “the elders, priests and teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fullness of the gospel” (Doctrine & Covenants 42:12).

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

Paul said, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, we cannot be saved and hence cannot please God, who desires that all be saved. Faith means to know that God lives, but it also means to trust in Him, as Paul says, we must believe that “he is a reward of them that diligently seek him.” Unless we trust that God will fulfill His promises to us, and unless we trust God enough to keep His commandments, we do not truly have faith.

Mormons believe that our faith should be centered in Jesus Christ. Faith is more than believing Jesus exists; it means believing Him when He says that you can be forgiven of your sins and saved in His Kingdom. It means trusting in Him enough to keep the commandments and to fulfill one’s promises to God. Faith in Jesus Christ consists in trusting that He has all power and can fulfill His promises to resurrect all mankind and save from sin those who repent and follow Him.  Those who have faith in God will have the courage to keep His commandments even when they are difficult.

Having faith means that you will act on your beliefs. Merely believing or thinking that there is a God or that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world is not sufficient. Jesus said in His masterful Sermon on the Mount that, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). The Apostle James said of those who merely believe, but do not act on that belief: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20).

Faith is a gift from God to those who diligently seek him. We develop faith over time by opening ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit. The first step is to be humble and teachable. If we are arrogant, then the Spirit of God cannot work within us.  We must desire to believe. Even if we cannot at first believe, we should desire to believe. The Book of Mormon compares this to planting a seed and watering it. For example, if a person wanted to know if the Book of Mormon was true, he or she would read it and ponder its teachings through sincere prayer and meditation. This is planting the seed.

Next, the seed must be nourished. A person nurtures the seed through prayer, scripture study, service to others, and keeping the commandments. So, a person praying about the Book of Mormon would begin applying its teachings to his or her life. The Book of Mormon compares this to planting and watering a seed or exercising a particle of faith (see Alma 32:18-43, pgs 289-291). The Holy Spirit will enter a person’s heart and confirm that what he or she is studying and doing is correct. If we do not experiment with our faith by keeping the commandments, praying, and attending church, the Spirit will not tell us whether the scriptures are true. Therefore, faith comes as we try following and studying the scriptures. We must ask ourselves, “Could this be true?” As we live hoping and desire to know if something is true, we will come know for sure by the Holy Spirit.

Mormons strive to develop their faith through study, prayer, service, and obedience to God’s commandments. Faith is a form of spiritual work and character-shaping, in conjunction with the miracle of Christ’s Atonement. Mormons often refer to their personal faith as their testimony and describe the act of telling others about their faith as “bearing testimony.”

Repentance

The opportunity for mankind to repent is a wonderful gift from a loving Heavenly Father. Mormons believe that repentance should be viewed in a positive light as an opportunity to improve. The root of the word repentance in both Hebrew and Greek refers to a turning from sin toward God through a change of heart. Repentance does not mean merely acknowledging sin, or suffering because of our sins, but refers rather to the inner spiritual change. The Book of Mormon refers to it as a change of heart. Repentance is therefore the act of trying to bring one’s life more in accord with God’s teachings.

To repent we must learn what God expects of us, and then acknowledge our mistakes and weaknesses. We must take responsibility for our own actions and recognize that what we have done has hurt others and offended God. Second, we must confess and then forsake the sin. This means we must stop doing it and never return to it again. We must, if possible, make restitution. This means that if we stole something, we should return it or pay the person for what we took.  If we lied or hurt someone’s feelings, we must apologize. Restitution is not always possible, but we must always apologize and ask for forgiveness from those we offended or hurt. God is able to heal all wounds, and when we trust in Him, we can be forgiven.  Finally, we must ask for forgiveness from God through prayer.

When we have done this, we have this promise from God:

Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins–behold, he will confess them and forsake them (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42-43, pg 106).

When we have sincerely repented, we have God’s promise that we are forgiven, and God cannot lie. To become clean from all our sins and become a new creature in Christ, we must follow repentance with baptism. However, as everyone continues to make mistakes, we must repent throughout our lives and continually turn towards God for strength and forgiveness.  Through the sacrament, which Mormons partake of every Sunday, we can renew the covenants made at baptism and thus renew the cleansing of the Holy Spirit. The Doctrine and Covenants of the Mormon Church says:

Yea, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for a remission of your sins; yea, be baptized even by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost.  Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and remember that they shall have faith in me or they can in nowise be saved  And upon this rock I will build my church; yea, upon this rock ye are built, and if ye continue, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you (Doctrine & Covenants 33:11-13).

Baptism by Immersion for the Remission of Sins and the Baptism of Fire

Baptism by Water
Mormonism teaches the importance of baptism by one having true authority from God. The fourth Article of Faith, authored by the Prophet Joseph Smith, states that Mormons “believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

The Mormon Church practices baptism by complete immersion in water. This is symbolic of a death and burial of the carnal person, and a rebirth of the person as a disciple of Jesus Christ and a member of His Church. It also symbolizes the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Like many Christians, Mormons believe that a person who repents and is baptized has all prior sins forgiven and becomes clean before God.

Baptism is also the act of making a promise to the Lord. At baptism, Mormons make a covenant, or two-way promise, with the Lord that they will take upon them the name of Christ, remember Him, and keep His commandments. In return, the Lord promises to bless faithful baptized members with the companionship of the Lord’s Spirit, or the Holy Ghost.

In the Mormon Church, baptism is never performed before a person’s eighth birthday. The age of eight was given in modern-day revelation (see Doctrine & Covenants 68:27) as the age when children become accountable for their sins, meaning that they are able to independently discern between right and wrong and have personal responsibility for their conduct. At the “age of accountability,” they are also able to understand and apply the principles of repentance. For those of sufficient age who are not unable to discern between right and wrong (because of a condition such as severe mental impairment), there is no accountability for sins and, therefore, no requirement for baptism. Such are viewed as being saved through the Atonement of Christ, as are all babies and children who die before age eight. The Book of Mormon specifically forbids the practice of infant baptism, maintaining that it is “solemn mockery before God” (See Moroni 8:4-23).

Although Jesus Himself was perfect, the Book of Mormon teaches that He was baptized to show that “he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments” (2 Nephi 31:7). Small children are not capable of making such a commitment, so again, they have no need of baptism.

Baptism is only recognized as valid when it is performed by someone holding the proper priesthood authority. Mormonism’s claim to having the true gospel of Jesus Christ is maintained primarily on the basis of divinely given authority (the priesthood) and continuing revelation.

Similar to the beliefs of many Christian denominations, Mormons believe that baptism is a prerequisite to entering the kingdom of God in the hereafter. This belief presents a problem, however, for the millions of people who have lived and died without the opportunity to ever hear of Jesus Christ, let alone have the chance to be baptized. For this reason, Mormons believe in the ordinance of performing baptisms on behalf of those who have died. This work is done only in Mormon temples and is performed by someone acting as proxy for a deceased person. Mormons believe that this ordinance, known as baptism for the dead, is only of value to the deceased when the person accepts the work done in his or her behalf. If the ordinance is indeed accepted, the person will be able to enter the kingdom of God just as if he or she had had the opportunity to be taught and baptized while living on earth.

Mormons do believe that even after baptism, members will still make mistakes. In the partaking of the sacrament weekly, Mormons have the opportunity to renew the promises to the Lord they made at baptism. This includes the chance to come away feeling totally forgiven and perfectly cleansed of all the minor misdeeds of the previous week. Mormons believe the feeling of being purified on a weekly basis can motivate one to avoid sin. The blessings of baptism offer individuals hope through the Atonement and infinite love of the Savior Jesus Christ.

Baptism by Fire and the Holy Ghost
After being baptized, Mormons receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Unlike the occasional power of the Holy Ghost–felt, for example, by people when they are earnestly investigating the Church–the gift of the Holy Ghost is more permanent. As Joseph Smith wrote in the fourth Article of Faith, it is bestowed by the laying on of hands upon the head of the recipient. This means that men who hold priesthood power will lay their hands upon the head of the person receiving the blessing, and one man will pronounce a special blessing, giving the gift of the Holy Ghost. The person thereafter has the continual companionship of God’s Spirit to direct, warn, and comfort him or her. If the person sins, the Holy Ghost departs. But when the person repents and strives to be righteous, worthy, and receptive, the Holy Ghost can provide great blessings of understanding, protection, and peace.

Enduring to the End

Jesus Christ said to his disciples, “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). Baptism in the name of Jesus Christ is the gate that leads to the Way. The Book of Mormon teaches this more clearly:

For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive (2 Nephi 31:17-18; pg 114).

Once we have entered the path, we must continue on the path that leads to Eternal Life. Mormons call this “enduring to the end.” Again, the Book of Mormon gives us a good explanation of what this means. It says:

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life (2 Nephi 31:20; pg 114).

We must endure with steadiness in obedience to Jesus Christ’s commands, being filled with hope and love. We must feast on Christ’s words, which means we must continue to study His words in the scriptures and as given by revelation through living prophets. This corresponds to what the Apostle Paul said as he discussed faith, hope, and charity (see 1 Corinthians 13).

Enduring to the end does not means that Mormons expect to be perfect. Part of enduring is continuing to improve oneself through repentance whenever something is out of harmony with God’s will. Because people continue to make mistakes, the Lord has provided a way to renew these covenants. Every Sunday, Mormons partake of the Sacrament, usually called the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper in other churches. The Sacrament consists of broken bread and water to symbolize the body and blood of Jesus Christ. For faithful Mormons this represents a renewal of the covenants and commitments made at baptism and an opportunity to meditate upon the atoning mission of Jesus Christ.

Enduring to the end also requires service to others. The Book of Mormon teaches that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17; pg 148). A person endures by growing in Godly attributes. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an Apostle in the Mormon Church said:

The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and teachers were given that we may all attain “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something (The Challenge to Become, Conference Report, October 2000).

He says further,

From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts–what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts–what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.

Peter said something similar in his general epistle. He counseled the righteous followers of Christ in his day to become “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). To do these, he says, we must “add to [our] faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity” (2 Peter 1:5-7).

The Book of Mormon described one individual who endured righteously. His name was Ether, and he was a prophet to a wicked people. Of him, the Book of Mormon says:

For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled—Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, be led to glorify God (Ether 12:3-4, pg 509).

This path of hope and faith in God which brings men to do good is the narrow path that Jesus spoke of that leads us toward Eternal Life, which is to know Jesus Christ and God (see John 17:3), because we have become like them (see 1 John 3:2). Then, through power of the Atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, those who have followed this path will be cleansed from their sins and taken at last to Heaven to dwell with Christ and God forever.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley was the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which is frequently misnamed the Mormon Church) from March 1995 until his death on January 27, 2008. During the administrations of his predecessors Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, and Howard W. Hunter, President Hinckley performed many of the duties of the Church’s presidency when these men were ill. As president of the “Mormon Church,” he was considered by faithful Mormons to be a prophet, seer, and revelator of God’s will on behalf of humanity. Hinckley also once served as Chairman of the Church Board of Education and the Board of Trustees that govern the Church Educational System.

Gordon B. Hinckley was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 23, 1910. As a child, Hinckley was very sickly. He struggled with severe asthma and allergies, and so his family moved out of downtown Salt Lake City to the more rural East Millcreek area of Salt Lake City. He grew up on that farm, and his health improved. In 1928, he completed high school. After attending the University of Utah, he was called to go on a mission to London in 1933, an unusual occurrence for Depression-era Mormons, as few could afford to serve as Mormon missionaries. Hinckley returned to the United States in 1935 and soon accepted a job offer to lead the Mormon Church’s new public relations department (he had studied English and Journalism in college). Hinckley’s responsibilities included developing the Mormon Church’s fledgling radio broadcasts and making use of the era’s new communication technologies. Starting in 1937, he served on the Sunday School General Board. On April 29, 1937, he married Marjorie Pay (November 23, 1911–April 6, 2004). They had been married 67 years at the time of her death.

After service in a stake presidency, he became a General Authority of the Mormon Church in the now-discontinued-position of Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1958. In 1961, he himself became an Apostle and member of that Quorum, the youngest at that time. In the early 1980s, the ill health of both Church President Spencer W. Kimball and his aging Counselors N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney led the Church leadership to resort to the occasional practice of adding an additional counselor to the First Presidency of the LDS church, and Hinckley filled this position on July 23, 1981. At the time of Tanner’s death in 1982, Romney succeeded him as First Counselor and Hinckley succeeded Romney as Second Counselor.

During this time period, there were a number of questionable, new Mormon historical documents that began to surface, and Gordon B. Hinckley oversaw the purchase of some of these documents. Later, most of the newly-surfaced documents turned out to be forgeries of Mark Hofmann, including the Salamander Letter. Because of his prominence in the Church and his responsibility to oversee the purchase of historical documents, Hinckley became a key figure in the investigation of Hofmann.

By this time, however, Hinckley was largely shouldering the burdens of the First Presidency by himself. Though he officially remained Second Counselor, he was informally referred to in the press as “acting President of the Church.” Kimball and Romney remained largely out of the public eye until President Kimball died in November 1985. Longtime President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Ezra Taft Benson, became Church President, and named Hinckley First Counselor. Romney succeeded Benson as President of the Twelve, though he never exercised the duties of this position. Thomas S. Monson became Second Counselor, and, for a while, all three members of the First Presidency were able to perform their duties.

In the early 1990s however, Ezra Taft Benson developed serious health problems that removed him from public view, and First Counselor Gordon B. Hinckley again carried out many of the duties of the President of the Church until Benson died in 1994. Howard W. Hunter, who had succeeded Romney as President of the Twelve, became Mormon Church President and set apart Hinckley and Monson as his Counselors, Hinckley additionally becoming President of the Twelve by seniority. And when Hunter died after a presidency of only nine months, Hinckley was chosen to be president of the Mormon Church at the age of 84 (his two predecessors had both acceded at age 86) after being unanimously sustained by members of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Hinckley is known for his extensive building of Mormon temples. Under his leadership, the Mormon Church has expanded the number of temples worldwide from 27 to 136 (as of April 2012, with 15 under construction and another 15 announced, though some of these were built after Hinckley’s death). In 2000 alone, more Mormon temples opened (34) than existed at the time of Hinckley’s calling to the First Presidency. Over two-thirds of all Mormon temples currently in operation were dedicated by Hinckley. He has also overseen other building projects, like the LDS Conference Center.

On 23 September 1995, Hinckley announced and read The Family: A Proclamation to the World, a statement of belief and counsel prepared by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve of the Mormon Church. This was followed by another proclamation in 2000 called The Living Christ, which contains the testimony and teachings of the Mormon Church about the Savior, Jesus Christ.

On 31 March 2001, Hinckley announced the Perpetual Education Fund, a large endowment that provides loans to students in developing nations. It is funded entirely by donations, with the assumption that students will pay back into the fund when they are able. This concern for the poor and the importance to help others in helping themselves has been a theme of Gordon B. Hinckley’s work.  He has greatly expanded the Mormon Church humanitarian efforts throughout the world and has been personally involved in many disaster relief and service projects.

On July 22, 2005, friends of President Hinckley performed in a celebration commemorating his 95th birthday. In addition to the twenty-two thousand people who attended in person, the event was broadcast on BYU Television and to meetinghouses on the Church’s closed-circuit satellite system. Mike Wallace, former host of 60 Minutes, narrated Hinckley’s life and his accomplishments. Afterward, Hinckley spoke, thanking everyone for attending, and saying, “Let’s do this again in five years.”

On January 24, 2006, Gordon Hinckley underwent surgery to remove cancerous growths in his large intestine. According to Deseret News, the procedure went well and a rapid recovery was expected. He was released from the hospital on January 31. On March 10, 2006, Hinckley traveled to Santiago, Chile, to rededicate the Mormon temple there. He told the Chileans that it was likely he wouldn’t get back to see them again. Less than a month later, he presided over General Conference. Some speculated he was in bad health because he did not give the opening address. These speculations were soon debunked when a stern and strong Hinckley gave the concluding talk of the Priesthood Session.

On June 23, 2006, on his 96th birthday, Hinckley participated in a groundbreaking ceremony at BYU for a new building to be named in his honor. The building is called the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitors Center. Gordon B. Hinckley has been described as the most-traveled Mormon Church leader—past or present, having traveled millions of miles over the years to fulfill assignments. In spite of his advanced age, he continued to travel the world over as he dedicated temples and met with the Saints. Up until the age of 95 and his cancer surgery, he had spent only one night in a hospital in his life. He was a man with remarkable vigor for his age.

President Gordon B. Hinckley was exceptionally influential in the growth of the Church throughout the world as he has met with diplomats in his travels. His 60 years of public relations experience and his natural ability to be warm and friendly served him well when he was in the spotlight. His expression of love for all people, regardless of race or religion, won him many friends around the world, enabling the Mormon Church to become an international institution.

On June 23, 2004 (Hinckley’s 94th birthday), President George W. Bush awarded Hinckley the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor awarded by the United States, in a ceremony at the White House. The press release put forth by the White House stated:

“Gordon B. Hinckley […] has inspired millions and has led efforts to improve humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and education funding across the globe.”

He was the recipient of a number of educational honors, including: the Distinguished Citizen Award, from Southern Utah University; Distinguished Alumni Award, from the University of Utah; and honorary doctorates from Westminster College, Utah State University, University of Utah, Brigham Young University—Idaho, Brigham Young University, and Southern Utah University. He received the Silver Buffalo Award of the Boy Scouts of America and was honored by the National Conference (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews) for his contributions to tolerance and understanding in the world.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley passed away on January 27, 2008, at the age of 97. He was a beloved man and leader.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

Tragic though the wars of the 1940s and 1950s were, out of them came blessings for millions.  Mormon soldiers from the United States and England stationed in the Pacific during World War II and later in Korea during the Korean War shared their faith with those around them, both by teaching and also through service.  Mormon servicemen frequently spent their spare time helping to rebuild local communities after the devastation of war.  This was particularly true in the Philippines, Japan, and Korea where many were baptized by the soldiers during the war.  Mormon missionaries followed after the war, and today those three countries each contain hundreds of thousands of faithful Mormons.  Japan has two temples, Korea has one, and the Philippines has one.

In 1961, President McKay organized a seminar for Mission Presidents to train them, the first time this had been done.  With help from Gordon B. Hinckley, who later became an Apostle and then fifteenth President of the Mormon Church, 6 lessons were written to help Mormon missionaries present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the best way possible.  President McKay also coined the phrase, “Every member a missionary,” and coordinated the efforts of the members and missionaries to aid in finding, teaching, and retaining new members.  In November of that same year, a program was begun at the Mormon Church-owned school, Brigham Young University, to assist missionaries going to South America in getting a head start with the language.  This program was inaugurated, because many Mormon missionaries bound for South America experienced lengthy delays before they could obtain visas, and the decision was made to use that time in language study.  Initially called the Missionary Language Institute, the name changed to the Language Training Mission when other languages were added.

Other Mormon missionaries, either going to English-speaking countries or to countries whose languages were not being taught, spent a week or two at the Mission Home in Salt Lake City being instructed in the Gospel, Church policy, and even proper manners.  This program had begun in 1925, but could only accommodate 99 missionaries at a time.  Even prior to the advent of the Mission Home, properly called the Church Missionary Home and Preparatory Training School, BYU and other Mormon Church institutions had over the years run missionary training courses.

By the late 1968, the Language Training Missions had expanded to 16 languages and used facilities at BYU, the Mormon Church’s Church College of Hawaii, and Ricks College in Idaho.  Because the number of Mormon missionaries leaving every year exceeded 8,000 new missionaries a year (with nearly 17,000 proselytizing at any given time), new facilities were required.  Beginning in 1971, Mormon missionaries began more extensive training at Brigham Young University, while the Mormon Church built special facilities nearby.  In 1976, a building was completed just north of BYU campus specifically for training Mormon missionaries.  In 1978, the old Mission Home in Salt Lake City was closed permanently, and the LTM changed its name to the Missionary Training Center.  Soon, every Mormon missionary, if possible, went to Provo before serving his or her full time mission. The period of time spent at the MTC included rigorous, intensive language training, and instruction in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching techniques.  Mormon missionaries who would be speaking their native tongue usually only stayed at the MTC for two to three weeks, whereas foreign language missionaries could stay up to nine weeks, depending on how soon they could get their visas.

Mormon missionaries who could not easily get to Provo generally continued the same tradition of arriving in their mission without training.  In 1977, however, an MTC was built in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to train Mormon missionaries who came from South America.  Today, Mormon missionaries from anywhere in the world who are going to serve in Brazil or other parts of South America report directly to the MTC in Sao Paulo.  Since those first two MTCs, 15 more have been built in England, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Dominica Republic, Spain, Ghana, and South Africa.  Virtually every Mormon missionary spends a few weeks in intensive training at one of the MTCs.  The MTC system today teaches nearly 35,000 new Mormon missionaries a year.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

President Kimball, who struggled with severe health problems during his life, urged Mormons and Mormon missionaries to rise to the challenge to take the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people.  To do this, a new program of translation was undertaken to place the Book of Mormon and other Mormon books into the hands of all people.  From 1974, when President Kimball became Prophet and President of the Mormon Church, to 1990, when translation work began to slow down again, the Book of Mormon was translated into 57 new languages.  In 1981 alone, the Book of Mormon was published for the first time in Russian, Catalan, Icelandic, Niuean, Bolivian Quechua, Kuna, Romanian, and Polish.  In the 1980s, as part of this new growth, President Ezra Taft Benson, who became Prophet and President to the Mormon Church in 1985, issued a call to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon.  Members were encouraged to carry copies of the Book of Mormon with them and to increase their efforts to share its message about Jesus Christ with everyone they met.  By the late 1980s, Mormon missionaries were baptizing more than 300,000 people a year, and the number of fulltime missionaries was close to 50,000.

The Presidencies of Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson (covering 1974 to 1994) saw remarkable growth, as Mormon missionaries established permanent congregations for the first time in dozens of new countries, many of which people had expected would take decades more to see growth.  In 1978, President Kimball oversaw the growth of the Mormon Church and the missionaries’ success in the Caribbean, Brazil, and Africa, and prayed mightily about the traditional limitations on who could hold the priesthood and thus lead the Church.  In response, the Lord gave President Kimball a revelation in 1978 that the time had finally come when every worthy male member could be ordained to the Priesthood.  For some time, President Kimball and other leaders had been corresponding with people throughout Africa and South America who had been begging for missionaries to come to them.  That same year, Mormon Church leaders were able to get the leaders of various African nations to revoke their policies restricting foreign missionaries.  Immediately after this revelation, Mormon missionaries were sent to those people.  When the missionaries arrived in Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa, they found thousands of people organized into 60 congregations waiting to be baptized.  They had been converted for decades through the literature of the Mormon Church and waited faithfully for their chance to be baptized.  By the mid 1980s, 16,000 people in Nigeria and Ghana had joined the Mormon Church.  By 2000, the Mormon Church was established in 27 sub-Saharan African countries and registered to send missionaries into 21 more.  From 1978 to 2000, membership in sub-Saharan Africa grew from 7,700 to 140,000.  Today, there are three temples in Africa, one each in South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria.

The 1980s also saw the explosive growth of the Mormon Church in South America, which had long been promised by the Prophets.  Soon, hundreds of thousands joined the Mormon Church each year throughout Central and South America.  As of the year 2000, there were more Mormons in Latin America than there were Mormons worldwide in 1974.  With this growth, more and more Latin American Mormons are becoming missionaries and general authorities of the Mormon Church.  Countries that once were too unstable for the Church to grow, have now calmed, and as the Church grows, the positive influence of the members grows.  In response to the difficulties faced by Mormons in Latin America, where poverty is difficult to escape, the Mormon Church began the Perpetual Education Fund in the late 1990s, providing scholarships and loans for Mormons to obtain job training and education.  By 2004, more than 18,000 in Latin America and the Pacific Islands had received educational aid.  The Mormon Church also began issuing micro-loans to aid in business start up and provide job training.  The aim of this was to improve the lives of Mormons and non-Mormons alike through education, self-reliance, and opportunity.  The Mormon Church has also become more involved in the humanitarian issues in Africa, as its membership has grown there.  The Mormon Church produces Atmit, a highly nutritional food, for distribution in humanitarian crises, and has also begun a multi-year immunization program in Africa, vaccinating at least 1,000,000 children per year.  Also, the Mormon Church has begun cooperating with Islamic Charities and developed the facilities to produce halal food, or food which complies with Islamic religious codes.

By 1990, the Mormon Church had grown to nearly 8,000,000, nearly doubling the number of members in 1980.  This growth was both a blessing and a trial as more and more chapels had to be built to accommodate membership and more and more lesson manuals needed to be distributed.  In the 1960s, President David O. McKay had begun the correlation program.  This inspired program eliminated duplication and waste throughout the worldwide Church by bringing many different programs together.  Historically, magazines in different languages were published by various groups, and chapels were built by the local membership, who raised the money to buy the land and then design and construct the building.  Correlation meant that the various magazines of the Mormon Church were rolled into one group and that the building programs were unified, so that each new building did not require the local members to start from the ground up.  Plans and construction costs were shared by the whole Church.  As the Mormon Church grew internationally, this program permitted the Mormon Church to build hundreds of new chapels per year in dozens of countries.  It also freed up money which could produce more copies of the Book of Mormon, free Bibles, videos, and later internet projects.

The 1990s saw another miracle as the Soviet Union collapsed.  Mormon missionaries were soon permitted in virtually every country of the former Soviet Union.  The first Mormon missionaries had arrived in Russia in 1903, though earlier attempts had been made.  Under the USSR no Mormon missionaries were permitted to enter Eastern Europe or Russia, though several thousand Mormons lived in places like East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania.  The first permanent Mormon mission was established in 1990 in Leningrad, followed by congregations both in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Vyborg.  In the next decade, more than 11,000 would be baptized in Russia alone, with thousands more in Eastern Europe.  Ukraine likewise saw rapid growth after 1990. Even before its independence from Russia in 1991, Mormon missionaries began teaching in Kiev.  By 2000, there were nearly 7,000 Mormons with a temple being built in Kiev for all the Russian-speaking members of the Mormon Church.  Mormon congregations were likewise organized in Kazan in Tatarstan, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and in Mongolia.  Mongolia in particular has seen remarkable growth, and today there are over 2,000 Mormons in this mostly Buddhist country.  Mongolian Mormons are noted for their faith and sacrifice, and Mongolia has one the highest retention rates and the highest percentage of members who serve as Mormon missionaries.

On to Mormon Missionary Work Today

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

Mormon doctrine asserts belief in prophets, both ancient and modern. God, according to Mormon doctrine, desires to talk to mankind and to teach them His truth.  The Apostle Peter taught that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:20-21). The Bible contains a record of God’s dealings with prophets in those days, and modern scripture contains a record of God’s dealings with prophets in modern days. Mormons believe that the heavens were not closed after the Biblical record, and that God still talks to His children today, just as in days of old.

According to Mormon doctrine, a prophet is more than just someone who tells the future.  In fact, a prophet fulfills many roles.  According to the Book of Revelation, “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).  This means that anyone who has a testimony of Jesus as Savior and Redeemer has the spirit of prophecy.  A prophet’s most important duty is to teach and testify of Jesus Christ.  Prophets also receive instruction from God meant specifically for the people of that time.  For instance, through His prophets, the Lord specifically listed the sins of the people of Jerusalem and warned them of their future destruction by the Babylonians.

Peter again helps us understand how God teaches His children.  God selects certain persons to be witnesses of Him and of His truth, but most especially of Jesus Christ.  Peter said, “We are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God (Acts 10:39-41).  God does not reveal Himself personally to everyone, but instead chooses “witnesses” whom we call prophets.

According to Peter, Jesus Christ “commanded [these prophets/witnesses] to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is He which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead” (Acts 10:42).  When people hear the words of prophets, the Holy Ghost confirms the truthfulness of this message (see Acts 10:44).  Once the Holy Ghost testifies to us that the prophets’ words are true, the prophets invite us to follow Jesus by being baptized and following the commandments.

Mormon doctrine upholds the belief that God has always called prophets.  The prophet Amos wrote that “the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).  Paul tells us that “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).  Mormon doctrine states that Apostles are prophets also, since they teach about Jesus Christ from their personal witness of Him.  Apostles are those prophets whom God places at the head of his Church.  They reveal God’s word.  Just as the writings of ancient prophets became scriptures, modern prophets’ words become scripture.  The Doctrine and Covenants, which contains the revelations given to modern prophets, explains:

And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation (Doctrine and Covenants 68:4, see also 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Joseph Smith and modern Prophets
The first prophet of our day was Joseph Smith.  Joseph was born on December 23, 1805.  As a young man growing up in upper New York, he was troubled by the conflicts and differences among the various denominations of his day.  He described his feelings like this:

During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strife among the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.

In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?
(Joseph Smith-History 1:8, 10)

Joseph described how he would often look up at the stars and ponder about God.  He knew that God lived and that Jesus Christ was the Savior, but he heard so many conflicting teachings, that he could not figure out who was right or who was wrong.  Finally, he began studying the Bible.  One day, he read James 1:5, which says:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

He knew that he could ask God and would not be “upbraided,” which means “scolded.”  Of this experience, he said:

Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible. At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture (Joseph Smith-History 1:12-13).

Some time later, Joseph Smith went out into the woods around his house in Palmyra, New York to pray.  He prayed aloud, and at first, he felt something trying to stop him, but he gathered all his strength and continued.  He said:

Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.  It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other–This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him! (Joseph Smith-History 1:16-17).

At that moment, Joseph Smith the Prophet saw in vision God and Jesus Christ.  Jesus told him that his sins were forgiven and that God wanted him not to join any of the existing churches.  Later Joseph would learn that he would be called to be a prophet like Moses, Isaiah, John the Baptist, or Paul.  Mormons call this experience the First Vision.

Some time later, when he was praying again, an angel appeared to him and told him about a book, written on plates and buried in a hill nearby.  After a few years, the angel appeared again and gave him the records.  From this record, using the power of inspiration of God, Joseph translated the Book of Mormon, from which Mormons get their nickname.  According to Mormon doctrine, the Book of Mormon is an ancient record telling the story of some of the inhabitants of the ancient Americas.

From the time the Book of Mormon was published in 1829 to the time of his death in 1844, Joseph Smith led the Mormon Church as a Prophet of God.  During his short life, the Prophet Joseph Smith established cities, produced volumes of scriptures, and sent missionaries throughout the world. He was involved in the construction of temples, served as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and was even a candidate for the presidency of the United States.

He was definitively a controversial figure in American history.  Because he challenged established creeds, he attracted much persecution. On June 27, 1844, while in a jail in Carthage, Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered by a mob made up of men with blackened faces.   He was succeeded as prophet by Brigham Young.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.

To accomplish His work here on earth, God has established His Church through living prophets, who have the priesthood authority to act in his name.  Jesus Christ’s Church, which is the Mormon Church, officially called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, thrives today with living Prophets and Apostles who hold the Holy Priesthood and receive revelation from Him to guide and direct the Church.  Jesus Christ is the head of the Mormon Church, but on earth, He is represented by His Prophet, Apostles, and Seventies, together called “General Authorities.”

The purpose of Jesus Christ’s true Church is to gather people to Him.  It is the duty of all those who belong to Christ’s Church to teach others about Him.  Since the goal of the Mormon Church is to bring people closer to Jesus Christ, leaders of the Mormon Church have broken this ministry into three parts: Perfecting the Saints, Proclaiming the Gospel, and Redeeming the Dead.  This is called the three-fold mission of the Church.  Of this, President Gordon B. Hinckley, late Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Mormon Church said,

“[God] has given us a three-fold mission: first, the teaching of the restored gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people; second, the building of the Saints in their faith and encouraging them in all of their activities to walk in obedience to the commandments of the Lord; and third, the great work of salvation for the dead. This vast mission contemplates all generations of mankind—those who have gone before, all who live upon the earth, and those who will yet be born. It is larger than any race or nation or generation. It encompasses all mankind. It is a cause without parallel. The fruits of its labors are everlasting in their consequences” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “He Slumbers not, nor sleeps,” Ensign, May 1983, 5).

Perfect the Saints

President David O. McKay, who was Prophet and President of the Mormon Church in the 1950s and 1960s, said that “the purpose of the gospel is […] to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature” (Conference Report, October 1965, 136).  The way to improve people is to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help them develop faith in God, through whom they can accomplish everything they need to.

One of the many ways the Mormon Church works to perfect people is through callings. Since the Mormon Church has no professional clergy, every member participates in running the local congregations.  This covers everything from being a bishop or Sunday School teacher to cleaning the chapels in preparation for Sunday worship services.  Callings are a great opportunity for service and growth.  There are other opportunities for service in the Mormon Church, including Church-sponsored activities to help the community, or to help a member of the congregation.

The Church also has “home teachers” and “visiting teachers” who visit each home every month to share Gospel messages and to ensure that every member has enough food and sufficient opportunities for work or school.  There is also the temple, in which members perform sacred ordinances.

Proclaim the Gospel

The responsibility to proclaim to the Gospel rests upon everyone who hears it.  The Doctrine and Covenants, which contains revelations given to modern prophets, says, “Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:81).  Those who have been warned about the Second Coming and need for repentance, must share the Gospel.  Modern prophets have called for every person to share the message of the restored Gospel with his friends, family, and neighbors.  Joseph Smith, the Prophet, said that, “After all has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel” (History of The Church 2:477, 478).

One way the Mormon Church fulfills this mission is by sending out thousands of Mormon missionaries every year.  These Mormon missionaries include young men and women who (at their own expense) put their lives on hold to preach the message of Jesus Christ and His modern prophets.  There are also retired couples who spend their later years preaching and ministering to others.  However, not only full-time Mormon missionaries share the Gospel, but every member of the Church should take opportunities to share the gospel with others.  Members of the Mormon Church are expected to share the teachings of the Gospel with others including family members, friends, and acquaintances.

Redeem the Dead

The final mission of the Mormon Church is to redeem the dead through ordinances (or ceremonies) in Mormon temples.  These Mormon temple ceremonies include baptism for the dead, through which those who died without a knowledge of Jesus Christ or did not have an opportunity to be baptized can receive baptism vicariously.  This is a great act of service on the part of those who perform the baptisms and a source of great spiritual blessings.

In order to redeem the dead, we must search after our ancestors.  The Prophet Malachi predicted:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:  And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse (Malachi 4:5-6).

This was literally fulfilled in April 1836, when Elijah the prophet appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith Jr. in Kirtland, Ohio.  (See Doctrine and Covenants 110:13-16).  The hearts of the children have turned to their fathers, meaning that children should search after their ancestors through genealogical and family history work.  Through genealogy we discover our ancestors who died without a knowledge of the fullness of the Gospel.  We can submit those names to the Temple and we, or someone assigned by the temple, will be baptized on their behalf, giving them the full opportunity to obtain salvation.

begin locating your lost ancestors, see Familysearch, or visit a family history library at your local Mormon chapel.

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.