Page "Apostolic succession" Paragraph 41

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( sometimes referred to as Mormons ) claim apostolic succession through the process of restoration.

According to their teaching, a period of universal apostasy followed the death of the Twelve Apostles.

Without apostles or prophets left on the earth with the legitimate Priesthood Authority, the true teachings and practices of Christianity were lost.

Eventually these were restored to the prophet Joseph Smith and various others in a series of divine conferrals and ordinations by angelic men who had held this authority during their lifetimes ( see this partial list of restoration events ).

As it relates to apostolic succession, the apostles Peter, James, and John allegedly appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdry sometime in 1829 and conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood and with it " the keys of the kingdom, and of the dispensation of the fulness of times ".