In Smith's 1832 history, he said he was visited by " an angel of the Lord ", who mentioned the Book of Mormon prophet " Moroni " as the last engraver of the golden plates ; however, Smith's account did not say whether or not the angel was referring to himself as Moroni.

Around this time, Oliver Cowdery was writing a history of Joseph Smith in which he identified the angel as the prophet Moroni from the Book of Mormon.

Fourth Nephi is one of the shorter books in the Book of Mormon, containing only a single chapter, but it covers almost three centuries of the history of the Nephites and the Lamanites ( ca AD 35 to 321 ).

It is accepted as true by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the Nephites existed, although secular archeologists and historians claim there is no external evidence to corroborate the account given of Nephite history in the Book of Mormon.

Three main epochs in the Nephite history as described in the Book of Mormon, separated by two periods where Nephite society experienced particularly significant changes.

The major figures of early Mormon history, including Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor ( Mormon ), Edward Partridge, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and John D. Lee, were included in the migration.

Historic Kirtland structures, many of which are related to early Mormon history, include the NK Whitney home ( original structure ), Newel K. Whitney Store ( original structure ), a sawmill ( replica ), an ashery, the Sidney Rigdon home ( original structure ), and the John Johnson Inn.

The city is noted for its history as a mining town, and its Greek Orthodox / Catholic / Mormon split population.

As the terminal of the railroad at the time, Benton had a colorful three month history which ended in September 1868 with a visit from Republican presidential candidate Ulysses S. Grant and the departure of the final overland wagon trains on the Mormon Trail headed for the Salt Lake Valley before completion of the railroad the following year.

President Buchannan, anticipating Mormon opposition to a newly appointed governor to replace Brigham Young, dispatched 2, 500 federal troops to Utah to seat the new governor, thus setting in motion a series of unfortunate misunderstandings when the Mormons felt threatened in light of their past history.

Several well-known Mormon apologetic organizations, such as the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies ( a group of scholars at Brigham Young University ) and the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research ( an independent, not-for-profit group ), have formed to defend the doctrines and history of the Latter Day Saint movement in general and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in particular.

In 1984, Jerald and Sandra Tanner, noted critics of the LDS Church, became the first to declare the letter a forgery despite the fact that it, as well as others of Hofmann's ' discoveries ,' would have strengthened the Tanners ' arguments against the veracity of official Mormon history.

In addition to documents from Mormon history, Hofmann also forged and sold signatures of many famous non-Mormons, including George Washington, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Boone, John Brown, Andrew Jackson, Mark Twain, Nathan Hale, John Hancock, Francis Scott Key, Abraham Lincoln, John Milton, Paul Revere, Myles Standish, and Button Gwinnett, whose signature was the rarest, and therefore the most valuable, of any signer of the Declaration of Independence.

As Senate Majority Leader and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Harry Reid has achieved a more senior elected position in the United States government than any Mormon in history.

Dale Morgan, a notable historian of the Latter Day Saint movement, writes: " Strang surveys the geography and history of Mackinac and the surrounding region, particularly the islands of Lake Michigan, and after giving an account of the Mormon settlement upon Big Beaver Island, addresses himself to the bitter controversies between the people of Mackinac and the Mormons.

The Cutlerites are the only non-LDS derived group of Latter Day Saints who practice the " endowment " ceremony that originated during the Nauvoo period of Mormon history.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement generally believe that the Book of Mormon describes ancient historical events in the Americas, but mainstream historians and archaeologists do not regard the Book of Mormon as a work of ancient American history.

I would imagine, for example, that much of the flowering of Mormon historical studies in the 1970s, which has helped to give at least some Mormons a richer and more vital knowledge of their own heritage, has been more than tangentially related to the desire of Latter-day Saint historians to prove the Tanners wrong by showing that a full and honest history of the Latter-day Saints can indeed be written.

He noted that, " although the most conscientious and honest researcher can overlook pertinent sources of information, the repeated omissions of evidence by the Tanners suggest an intentional avoidance of sources that modify or refute their caustic interpretation of Mormon history.

The Book of Mormon was much more ambitious than being just a purported history of Native Americans.

Mormon parents hope and pray that their children will gain testimonies of the " gospel " so they can grow up and marry in temples.

The terms " Utah Mormon " and " Missouri Mormon " can be problematic if interpreted to mean more than the location of the various groups ' headquarters.

There are several prophecies that are made that can only be fulfilled outside of the Book of Mormon.

Within this woodland one can find big sagebrush, snakeweed, Mormon tea, Utah agave, banana and narrowleaf Yucca, winterfat, Indian ricegrass, dropseed, and needlegrass.

However, it can also be found in some editions of King James Version Bibles and the Book of Mormon.

Many details about Nephite society, government, laws, and culture can be inferred from the Book of Mormon.

Mormon studies of reformed Egyptian are necessarily limited to whatever linguistic evidence can be teased from the text of the Book of Mormon plus the extant seven-line " Caractors " document that may be or may not be the symbols said to have been copied from the gold plates.

Gardner was a devout Mormon whose legacy can still be seen in modern West Jordan.

The Book of Mormon declares: “ Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness ; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God ,” ( Moroni 10: 32-33 ) illustrating the need for compliance with the laws and ordinances of the gospel and the need for the pure love of Christ in conjunction with the receipt of the gift of grace, which comes “ after all we can do ” ( 2 Nephi 25: 23 ).

Step Fletcher, a devout Mormon, moves his pregnant wife DeAnne and their three children ( Stevie, Robbie and Elizabeth toddler ) from Indiana to Steuben, North Carolina so he can start a new job as a technical writer.

Most notably, Latter-day Saints ( i. e, Mormon Christians ) believe that man can be one with Christ and with the Father and receive glory -- though Mormon Christians believe man will always be subject to God.

* In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or Mormon tradition, all worthy males can receive a priesthood office beginning with that of deacon at age 12.

They decide that if a Mormon man can have two wives, then a wife can have two husbands.

: Your letter of yesterday is received & I hasten to answer as fully as I can -- Joseph Smith Jr first come to my notice in the year 1824 in the summer of that year I contracted with his father to build a fence on my property in the corse of that work I approach Joseph & ask how it is in a half day you put up what requires your father & 2 brothers a full day working together he says I have not been with out assistance but can not say more only you better find out the next day I take the older Smith by the arm & he says Joseph can see any thing he wishes by looking at a stone Joseph often sees Spirits here with great kettles of coin money it was Spirits who brought up rock because Joseph made no attempt on their money I latter dream I converse with spirits which let me count their money when I awake I have in my hand a dollar coin which I take for a sign Joseph describes what I seen in every particular says he the spirits are grieved so I through back the dollar in the fall of the year 1827 I hear Joseph found a gold bible I take Joseph aside & he says it is true I found it 4 years ago with my stone but only just got it because of the enchantment the old spirit come to me 3 times in the same dream & says dig up the gold but when I take it up the next morning the spirit transfigured himself from a white salamander in the bottom of the hole & struck me 3 times & held the treasure & would not let me have it because I lay it down to cover over the hole when the spirit says do not lay it down Joseph says when can I have it the spirit says one year from to day if you obay me look to the stone after a few days he looks the spirit says bring your brother Alvin Joseph says he is dead shall I bring what remains but the spirit is gone Joseph goes to get the gold bible but the spirit says you did not bring your brother you can not have it look to the stone Joseph looks but can not see who to bring the spirit says I tricked you again look to the stone Joseph looks & sees his wife on the 22d day of Sept 1827 they get the gold bible -- I give Joseph $ 50 to move him down to Pa Joseph says when you visit me I will give you a sign he gives me some hiroglyphics I take then to Utica Albany & New York in the last place Dr Mitchel gives me an introduction to Professor Anthon says he they are short hand Egyption the same what was used in ancient times bring me the old book & I will translate says I it is made of precious gold & is sealed from view says he I can not read a sealed book -- Joseph found some giant silver specticles with the plates he puts them in an old hat & in the darkness reads the words & in this way it is all translated & written down -- about the middle of June 1829 Joseph takes me together with Oliver Cowdery & David Whitmer to have a view of the plates our names are appended to the book of Mormon which I had printed with my own money -- space and time both prevent me from writing more at present if there is any thing further you wish to inquire I shall attend to it

), had listed himself for Mormon Beard roles at the instigation of his fourth murder victim who had said: `` With your beard, dear, you ought to be in movies ''!!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( the LDS Church or, colloquially, the Mormon Church ) is a Christian primitivist church that considers itself to be a restoration of the church founded by Jesus Christ.

The Utah Mormon War ensued from 1857 to 1858, which resulted in the relatively peaceful invasion of Utah by the United States Army, after which Young agreed to step down from power and be replaced by a non-Mormon territorial governor, Alfred Cumming.

Although it never uses the term, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( The Mormon Church ) is episcopal, rather than presbyterian or congregational, in the sense that it has a strict hierarchy of leadership from the local bishop up to a single prophet / president, believed to be personally authorized and guided by Jesus Christ.

In contrast to other branches of Christianity, Mormon theology considers God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit to be three separate gods united in will and purpose, ( see social trinitarianism ) as opposed to the orthodox view of three hypostases sharing in one Divine nature or essence ( ousia ), with the three members of the Godhead co-eternal and co-equal, together adored ( worshiped, given latria ) and glorified.

As many non-Mormons believed their religious practices to be strange, they similarly lumped the love of Jello as part of the strange aspects of being Mormon.

No country currently has a Mormon majority, although Tonga is expected to be the first within the next few years.

Smith's 1838 written account of this vision is considered by some Mormon denominations to be scripture and is contained in a book called " The Pearl of Great Price.

" By 1830, Smith reported that he had been instructed that God would use him to re-establish the true Christian church and that the Book of Mormon would be the means of establishing correct doctrine for the restored church.

In Mormon theology, many of these lost truths are restored in the Book of Mormon, which Mormons hold to be divine scripture and equal in authority to the Bible.

Mormons believe the people of the Book of Mormon lived in the western hemisphere, that Christ appeared in the western hemisphere after his death and resurrection, that the true faith was restored in upstate New York by Joseph Smith, that the Garden of Eden was located in North America, and that the New Jerusalem would be built in Missouri.

Although Mormons do not claim to be part of Judaism, Mormon theology claims to situate Mormonism within the context of Judaism to an extent that goes beyond what most other Christian denominations claim.

For example, Joseph Smith named the largest Mormon settlement he founded Nauvoo, which means " to be beautiful " in Hebrew.

Members of the LDS Church consider their top leaders to be prophets and Apostles, and are encouraged to accept their positions on matters of theology, while seeking confirmation of them through personal study of the Book of Mormon and the Bible.

His discourse in chapters 2 through 9 is considered by many Book of Mormon readers to be a significant piece of the Book of Mormon.

Moroni is thought by Latter Day Saints to be the same person as a Book of Mormon prophet-warrior named Moroni, who was the last to write in the golden plates.

" Latter-day Saints also believe the " Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ be a companion volume of scripture to the Bible ,... and of the truthfulness of the messages in the Bible.

The book immediately following Omni, the Words of Mormon, is an editorial insertion that explains how the first first person narrative came to be inserted into the Book of Mormon and how subsequent narrative will differ, being mostly third person narration by Mormon that summarizes more lengthy accounts taken from the Large Plates of Nephi.