>Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints History Lesson
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In subsequent articles, I will present five or six missionary lessons, albeit abbreviated because of space restraints. These lessons will pertain to missionary service as well. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a missionary church. That is, from early in its history, the Prophet Joseph Smith sent missionaries throughout the land, then later to foreign countries. First to Canada and then Mexico, but also Great Britain and Denmark. “Every member a missionary” became a reality, as this church has no paid ministry.
One reason I am teaching you about this basic doctrine before giving you the missionary lessons is to set clearly in your mind what kind of church you are studying. I felt that if I could present what it was missionaries studied you the non-member, or interested non-member, could envision what life would be like being a Latter-day Saint. This is not a church for the lazy or for one who does not like to study, enrich his/her life with new information and truth on a daily basis.
We have been taught that “The Glory of God is Intelligence,” and that no one can be saved in ignorance. Secondly, the Church of Jesus Christ is a missionary church, but all who join this church retain their free agency to choose which things to excel in and which to avoid. I smile when I say that because there are closet Mormons who don’t accept callings and, consequently, stop growing in the gospel.
If a bishop, stake president, Elder’s president, or High priest Leader asks someone to serve in any capacity it is considered to come from God. In other words, to reject such a calling would be a huge mistake. It would stop that person’s progression. That is how Mormons look at callings. Of course, no one is competent in every calling at first. He whom the Lord calls, the Lord prepares. So never fear. Callings are for the good of those called as well as for the good whom they serve. If it’s a missionary calling, the blessings are even greater.
The goal of a missionary is two fold:
1) to bring the gospel of eternal happiness to the people. To help these contacts understand its precepts and to prepare them for baptism.
The name of the Church implies its members are saints In other words, good people. As people were baptized in the nineteenth century, many of them came to America to colonize the western part of the United States and to build up Zion.
The great Mormon hymnal “Come, Come Ye Saints” is a call for people of America and foreign lands to join the band of pioneers traversing the American plains to go to the Great Basin or Zion. It was also a reminder that traveling to what is now Utah was not their real aim. Their aim was to find peace and salvation in the Kingdom of God following death. Read the strains of the last verse of that great, moral- and faith-building song penned by William Clayton:
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If you visit Salt lake City, don’t forget to go to the Visitor’s Center on Temple Square and learn more about the Restored Gospel. Go to the Salt Lake Tabernacle for their 9:30 a.m. Sunday radio-TV broadcast. The music of the Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square is absolutely stunning and spiritual.
Should you be able to live in the Salt Lake City area, I’m sure you will meet grand- children or great grandchildren of the Saints. We lived on Emerson Avenue. Across the street lived Maurice Clayton, grandson to that great pioneer scientist and writer William Clayton who wrote “Come, Come, Ye Saints.” Mormon and pioneer lore is abundant in the valleys of the Great Salt Lake and throughout Idaho, Arizona and parts of Colorado, Canada, Mexico, Nevada and California that were first colonized by Mormon pioneers who were given missions by the Prophet Brigham Young to go to these places and establish outposts, homes, farms, and cities on the outskirts of civilization. Mormon History is not only a fun avocation, but a very rewarding pursuit.
You will find that the Mormons were integral to the founding of much of America. There is not a more industrious and conservative, faithful people on the face of the earth today. They represent the best of America. They have learned the value of true sacrifice, hard work and devotion to gospel principles. They love their families and love to serve the Lord.
You will hear terms like “Zion” often as you bump shoulders with Mormon people. “Zion” today is where the pure in heart dwell. It could be America, Canada, Mexico, Finland, England, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the middle- east or wherever members live. But initially, it meant Missouri. When Mormons were persecuted and driven out of Missouri it took on the meaning of a future gathering place, because eventually the Saints will be called to pick up and leave—to go back to Missouri to prepare that area for the second coming of Christ. What is now Salt Lake City, Utah became the gathering place after the Mormons were driven out of Nauvoo, Illinois and today is headquarters for this fourteen-million-member church.
Much of the growth of the church today is coming from abroad. Though there are still thousands of convert baptism in America as well. There are about five or six million members in the United States, but South America doesn’t tail far behind as the Church builds temples wherever there are people so that the great redeeming work for the dead can continue.
You will find that doing work for the dead is a big part of how you can distinguish Mormons from non-Mormons. Latter-day Saints believe families are forever.
As families, people are sealed together in temple ordinances to create a multitude of ancestral lines going back to Adam and Eve, our first mortal parents. Latter-day Saints believe that this work of redeeming the dead must continue before our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, can return a second time. In April Conference, 2011, President Monson announced three new temples to be built in Rome, Italy, Meridian, Idaho, and Manaus, Brazil (in the Amazon Rain Forest).
Oh, how I love the Church. And I love my wife and family, and the church members. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. I testify to that fact. It is a living gospel, with revelations made available to all baptized people who have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and who pray to God for inspiration. That is why I am writing this article. The idea came this morning through inspiration.
No other church has taken family history and temple work for the living and dead to heart like the Latter-day Saints. This church has hundreds of family history centers –one in every stake center building across the globe. Also, it has more than 150 operating temples. It’s genealogy records are some of the most extensive in the world and are open to members and non-members alike.
In the April, 2011General Conference of the Church held in Salt Lake City and broadcast throughout the world via radio, television, cable, and the Internet, its prophet seer, and revelator, President Thomas S. Monson, said now they have temples all over the world. There isn’t a place in the world where Saints must travel more than 200 miles to attend a temple session. Additionally, there are 26 new temples in some form of construction or planning,
That alone is a daunting achievement, especially during times of economic downturn.
As a youth while I was living in Salt Lake City there were four temples in Utah, one in Canada at Cardston, and one in Hawaii. I grew up listening to a great prophet, President David O. McKay tell of the day when people all over the world would not only hear and see conference on television and radio, but would be able to attend a temple near them. It seemed like a dream then, but today it’s a reality. President Gordon B. Hinckley received a revelation late in his life while traveling in Mexico that if the Church would build smaller temples they could have many temples nearer to where temple-recommend-holders lived. What a marvelous reality that has become.
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