by Heath Kyker

Created on: March 04, 2010   Last Updated: March 06, 2010

Joseph Smith, the man who is said to have been given the complete revelation from God, began The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints that has been striving to restore the true religion of Jesus Christ and His Apostles to a world that has become separated from the one, true God. With the Mormon Church spreading rapidly across the United States, many temples and meetinghouses are being erected to perform ordinances and acts of worship to God. Salt Lake City, Utah is home to the majority of Mormons in the United States, located in which is the Salt Lake Temple. It is a worldwide icon of the Mormon Church, and Brigham Young who was the second president of the church marked its building location. With its construction finally completed in 1893, according to the Utah Travel Industry (2009) “the pioneers who sacrificed so greatly to build this temple rejoiced at its completion, and saw it as a symbol of the legacy of faith that they sought to leave behind for their posterity.” (Salt Lake Temple, para. 6).  

Many other temples across the country include two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms in which marriage ceremonies take place. Just like other religions and denominations, smaller Mormon churches span the nation to worship God and send missionaries to the world to spread the word of Joseph Smith. It is inevitable that everyone has seen at least one pair of missionaries on bicycles, going door to door to witness their faith in the Mormon Church.  

The World Wide Web has also been used to carry out missionary deeds. Elder Dustin Nielson, who provides part of his missionary work via the Internet through Mormon.org, the website of the church, was asked a series of questions in which the answers can be considered a brief catechism of Mormon doctrines. The first question asked was “who is Joseph Smith?” The reason this question was included was to bring an understanding why the Mormon Church began. Elder Nielson states, “Joseph Smith was the prophet who restored the true church of Christ upon the earth in the 1830’s.” (Elder D. Nielson, personal communication, December 31, 2009). He also continued to claim that the priesthood ordinances of the traditional orthodox Christianity, particularly those who still hold the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ, were in error. By beginning the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, the true Church of Jesus Christ could be brought

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