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Please see the talk page for this article and the "See also" list before adding content or adding a hyphen to Latter Day Saint. The Wikipedia Latter Day Saint Project. --> The Latter Day Saint movement is a religious movement which began in the early .) Brief history See Also: History of the Latter Day Saint movement The driving force behind the Latter Day Saint movement was Joseph Smith, Jr. , and to a lesser extent, during the movement's first two years, Oliver Cowdery . Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery testified to having seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (as two separate beings) who told them that the true church had been lost, and restored to them various keys to organize and lead the true Church Of Christ . Joseph Smith, with the assistance of various scribes (to record), claimed to have translated the '' Book Of Mormon '' from a set of Golden Plates . The first Latter Day Saint church was formed in April 1830 , consisting of a community of believers in the western New York towns of Fayette , Manchester , and Colesville . Like many other Restorationist churches of the time, they called themselves the '' Church Of Christ ''. On April 6 , 1830 , this church formally organized into a legal institution under the name '' Church Of Christ ''. In 1834 , this institution became known as the '' Church Of Latter Day Saints '', and in 1838 the name was changed to the '' Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints ''. From 1831 until the mid-1830's, the movement's theology and failed attempts at Christian communal living were greatly influenced by Sidney Rigdon , a minister within the Restoration Movement who had been associated with the Disciples Of Christ . In the late 1830's, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint's headquarters moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, Mormon apostle Parley P. Pratt became the church's first dynamic writer of religious tracts and theological essays. William Law and several other leading Mormons publically accused Joseph Smith of blasphemy, atheism and of being a false prophet, resulting in some Schism s in the church. Many of these people later returned to the church. Following Smith's Murder by a mob in Carthage, Illinois , these and other prominent members of the church claimed to be Smith's legitimate successor resulting in a Succession Crisis . This crisis resulted in several permanent schisms, the body of the church breaking into several denominations. The two main branches of the movement are sometimes called the "Prairie Saints" (those that remained in the region) and the "Rocky Mountain Saints" (those who followed Brigham Young to what would become Utah ). Today, there are many Schism organizations claiming to be a part of the Latter Day Saint movement. Most of these organizations are very small. Most Latter Day Saints belong to the largest denomination, called The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints which reports more than 11 million members worldwide. The second largest denomination is the more Ecumenical Community Of Christ which reports over 200,000 members. Denominations through 1844 Denominations which formed prior to the death of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. include:
"Prairie Saint" denominations Prairie Saint denominations include:
"Rocky Mountain Saint" denominations Rocky Mountain Saint denominations include:
''see also:'' Polygamous Mormon Fundamentalists Plural marriage is illegal and against the policy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. See also Polygamy For a discussion of the usage of " Mormon ," " Latter Day Saint ," " Latter-day Saint ," and related terms, ''see'' Mormon . RLDS / Community Of Christ denominations (also generally considered "Prairie Saints")
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