LDS Church Stats, Figures, and "Go Figures"
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the first post New Testament church that actually had the name Jesus Christ in it's title. Up to then every Christian church was named after a man or religious movement.
There have been 15 Prophets and 94 Apostles since the Restoration.
The original printing of the Book of Mormon consisted of 5,000 copies. Since 1830, when the book was first published, 128,991,640 copies have been printed in 105 different languages (as of Jan 2002). In 2005, 4,621,515 were distributed.
In 1830, the Book of Mormon was sold for 6 cents a copy, to cover the cost of the printing. An original printing of the Book of Mormon just sold at Swann Auction galleries New York, NY on March 22nd 2007 for $150,000.00 plus 20% buyers premium bringing the selling price to $180,000.00! But then again, you can get a free copy from the missionaries...go figure.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was officially organized on April 6th 1830 in Fayette, New York. There were 6 people present in the Whitmer home at that first meeting. Today, the Church has over 12,868,606 million members, over 27,475 congregations, and is in appx. 163 countries. In May 2007, the Church sent out the 1 millionth missionary.
The Mormons settled more of the west than any other group of people.
The Relief Society is the oldest and largest women's organization in the
world. It was established in 1842.
Currently, women outnumber men in membership. Appx. 53%-47%.
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is the worlds largest full time choir. It has 360 members. The reason it has 360 members is because that's how many seats were in the choir rostrom of the Tabernacle.
The Choir has been broadcasting "Music and the Spoken Word" for 78 years. It holds the record fo the longest continual broadcast of any network show.
The Salt Lake Tabernacle, on temple square, is one of the only free standing buildings in the world. There are no support beams holding up the roof. It's oval ceiling is an acoustical marvel because you can hear a pin drop from any distance in the main auditorium.
The first general conference in the Tabernacle was held in April 1867, the last one was held October 1999. In April 2007, the afternoon session of General Conference was held in the tabernacle to rededicate it. It had been closed for remodeling for 2 years while it was retrofitted to make it earthquake proof.
Over the last 30 years, The Church Welfare System has donated $906 million (US Dollars) in cash assistance, medical equipment, food, clothing, disaster relief and other material goods to 163 countries.
Joseph Smith
Joseph and Emma Smith had 12 children, but only 6 lived past infancy. 2 were adopted, and the last son was born 5 months after Joseph's death.
Joseph and Emma were so poor when moving from Kirtland to Far West he took a job cutting wood in Indiana for a few days to "relieve his necessities".
Joseph prophesied Kirtland Safety Society notes would eventually be as good as gold. The most recent Safety Society note to sell on eBay (170105056442) sold at approximately 18 times the price of gold! (The note sold for the equivalent of 9.09 ounces of gold. In 1837, $10 was approximately 1/2 oz of gold.)
The word "smith" means to "To beat into shape; to forge". The name "joseph" means, "God will increase". So if you were God and wanted to rebuild your Church you would want someone who would forge it into shape and increase it. In other words, you would want a joseph smith.
Pop Culture
The Movie, "The Ten Commandments" had its premier in Salt Lake City.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced Sherlock Holmes in a book about a "Mormon Danite". The name of the book was "A Study in Scarlet".
Presidents Heber J. Grant and George Albert Smith have both been featured on the cover of Time magazine.
Time magazine quipped that Joseph Smith resembled the late actor/comedian Danny Kaye.
Three men have played "Joseph Smith" in Hollywood productions about the church. Richard Moll, (yes...Bull from "Night Court") in the film "Savage Journey", Vincent Price, in the movie "Brigham", and Dean Cain (yes…Superman from "Lois and Clark), in the film "September Dawn". In my opinion, Vincent Price was the better of the three, but Dean Cain could leap a tall stack of gold plates in a single bound.
Philo T. Farnsworth, a Mormon from Idaho, invented the Television, and won a lawsuit against RCA for copyright infringment.
Can you believe that?
The name, "Jesus" appears appx. 165 times in the Book of Mormon and 100 times in the D&C.
When Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph's mother, moved to the Palmyra area, she only had nine cents remaining. About enough in today's money to buy two Happy Meals.
Jim Bridger met Brigham Young, while the saints were travelling towards the Salt Lake valley. Jim Bridger told Brigham that he would pay $1000 to anyone who could actually grow corn in the Salt Lake valley. We don't know if Jim ever followed through on his offer.
The #1 question asked at the Salt Lake Temple Visitors Center is "Where's the bathroom?"
Utah is the largest comsumer of Jello.
The first "Bleep" of a swear word over the radio was J. Golden Kimball in his talk on the first radio broacasted session of General Conference.
Z.C.M.I. was America's first department store.
Utah was the largest consumer of Ice Cream.
Some people are taught (and actually believe) that Mormons have horns on their heads.
It was rumored that Mormon women were locked in the top floor of the Salt Lake Temple, and they only way they could escape was to jump out the window into the Great Salt Lake and swim away. The subsequent rumor must have been that Mormon women are excellent jumpers since the Temple is at least 30 miles from the lake. Go Figure.
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Church Presidents
There have been one set of father and son
Prophets: Joseph F. Smith and Joseph Fielding Smith.
There have been three church presidents with the name "Joseph Smith".
Joseph F. and Joseph Fielding were the nephews of Joseph Smith jr.
David O. McKay was the only church president
to have 4 counselors in the First Presidency at one time.
Heber J. Grant was the first Church President born in Utah. Born November 22, 1856, in Salt Lake City
Heber J. Grant was the first Church President to have his voice broadcast
over radio, in 1922.
Joseph Fielding Smith was flying in fighter jets in his late 80's.
Joseph F. Smith, the 6th Prophet, was the first Prophet who was not a convert. He was the first Prophet born in the covenant.
John Taylor, the 3rd President of the Church, is the only Church President born outside the United States. He was born in Milnthorpe, England, in 1808.
Brigham Young was Prophet for 30 years. His was the longest term of Prophet.
Howard W. Hunter had the shortest term for a Prophet. He was President
for 9 months.
Joseph Smith was the youngest when ordained president, at age 25. Joseph Fielding Smith was the oldest when ordained, at age 93. Gordon B. Hinckley is the president that has lived the longest, he's 97 and still kicking!!
The mean age of a prophet when ordained in 73-years-old.
Howard W. Hunter was the first Church President born in the 20th Century - 1907.
In 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor.
George Albert Smith was the first Church President to not practice plural marriage.
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated 85 temples during his time as an Apostle, First Presidency Counselor and Church President. This is more than any other Church President.
Temples
The Salt Lake Temple was the first temple started in Utah, but was the fourth one finished.
The first Moroni statue on a temple showed up on the Nauvoo temple, but it does not resemble to Moroni statue on subsequent temples. It wasn't used on the St. George, Manti, or Logan temples. Moroni popped up again on the Salt Lake Temple. It was designed by Cyrus Dallin, a non-mormon sculptor living in Salt Lake. His inspiration for the design came from Revelation 14:6-7
Out of the current 125 operating temples there are about 10 that do not have Moroni statues on them.
The St. George Temple is the oldest operating temple in the Church. It was completed in 1878.
The Salt Lake temple is the largest temple. It has 170 rooms and is
253,000 square feet.
The Washington DC temple is the tallest temple. It's east spire reaches 280 feet.
The three spires on each of the Salt Lake and Washington DC temple represents the three members of the Godhead. The set of 3 on the West side represents the Aaronic Priesthood. The taller spires on the East side represents the Melchezidek Priesthood.
Politics
Reed Smoot, of the Smoot/Hawley Tariff act, was the only man to serve similtaneously as a U.S. Senator and an Apostle. Congressional hearings to approve his
election took 4 years. He almost wasn't admitted into the Senate because of false rumors about pacts against the US Government in the temple.
Former U.S. President George Bush (the older one) called the Mormon Tabernacle Choir "one of America's greatest treasures."
The Mormon Battalion, organized by request of the Federal Government
in response to the Mexican/American war, holds the record for the longest infantry march in American history.
Former U.S. President Lynden B. Johnson used to call LDS President David O. McKay to wish him a happy birthday. He also gave President McKay one of the American Flags flying over the U.S. Capitol Building during his inauguration.
Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once checked out a copy of The Book of Mormon from the Library of Congress.
Former U.S. President Richard Nixon, then Senator Nixon, spoke at the
Wilshire California Ward LDS Youth Conference in 1962.
The U.S. Republican Party was formed in 1854 with the platform of
aboloshing the "Twin Relics of Barbarism: Slavery and Polygamy". 150+ years later, a majority of LDS Church members now support the party that was orignally formed to destroy the church. Gotta love irony.
Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first president to attend a LDS Family Home Evening.
U.S. founding father & former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, a deist, predicted in 1820 that "The genuine and simple religion of Jesus will one day be restored: such as it was preached and practised by himself," (LetterTo Van der Kemp, 1820). Ten years later it would be.
Ezra Taft Benson, the 13th President of the Church, was U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower's Secretary of Agriculture.
The Tabernacle Choir performed at the Presidential galas for the inaugurations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and George W. Bush. The choir has also performed at the 2002 Olympics, and in Las Vegas.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, after touring Mormon welfare facilities in Utah, commented to his aids, "You know, there is a program that comes very close to being the most ideal way dealing with those who are poor and unfortunate;
and that is the Mormon Welfare Program,"
U.S. President James Buchanan, needing to appear tough to his constituents, sent 2,400 troops to Utah to replace Brigham Young as governor. This became known as "Buchanan's Blunder" because it caused the "Utah War" and sparked the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Buchanan further Blundered by trying to scheme with the Russians to force-colonize the Mormons to Alaska. Brrrrrrrr.
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