Who Are The Mormons?

We have to the admit that many of us had experienced something like this  in our lives: we were waiting for the bus to come and pick us up at possibly one of the most random bus stops we could ever imagine. Then some well-dressed young people, normally in a group of two, suddenly approached us and trying to engage in a conversation. We were trying to be nice to them, but at the same time we were cursing the bus driver for not "being on time" when the bus wasn't actually running late. After they voluntarily left us, we all had a huge sigh of relief. We didn't remember or couldn't recall anything about the conversation we had with them.

Yet we knew exactly who they were, at least we thought we knew.

The Statue of Jesus Christ at Temple Square's North Visitor Center in Salt Lake City, Utah

We ended up with having a little card on our hands. On the back of the card there was one question written: "Who are the Mormons?" 

The statue which depicted Joseph Smith, the Latter Saints Church's founder enlightened by God

According to Mormon.org, the website the card and those people asked us to go to, Mormons are:

"...members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was organized in 1830. As of 2010 the Church had a worldwide membership of approximately 14 million people. The Church headquarters in Salt Lake City Utah. Mormons believe the Bible and Jesus’ teachings in revelations to modern-day Apostles and Prophets. Mormons believe that their church is the same as the original church Jesus established when He was on the earth (see Ephesians 2:19-20, 4:11-14). The name ‘Mormon’ is a nickname because of the Church’s belief in the Book of Mormon (ancient scripture revealed to and recorded by prophets in the Americas during the same time the Bible was being written in the Old World.)"

The Salt Lake Temple is widely considered as a symbol of the religion as well as Salt Lake City

I wasn't really motivated to look up the website when I received the card. On the contrary, I did exactly what most of everyone else did - throwing the card into the garbage can.

That's not the end of the story, however.

The plaque that manifests the Mormon faith and the temple's date of dedication and completion

One day I was brought to Salt Lake City. The experience there  definitely motivated me to look up the website and get to know who the Mormons really are.

The official name of the Mormon church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Whether the Mormons are Christians or not, I think I am not qualified to make a claim or draw a conclusion. According to Mormons themselves, they are definitely Christians. In fact, Mormons believe that they practice Christianity in the way that Christianity was intended to be practiced from the very beginning, before the religion itself, as Mormons claim, was corrupted and distorted by the Greek and other pagan philosophies and traditions. Other Christian groups, including Roman Catholics and the Protestants, believe that Mormonism (or in a more formal way, the Latter Day Saints Movement) is nothing but a cult that promotes false prophethood and prophesy.  

The headquarters of the Latter Day Saints church in Salt Lake City, Utah

What I can tell you and confirm, is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints is a faith that promotes strong family values. My grandmother always said to me and people around her, that her family's success is her own success, and her family's happiness is her own happiness. For years I have felt that there was something missing about my grandmother's statement - what makes family success and happiness above all other successes and happinesses. What makes my grandmother, an ordinary, humble woman who has nothing seeing her family success as something of an equal or even greater value than owning a mansion or having millions of dollars in the bank?

A statue depicting a mother with her children in Salt Lake City

Eventually I found the answer during my time in Salt Lake City. It was rather a simple yet powerful statement made by the ninth President / Prophet of the LDS church David O. McKay:

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home"

The Statue of Joseph Smith and his wife

Family is a central subject to the Mormon Faith. According to The Family: A Proclamation To the World, the document which expresses the church's official views on family, it clearly states that "family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of his children".  Mormons also believe that family relationships is something that lasts forever, and is able to exist beyond one's life. While in Salt Lake City the two missionaries who offered us a tour of the church's Temple Square showed us a short film about 6 different scenes of our life stages we would all encounter at some point. What touched me was how the Mormons portrayed in the film always putting the families first ahead of everything else, even though in many cases they are in deep conflict with their own personal interests. As the world seems to have become more and more of an individualistic showcase for people who put themselves to the very center, Mormon values have shown us the other way around.

Adam and Eve

A very little known fact about the Latter Day Saint Church's contribution to our society as an advocate for family values is that they established the largest genealogy organization in the world - Family Search. The organization works together with government agencies, individuals, and other genealogy societies across the globe to gather data aiming to help people to learn about their family history as well as to connect them with each other. Family Search is headquartered in Salt Lake City's Family History Library, where you will find tourists and church members from all over the world searching for their family history.

Temple Square's South Visitor Center

Besides helping people to connect with their family members, the Latter Day Saints church has always been a strong hand in making the world a better place through generous philanthropic works. In early 2015, the church's Humanitarian Services branch donated $5 million to refugees in Syria to create better living conditions and provide medical support for them. Later in the same year 1,200 of the church's missionaries, who were about to live abroad for two years as part of the missionary program, prepared more than 350,000 Thanksgiving dinner packs for children in need around the state of Utah. These were just two examples of many works the church has done for others in 2015 alone. Yet the majority of the people who received helps from the church were not members of the church. Many do not even know who the Mormons are and what they believe in (just like many of us).  

The LDS Conference Center from the ground of Temple Square

How did everything start then?

The Mormons believe that the church's founder Joseph Smith received holy revelation from God the Father and God the Son. He was led to Upper State New York, where he found plates that recorded the interaction between Jesus Christ and ancient American tribes approximately 2000 years ago. He translated the plates, which later became the Book of Mormon and started the Latter Day Saints Movement. Smith claimed that Christianity had become corrupted over the years, and the church needed to be restored to the "one true church" founded by Jesus Christ. Smith's view drew some great numbers of followers, but also led to doubts and persecutions by the majority of Christians who accused the Latter Day Saints movement of being a cult. Eventually Joseph Smith and his church were forced to escape towards the wild, untamed west to seek refuge and establish a Latter Day Saints community. During this period several Mormon settlements were established and then abandoned due to the clashes between the local communities and the Mormons. Even Joseph Smith himself was killed in Nauvoo, Illinois.

The Statue of Joseph Smith located inside the Joseph Smith Memorial Building

After Smith's Death, Brigham Young became the president of the Latter Day Saints church. The presidency of Brigham Young was pivotal to the church and even the American history. One day Brigham Young told his church that somewhere in the west, there is a land which God has promised to them. Young described the place as a valley beside a giant lake. The Mormons subsequently began the journey first to Nebraska, then the group followed what is known today as "the Mormon Trail". Finally when the group reached the Great Salt Lake, Brigham Young was brought down to the knees, and announced that they had reached the promised land. The western exodus of the Mormons not only earned Brigham Young the title of "America's Moses", it also created the territory of Utah, a provisional state where Brigham Young became the governor of. 

A typical scene of the Salt Lake Valley

The Mormons during Brigham Young's time were a group known for practicing polygamy, which was illegal federally across the United States. Washington D.C had warned Young several times about the illegal practice and even sent troops to the Utah Territories attempting to overthrow Young as the governor. Polygamy became the main reason that prevented Utah to achieve statehood.  In 1890, less than 20 years after Brigham Young dies, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints formally banned the practice of polygamy, and the mainstream Mormon have not been allowed to practice such act ever since. In 1893, when Utah applied for statehood again, it was admitted as the 45th State in the union.   

The Salt Lake Temple, the flag of Utah, and the flag of the United States of America

The Salt Lake Temple is not only a landmark that represents Salt Lake City worldwide, it is also the center of the Mormon faith. There are many temples around the globe, where Mormons believe to be the homes of God. The Salt Lake Temple is the largest Mormon Temple in the world. It took about 40 years of hard labor for the church members to construct this magnificent building. Just like temples everywhere else, the Salt Lake Temple is only open to Mormons who are considered "Temple worthy" - those who are recognized by the church as the ones who are able to keep up with the life standards commanded by the scriptures. In many cases the temples become a popular place for church members' weddings.

The elegant Salt Lake Temple

A church wedding at the Salt Lake Temple

As for the after party of the wedding, many head directly to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building right across the street from the Salt Lake Temple. Now a church office building, the building was once a high- end hotel building. On the top of the building there is an observation deck where offers the best place ever to view the Salt Lake Temple.

Salt Lake Temple during the day from the observation deck

Salt Lake Temple in the evening from the observation deck

The Salt Lake Temple and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building are only two of many properties the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints owns worldwide. In fact, the entire Temple Square,  is considered as church ground, which means smoking and drinking there are strictly prohibited. The church claims that everything you see that belongs to the church were built debt-free, including the spectacular LDS Conference Center where every year more than 300,000 members would attend the annual church conference. In the words of my father, the LDS Conference Center is "comparable to the Great Hall of the People" in Beijing built by the Communists. 

The LDS Conference Center

The Conference Hall and its iconic pipe organ, which people might recognize from Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concerts

How do the Mormons finance themselves then? Being a member of the Latter Day Saints Church, one has to donate one tenth of his total income to the church (in Mitt Romney's case, much more than that). Besides, the church also owns various enterprises across the nation including America's largest nuts producer, several insurance companies, and Utah's second largest media group. Yes, The Zions Bank was founded by Brigham Young, although it's no longer affiliated with the Mormons anymore when the church sold it for profit long time ago. Come to think of it, the Church of Latter Day Saints is a master financial planner. It is so economically efficient and sound that even makes the U.S federal government looks like they hired a bunch of con-artists to look after American taxpayers' hard-earned money (the tax rate is way higher than 10%, by the way). The Time Magazine once made the Latter Day Saints church its cover story, the title? Mormon Inc. 

The headquarters of the Latter Day Saints church

The reflection of the Assembly Hall, the first LDS church building in Salt Lake City on the windows of a modern skyscraper

"The Mormon Inc" is actually being run like a corporation. Its core governing body consists of a president, his counselors, and twelve apostles, who are in charge of selecting the president and the church's day to day operation. What makes the "Mormon Inc"'s governing structure different from that of a corporation's is that such structure, as Mormons claim, can be traced back to the Christian church during Jesus's time.  The President of the church also happens to be God's prophet. The current president and living prophet, Thomas Monson, is a man who is well respected both in and outside the church.

The Assembly Hall

The interior of the Assembly Hall

Arguably the greatest contribution the Latter Day Saints Church has given to the world (something that everybody can agree upon,  regardless whether you like the church or not) is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This choir is not your average worship team every Sunday you see at your church. Based in the Tabernacle at Temple Square, the Tabernacle Choir is consisted of 360 volunteer members. It is possibly the only church worship team that has ever won one Grammy and two Emmys, as well as being featured in the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.  The Tabernacle building, just like the Tabernacle Choir, is a wonder itself. Built during Brigham Young's time, the dome of the Tabernacle was constructed by combining more than 40 piers together. In this way when Brigham Young speaks on the podium, everyone inside the Tabernacle could hear him. The Tabernacle also houses the largest pipe organ in the world, with more than 10,000 pipes. 

The Salt Lake Tabernacle

World's largest pipe organ

On the final day before I was about to leave Salt Lake City, I asked myself this question while drinking Caffeine-Free Regular Coca Cola from the soda fountain at a cafeteria owned by the Latter Day Saints Church (probably the only place you can find such product, Mormons don't drink anything that contains caffeine): Who are the Mormons? To be honest what I have explained so far is just what I know about the Mormons. It's definitely not the whole picture and there are still things I do not know about this faith and its people. But through the interactions with the Mormons, I learned not only about a great religion, I also learned about the importance of being non-judgmental. Do not make any judgment before you have actually seen and experience. Don't just listen to what others think about the Mormons or easily believing whatever and however some books or mass media might portray them - instead go talk and engage with the Mormons, and then decide it for yourself. Who are the Mormons? To me Mormons are people like you and I, who passionately pursue their dreams and constantly seeking to live their lives to the fullest extent.