The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same church today that existed in ancient times -- organized by Jesus Christ. It is His church.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized on April 6, 1830 in the state of New York. There were six original members as per New York State law. The Church was organized by the Lord Jesus Christ himself through the prophet Joseph Smith by priesthood authority.
Elder L. Tom Perry said in October 2013 General Conference:
"Under the direction of the Lord, Joseph Smith organized the Savior’s Church using priesthood authority—the power of God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the same organization that Christ organized and directed while He was on the earth."
The Lord's church today is led by a prophet, currently the prophet is Russell M. Nelson. The Lord has also called 12 apostles, as He did anciently. Those men are: Dallin H. Oaks (President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles) [currently serving as First Counselor in the First Presidency], M. Russell Ballard (Acting President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles), Jeffrey R. Holland, Henry B. Eyring [currently serving as Second Counselor in the First Presidency], Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, Dale G. Renlund, Garrett W. Gong, and Ulisses Soares.
In the Church today we don't use all the same terminology as was used in Christ's ancient church. For example, the term pastor is not used in the Church today but is the equivalent to Bishop or Stake President. Similarly, we don't use the term evangelist but instead use Patriarch.
Here is a fun statistic about the Church: In the 188 years since the Church was organized, membership has grown from 6 to 16,118,169 (from the April 2018 statistical report).
Here is a fun statistic about the Church: In the 188 years since the Church was organized, membership has grown from 6 to 16,118,169 (from the April 2018 statistical report).
This made me think about some of the comments I used to get as a missionary when people would say that the Lord's true church would have more members than "just a few" in the LDS church-- but really, how many members were in the Lord's church when He was on earth, after He established it? Not many. Much less. Pretty amazing to see the blessings of the restoration and the spreading of the Gospel and the Lord's TRUE church.
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