Note: This is obviously not an official website of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I don't want this to be a substitution to official resources and authorities of the Church. If at any point I misspeak, I assume full and sole responsibility for it.
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**NOTE: If you wish to get in contact with missionaries of the Church to learn more, you can do so at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/requests/missionary-visit
THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
The official name of the church to which I, the author of the "Works and Wonders" blog, am a baptized member of is "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". As the name would imply, it is a Christian religion. We share many similar beliefs with the rest of Christianity and a few distinct ones too. Above all, beliefs aside, we believe in being good genuine individuals. We strive to emulate all the best of values a person can have: honesty, kindness, patience, hard work, helpfulness, and so forth. When you look at it in this way, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are like anybody else. In truth, we as members of the Church literally believe each and every person on Earth to be brothers and sisters --- children of the same God whom we call "Heavenly Father" --- and as such, no matter any differences between us, we're all members of the same family, all of whom Heavenly Father loves equally and immensely.
One of the main inspirations for this blog project was to weave my own experiences with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as an opportunity for others to learn about the Church, not just in word only but in a variety of ways. Because there are over 100 individual blog posts on this website that cover a variety of topics in great depth, I'll leave it to you to take a look at those instead of discussing them here.
This may be the first time you've ever heard of this religion. And if so, you've come to a great place to learn! Throughout this website, you will find many links and citations from other sources where you can learn and I encourage you to take full advantage of them. You may wish to start at https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist. You'll discover that my conviction when it comes to learning is that nothing is as helpful to your education as action. Try things out! Explore! If you put your money where your mouth is, you can come to know so much more, even that the things which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints professes are true.
I will also point out that it's important to understand that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believes in ongoing revelation. We believe that God is able to instruct us more, even clarify things, by revelation. That's not to say that revelation is always a visual spectacle (most of the time it's not), but that we seek the will of the Lord prayerfully and receive answers through the still, small voice of the Holy Ghost in our hearts and minds. We believe that there is much that the Lord has yet revealed but that He will continue to reveal things here a little, and there a little as we move forward with faith. As such, we can hold fast to eternal truths and principles even when our understanding and practice of them advances occasionally. As a religion whose fundamental belief is rooted in the idea of eternal progression, we marvel at the hand of God as He progresses the Church across the world and the years. (See "What is Truth? Science and Faith")
CHURCH STATISTICS
Keep in mind that at the time you are reading this, statistics and specifics of the Church are liable to change from the time I am writing this. The best place for you to keep current with things as they happen in the Church at large is at https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/
Every April, usually the first weekend of the month, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds a worldwide semi-annual meeting called "General Conference". At the time of this conference, a statistical report is given concerning the growth and status of the Church as of December 31st of the previous year. The statistical report is not verbally presented at the conference, but you can find it on the Church Newsroom website as I've stated above.
To give you a rough idea of Church statistics at the time I'm writing this (perhaps outdated by the time you read this), here are some statistics from the April 2021 conference summing up the end of the year 2020 report:
As you can see above, there are over 16.6 million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's not a small number, and it's growing as missionaries in almost every country in the world share the gospel.
You might be wondering where the members of the Church are most prevalent in the world. Well, here's a graphic showing the 30 top countries with the most Church members according to the same 2020 statistics provided above.
These are only the top 30 countries in terms of Church membership, but there are members in almost every country in the World, even in some cases in places where full-time missionaries do not go or are not allowed to go. It is for this reason, that temples continue to be constructed in all the corners of the world, even many in the recent decade in Africa and Asia.
You'll also notice that there are many members of the Church in the Western Hemisphere and that outside of the United States, Mexico is the country with the highest membership. It may also be interesting to keep in mind that Mexico also is predominantly Catholic. As one person who spent two years as a missionary in Mexico, it's clear that the Mexican people have a profound love of Jesus Christ.
MISSIONS & MISSIONARY WORK
Many of the experiences in this blog are taken from my time as a full-time missionary of the Church in Tamaulipas, Mexico from August 2014 to July 2016. At the time I was a missionary, there were 33 Missions in Mexico. My Mission was always one of the top baptizing Missions, often the second-highest in all of Mexico despite all the challenges we had on the border and otherwise. When I was there, it was pretty common to have at least 100 baptisms per month for our Mission, at our highest, we had over 250 baptisms in a single month. (See "Great Harvest")
You'll get to see what life was like as I spent nearly two full years learning and preaching the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We call this "Serving a mission". I loved my mission and I believe it's in great part because I loved helping people. Where I lived may not be the most beautiful of places in the world, but a part of my heart is with the people and the culture nonetheless.
From the 2020 statistical report, you can see that there were about 52,000 full-time missionaries serving around the world. The reason for the "apparent" decline isn't anything to be concerned about. The reason for the sudden sharp increase was due to the age requirement being lowered in October of 2012. The age requirement for males was lowered from 19 to 18 and for females, it was lowered from 21 to 19. At that point, many young people who wanted to serve suddenly went out a year or two sooner than they'd first planned, or maybe they weren't even originally wanting to serve a mission before then, causing a surge in outgoing missionaries all at once. Now that that age gap has been bridged, the regular amount of individuals serving missions each year has again balanced as young people turn 18 and 19 or otherwise decide to go out. Just the same, that's a lot of missionaries doing a lot of good in a lot of places; numbers aren't everything.
If you'd like to get in contact with some missionaries who can help answer any questions you may have, you can meet with them for free either online or in-person at this website:
MEETINGHOUSES & TEMPLES
You can read all about temples in my post "Temples -- Holy Houses of the Lord". In the context of our Church, they are sacred buildings essential for certain religious practices. They differ from the regular meetinghouses (sometimes called "Chapels") where anybody can attend on Sunday.
Visitors are welcome to attend Church with us on Sunday. No requirements of any sort. Meetings last 2 hours if you stay for the whole thing. You can learn about what to expect from our Sunday meetings in my post, "Sabbath Day Observance". To find a meetinghouse near you and its corresponding Sunday meeting hours, you can visit:
Again, returning to the subject of temples, the number of temples being constructed around the world has skyrocketed in my lifetime which is fantastic. Again, referring to the 2020 statistical report, here is a peek at how many temples there are around the world:
And as I said, there are temples constantly being constructed all over the world, as membership increases and the best solutions to their needs are prayerfully considered. The aim of temple construction is that temples fill the greatest need for the greatest amount of people. In this graphic below, you can see the spread of temples up to 2020 and you can guarantee it's just getting more populated from here on out:
INVITATION
At this point, you can see that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a worldwide Church and no small congregation. We're a Christian denomination that strives to be the best we can be. As you continue with this blog, I hope more than anything that you can learn something new. I hope that beyond cycling things through your mind for a moment and being forgotten in the next, that you can seriously ponder and pray and feel something in your heart. I hope that you can put my invitations to the test and take them to God for validation. I hope that your relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ deepens and that you can find greater joy in your life, no matter where you find yourself.
If you have any questions, go to the source. First, ask Heavenly Father for understanding. We usually do this by praying (See "Prayers"). Pray in whatever way you feel comfortable. Seek learning through the scriptures. You may consider visiting official websites of the Church such as https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist. Consider talking to members of the Church or missionaries. If you want, you can even leave a comment on this blog post. I testify that if you have faith in Jesus Christ, all things are possible. He will bless you as you seek to follow Him more deeply.
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