Mormons believe that returning to God requires following the example of Jesus Christ and accepting his atonement through repentance and ordinances such as baptism.

[31] Some Mormons regarded this vision as the most important event in human history after the birth, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[33] In 1831, the church moved to Kirtland, Ohio, where missionaries had made a large number of converts[34] and Smith began establishing an outpost in Jackson County, Missouri,[35] where he planned to eventually build the city of Zion (or the New Jerusalem).

[37] After Smith led a mission, known as Zion's Camp, to recover the land,[38] he began building Kirtland Temple in Lake County, Ohio, where the church flourished.

[40] The Kirtland era ended in 1838 after the failure of a church-sponsored anti-bank caused widespread defections,[41] and Smith regrouped with the remaining church in Far West, Missouri.

[49] Smith created a service organization for women called the Relief Society and the Council of Fifty, representing a future theodemocratic "Kingdom of God" on the earth.

[51] This vision would come to be regarded by some Mormons as the most important event in human history after the birth, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

[53] Because Hyrum was Smith's logical successor,[54] their deaths caused a succession crisis,[55] and Brigham Young assumed leadership over most Latter Day Saints.

To prevent war, Brigham Young led the Mormon pioneers (constituting most of the Latter Day Saints) to a temporary winter quarters in Nebraska and then, eventually (beginning in 1847), to what became the Utah Territory.

[62] The Mormons viewed land as a commonwealth, devising and maintaining a cooperative system of irrigation that allowed them to build a farming community in the desert.

[63] From 1849 to 1852, the Mormons greatly expanded their missionary efforts, establishing several missions in Europe, Latin America, and the South Pacific.

[65] Many of these immigrants crossed the Great Plains in wagons drawn by oxen, while some later groups pulled their possessions in small handcarts.

[70] By 1857, tensions had again escalated between Mormons and other Americans, primarily due to accusations involving polygamy and the theocratic rule of the Utah Territory by Brigham Young.

[75] At Young's death in 1877, he was followed by other LDS Church presidents, who resisted efforts by the United States Congress to outlaw Mormon polygamous marriages.

[76] In 1878, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Reynolds v. United States that religious duty was not a suitable defense for practicing polygamy.

In 1929, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir began broadcasting a weekly performance on national radio, becoming an asset for public relations.

[79] Mormons emphasized patriotism and industry, rising in socioeconomic status from the bottom among American religious denominations to the middle class.

[83] During the Great Depression, the church started a welfare program to meet the needs of poor members, which has since grown to include a humanitarian branch that provides relief to disaster victims.

[85] Though the 1960s and 1970s brought changes such as Women's Liberation and the civil rights movement, Mormon leaders were alarmed by the erosion of traditional values, the sexual revolution, the widespread use of recreational drugs, moral relativism, and other forces they saw as damaging to the family.

[86] Partly to counter this, Mormons put an even greater emphasis on family life, religious education, and missionary work, becoming more conservative in the process.

Mormon converts are urged to undergo lifestyle changes, repent of sins, and adopt sometimes atypical standards of conduct.

(Nonetheless, whether they live in Utah or elsewhere in the U.S., Mormons tend to be more culturally and politically conservative than members of other U.S. religious groups.

Many LDS young men, women, and elderly couples choose to serve a proselytizing mission, during which they dedicate all of their time to the church without pay.

Latter-day Saint fathers who hold the priesthood typically name and bless their children shortly after birth to formally give the child a name.

Mormon parents hope and pray that their children will gain testimonies of the "gospel"[vague] so they can grow up and marry in temples.

[125] Many of these individuals have come forward through different support groups or websites discussing their homosexual attractions and concurrent church membership.

[131] Reasons for inactivity can include rejection of the fundamental beliefs, history of the church, lifestyle incongruities with doctrinal teachings or problems with social integration.

In addition to plural marriage, some of these groups also practice a form of Christian communalism known as the law of consecration or the United Order.

For liberal Mormons, revelation is a process through which God gradually brings fallible human beings to greater understanding.

Most Mormons do not claim to have had heavenly visions like Smith's in response to prayers but feel that God talks to them in their hearts and minds through the Holy Ghost.