At Far West on April 26, 1838, Smith recorded a revelation from God renaming the organization the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints".
After Smith's death, competing Latter Day Saint denominations organized under the leadership of a number of successors.
[12] In 1876, the church issued a new edition of the Doctrine and Covenants which contains the text of significant revelations received by Joseph Smith.
"[29] Dr. Jan Shipps, an expert on the Latter Day Saint movement, suggested that these continuing efforts to emphasize the church's name reflect its members' longstanding desire that their beliefs "be understood as a Christian tradition.
"[30] He further requested that "LDS" and "Mormon" not be used to refer to its membership or belief system,[1][2] and the style guide was updated accordingly.
[31] Among other changes, this update rearranged the above points and replaced the second and fourth as follows:Subsequent to this announcement, the church began the "complex effort in numerous global languages" and requested that "all... be patient and courteous as we work together to use and share the proper name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world.
[36] However, media in Utah, including the church-owned Deseret News, KSL-TV, and KSL radio, now tend to use "Latter-day Saints" when referring to the church in headlines.