After his death in 1844 and the resultant succession crisis, the majority of his followers sided with Brigham Young, who led the church to its current headquarters in Salt Lake City.

[24]: 627 n. 73  Initial converts were drawn to the church in part because of the newly published Book of Mormon, a self-described chronicle of Indigenous American prophets that Smith said he had translated from golden plates.

[48] He also established ceremonies, which he stated the Lord had revealed to him, to allow righteous people to become gods in the afterlife,[m] and a secular institution to govern the Millennial kingdom.

[56] Because Hyrum was Joseph's designated successor, their deaths caused a succession crisis,[45]: 143 [35]: 398  and Brigham Young assumed leadership over a majority of the church's membership.

Brigham Young led his followers, later called the Mormon pioneers, westward to Nebraska and then in 1847 on to what later became the Utah Territory,[59] which at the time had been part of the lands of the Ute, Goshute, and Shoshone nations, and claimed by Mexico until 1848.

Meanwhile, efforts to globalize the church began in earnest around this time, with missionaries being sent off to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii), India, Chile, Australia, China, South Africa, and all over Europe.

After Young's death in 1877, he was followed in the church presidency by John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff successively, who resisted efforts by the United States Congress to outlaw Mormon polygamous marriages.

[75] The church has become a strong proponent of the nuclear family and at times played a prominent role in political matters, including opposition to MX Peacekeeper missile bases in Utah and Nevada,[76] the Equal Rights Amendment,[76] legalized gambling,[77] same-sex marriage,[78]: 2  and physician-assisted death.

LDS Church theology includes the belief in a Godhead composed of God the Father, his son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as three separate persons who share a unity of purpose or will; however, they are viewed as three distinct beings.

[94] Church members believe in Jesus Christ as the literal Son of God and Messiah, his crucifixion as a conclusion of a sin offering, and his subsequent resurrection.

[citation needed] The church's cosmology and plan of salvation include the doctrines of a pre-existence, an earthly mortal existence, three degrees of heaven and exaltation.

[106] The process by which this is accomplished is called exaltation, a doctrine which includes the reunification of the mortal family after the resurrection and the ability to have spirit children in the afterlife and inherit a portion of God's kingdom.

[129][130] This restoration is associated with a number of events which are understood to have been necessary to re-establish the early Christian church found in the New Testament, and to prepare the earth for the Second Coming of Jesus.

The LDS Church teaches that the Angel Moroni told Smith about golden plates containing the record, guided him to find them buried in the Hill Cumorah, and provided him the means of translating them from Reformed Egyptian.

The LDS Church asks its members to adhere to a dietary code called the Word of Wisdom, in which they abstain from the consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco, and illicit or harmful substances.

[158] Church members are expected to follow a moral code called the law of chastity, which prohibits adultery, homosexual behavior, and sexual relations before or outside of marriage.

[159] Law of chastity violations can be grounds for church discipline; resulting penalties may include having access to the temple and sacrament revoked, as well as excommunication.

In LDS theology, a temple is considered to be a holy building, dedicated as a "House of the Lord" and held as more sacred than a typical meetinghouse or chapel.

[213] Local congregations are typically led by bishops, who perform similar functions to pastors in the Protestant tradition, or parish priests in the Roman Catholic Church.

For high-school aged youth, the church operates a four-year Seminary program, which provides religious classes for students to supplement their secular education.

[237][238] Investigative journalism from the Truth & Transparency Foundation in 2022 suggests the church may be the owner of the most valuable real estate portfolio in the United States, with a minimum market value of $15.7 billion.

[204] By summer 2023 assets including "international shares as well as bonds, hybrid investments, real estate and major stakes in private equity" were estimated to exceed $163 billion.

[240] Many of the church's more distinctive practices follow from their adherence to the Word of Wisdom—which includes abstinence from tobacco, alcohol, coffee, and tea—and their observance of Sabbath-day restrictions on recreation and shopping.

"[331] The church defended the practice as a matter of religious freedom, while the federal government aggressively sought to eradicate it; in 1862, the United States Congress passed the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act, which prohibited plural marriage in the territories.

[356] The temple and priesthood racial restrictions were lifted by top leaders in 1978[358] following public pressure during the United States' civil rights movement.

[362] Over the past two centuries, the relationship between Native American people and the LDS Church has included friendly ties, displacement, battles, slavery, education placement programs, official and unofficial discrimination, and criticism.

[ae][367] There is no direct support amongst mainstream historians and archaeologists for the historicity of the Book of Mormon or Middle Eastern origins for Native American peoples.

[382] Current teachings and policies leave homosexual members with the options of: attempts to change their sexual orientation, entering a mixed-orientation opposite-sex marriage, or lifelong celibacy.

[386] Some have argued that church teachings against homosexuality and the treatment of LGBT members have contributed to their elevated rates of PTSD, depression,[387][388][389] suicide and teen homelessness.

[407] The church released a statement that in 2000 EP "received and relied upon legal counsel regarding how to comply with its reporting obligations while attempting to maintain the privacy of the portfolio."