History of Moroni Day

On Friday, September 20, 2024, I stood up in front of 500 people in the main ballroom of the Hyatt Regency in downtown Salt Lake City. I announced that we (Scripture Central) were making Moroni Day into a thing around the world. Moroni Day corresponds to the Autumnal Equinox (September 20 -  22). This is the back story. 

The first Moroni Day 2015 was celebrated with a BBQ in my back yard. About 15 people attended. Book of Mormon Central was just getting started and would begin digital publishing on January 1, 2016.

The second Moroni Day 2016 was a fundraising event held at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on Temple Square. 

Postcard Promoting Moroni Day 2016

Since the fourth quarter of each year is prime fundraising season, we determined that Moroni Day would be an ideal event to kick off our annual appeal.

We did not hold Moroni Day 2017. The spectacular Chiasmus Jubilee was on August 16, 2017 on BYU campus culminating with the evening celebration keynoted by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. 

Elder Holland Embracing Jack Welch

1,300 people attended the Chiasmus Jubilee which firmly established Book of Mormon Central's bona fides in the eyes of many influential Latter-day Saints.

Moroni Days 2018, 2019, and 2020 were low key affairs in Jack and Jeannie Welch's back yard. The foundation was growing, maturing, and beginning to reach large audiences. We had a lot to celebrate. We just did it internally with staff rather than putting on a large public gathering. 

With COVID behind us, Moroni Day 2021 was at the Aquarium in Draper. Elder Tad R. Callister was our keynote and Elder Kevin W. Pearson an honored guest. About 250 people attended. We were gearing up for exciting things ahead as Jack and Jeannie Welch announced in a BYU Hawaii devotional.

Welches Announcing the Start of Something Big

Momentum was building.

Moroni Day 2022 was back at the Aquarium with about 350 in attendance. We introduced the Martin Harris Award for major donors who give as much in modern currency as Harris gave in 1829. 

Martin Harris Award

2023 was the 200th Anniversary of the first visit of the Angel Moroni to the Prophet Joseph and we celebrated in style. About 400 people gathered at the Hyatt Regency in Salt Lake City and listened to Elder Ronald A. Rasband tell stories of his personal ministry sharing the Book of Mormon.

Elder Rasband with his Missionary Book of Mormon

Former Governor Gary and First Lady Jeanette Herbert unveiled two heroic sized statues of Moroni that eventually will be installed at the Monument of the Americas sculpture park in Heber City. 

Lynne Wilson, Elder Larry Y. Wilson, Jack Welch
and Moroni Statue at Moroni Day 2023

Moroni Day 2024 was again at the Hyatt Regency with about 500 attendees. Elder Marcus B. Nash was the keynote speaker with Elder Matthew S. Holland an honored guest.

Postcard Promoting Moroni Day 2024

Moroni Day has become enough of a phenomenon that other groups besides Scripture Central are helping us celebrate. For example, several years ago Book of Mormon Central was the fiscal sponsor for Angela Johnson's magnificent Tree of Life sculpture park at Thanksgiving Point. We eventually spun that project off into its own dedicated non-profit organization. Scripture Central Board Member Trace Mayer was a key player who got that project over the finish line and the grand opening will be held on October 8, 2024.

Angela Johnson's Sculpture Studio with Tree of Life

On Thursday, September 19, 2024 Sculptor Steven Neal was given the deed to 10 acres in the hills above Heber City where the Monument of the Americas will be built. That project is now moving ahead quickly enough that we should be able to unveil a permanent statue of the original Captain Moroni waving the Title of Liberty on Moroni Day 2025.  

Christian Divisions

When Joseph entered the Sacred Grove in the spring of 1820, he was unsure whether the Methodists, Presbyterians, or Baptists had the stronger claim to truth. He was confused by their continual sectarian "war of words and tumult of opinions." Joseph Smith History 1:10.

The US Census Bureau tabulated statistics on religious denominations in 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, and 1890. Indeed, the Methodists (13K congregations in 1850), Presbyterians (5K congregations in 1850) and Baptists (9K congregations in 1850) were among the most powerful religious bodies in the US during Joseph's lifetime. Methodism began in Oxford, England in 1738 following the ideas of John Wesley (1703-1791). Presbyterianism grew out of the Church of Scotland ca. 1650 following the ideas of John Calvin (1509-1564) and John Knox (1514-1572). Baptism began in Holland in 1609 following the ideas of John Smyth (1554-1612) and Thomas Helwys (ca. 1575-1616).

In 1820 when Joseph went into the grove to pray, there were about a dozen major religious denominations in the US including Congregationalists, Jews, Lutherans, Quakers, and Roman Catholics. By 1850, the US Census Bureau recognized 18 principal religious denominations in the country, including the relative newcomer "Mormon" church. By 1870, that number had grown to 27 principal denominations, and by 1890 there were 145 religious denominations in the country according to the government tally.

The 20th Century saw a literal explosion in the number of religious organizations on earth. A reliable source for statistics within worldwide Christianity is the Center for the Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. According to the CSGC, there were 47,300 Christian denominations in the world in 2023 and that number could reach 60,000 by the year 2050.

Joseph in 1820 had 12 organizations to choose from. Today he would have tens of thousands. Christian groups splinter from:

• differences of opinion in the interpretation of the Bible.
• different attitudes about contemporary social issues.
• personality conflicts among leaders.
• potential pastoral economic opportunity. 
• a trend among megachurches toward independence.

Splinter groups have broken off from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the years, but the long-term effects on the main body have been minimal. By and large, the 17 Prophets and 103 Apostles called in this dispensation have done a remarkable job holding the center together since the Church was organized 194 years ago on April 6, 1830. Of course, the True Church has a huge advantage over the other Christian organizations on earth. We all have the Bible, which is a great start, but just like an infinite number of lines can be drawn through a single point, an infinite number of interpretations can create biblical cacophony.

An infinite number of lines can be
drawn through a single point

On the other hand, the True Church has both the Bible and the Book of Mormon and we all know how many lines can intersect two distinct points.

Only one line can intersect two points

This is a good example of the well-attested law of witnesses described in 2 Corinthians 13:1. It is also part of the sense of Ezekiel 37:16-20 where the stick of Judah (Bible) and the stick of Joseph (Book of Mormon) will become one. This is the meaning of 2 Nephi 3:12 that the Bible and the Book of Mormon will grow together to confound false doctrines, lay down contentions, and establish peace.

Joseph Smith as Writer

Joseph Smith finished dictating the text of the Book of Mormon on or about June 30, 1829 and the printed volume went on sale in Palmyra, NY on March 26, 1830. 10 days later, on April 6, 1830, the Prophet Joseph organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, NY. On that day, Joseph received D&C Section 21. D&C 21:1 says "there shall be a record kept among you."

More than 2 years later in Kirtland, OH, Joseph Smith was motivated to begin writing a personal journal. After many crossed out words, his first entry reads:

Joseph Smith Jrs | Book for Record | Baught on the 27th of | November 1832 for | the purpose to keep a minute account of all | things that come under | my observation &c oh may God grant that | I may be directed in all | my thaughts Oh bless | thy Servent Amen 

--

2 days later, the Prophet continued writing:

November 29th this day | road from Kirtland to | Chardon to see my Sister | Sopronia and also came | to see my Sister Catheri | and found them all [editors are not sure, but assume he meant to write "well"] this Evening Brother Fr | ederic Prophcyed tha | next spring I should | go to the city of Pitts | Burg to establish a Bis | hopwrick and within | one year I should go to | the city of New York the Lord spare [me is crossed out] the life | of thy servent Amen

--

4 days afterward, the Prophet wrote in his journal again:

December 3rd ordained Brothe [editors believe he intended to write "brother"] | Packherd with my own hands | also Brother umpry came | to see me from the East & | braught news from Brother | Lyman Johnson and Orson | Pratt &c. also held a | conference in the Evening Br | Jese and Mogan and William | Mclelen was excommunicated | from the church &c.

--

December 4th this day I been | unwell done but litle been at | home all day regulated some of my | things this Evening feel better in | my mind then I have for a few | days back Oh Lord deliver [the word "out" is crossed out] | thy servent out of temtations | and fill his heart with wisdom " and understanding

--

December 5th this day ["wr] crossed out | ["ote leters" crossed out] copying letters and | translating and in evening held a council to advise with | Brother Solomon Humphry | it was ordered by the council | that he should be a comp | anion with Broth [editors believe he intended to write "brother"] Noah | packard in the work of | the ministry

--

December 6th translating | and received a Revelation | explaining the Parable the | wheat and the tears &c

--

10 months elapsed before Joseph's next journal entry on October 4th, 1833.

First Page of Joseph's Journal
Documenting 27 November 1832
from The Joseph Smith Papers

Joseph Smith's personal journal demonstrates the veracity of Emma's oft-cited comment "Joseph Smith could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter, let alone dictate a book like the Book of Mormon...It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this; and for one so ignorant and unlearned as he was, it was simply impossible." Saints' Herald 26 (1 October 1879) pp. 289-90. 

Wealth Doing Good

It is common knowledge that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints manages its assets productively and has amassed considerable wealth. 

Salt Lake Temple and Environs Under Construction April 2024
This is a $1B+ Project 

The true Church D&C 1:30 undertakes large projects routinely without even so much as breaking a financial sweat. What does the word of God say about wealth? It is a blessing to be used for righteous purposes.

Proverbs 3:7-10 "Fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase; So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine."

Proverbs 10:20-22 "The tongue of the just is as choice silver...The lips of the righteous feed many...The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

Malachi 3:10 "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it."

The Church has virtually no long-term debt. Romans 13:8 "Owe no man any thing."

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 "God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Jacob 2:17-19 "Be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good - to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted."

Here is one small example of the way the true Church blesses lives worldwide.

Tabernacle Choir Touring Organ
Photo by Kirk Magleby April 19, 2024

The Church has world-famous organs in the Tabernacle (Aeolian-Skinner) and the Conference Center (Schoenstein) played by 3 professional organists (Richard Elliott, Andrew Unsworth, and Brian Mathias). All 3 organists have performed as guest artists with the Timpanogos Symphony Orchestra (TSO), 

• October 2013 Richard Elliott
• September 2017 Andrew Unsworth
• April 2024 Brian Mathias

April 2024 Brian Mathias with the TSO

For the 2013 concert with Richard Elliott, the TSO had to rent a portable organ at considerable expense. By the 2017 concert with Andrew Unsworth, the Tabernacle Choir had acquired a touring organ which they transported and installed at Timberline Middle School in Alpine, Utah. This was done at no cost to the TSO. Ditto the 2024 concert with Brian Mathias at Orem High School in Orem, Utah.

This touring organ, a magnificent instrument in its own right, was recently in the Philippines where the Tabernacle Choir gave a series of acclaimed concerts in February 2024. The Tabernacle Choir has been broadcasting continuously since 1929. The TSO has been enriching northern Utah County's arts scene since 2011. Both organizations, world's foremost choir and a local community orchestra, benefit from the support of a Church that gives the gift of music to the world.

Presidential Succession

The organization Jesus established during his earthly ministry was a kingdom Luke 12:31-32.

Kingdoms are generally passed on through hereditary succession rather than through committees, conclaves, conferences, contests, conventions, councils, etc. People nor their representatives generally do not vote for a new prince or king.

If the religious organization to which you belong chooses its new leader through a human process, you are justified in asking if it really is the kingdom of God on the earth.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which we affirm is the kingdom of God on the earth, D&C 65:1-6 selects its new leader through a divine process.

Quorum of the 12 as of December 7, 2023

Men are called to the Quorum of the 12 Apostles in seniority order. At the death of the current president,  the senior apostle in seniority, not biological age, becomes the new president. Through His control over life and death, God literally decides who the next President of the Church will be. 

At any given time, some apostles may serve in the First Presidency, so there can be more than 12 living apostles. Currently, there are 15 living apostles.

1. Russell M. Nelson, age 99, is President of the Church. He was ordained an apostle on April 7, 1984.
2. Dallin H. Oaks, age 92, is President of the Quorum of the 12 and First Counselor in the First Presidency. If he is living when President Nelson dies, Elder Oaks will become the next President of the Church. He was ordained an apostle on May 3, 1984.
3. Jeffrey R. Holland, age 83, is Acting President of the Quorum of the 12. He was ordained an apostle on June 23, 1994.
4. Henry B. Eyring, age 91, is Second Counselor in the First Presidency. He was ordained an apostle on April 1, 1995.
5. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, age 83, was ordained an apostle on October 2, 2004.
6. David A. Bednar, age 71, was ordained an apostle on October 7, 2004.
7. Quentin L. Cook, age 83, was ordained an apostle on October 6, 2007.
8. D. Todd Christofferson, age 79, was ordained an apostle on April 5, 2008.
9. Neil L. Andersen, age 72, was ordained an apostle on April 4, 2009.
10. Ronald A. Rasband, age 73, was ordained an apostle on October 3, 2015.
11. Gary L. Stevenson, age 68, was also ordained an apostle on October 3, 2015, but after Elder Rasband.
12. Dale G. Renlund, age 71, was also ordained an apostle on October 3, 2015, but after Elder Stevenson.
13. Gerrit W. Gong, age 70, was ordained an apostle on March 31, 2018.
14. Ulisses Soares, age 65, was also ordained an apostle on March 31, 2018, but after Elder Gong.
15. Patrick Kearon, age 62, was ordained an apostle on December 7, 2023.
    

Is there a more elegant system of leadership training leading to presidential succession on the planet? It there is, I am not familiar with it. God controls who the senior apostle is, and that person is guaranteed to have years or even decades of experience in Church leadership.

Longevity Corroborates Prophethood

We are living in the dispensation of the fulness of times (Ephesians 1:10). In this momentous era, the Lord has given us prophets and apostles to guide us as explained in Ephesians 4:11.

The Bible refers more than a dozen time to the blessing of long life. 

Exodus 20:12    "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land"

Exodus 23:26    "The number of thy days I will fulfil"

Deuteronomy 5:33    "Ye may prolong your days in the land"

Deuteronomy 6:2    "That thy days may be prolonged"

Deuteronomy 11:21    "That your days may be multiplied"

1 Kings 3:14    "I will lengthen thy days"

Job 5:26    "Come to thy grave in a full age"

Psalm 71:9, 18    "Cast me not off in the time of old age" "When I am old and gray headed, O God, forsake me not"

Psalm 91:16    "With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation"

Proverbs 3:2    "For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee"

Proverbs 4:10    "The years of thy life shall be many"

Proverbs 10:27    "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days"

Proverbs 16:31     "Long life is the reward of the righteous" (Good News Translation)

Ecclesiastes 7:17    "Why shouldest thou die before thy time?"

Isaiah 40:31    "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength"

John 10:10     "Life, and that they might have it more abundantly"

Ephesians 6:3    "Live long on the earth"

--

3 biblical heroes were specifically blessed to live to a "good old age."  Abraham (Genesis 15:15, 25:8), Gideon (Judges 8:32) and David (1 Chronicles 29:28). 

The 17 prophets who have presided to date in the dispensation of the fulness of times and their age at death are:

1. Joseph Smith               38 (martyred in his prime by an armed mob)
2. Brigham Young           76
3. John Taylor                  78
4. Wilford Woodruff        91
5. Lorenzo Snow             87
6. Joseph F. Smith           80
7. Heber J. Grant             88
8. George Albert Smith   81
9. David O. McKay         96
10. Joseph Fielding Smith 95
11. Harold B. Lee              74
12. Spencer W. Kimball     90
13. Ezra Taft Benson          94
14. Howard W. Hunter       87
15. Gordon B. Hinckley     97
16. Thomas S. Monson      90
17. Russell M. Nelson        99*

*Living as of August 15, 2024

The mean age at death of these 17 prophets is 85. 8 of the 17 lived into their 90's and President Nelson will likely live to be 100.

First Presidency in January 2018

As of Aug 15, 2024, Dallin H. Oaks is 92,

 Russell M. Nelson is 99, and Henry B. Eyring is 91

Is there another organization of global significance anywhere on earth led by 3 men in their '90's? This seems to be an unequivocal fulfilment of the biblical promises of long life to worthies among the faithful. Happy 100th Birthday on September 9, 2024 President Russell M. Nelson, who will transition from a nonagenarian to a centenarian. 

This analysis was inspired by a terrific video from David Alexander.

Updated August 15, 2024.

Church Growth 2023

One of my favorite parts of April General Conference is the release of the annual statistical report. At the end of 2022, Church membership stood at 17,002,461 and had grown by 1.17% year over year. At the end of 2023, Church membership stood at 17,255,391 and had grown by 1.49%. World population growth in 2023 was .88% so 2023 was the second year in a row where Church growth outpaced world growth.

Church Annual Growth Rate 1975-2023
Red Line is World Population Growth Rate

The Church is on a 3-year strong growth track post COVID.